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Qedty

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 1, 2017
33
19
Given 8TB 32GB ram M1 Max by insurance. specs are like a million times better than my M1 Pro I had. I only had 512GB hard drive too Lol. I'm very grateful I just want to use what is gonna be have a good time of support left in it or if i should sell.
 
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Rnd-chars

macrumors 6502
Apr 4, 2023
256
237
I expect M-based Macs will follow roughly the same support model as other Apple Silicon devices, but it’s anyone’s guess. Personally, I bet you’ll receive full support from an OS, security and feature perspective for 6 years (so 2027), followed by several more of security only updates.

That might be conservative, though, since the M1 Max has significantly higher memory bandwidth and CPU/GPU compute than later M-base models. The biggest gating factor would be the neural engine, so I’d expect ML features to be the first to drop.
 

PotentPeas

macrumors member
Jun 25, 2023
69
102
I'd actually put it at "at least" 7 years from launch, because I don't see them supporting Apple Silicon Macs for a shorter time than they support iPhones. That said, I'd say the M1 generation actually launched in late 2020 (before M1 Pro / Max were out). I think that it is likely that they'll drop support for all M1 systems at the same time. So, the first OS which "might not" support your system would be macOS 18, releasing in late 2027. Also, it is likely that you will get OS updates but miss out on features going to newer systems for some of this time — like how there are still Intel Macs that can upgrade to Sequoia but they won't be able to use Apple Intelligence.

Apple doesn't announce their support timeframe for products in advance, and their "methodology" for deciding which systems to support and not support with each new OS release is not entirely predictable. So, you've just got to tune in after WWDC each June and see which Macs are getting chopped off.

But, after Apple stops offering new major OS updates for your system, you still get security updates for two more years.
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,584
12,949
Ars Technica has done a great dive into the supported lifespan of Macs going back 20 years. The article is focused more on Intel Macs, but could help inform speculation about M1 Macs. No Apple Silicon machines have yet stopped receiving updates (let alone reached "unsupported" status) so it remains to be seen whether they follow the same timelines as previous Macs.




‎macos-support-timelines-2023.‎002-1440x1080.png
 
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benwiggy

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2012
2,469
284
The article is focused more on Intel Macs,
The article shows how Apple has been dependent on other companies, including Intel, who in turn provide support to Apple for their hardware.

I would hope that now Apple has brought most of the hardware in-house, they can provide longer support.

By 2028, anyone who's still rocking an M1 will want to buy the M8, which has the neural processing hardware needed to run the latest AI features in macOS Compton.
 
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ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,584
12,949
The article shows how Apple has been dependent on other companies, including Intel, who in turn provide support to Apple for their hardware.

I would hope that now Apple has brought most of the hardware in-house, they can provide longer support.
I hope so too! So far I have to say my M1 Macs (an M1 Air and iMac at home, and an M1 Mini at work) are holding up really well and running Sequoia quite smoothly. Not sure what that means behind the scenes, but I'm happy with the results. But I think a lot remains to be seen with the Apple Intelligence stuff and how taxing that ends up being.

By 2028, anyone who's still rocking an M1 will want to buy the M8, which has the neural processing hardware needed to run the latest AI features in macOS Compton.
Right now I'm thinking M4 or 5 might be where I finally am driven to upgrade? But if a compelling form factor came along (a 27" iMac or an ultraportable MacBook, for my needs) I'd probably jump on that more quickly.
 
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