I currently have a 2009 MacBook Pro which due to its age cannot update the operating system and so restricts what I can do. I'm therefore looking to purchase a more recent Mac (Air this time). I'm a relatively "low end" user (no photo/video/audio editing or gaming). Will waiting for the M4 version of the Mac Air improve future proofing beyond that provided by the M3 and would a "Pro" or "Max" version of M3 or M4 make a difference worth having?
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Future proofing for MAC OSX updates
- Thread starter karlsmacpro
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Nope. In fact, you would be well served with an M2 MBA now and future. There are great price deals on base config.
So do you (and others) think there is no future advantage in having an M3 (or M4) over an M2 beyond today's performance (speed etc) difference? It's just that my 2009 MacBook Pro cannot upload any OSX updates, so I'm wondering when the same will be said for M2, M3, M4 variants respectively.
For your described computing usage, M2 more than suffice. As for macOS updates, Apple typically supports hardware with updates for 5-7 years after it stops selling the model. Apple still sells the M2 MBA.
It's probably true about M2 computing power being sufficient for my needs. It's interesting also what you say about Apple stopping updates 5-7 years after stopping selling a model. That's something that I'll take into account too.
As you are keenly aware from experience, even though a model is no longer is supported by the latest version of macOS or is receiving security updates for supported versions of macOS, the computer still functions and is quite secure for years following considering you don't do stupid stuff like download files and/or install applications from sketchy web sites. A M2 MBA w/ 16GB RAM should last a very long time assuming there is no physical abuse.
Another possibility is to update your current computer to the latest Mac OS with Opencore Legacy Patcher. I'm happily using a very similar MacBook Pro with Sequoia now for browsing and office apps.
This is something I'd heard about. Was it easy to install? I'm not an IT wizard and so would not want to risk running into technical difficulties.
Problem is I'm finding an increasing number of websites cannot be visited due to outdated OS, and some attachments don't display correctly.
It can be a little bit tricky to be honest.
It shouldn't require doing anything with Terminal, as it is all run from a GUI, but I would always make sure you have a drive backup before starting the process, as it doesn't always work.
There is a lot of help on the website linked above.