Mac App Store Apps Can Now Drop Support for Intel Macs

[Jakol]

As a result of abandoning Intel, Apple will be abandoned. This especially applies to gaming. The new versions of the games I'm currently playing are only for Windows.

Some software developers are abandoning the development of standalone applications altogether and intend to offer only web-based versions....
View attachment 2657873

Google Earth Pro is better than the promoted online replacement....

I t is what it is. What do you suggest? Supporting Intel until the end of time?

 

[Superhai]

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.

That is exactly what they do.

 

[Jakol]

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.

You don't understand how it works. Apple needs to maintain two sets of frameworks that need to be on par ABI wise. Now years after the move to ARM they would need to continuosly update Intel versions to be on par with ARM versions even though all Intel Macs are old under underpowered in comparison.

 

[olavsu1]

I t is what it is. What do you suggest? Supporting Intel until the end of time?

It would be wise to move back to Intel and have the CPU, GPU, RAM and SSD connected to the mobo with connectors. So the user can easily change them themselves as needed.

 

[Jakol]

It would be wise to move back to Intel and have the CPU, GPU, RAM and SSD connected to the mobo with connectors. So the user can easily change them themselves as needed.

I hope this is a joke.

 

[Happy_John]

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.

Yep. The intel era, especially the first half, was great in many ways, not least that, as a hobbyist, you could do a lot of upgrading and modification to the hardware and software.

But those days are gone. For home-upgrades/modifiers, Apple silicon is very boring in comparison, but it’s far more stable and far more performance-efficient.

A notable change for me is simply power consumption. An intel cheesegrater Mac Pro doesn’t make sense as a “always on” machine when electricity prices are high.

My poor 5,1, much as it’s probably my favourite Mac I’ve owned, is related to testing old drives and a means of playing Red Dead Redemption 2.

 

[Jakol]

Yep. The intel era, especially the first half, was great in many ways, not least that, as a hobbyist, you could do a lot of upgrading and modification to the hardware and software.

But those days are gone. For home-upgrades/modifiers, Apple silicon is very juto g in comparison, but it’s far more stable and far more performance-efficient.

A notable change for me is simply power consumption. A cheese grater Mac Pro doesn’t make sense when electricity prices are high.

Even M1 runs great after almost 6 years and power consumption is peanuts in comparison.

 

[DENZIE]

Further fortifying my transition to Linux

 

[Happy_John]

Even M1 runs great after almost 6 years and power consumption is peanuts in comparison.

Yep, the only Intel Macs that come close to that same low power consumption are the 2012-2014 Mac minis - not powerful by today’s standards, but powerful and low consumption enough to keep on 24/7 as small servers.

I have few running as this, but at some pint I’ll replace then with M1 / M2 Mac minis, when those machines become cheap on the second-hand market ( say around $100 or less - but I’ll be waiting awhile fir them to get to that price point - people simply aren’t selling them at “fire sale” prices.

 

[Jakol]

Yep, the only Intel Macs that come close to that same low power consumption are the 2012-2014 Mac minis - not powerful by today’s standards, but powerful and low consumption enough to keep on 24/7 as small servers.

I have few running as this, but at some pint I’ll replace then with M1 / M2 Mac minis, when those machines become cheap on the second-hand market ( say around $100 or less - but I’ll be waiting awhile fir them to get to that price point - people simply aren’t selling them at “fire sale” prices.

I still use late 2011 Mac Mini Server for some stuff like COD2 and Diablo 😀

 

[Jakol]

Further fortifying my transition to Linux

I'm sure you'll have a blast. Good luck.

 

[cicalinarrot]

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.

Yeah, the timeline was fine except for ridiculously pricey Mac Pros from like 3 years ago. That's very sad.
Some people use those machines for 15 or 20 years, 5 year of full support should have been the bare minimum.
They should have stopped selling them sooner.

 

[GregoryPeckEPA]

Even M1 runs great after almost 6 years and power consumption is peanuts in comparison.

I see absolutely no reason to update my M1 Max Studio. It absolutely crushes everything I throw at it! Even the base M1 mini I got in 2020 was just night and day from the Intel MBP I had and the beefy PC I turned into a Hackintosh. I was playing Path of Exile at 1440p at ~50 fps with it. A game notoriously badly optimized even on PC and running a poorly supported Mac version.

My 5700x3D/4070S PC currently draws somewhere around 450W on the high while my Studio caps at about 115W. Most of the time my Mac likely uses 30-40W on average! I don’t think my PC can even reach that low unless it’s asleep! ARM is just too good!

I guess there’s a reason the fans never spun above the lowest setting. Ever.

Mac Studio power consumption and thermal output (BTU) information - Apple Support

Learn about the power consumption and thermal output of Mac Studio computers.

support.apple.com

 

[headlessmike]

As a result of abandoning Intel, Apple will be abandoned. This especially applies to gaming. The new versions of the games I'm currently playing are only for Windows.

Some software developers are abandoning the development of standalone applications altogether and intend to offer only web-based versions....
View attachment 2657873

Google Earth Pro is better than the promoted online replacement....

Hardly any developers write code specific to a given CPU architecture anymore, so developing a game or any other software for macOS is no different now than it was a few years ago when Intel Macs were the norm. The bottleneck is getting developers to target Apple's APIs like Metal. The only practical difference compared to the Intel days is that old, unmaintained x86-64 software may stop running after macOS 27.

Google Earth isn't a great example of this either. They're discontinuing the Windows version as well.

 

[elgipsy]

Wonder when HP will finally update their Easy Scan app to run without Rosetta…

already did. I guess you are still using the app you downloaded from HP.com. You need to uninstall this app and take it directly from the App Store

 

[xpxp2002]

already did. I guess you are still using the app you downloaded from HP.com. You need to uninstall this app and take it directly from the App Store

I did years ago. It still tells me I need Rosetta to run the actual app that handles scanning whenever I try to scan a document though.

