Here Are the macOS Sequoia Features Intel Macs Don't Support

[chucker23n1]

Original Rosetta was kept around for about 5-6 years; it was dropped in 10.7 Lion in 2011. We're only a bit over 3 and a half years past the introduction of the M1 in late 2020. Given that Apple is using Rosetta 2 for things like the Game Porting Toolkit, and the fact that the Apple Silicon transition was only completed a year ago (whereas the PPC to Intel transition was completed in 8 months between January and August 2006) we might see Rosetta around for a few more years.

Plus, they even wrote a bridge to access Rosetta from within Linux VMs.

So it's possible they'll simply leave it around.

(One factor with Rosetta 1 is that portions were licensed from an IBM subsidiary, so other than engineering complexity concerns, perhaps they also didn't see why they'd keep paying for the license. Rosetta 2, meanwhile, is I believe entirely in-house.)

 

[citysnaps]

Not in Cooks world, as long as he gets credit for the keynote, appears in magazines, and feels good, the customer does not matter.

That's silly. Cook cares most about Apple customers as that's what keeps Apple product sales high and Apple employees employed.

While dozens of Silicon Valley tech companies were having massive layoffs of thousands of employees during the pandemic, Apple had none.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

This is really a Cook strategy. Jobs tried hard to not do this, sure a few times problems meant extending the delivery, but Jobs was clearly not happy about it and in most cases people that failed to deliver were held accountable.

Not in Cooks world, as long as he gets credit for the keynote, appears in magazines, and feels good, the customer does not matter.

I don't think Cook likes being the news and limelight at all and would prefer to be invisible to public, but can't due to the nature of the position.

 

[0423MAC]

I am going to really miss the Intel era because of the flexibility those machines had 💔

 

[DavidLeblond]

Yes I have tried many of them, including chatGPT, and I don't find them any more useful than a good DDG or Google search query. I also really dislike the superfluous chatter and chat-like responses, the use of training of data without the creators consent and the lack of referencing the original sources. I have zero need for virtual assistants.

In addition, I want nothing to do with any Sam Altman affiliated companies.

Only part of it that uses Open AI is opt-in anyway, so that's pretty easy to avoid even when using Apple Intelligence.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Only part of it that uses Open AI is opt-in anyway, so that's pretty easy to avoid even when using Apple Intelligence.

I guess you missed the rest of it that wasn't specific to openAI.

I don't use Siri either, or Alexa, or Okay Google. I've tried them all.

 

[chucker23n1]

This is really a Cook strategy. Jobs tried hard to not do this, sure a few times problems meant extending the delivery, but Jobs was clearly not happy about it and in most cases people that failed to deliver were held accountable.

Yes, I think Jobs tried harder to synchronize product launches. He loved finishing off a demo with a slide saying "Today!" (as in: everyone can try the stuff he just showed within a few hours), and I think that was great.

I do miss that, but to be fair, Cook has a far more complex company to manage. Jobs kept the portfolio far more lean, and that had downsides of its own.

Not in Cooks world, as long as he gets credit for the keynote, appears in magazines, and feels good, the customer does not matter.

I don't buy that. I have critiques when it comes to Cook, but I believe he genuinely cares about what he calls "customer sat". It's probably one of the most important metrics he uses to make decisions.

 

[TeaOem]

This is really weird. I'm on a 2018 MacBook Air. Why are they saying Sequoia supports the same systems as Sonoma, yet I'm currently running Sonoma and my MacBook Air is not included? They need to get their messaging right.

Yep. They made a mistake here and to summarize every hardware that has dropped the support this season:

- iOS 18: no change
- iPad OS 18: iPad 6th, iPad Pro 10.5" & 2nd 12.9" dropped the support (oddly the 7th Gen iPad is supported with A10 chip and 3GB RAM, but the 2017 A10X iPad Pros with 4GB RAM aren't supported - actually on those devices the iPadOS 18 Developer Beta is selectable in settings, but no Build version available (yet)?

Somebody may ask Apple's PR whether this is simply a mistake or whether they are extending support as they did with the Stage Manager back in 2022. (Suddenly the M2 iPad Air only has a 9 core GPU...)

- watchOS 11: Apple Watch Series 4, 5 & 1st SE
- macOS Sequoia: MacBook Air 2018 & 2019

Apple Intelligence: M-series iPads & Macs + iPhone 15 Pro (Max)/A17 Pro devices with at least 8GB of RAM.

That's all.

 

[citysnaps]

I don't think Cook likes being the news and limelight at all and would prefer to be invisible to public, but can't due to the nature of the position.

Spot-on. My sense is that Cook is shy, and would rather not be in the limelight. Still, that's part of his job promoting Apple and its products to keep the company successful.

I've seen him a couple times at a local Starbucks with his iPad. Always away from other people and trying not to be noticed.

 

[vkd]

That's silly. Cook cares most about Apple customers as that's what keeps Apple product sales high and Apple employees employed.

