Care to guess how long 2020 iMacs will be supported?

[jazzer15]

My pattern with iMacs has been to get a higher end model, use it for around 5 years and then pass it on to my wife who continues to use it for basic tasks for several years more, absent issues. As I mentioned in another thread, we now have a late 2015 i7 and a late 2009 i7 and I'm thinking about moving the latter computer on (or repurposing it) and buying a 2020. However, given the pending transition to AS I'm not certain my old pattern of purchases is going to hold as I suspect Apple and/or third parties will not support the new Intel Macs for 10 years.

Any guesses as to how long a new 2020 will be a viable machine running a Mac OS? I suspect it will be fine for the 5 years I would use it, but wonder if I would be able to pass it on at that point. If my wife is doing only basic functions, I assume as long as security updates continued she would be able to continue to use the computer for longer than someone who needed particular software, like Final Cut or Lightroom?

 

[CWallace]

Apple will stock parts for them until at least 2025 (when the reach the "Vintage" age).

Apple also historically releases security updates for the last three versions of macOS so that means at least 2023.

As for macOS, I expect macOS 11.1 will support Intel and probably macOS 11.2.

The tent-pole will likely be the Mac Pro. I'm skeptical it will move to Apple Silicon in 2022 (the end of the "two year transition period"), so if it remains on Intel that will ensure continued macOS and security updates.

 

[mj_]

493.71 ± 3,511 days.

That's a good a speculative guess as any

 

[ruslan120]

The Late 2013 MacBook Pro was recently marked as vintage. My guess is around 5-7 years, with patches you could extend that to 7-9 years (to get the newest OS).*
Actually probably not, since newest OS’ might be ARM-only, 5-7 years.

 

[someoneoutthere]

"Owners of iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac products may obtain service and parts from Apple or Apple service providers for 5 years after the product is no longer sold—or longer, where required by law. Apple has discontinued support for certain technologically obsolete products."

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

Learn about your options for getting service and parts for Apple devices that are past their warranty period.

support.apple.com

Cheers!

 

[jazzer15]

The Late 2013 MacBook Pro was recently marked as vintage. My guess is around 5-7 years, with patches you could extend that to 7-9 years (to get the newest OS).*
Actually probably not, since newest OS’ might be ARM-only, 5-7 years.

Our late 2009 iMac is "obsolete" but it was upgradeable to High Sierra, which will receive security updates likely until November. If they did the same thing with the 2020 iMac (which I don't anticipate), that would mean it would be able to be upgraded to every operating system until 2027-2028 and then continue to receive security updates for 3 years after that.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

There's "support" and "support." You're not gong to find much in the way of support today from Apple or repair shops for 10-year-old Macs. On the hardware side (as has already been noted), the availability of parts and repair service is going to end in 5-7 years.

In terms of being able to get the latest operating system, that tends to end after 6-8 years (there's no hard-and-fast rule for this). For example, my early 2008 iMac that came with OS X 10.5.2 can't be upgraded beyond OS X 10.11.6. My late 2013 iMac that came with OS X 10.8.4 has reached its sunset at macOS 10.15.x. HOWEVER, security patches continue to be released for about another two years (no hard-and-fast rule on that, either).

There's a good question as to whether Apple will follow that pattern for Intel Macs once they've made the full transition to Apple Silicon. On the hardware side, yes. The hardware/repair side of things tends to be driven by consumer protection laws. However, consumer protection laws tend to have little to say regarding things like OS upgrades.

My own feeling is that support for Intel Macs in new versions of macOS may turn out to be on the short side, rather than the long side - maybe 4-5 major upgrades after Apple sells its last Intel Mac, rather than 6-8. Since Intel Macs may still be produced in 2022, an Intel iMac purchased today may still be looking at 6-7 years of OS upgrades, a 2021 Intel might be looking at 5-6 years, and only 2022 Intel 4-5 years.

However, that doesn't mean the Mac stops working. Usually an OS has a practical lifespan of 3 or more years beyond original release - at that point it may no longer support newer technologies and techniques, especially when it comes to things like browser security.

My early 2008 iMac (now over 12 years old) still boots and functions. Not well enough to be a pleasant experience, but it works. That's with an OS released about 5 years ago. Upgrading to an SSD would probably improve things, but I already decided that wasn't worth the effort 3 years ago, so it's definitely not worth the bother today.

So back to your original target number of 10 years. That's a stretch even today, but I'd think 8 years will still be quite possible.

 

[jazzer15]

My own feeling is that support for Intel Macs in new versions of macOS may turn out to be on the short side, rather than the long side - maybe 4-5 major upgrades after Apple sells its last Intel Mac, rather than 6-8. Since Intel Macs may still be produced in 2022, an Intel iMac purchased today may still be looking at 6-7 years of OS upgrades, a 2021 Intel might be looking at 5-6 years, and only 2022 Intel 4-5 years.

However, that doesn't mean the Mac stops working. Usually an OS has a practical lifespan of 3 or more years beyond original release - at that point it may no longer support newer technologies and techniques, especially when it comes to things like browser security.

My early 2008 iMac (now over 12 years old) still boots and functions. Not well enough to be a pleasant experience, but it works. That's with an OS released about 5 years ago. Upgrading to an SSD would probably improve things, but I already decided that wasn't worth the effort 3 years ago, so it's definitely not worth the bother today.

So back to your original target number of 10 years. That's a stretch even today, but I'd think 8 years will still be quite possible.

It's all speculation, of course, but I hope that's right. There is always the wild card of some possible hardware failure, but on the software side it would be nice to think that it would be supported for that long.

Like you I had considered the SSD upgrade for our 2009 iMac, but I have pretty much decided that along with needing to patch the OS, it isn't worth the effort at this point. I will still be able to repurpose it with its current drive for other duties.

 

[rambo47]

My 2010 MBA was marked as "no longer supported," then EOL, and finally "WTF?". Still working (although I upgraded) well running High Sierra.