macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs

[Circa1984]

I have an iMac 2019 (not mentioned above as supported or obsolete) with its great 5k monitor that is perfectly fine & will be missed …still no equivalent silicon based model! I will not miss the pokey Intel processor & drive nor the legacy code baggage in the OS & apps. So willing to give it all up for a fresh, lean OS and apps that are 100% x86 code free.

 

[EugW]

This is why I didn't buy an inexpensive M1 MBA this year.

 

[arkitect]

I'm looking forward to still being able to run some old Intel based VM's in Parallels, but will most likely get an Apple Silicon mini at some point. Just the power savings alone would be enough at the moment..

That is a very valid point. 👍

 

[tomtad]

Apple want to push people off the first generation of M series Macs and their marketing has increasingly been targeting those people.

M1 is still super powerful but it’s impacting new Mac sales in a big way. It was just so powerful but AI and the relatively low RAM allocation in base models gives Apple an excuse to end support.

This sounds like bad business practices more than anything. Of course if more RAM is required then by all means but Apple shouldn't be looking for excuses just to artificially force sales

 

[lazyrighteye]

I think there would be huge blow-back if they went "unsupported" with M1. People know (and so does Apple) it's just as capable to run the same OS's as M2-M4. Code-wise, is there really anything that is exclusively M4-compatible because of code that won't run on M1?

The processor is fine (enough). It’s all about the stock RAM - which is both too low and not upgradable.

 

[Eithanius]

Does that mean my MBA M1's gonna kiss goodbye to macOS 27...?

 

[Slix]

I really doubt we'll lose support for all of these at once. But I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks.

If we do lose support for the last Intel MacBook Air and Mac Mini, I'm curious what it'll do to used prices of those Macs. (Also curious about the iMac Pro prices - they're cool and I want one someday. )

 

[azentropy]

I think M1 will be dropped next year or just after that.

Apple want to push people off the first generation of M series Macs and their marketing has increasingly been targeting those people.

M1 is still super powerful but it’s impacting new Mac sales in a big way. It was just so powerful but AI and the relatively low RAM allocation in base models gives Apple an excuse to end support.

Maybe, but I think don't think they would drop the last Intel and the first Apple Silicon in the same year (or any AS before the last Intel). I'd expect a year gap - maybe even two.

 

[jonnysods]

I think M1 will be dropped next year or just after that.

Apple want to push people off the first generation of M series Macs and their marketing has increasingly been targeting those people.

M1 is still super powerful but it’s impacting new Mac sales in a big way. It was just so powerful but AI and the relatively low RAM allocation in base models gives Apple an excuse to end support.

It's crazy how good the M1 is, I have the M1 Max with 32gb ram, I've never owned a Mac this long! Don't get any sense of slowness or issues in the slightest.

 

[Corefile]

Three months ago I never dreamed that macOS 26 would support my Mac Mini 2018. Now you're telling me that macOS 26 won't support my Mac Mini 2018 and I feel outraged.

 

[WilliApple]

So it looks like the 2019 iMac is going too, not surprising but I wonder how long M1 will be lasted for.

As someone who upgraded from M1 to M4, I hope M1 gets supported for as long as it can

 

[lanomds1]

Sad to see my 2017 iMac Pro losing support

 

[GMShadow]

This sounds like bad business practices more than anything. Of course if more RAM is required then by all means but Apple shouldn't be looking for excuses just to artificially force sales

They’re not, the commenter you’re replying to is making things up to suit their narrative.

 

[IceCool]

lol macOS 26

 

[Corefile]

I'd be surprised if they drop the 2018 Mini given that these are what Apple uses for CI test runs of the macOS Redwood internal builds.

 

[waydabber]

Dropping support for the 2018 mini feels somewhat premature as it was discontinued in January 2023 - less than 2 years ago. True, on can get a much more capable Apple Silicon mini replacement for a great price, but still...

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Great. I’ll just download MacOS 25!

 

[zilchfox]

I think M1 will be dropped next year or just after that.

Apple want to push people off the first generation of M series Macs and their marketing has increasingly been targeting those people.