While dozens of Silicon Valley tech companies were having massive layoffs of thousands of employees during the pandemic, Apple had none.

...shareholders.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

This is really a Cook strategy. Jobs tried hard to not do this, sure a few times problems meant extending the delivery, but Jobs was clearly not happy about it and in most cases people that failed to deliver were held accountable.

Not in Cooks world, as long as he gets credit for the keynote, appears in magazines, and feels good, the customer does not matter.

Under Jobs…

Push notifications for iOS: announced in June 2008 for shipping in September, actually didn’t ship until June 2009.

Mac OS X Leopard: scheduled for fall 2006 release, actually released in October 2007 after two delays.
MMS support: announced in March 2009 to ship in June 2009, actually didn’t ship until September 2009.
iOS4 for iPad: delay from June 2010 to November 2010.
White iPhone 4: announced in June 2010, shipped in April 2011.

There’s also just a simple fact that the tech world moved much slower back then, and it wasn’t uncommon for there to be months and months between a product introduction and when it actually ships, even for smaller products.
The first iMac, for example, was announced in May 1998, but didn’t ship until August.
The first Apple TV was announced in September 2006, but didn’t ship until March 2007.
These days, the majority of the time, wait between announcement and release is a couple weeks at most, with exceptions, of course.

 

[citysnaps]

...shareholders.

Nope... Without happy customers there would be no shareholders. And no Apple employees.

 

[Nozgog]

There might be a certain space and speed benefit to dropping Intel support in macOS - macOS for AS might then be smaller and use less RAM/resources if it is just running the ARM version apps, libs, etc.

 

[krspkbl]

i'd maybe give it another year and then completely ditch intel. apple silicon has been around long enough now. if you don't like the lack of features then buy an AS mac or buy a Windows machine. apple has been more than fair enough.

 

[vkd]

Nope... Without happy customers there would be no shareholders. And no Apple employees.

Prime concern is pleasing shareholders. Having happy customers is a factor in attaining that.

 

[citysnaps]

Prime concern is pleasing shareholders. Having happy customers is a factor in attaining that.

That's the old-school traditional model. Apple has moved beyond that. Customers first.

That's why Apple sweats the details and provides superior products over competitors.

 

[lkrupp]

There might be a certain space and speed benefit to dropping Intel support in macOS - macOS for AS might then be smaller and use less RAM/resources if it is just running the ARM version apps, libs, etc.

The first version of Rosetta was released in 2006 (for the PPC-to-Intel transition) and was supported until 2011. I would expect a similar timeline for Rosetta 2. Plenty of time for developers to get their acts together. But there will certainly be weeping, wailing, and grinding of teeth when it does happen.

Wikipedia

 

[bradman83]

Next year there's probably going to be a similar article titled "Here Are the macOS *insert name here* Features M1 Macs Won't Support" 😢

Whereas Apple ties specific iPhone features to specific models even though prior generations could theoretically support them, Apple generally doesn't do this with macOS unless there are specific hardware reasons why.

The features from recent macOS releases that are unsupported on Intel Macs all rely on the Neural Engine. During the Intel era when Apple introduced Metal it was only available on models with compatible GPUs. Hardware accelerated ray-tracing and the capabilities that unlocks is only available on M3 and higher Macs.

By the time macOS 16 is released next fall the first M1 Macs will be going on 5 years old. I doubt they'll be many restrictions on those machines yet, but there will come a point, probably by 2027, where those units do start losing support.

 

[Fuzzball84]

There had been a rumor they wouldn’t support desktop wallpapers 🤔

Apparently it requires Apple Silicon

But when it was shown that background wallpapers had been on Mac prior to Apple Silicon… it was swiftly re enabled in software.

😜😜😜

 

[spcopsmac21]

When Apple released macOS Monterey in 2021, some key features required a Mac with Apple silicon. The same scenario played out with macOS Ventura in 2022, and then again the following year with the release of macOS Sonoma. With macOS Sequoia set to arrive in the fall, which new features can Intel Mac owners expect to be unavailable to them this time around?

Apple says that macOS Sequoia is compatible with the same Macs as macOS Sonoma, but Apple's fine print reveals that certain new features won't work on Intel machines. If you're still on an Intel Mac, here's what you won't have access to.

Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence, a deeply integrated, personalized AI feature set for Apple devices that uses cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence to enhance the user experience, won't be available on Intel Macs. Apple says the advanced features require its M1 chip or later, so if your Mac was released before November 2020, you're out of luck.

• These Apple Intelligence Features Won't Be Ready Until 2025

Live Audio Transcription

Live audio transcription lets you record audio sessions within notes in Apple Notes, and generate live audio transcriptions that can be searched through or combined with other documents, checklists, or documents. According to Apple, support for live audio transcription in the Notes app is limited to machines powered by Apple silicon.

What Else?

