Mac App Store Apps Can Now Drop Support for Intel Macs

[slb]

This is overly aggressive and unnecessary. Apple was still selling Intel Macs just three years ago, and not even 12 months ago, Intel Macs received a major version of macOS. Unfortunately, I'm migrating away from the Mac platform for this and other reasons.

 

[zenwave]

Wait - there's a Mac App Store? 😂

 

[boswald]

If you were only going to choose one, that's a good choice.

Quick Edit: I read that as non-Apple for some reason, but Adguard is indeed Apple Silicon native.

I meant to say "third-party," not "native." I don't know why my fingers leapt to that conclusion.

 

[BeatsByTim]

Or really good that you got incredible value out of a computer whose PC contemporaries are long banished to the ewaste bin or barely functioning depending on the age of your Intel Mac.

What’s that? I can’t hear you over the fans and thermal throttling!!

 

[JPack]

I’m all for aggressive timelines, but Apple was still selling Intel-based Macs as recently as June 2023. I figured they would’ve given Intel users another couple of years.

Sales dates are irrelevant. The countdown always begins from launch date. M1 users will face the same issue soon.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

This is overly aggressive and unnecessary. Apple was still selling Intel Macs just three years ago, and not even 12 months ago, Intel Macs received a major version of macOS. Unfortunately, I'm migrating away from the Mac platform for this and other reasons.

I mean, I agree that computers that are technically perfectly fine are being dropped, but come on. This is aggressive?
The 16- inch MacBook Pro released in November 2019 (7 years ago) is still running the absolute latest version of macOS for now, is only being dropped this year, and will continue receiving security updates through 2029.
10 full years of security updates and seven years of software updates is not at all “agressive”.
You know what was aggressive? The 2008 MacBook Air being dropped with mountain lion, and receiving its final security update in 2012.
Or how about the skylike era of MacBook Pros from 2016, which were dropped four years ago and haven’t received security updates in over two years.
If anything, the last MacBook pros, MacPros and iMacs with Intel processors, we’re actually given quite a generous amount of updates.
Even Windows 11, when released in 2021, dropped some computers quicker than Apple has dropped the last models with Intel chips.

 

[turbineseaplane]

So much great software that's no longer updated is going to get lost in all this.

It bums me out.

 

[fahlman]

The sheer number of apps on my Mac that prompt the Intel warning message tells me that Golden Gate is going to have to wait a while before I upgrade. I had no idea how many apps still run via Rosetta. And I still don't...until...

Okay - I just found a $.99 app that detects all of them

Out of 262 apps - 67 are Intel only. Crap!

C'mon Developers - Please!?!

67 apps that are no longer supported by their developer. Find alternatives.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

The thing that I am most interested to see is when exactly Apple drops support for M1. To this day the M1 is a very performant chip. I am sure we are at least two years from that, but it sure would be nice to see them give it a few extra years.

 

[abenamu]

The thing that I am most interested to see is when exactly Apple drops support for M1. To this day the M1 is a very performant chip. I am sure we are at least two years from that, but it sure would be nice to see them give it a few extra years.

I do not want to know, M2 Max here, so if I really want to know, 4 more years

 

[PsykX]

Why do they do this? The code is done, no updates have been made to my knowledge and they can just leave it in. Ugh.

Did you actually read the article or just the headline ?

 

[TVreporter]

This is good. If you’re still using Intel Macs at this point you should feel bad.

By all means buy me a new one if it’s no issue for you.

 

[TVreporter]

Well Ternus is already souring me on Day 1.

Until I see a new 27-inch iMac, I’ll continue using my 2019 - it’s got 40GB ram to keep me going for a while.

 

[zeus423]

Well Ternus is already souring me on Day 1.

Until I see a new 27-inch iMac, I’ll continue using my 2019 - it’s got 40GB ram to keep me going for a while.

Twins! I'm on a 27-inch 2019 iMac with 40GB ram, also!!

 

[apparatchik]

There's till about two years left of security updates to Tahoe, so, Intel Macs on Tahoe can count on being secure till around 2028.

Now, if you follow Apple's usual OS update support regardless of architecture, most Intel Macs didn't get Tahoe to begin with because they were above the 6-7 year typical support timeframe.

M1 Macs will probably be joining them in 2027-2028, regardless of architecture. This is just the usual Apple support.

 

[BillyJoeJimBob]

This is good. If you’re still using Intel Macs at this point you should feel bad.

In about 10-15 years, people will be saying this about Apple Silicon.

 

[Makosuke]

The Intel era was great for a while.
The transition was handled very smoothly, we got more power, Win on Mac, less niche hardware, Steam with so many games.

Then AMD stopped being a proper competitor, Intel got lazy and released stagnating updates, the world moved toward laptops, ARM got really good.

My M1 Mac Mini is still incredible, but I miss a lot of things from the Intel era.

This is a good summary of how it felt to me as well.

While I appreciate longer-term support, I also get why you'd want to drop it when I compare the final generation of Intel Macs to the first generation of AS ones--I have a final-generation maxed-out i9 iMac and the performance difference (not to mention noise difference) between it and my aging M1 Max MPB is really substantial--one is starting to feel old and the other I wouldn't know wasn't brand new except the space bar is sticky.

It's even more noticeable when I compare the higher-end Wintel laptops at work to that same MBP--they're several years newer and "nice computers" on paper, but the performance (and battery life, and fan noise) make them feel crusty and ancient.

I can't honestly say I will mist much from the Intel era. Being able to boot into Windows is pretty much it, and even that I only did to play through VC4, so despite it being an option I haven't actually bothered in years.

Looking at where I stand for macOS 27 at work, there's going to be almost no impact--about 70% are HP crap in the printers folder (no HP printers in the building even if they don't have AS versions), 20% are Ricoh printer crap (we do have a Ricoh printer but the actual driver is fine so shouldn't be any effect there either), and 7% are random old things that I didn't even realize were installed.

