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Uh oh, that weird 2019 iMac that was late without T2 was holding OCLP together. T2 will make it far harder and bugger to decrypt the bootloader and get macOS26 support on other macs. That does start a timer on the project, though there's still years of security updates to go for Sequoia so they can keep going and fine tuning existing OS's for years to come.
 
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If we consider that intel macs according to rumors are still gonna be supported this round, and that there is a big gap in performance between intel and M1, I would expect Apple to support these last for AT LEAST 2 years after intel, hence at least till macOS 28.

This is what both logic and hope lead me to think.
 
Would be interesting to hear the reasoning. It is not like the Intel macs from 2018 are that different inbetween them (except the iMacs that don't have T2).
I mean, if you can support one of them, why not all of them?
One day, Intel support will be gone, for sure, but dropping random models without real technical reasons just make Apple look bad.
 
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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
i feel your frustration…
but thanks for the laughter!!!
 
Not sure I want to give up my setup: iMac Pro 10-core, MacBook Pro 16 2019 and a mac mini 2018 i7/64/1TB. Yes, I do have a 14" M1 Max too, but the 16" has a nicer screen, without the silly notch.
Not feeling all that different in day-to-day work between them. And the mac mini is great for running loads of VMs under Fusion.
Well, at least 2 more years before I have to rethink things, at least.
 
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If we consider that intel macs according to rumors are still gonna be supported this round, and that there is a big gap in performance between intel and M1, I would expect Apple to support these last for AT LEAST 2 years after intel, hence at least till macOS 28.

This is what both logic and hope lead me to think.

I hope every Apple Silicon mac is supported for longer than any Intel mac. They fully control the full SoC and all its associated drivers, and it's not holding them back from dumping any binaries like the Intel ones are which is one reason they drop a release year ever year. 5 years for an Intel mac is something I'd consider ok on a smartphone but outright bad on a desktop OS. At 8 years for the best Intel mac, I don't think asking for 10 years of support for Apple Silicon is unreasonable.


%E2%80%8Emacos-support-timelines-2023.%E2%80%8E001-1440x1080.png
 
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I hope Apple at least leaves Intel macs on a high note with the last OS that supports them at all, good performance and not just leaving them junked
 
Yeah, unfortunately I'd only expect it to be a few percent better, not a drastic change in their software QA which has been total garbage for over a decade including on iOS where you can't blame x86 binaries somehow making it worse
 
Final year for intel support I reckon. I wonder how long before M1 gets cut off?
I currently use Intel Macs for myself and some staff, (we're in industrial electronics and process).
I've found that I can't use the M series processors, they don't have the support/drivers necessary and as such I currently have 3 Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro left that are supported.
After that I'll have to start leaving Apple behind and I have to admit I'm not at all looking forward saying goodbye to OSX.
 
I hope every Apple Silicon mac is supported for longer than any Intel mac. They fully control the full SoC and all its associated drivers, and it's not holding them back from dumping any binaries like the Intel ones are which is one reason they drop a release year ever year. 5 years for an Intel mac is something I'd consider ok on a smartphone but outright bad on a desktop OS. At 8 years for the best Intel mac, I don't think asking for 10 years of support for Apple Silicon is unreasonable.


%E2%80%8Emacos-support-timelines-2023.%E2%80%8E001-1440x1080.png
Let’s cross fingers 🤞🏼
 
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I currently use Intel Macs for myself and some staff, (we're in industrial electronics and process).
I've found that I can't use the M series processors, they don't have the support/drivers necessary and as such I currently have 3 Macbook Pro and a Mac Pro left that are supported.
After that I'll have to start leaving Apple behind and I have to admit I'm not at all looking forward saying goodbye to OSX.
Reminds me of those articles about the people who still use PowerPC macs for one specific thing, some DAC or niche scientific software or something or other that they just can't get over or is more expensive that it's worth to.

I guess now we're just old enough to be those people, eh?

 
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The stinky thing of Apple's dropping support practices is that they drop support by generation, not actual specs. It does not matter if you have the base Macbook Pro 2018 or the maxed one, you are out anyway.
Wondering if they will do the same with the M devices, like dropping generation independently if you configured the device with base M or Pro or Max.
 
My No. 1 question is whether this update will allow eGPU support for older macs? MacOS 12.6.7 is the last version that supports eGPUs.
 
The stinky thing of Apple's dropping support practices is that they drop support by generation, not actual specs. It does not matter if you have the base Macbook Pro 2018 or the maxed one, you are out anyway.
Wondering if they will do the same with the M devices, like dropping generation independently if you configured the device with base M or Pro or Max.

Yes, it feels icky that it's just a year at a time, rather than the old model of a technical line in the sand, even if arbitrary. When it was 64 bit drivers or Metal or Metal 2, ok, but now it's just getting rid of support with sometimes a line drawn between very similar systems with nothing architecturally different but the year moving forward.
 
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As someone whose family still owns a 2020 Intel-based MacBook Air, I'm a little puzzled by the discontinuation of this model when the iMac introduced just six months later is still in the mix. Perhaps it's the fact that the 2020 MacBook Air had a very short shelf life (discontinued in November of 2020) while the iMac was around into early 2022. Our MacBook Air was my daughter's machine in high school but it became apparent that it wasn't enough for college, so it was replaced by an 14" M4 Max MacBook Pro. My wife uses the MacBook Air now but its clear that this machine's shelf life will come to an end soon, if anything for new macOS updates. (not security related)
 
Very true. I used my non-retina 2012 MBP for three years after OS support ended (moved to the M1), and could have used it longer...but the battery was getting pretty bad. It hindsight I should have done a battery swap and kept it for another couple years.
There’s also just turning it into a Linux machine, which I suspect will be what we do with older M-Macs someday as well.
 
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