But here’s the rub - how long will Apple write Mac OS that will support Intel? Will they drop it in a year? Two? I’ve never spec’d lower than an upper mid tier build, and as a result usually ended up with builds that exceed $2k. I’m not willing to spend that much money on a box that won’t be upgradable after a couple years. My builds typically last 5-7 years before obsolescence. If I bought the Mac Mini that I feel like meets my current needs, it would cost a little over $2k with an egpu. Now I have no idea how long it would be supported.
Well OS X for PPC saw three major updates and then support for the last update for 5 years. So that's 8 years in total and then it's not like the thing stopped working, it worked exactly the same way as when you had it first. 3rd parties will continue to release universal binary apps for as long as it's financially viable for them, which considering the amount of Intel Macs compared to PPC, will be a long time.
Anyone buying a 16" MBP today could expect at least 5 years macOS updates I think, which in my opinion is more than enough, 7 years is too long to run the same system. I draw the line at 3, but will upgrade yearly if I feel like it as it means you lose a lot less money than running the same system until it has no resale value.