MP All Models Benefits from using Intel-based Macs

[apostolosdt]

Like a case analogous to Kuhnian loss in epistemology, running an Intel-based Mac offers some benefits parallel to all known losses. Here I'd like to point out some of those benefits, both on hardware as well as the software one can run on such Macs.

I own three Mac Pro machines and an iMac 27" Retina, next to my Silicon-based ones. The one I'm using right now is a Mac Pro 6,1 with a 3GHz 8-core Xeon, 64GB RAM, 1T SSD and twin D500 video cards; I bought it for $360 brand-new-like. All my Intel Macs have analogous hardware installed, but I should emphasise the full upgradeability of my Mac Pro 5,1, and of course of the Mac Pro 2019 machine (which I don't have---for now!).

Regarding the software, I have installed Sequoia via OpenCore LP and a whole bunch of apps. A number of those apps will render useless next macOS update; you can run the Silicon app and look for "Intel 64" labels. However, the advantage of an Intel-run Mac is more apparent when the user is interested in working with other OS, like Windows or FreeBSD. One can partition the SSD via Boot Camp and install Windows and benefit from full hardware offers; or, one can install such OS as virtual machines on a VMWare or Parallels environment. (Of course this can be done with Silicon Macs, but NOT for FreeBSD as no ARM64 versions exist for the time being.)

In conclusion, the benefits from running Intel-based Macs are that the machines can be low-cost maxed out, the current OpenCore LP does not require technical expertise to install and one can run a good set of apps without the fear of obsoleteness. I intend to continue using both Intel and Silicon Mac, side by side.

 

[SDAVE]

Unfortunately Intel is a dead end product if you are using macOS. For example, Adobe will drop Intel support most likely next year completely (it's still on Universal binary) so you'll be stuck on old software. Same with many other developers.

Now if you are using Windows or Linux, that's another story...

 

[benholt]

Retired iMac Pro Xeon over here — kept it around as a semi-secondary for exactly the stuff that keeps getting chopped from the AS ecosystem. Two concrete wins for me: (1) a stack of legacy paid AU/VST plugins that never got Universal builds and would cost real money to replace on my Studio, and (2) Adobe CS6 + older LR4 catalogs that just open, no cloud handshake.

On the Adobe timeline SDAVE flagged — I'd bet 2027 not 2026 for the Photoshop/Illustrator Intel drop. They still ship Intel side-by-side in the CC installers and the QA cost against the enterprise install base is low. The one that's already effectively gone in a lot of pro pipelines is Redshift 2026 — Intel path dropped, so anyone Maxon-adjacent is forced off regardless of what Adobe does.