 

[sevoneone]

Updates would have to be made for security reasons and to support newly written Universal apps built for the latest macOS.

But they did leave Rosetta in. It will just be hidden away so that new and non-game apps can't use it. But it's still there to run some selection of old legacy x86-64 games.

What vintage games are so important that Apple will still be including a hidden non-updated Rosetta?

Maybe there are still some old non-updated games bringing in major App Store revenue?

https://developer.apple.com/games/game-porting-toolkit/
Because Apple want to make it easy for game devs to bring their Windows/DirectX games to Mac. And games are a fundamentally different category more like movies or books than software in modern culture. Extended support for older titles has advantages. Yes, there are games on the App store that have been out of active development for a decade. Whose going to port those?

I still do not understand why every single Apple silicon chip Mac cannot upgrade its internal storage after purchase.
This and the lack of larger screen iMac is stopping me from moving from Intel. 😭

While Apple uses off the shelf flash memory, the use a custom storage controller that is part of Apple Silicon. The biggest advantages are security and speed. It isn't new for Apple Silicon either. It started with Intel Macs that had the T2 chip. Up to that point most Macs had user replicable storage. Since Apple only needed the flash chips they soldered them to the board to save space and money. But... the current Mac Mini and Studio actually both have socketed storage, and there are paths for upgrading both though not "official."

With upcoming macOS no longer supporting any Mac, this was bound to happen. There will be so many Intel Macs still in good working condition and bad that this is happening.

And those Macs and their current software in good working condition are not going to spontaneously stop working because of this announcement. There will still be developers that choose to support intel. A lot of developers it is as simple as clicking a checkbox when building their app. They're not going to limit their audience for no reason.

As a result of abandoning Intel, Apple will be abandoned. This especially applies to gaming. The new versions of the games I'm currently playing are only for Windows.

Aside from enthusiasts and tinkerers with Mac Pros and Hackintosh builds, there are not really any Intel based Macs you could call "good for gaming." Apple Silicon is a different story though. Apple keeps making it easier for developers with the Game Porting Toolkit, and I think it is only a matter of time before a mainstream game studio leans in. Getting a game running on AS and Metal means potential access to Mac, iPhone/iPad and AppleTV.

Go see what people are doing with Crossover Games, Golden Gate and the new GPTK on M3 and up. It's not perfect, but it is a big step. Modern AAA Windows games playing on M4 Pro/Max with reasonable performance.

 

[platinumaqua]

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.

AMD began to turn around when Intel stagnated on 14nm/+++++

 

[CJM]

To make money. They can only do that if you buy new hardware/software.

I’m not trying to make excuses for apple here but you don’t have to buy new stuff. There’s always the option of used or new old stock.

That said, checking prices, even M2 Macs still hold on to a decent chunk of their value..

 

[Jakol]

I see absolutely no reason to update my M1 Max Studio. It absolutely crushes everything I throw at it! Even the base M1 mini I got in 2020 was just night and day from the Intel MBP I had and the beefy PC I turned into a Hackintosh. I was playing Path of Exile at 1440p at ~50 fps with it. A game notoriously badly optimized even on PC and running a poorly supported Mac version.

My 5700x3D/4070S PC currently draws somewhere around 450W on the high while my Studio caps at about 115W. Most of the time my Mac likely uses 30-40W on average! I don’t think my PC can even reach that low unless it’s asleep! ARM is just too good!

I guess there’s a reason the fans never spun above the lowest setting. Ever.

Mac Studio power consumption and thermal output (BTU) information - Apple Support

Learn about the power consumption and thermal output of Mac Studio computers.

support.apple.com

M1 Max will be kicking for a long time still.

 

[VMukhtarov]

Last month I bought an unused Mac mini (late 2014) with an i5 2.6, 8GB and upgraded it with 1TB SSD that I already had. Also connected original 1TB HDD for Jellyfin library and another 500GB HDD for shared Time Machine via network for my MacBook Air. Perfect little box with Monterey + Windows 10 in bootcamp for old games.

 

[Happy_John]

I’m not trying to make excuses for apple here but you don’t have to buy new stuff. There’s always the option of used or new old stock.

That said, checking prices, even M2 Macs still hold on to a decent chunk of their value..

With good reason. There's little to no incentive for owners to sell an M2 or M1 at a low price. In 2026, they're still good and still useful.

 

[Happy_John]

I bought an unused Mac mini (late 2014) with an i5 2.6, 8GB and upgraded it with 1TB SSD that I already had. Also connected original 1TB HDD for Jellyfin library and another 500GB HDD for shared Time Machine via network for my MacBook Air. Perfect little box with Monterey + Windows 10 in bootcamp for old games.

Yep. And the 2012s and 2014s are cheap on the second-hand market. People are selling them because they haven't realised how useful they can be when repurposed as a "headless" box.

The 2014s perform better, but the 2012s still have USB 3.0 ( so great for connecting lots of storage if speed is not a concern, e.g. TM backups, archiving), and you have slotted RAM and two SATA bays.

The 2011s aren't bad either, but, if being second hand, the ones with the GPU are sometimes risky, as those GPUs are the one comment that is most likely to die.

The unibody Mac inis with integrated graphics pretty much last forever, bar a nasty accident.

 

[leonremi]

Who even uses the Mac AppStore?

 

[Happy_John]

Wonder when HP will finally update their Easy Scan app to run without Rosetta…

I finally gave up on using a HP scanner earlier this year. The HP software for Mac ( drivers and EasyScan) was just too rage-inducing.