Surprisingly, nothing! Apple is not withholding any other new features in macOS Sequoia, meaning users with supported Intel Macs will be able to enjoy things like the ability to schedule messages to send later, Reminder integration with Calendars, a new standalone Passwords app, window tiling, and more. Even Apple's latest continuity feature, iPhone Mirroring, works on Intel-based Mac computers that have a T2 Security Chip. For all the details, be sure to check out our macOS 15 roundup.

On that note, let's review which Mac models that macOS Sequoia supports. As mentioned above, macOS 15 works with the same Macs as macOS Sonoma. They include:

• MacBook Air (2020 and later)
  
• MacBook Pro (2018 and later)
  
• iMac (2019 and later)
  
• Mac Mini (2018 and later)
  
• iMac Pro (2017 and later)
  
• Mac Pro (2019 and later)
  
• Mac Studio (2022 and later)

You can check your Mac's model by clicking the Apple in the menu bar and choosing About This Mac. macOS Sequoia is currently in developer beta, with a public beta expected later this month, before Apple's latest Mac software gets a general release in the fall.

Article Link: Here Are the macOS Sequoia Features Intel Macs Won't Support

Those poor people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mac Pro sets ups to fill their design offices.

The local university and its art department are upgrading the twelve Mac Pros they bought right before the silicon switch.

They are buying PCs.

 

[AppleMega]

I'm not ragging on those who need an Intel or can't afford to go Apple Silicon, but I can't imagine still using an Intel Mac. I upgraded my MacBook Pro a year early to get the M1. Probably will not have to upgrade for twice as many years as normal for me.

Fan noise? Hesitation? Beachballs*? What are those?

*extraordinarily rare

 

[Churchman]

Yes, I think Jobs tried harder to synchronize product launches. He loved finishing off a demo with a slide saying "Today!" (as in: everyone can try the stuff he just showed within a few hours), and I think that was great.

I do miss that, but to be fair, Cook has a far more complex company to manage. Jobs kept the portfolio far more lean, and that had downsides of its own.



I don't buy that. I have critiques when it comes to Cook, but I believe he genuinely cares about what he calls "customer sat". It's probably one of the most important metrics he uses to make decisions.

I tend to disagree with the notion that Tim Cook genuinely cares about the customer.

If he did, he would listen to and act responsively to customer complaints about:
- Apple pricing in general...
- about base RAM in products...
- about SD option prices...
- about teasing features that aren't available for 6 / 7 / 8 / 10 / 12 months rather than the Jobs deal of saying, "By the way, all of this is available - TODAY!"...
- about strange and sometimes nonsensical launch & update cycles which leaves some high volume products used by more people for daily productivity to languish with old chips for years while lower volume products get more frequent updates...
- about bad software (Siri?) and software bugs that have been around uncorrected for ages that Apple seems to refuse to give a care about...
- about simple OS functionality that could be added to for example, iPad OS, that many have been screaming for, for years, to help increase productivity and product utility --- that Apple refuses to do...
- about releasing sub-par fabric based magical accessories that have only a percentage of the life and durability of the better leather versions that Apple made in prior years (it's not about reducing carbon footprints and being more animal friendly... it's about upping customer's replacement cycles and growing accessory revenues by 2-3X by using sub-par materials to force customers to come back to the Apple store 3X to buy product holders when they would have only bought the product 1x with leather in prior years)...
- about how he pressured Apple's engineering team in 2023 to get Vision Pro goggles released before they were perfected, not because the customer wanted them, but because he wanted to juice the stock price and get developers working ASAP on App production to tempt customers sooner rather than later... all while he ignored A.I. (which I hate). So in 2024, Tim realizes that A.I. is now a thing and he has no plan for it. So he scrambles to cobble something together using Google and Sam Altman stuff.... finally deciding to do something with Siri after 13 years...

None of that sounds like putting the customer / customer care / customer strategy at the #1 spot in corporate planning. Or even putting them in the the top 5. Rather it sounds like the #1 spot in Apple corporate planning is held by revenue maximization. I don't have an issue with that. I have worked in marketing at Amazon and at two auto companies. I know the pressures of meeting and growing the numbers weekly / monthly / qrtrly / annually. But having worked at one global company that balances both the bottom line and customer satisfaction in a genius fashion (that would be Toyota), it is possible to have your cake, eat it too, and skate to where the puck is going to be. All Tim / Apple has to do is just raise the customer back up to the #2 spot at a minimum.

Everything that Tim does reflects his background - finance. He is about finding ways to magically grow profit first and foremost. He is less and less about creating the awe-inspiring magical world of Apple.

 

[turbineseaplane]

"Terms accepted"

(handshake)

 

[turbineseaplane]

but I can't imagine still using an Intel Mac

If you dual boot for gaming it makes a ton of sense still

It's a combo that is unmatched in any current Apple products, sadly

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I don't think anyone bought a $50k Mac Pro thinking, "this will last a long time and not at all depreciate in value".

It's mostly "I need as much power as possible right now".

And, they went on to make double/triple/quadruple the return on that investment, eventually retiring it a few years later as a donation to an educational institution and likely never thinks about it anymore.