The sole app that will actually be noticed is Google Earth Pro, which still doesn't have an AS version and probably never will. The lack of that might actually be an issue if I can't do what I need to on the web.

Why do they do this? The code is done, no updates have been made to my knowledge and they can just leave it in. Ugh.

It's not like Apple is telling developers to remove support, they're just saying that they can remove support if they want. If the developers see a market for continuing to offer Intel support, they will.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Why do they do this? The code is done, no updates have been made to my knowledge and they can just leave it in. Ugh.

Microsoft could do it to piss off some people and make them buy a new computer and by chance they cannot afford a mac so they will buy a windows laptop !

 

[redheeler]

PPC got one Major OS release, 10.5 Leopard, and then it was gone. There were PowerPC Macs that were still shipping and came with Leopard in the box and never got a major update. This was back when there were 18 to 24 months between Mac OS X releases though, so it worked out to over three years from announcement I think. But once the MacOS App Store landed in 10.6.8, PowerPC support from developers basically evaporated.

See above. The earliest Intel Macs didn’t have it much better either. The Core Duo and Core Solo based Macs only got Leopard and Snow Leapard because those processors were only 32bit. So only about 3 years for them also. This era of long lived macOS support is very new.

Yes, and it was awful. So many great machines ended up severely handicapped because of the accelerated timeline Apple imposed for phasing out architecture support.

The PowerPC community refused to give up and projects like TenFourFox carried on for many years afterward. Basically it was like open-source developers working for free just to fix their s**t support timeline and keep their abandoned hardware alive. Even that wasn't enough to fully make up for it.

What upset me about Apple's behavior this time around was announcing the dropping of Intel a full year before it happened was basically giving developers of new apps the green light to forget about it. The verbiage continues to be really dismissive of Intel-based machines as if Apple wants all of them unsupported by everything tomorrow. Not to mention leaving them on Tahoe which was a lot like leaving PowerPC on Leopard – these are unfinished versions of MacOS and not appropriate to be the final resting place for a generation-defining class of machines.

 

[DBRK95B]

This is good. If you’re still using Intel Macs at this point you should feel bad.

On the contrary, I feel good that my 2017 MacBook Pro and 2017 5K iMac are still able to satisfactorily handle all the tasks that I need them for, am glad that I can run Sequioa on my Intel Macs thanks to OCLP, and am happy that I can hold off buying by a new Apple Silicon Mac for at least another year. Also, I feel good that my APPL shares have kept rising in value, so I'm not overly concerned that the price of a new replacement MacBook or MacMini will be higher next year than it was two months ago.
In fact, the only thing I feel bad about is that Apple has not yet released a 27" (or 32") M-series iMac. But I'm hopeful that one might be forthcoming within the next 12 months.

 

[baconcat_8964]

This is good. If you’re still using Intel Macs at this point you should feel bad.

8bitguy said in one of his old videos: Old Mac with macOS, it's still usable, but lost future updates and newer applications. However, old Mac with Windows or Linux, it is still decent (and usually affordable) computer.

 

[Hajj.david]

The sheer number of apps on my Mac that prompt the Intel warning message tells me that Golden Gate is going to have to wait a while before I upgrade. I had no idea how many apps still run via Rosetta. And I still don't...until...

Okay - I just found a $.99 app that detects all of them

Out of 262 apps - 67 are Intel only. Crap!

C'mon Developers - Please!?!

No need to get an app, Apple shows you this for free

 

[deconstruct60]

I’m all for aggressive timelines, but Apple was still selling Intel-based Macs as recently as June 2023.

What Apple was selling in 2023 relatively old. The Mini Pro came in January 2023 to replace 2018 boxes that were largely replaced in 2020 with the M1 in 2020. (E.g., there were some server use cases where as much slower system with more RAM happened to be better). Users had to have head in the sand not to know that product was sold well past prime for some narrow use cases where. It probably was planned to ship in late 2022 but the release slid slightly to late January ( 30 days earlier it would have been 2022).

The Mac Pro 2019 was also 4 year old tech foundation on borrowed time. The M1 Ultra outclassed much of the lower end Mac Pro space in 2022.

Apple is not requiring that developers drop this, but how many may 2023 new Mac Pro buyers are paying top dollar to support the app in 2026-7 ? It isn’t just Apple here if customers are not paying for extended support , developers are supposed to work for free? The App Store delivers stats on who/what is buying the apps. Pretty good chance this optional designation was asked for. It isn’t just unilateral Apple action.

I figured they would’ve given Intel users another couple of years.

From a product line perspective they did . In terms of high unit volume, the Intel models were dropped in 2020-21 timeframe. No M1Pro Mini was pretty likely a pandemic quirk combined with MBP Pro models selling better than expected.

Apple could have done a M1 Ultra outclassed much, but that just would have killed off the Intel Mac Pro quicker. Up not upgrading the MP 2019 it got more time ( before falling into Vintage and Obsolete list ). But solely by itself there is no sustainable ecosystem supported by just one relatively very low volume product.


.

 

[Hajj.david]

While I know this sucks. Its decisions like this that force technology forward. Microsoft has unbelievably strong backwards compatibility, including running Windows 3.1 apps in some circumstances but all of that has a cost. Microsoft has and continues to struggle with Windows for ARM, they just recently began enforcing standards like 64 bit. Something Apple was easily able to push to

 

[Homy]

Why do they do this? The code is done, no updates have been made to my knowledge and they can just leave it in. Ugh.

"can now remove support for Intel-based Mac computers" means it's up to the devs. They can just leave it but are not required like before. You can also still download your Intel games you purchased as the article says.