M1 is still super powerful but it’s impacting new Mac sales in a big way. It was just so powerful but AI and the relatively low RAM allocation in base models gives Apple an excuse to end support.

Walmart still sells the M1 MacBook Air brand new, and it was only recent that Apple directly stopped selling the M1 MacBook Air. I think it would be a couple of years before we start seeing M1 devices getting dropped from updates.

I’ll be extremely sad when that happens, my 14” M1 Max is still perfectly functional and very fast.

 

[ypl]

I hope I am too but I think Apple dropping support for M1 Mac’s is coming sooner than we think

Maybe you're right, but that only means no new features provided with new version of macOS. And that's ok as Apple hasn't invented anything interesting for quite some time ayway. Apple will focus on AI features which I don't need (I turned it off few days after testing it).

Security support will be provided for many years to come and that's all I want.

 

[Fuchal]

It's crazy how good the M1 is, I have the M1 Max with 32gb ram, I've never owned a Mac this long! Don't get any sense of slowness or issues in the slightest.

I have an M1 Max 32GB and an M3 Max 32GB and I can't really tell any difference in day to day activities. When I find something that's slow, it's slow on both.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Maybe you're right, but that only means no new features provided with new version of macOS. And that's ok as Apple hasn't invented anything interesting for quite some time ayway. Apple will focus on AI features which I don't need (I turned it off few days after testing it).

Security support will be provided for many years to come and that's all I want.

You could put the last three versions of MacOS in front of me, let me use them for the day, and I couldn't tell you which is which without checking the "About This Mac" field.

 

[LeroyK2]

The next major version of macOS, now dubbed "macOS 26," is rumored to drop support for several older Intel-based Mac models currently compatible with macOS Sequoia.

According to individuals familiar with the matter cited by AppleInsider, the following Macs will not be supported by the next version of macOS:

• MacBook Pro (2018)
  
• iMac Pro (2017)
  
• Mac mini (2018)
  
• MacBook Air (2020, Intel-based)

These Macs were the oldest supported by macOS Sequoia, and their omission in development builds suggests they are likely to be excluded from macOS 26's official compatibility list.

This would mark the second consecutive year that Apple has narrowed support for Intel-based Macs, while continuing to deliver the full feature set primarily to Apple Silicon devices. macOS 26's compatibility list is expected to be as follows:

• MacBook Pro (2019 and later)
  
• iMac (2020 and later)
  
• Mac Pro (2019 and later)
  
• Mac mini (M1 and later)
  
• Mac Studio (all models)
  
• MacBook Air (M1 and later)

macOS 26's first developer beta is expected to exceed 17GB in size—approximately 2GB larger than the initial beta of macOS Sequoia. The update is expected to borrow heavily from the design language of visionOS with 3D translucent materials and rounded window elements. The design changes are said to be among the most significant visual updates to macOS in years.

Apple is rumored to be shifting the naming system used by its software platforms toward consistent year-adjacent numerical titles. As a result, we are expecting the next major version of macOS to be "macOS 26" rather than "macOS 16."

macOS 26 will be officially introduced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which starts on June 9, with the first developer beta expected to be released immediately following the keynote address. Public beta testing typically follows in July, with a full public release in the fall.

Article Link: macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Four Macs

The mission is now complete. I can no longer tell which Mac I own (Late 1984 perhaps) with the OS being Mac OS 26. Fire all these people. At least steal better ideas. Do you know how long it took me to remember the year I bought my car vs the model year it really is. OMG

 

[ypl]

You could put the last three versions of MacOS in front of me, let me use them for the day, and I couldn't tell you which is which without checking the "About This Mac" field.

Come on! What's about great features like new wallpapers and "just-turn-it-off" Stage Manager?

/s

 

[NapoleonIV]

what about the 2019 iMac? Seems to be lost in the middle.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Even when your Mac gets dropped from the latest, you still have a few years of updates running the version of MacOS you have. Even after that, if you’re smart about how you use your Mac, it’s not like it’s going to turn into a pumpkin. Until earlier this year, I was on a 2013 Mac Pro on Monterey. It ran everything I needed, and I just used Firefox to have a browser that was still getting updates. You still have years of use as long as you don’t care about whatever new features Apple is adding.