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How long will Apple release new macOS versions for Intel machines?

petsk

petsk

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 13, 2009
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So how long can we expect Apple to release the newest macOS for intel Macs, only two years? Really? That is a huge slap in the face on everyone buying a Intel Mac in the past year, not to mention todays buyers. Kind of already regretting buying a MBP 16” if that’s the case. Second hand prices will plummet like a rock!
 
There are 100million+ active Apple Mac users. The vast majority are Intel users (i.e. a few may still be on old PowerPC machines).

I expect support for 4 to 5 years. The user base is bigger and won't be shifting en-masse purely because a new chip has come out.
 
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That's one of the fall backs to any technology purchase made, there's a chance you buy what will soon be old tech. In the last 18 months I've bought almost $9,000 in 2 higher end MacBook Pro's. But you can bet I'll buy one of these machines the day they go on sale. It's expensive to always have the latest and greatest. But it is fun.
 
3-5 years "earliest case scenario" maybe?

Nothing to lose sleep over in my opinion and based on US Government regulations, they may need to support Intel macOS versions for a longer period of time (7 years or more possibly?).

According to a recent MacWorld article:

"Perhaps macOS 10.17 or 10.18 will only support Macs with Apple processors, and eventually, Apple will drop all support for older Macs, including whatever software emulator or translator it provides. All told, the transition will likely be complete by 2023 or 2024".
 
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They said they will also release some new Intel based Macs in the next few months (maybe year), so I think they will support those for at least 5-6 years, so I think current Intel Macs are safe for another 6-8 years, which is similar to currently supported Catalina Macs (oldest are from 2012).

I don't think you can call it slap in the face.
 
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What you have to understand though is Apple's determination now that the decision has been made, not how long they will support intel machines. They have to support them but that is where their commitment now ends.

Within 2-3 years as an intel user, you will feel isolated, Apple will be dangling carrots on a stick from the ARM side of the fence constantly telling the intel users what features and benefits they are missing out on as their intel version of macOS won't be getting the shiny new options that the ARM version of macOS will get.

They will drive upgrading as hard as they can, it is not only a major hardware/software change but a great opportunity for Apple to drive massive revenue from the upgrades in the coming years.

You better believe that their marketing will make you believe there is no option but to upgrade.

This change is not the same as PPC to intel, tech and software is so much different.
 
I would say any intel Mac released this year will still get at least 5 years of support in some form. Apple have the resources to do it now, and why create bad will for themselves where it doesn't need to exist? The bigger question is 5+ full OS versions, or will they stay behind on 11.2 or something, but Apple will support that version with security and feature updates for longer than usual? The latter has its advantages once developer interest in x86 begins to wane as it inevitably will in a few years time (No full OS updates to break things that won’t ever be fixed).
 
One thing is for sure, if you are planning on buying a Mac now, better make sure you intend to keep it for the long term, the resale value on intel machines is going to plummet.
 
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Apple seems to have established a pattern of every two years incrementing the required year by +2.
10.12 (2016): 2010 and newer (with a few 2009 exceptions)
10.14 (2018): 2012 and newer (plus 2010 Mac Pro)
11.0 (2020): 2014 and newer (plus a few 2013 exceptions)
...
12.0? (2028?): 2022 and newer (AMD only)
 
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Let's see what Apple did to PPC.
First intel OS X was Tiger. Then the next release, Leopard, is the last version with PPC support. PPC support was dropped on Snow Leopard.

So based on that, my guess is at least another 2 years, which matches on what Apple said about 2-years transition.
 
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rex450se said:
That's one of the fall backs to any technology purchase made, there's a chance you buy what will soon be old tech. In the last 18 months I've bought almost $9,000 in 2 higher end MacBook Pro's. But you can bet I'll buy one of these machines the day they go on sale. It's expensive to always have the latest and greatest. But it is fun.
Click to expand...

All tech you purchase will be old tech in less than 10 months. If you keep chasing technology, you'll never catch up. People just need to decide to purchase something and stop with the: "I'll wait 1 more year for X." Later; "I'll wait another year for Y"... Like I said, you'll never really catch up.
 
LeeW said:
Indeed, almost every other thread has that :) Although it has probably never been more valid, waiting another year until ARM launches.
Click to expand...

Intel will be supported for at least 5 more years if not more. They just came out with a +$5k Mac Pro and have some more Intel Macs in the pipeline. Also, out of the 100 million or so Mac users they all have Intel Silicon and not all will switch to Apple Silicon in the next 5 years. This is a long term strategy for Apple, it will probably take them close to a decade to phase out every Intel-powered Mac user. I still think waiting another year for ARM is still more of the same “chasing technology”.
 
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aeternitas said:
Intel will be supported for at least 5 more years if not more.
Click to expand...

Of course, they will, but not because they want to, they have to.

Give it 2 years though and they will make you feel like the enemy on an intel based machine. They will dangle carrots on a stick to show you what they have put in ARM-based macOS that you are not getting in intel macOS so you better upgrade.
 
OS 11.0 (the one they just released) -- yes.
OS 11.1 (next year) -- yes.
OS 11.2 (2022) -- probably.
OS 11.3 (2023) -- maybe, but I wouldn't count on it.
OS 11.4 (2024) -- probably NOT.
 
I went through the PPC to Intel transition. At that time Apple's OS releases tended to be every other year, rather than annually these days. Only two versions of Mac OS X supported both platforms then.I suspect a lot will depend on how quickly they complete the transition and how popular the new Apple Silicon Macs are. I remember that they expected the PPC to Intel transition to take two years, but they actually achieved it in about a year. I would expect Apple to release new Intel compatible versions of the the Mac OS for around two years after the end of the transition. Assuming the transition is successful and Apple Silicon Macs are popular then they will want to kill off dual OS support for Intel and Apple Silicon as soon as they can as it it will bloat the code. However I am sure they will continue to support the last Intel compatible version of Mac OS for an extended period. Based on the two year transition we should have at least 4 Mac OS releases that support Intel with extended security and bug fix updates for the last Intel version.
 
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Thinking to buy new (intel) MacBook this year, probably MacBook Pro, upgrading from my mid 2012 MBA. Yes I will be using any mac for long term.. may be for 5-8 years. But after that, it will be very difficult to sell used intel macbook, right? So maybe it’s a better decision to buy ARM mac?
 
I would not worry too much about resale value after 8 years. Yes it probably will not be able to run the latest version of Mac OS, but not that different from any Mac that is 8 years old. As Apple Silicon Macs are unlikely to be able to use Bootcamp it is possible that resale value will hold up with people wanting to either continue to use legacy Mac (Intel) apps that are not updated for Apple Silicon or for those wanting a machine that can use Bootcamp.
 
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