Dragging along my 32 Bit apps.

[Doctor Grafix]

Retired and part time designer, my 27 iMac has died and it is time for a new one. However, I don't really want to pay subscription prices for CC and Extensis and QXD...and possibly other apps that run in Catalina.
What is the latest and iMac that ships with an OS that will run all my 32 bit apps and still support some 64 bit versions as well?
I have been told that Mojave has had some issues with 32 bit apps and that High Sierra would be the best option.
I have been told that it is impossible to install an older OS than the one that an iMac ships with, so it is imperative that I not simply go buy a new one off the shelf.
Any advice would be great...cheers

 

[Fishrrman]

You can use any Mac that will "natively boot" Mojave.

You CANNOT use Macs which natively require Catalina to boot.

OK, "good ones" should include:
- 2019 iMacs
- 2018 Mini (the "2020" Mini is identical to the 2018 except for storage, and although it ships with Catalina, it can be "wiped clean" and then Mojave can be installed onto it)

You're out of luck with MacBook Pros, unless you want an older/refurb model (but I would not buy ANY MBP from 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 due to the defective butterfly keyboards. AVOID these like you would covid-19).

My suggestions:
Apple-refurbished 2018 Mini with i7 and 512gb SSD. I recommend 16gb of RAM "minimum", get this "right from the factory".
or
2019 27" iMac, either new or Apple-refurbished.

 

[Doctor Grafix]

Does this mean that there are no issues with 32 bit apps on Mojave shipped Macs?

 

[chabig]

Does this mean that there are no issues with 32 bit apps on Mojave shipped Macs?

Correct

 

[Jaaaabs]

This proves how amazing Apple are as a company. When MS released Windows 7 they shipped it with XP compatibility mode where users who had to run XP programs could do it in Windows 7 (without compatibility mode many XP applications wouldn't run).
Apple on the other hand decided to just rip the plaster off the wound and let the user suffer for a while and spend more money on a pain killer (or just pretend that they don't feel any pain). Think different!

 

[TiggrToo]

This proves how amazing Apple are as a company. When MS released Windows 7 they shipped it with XP compatibility mode where users who had to run XP programs could do it in Windows 7 (without compatibility mode many XP applications wouldn't run).
Apple on the other hand decided to just rip the plaster off the wound and let the user suffer for a while and spend more money on a pain killer (or just pretend that they don't feel any pain). Think different!

And, as a result MS have this headache so to hit them.

32 bit support wont last forever. Windows 10 2004 is the first version to not be released as a 32 bit version for OEMs. MS have had to support 32 bit apps for as long as the OS is 32 bit. That later piece is slowly coming to an end.

 

[iamasmith]

It's a familiar topic to me, my Wife is stuck on an old version of MacOS because the companies that she freelances for use old versions of CC.

I might have to have a play with running older versions of MacOS inside Parallels to see if that provides a viable option for her to try. Some of the spreads she works on are huge but I have the feeling that a modern Mac with a good SSD might be able to perform with a virtualised copy of a 32 bit MacOS.

 

[Jaaaabs]

And, as a result MS have this headache so to hit them.

There was 0 headache as it was a virtual machine, not exactly rocket science to implement. Something that Apple can't afford to do apparently.

 

[dwig]

...
32 bit support wont last forever.

true, but Win10, at least on x86 hardware, will likely retain support for a number of years.

Windows 10 2004 is the first version to not be released as a 32 bit version for OEMs. MS have had to support 32 bit apps for as long as the OS is 32 bit....

While true, this impacts only the hardware that Win10 2004 OEM will work with, not the applications. Win10 64bit, even the current OEM version, still retains full 32bit application support. The only Win10 variant that lacks support for 32bit applications is the ARM version, where the x86 emulation mode only supports 32bit applications.