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macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs
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Not much. That was during the period of Intel's 14nm++++ slump
2019 was a weird year in that the iMacs had both 8th gen and 9th gen Intel CPUs, all nicknamed "Coffee Lake." Apple couldn't wait to jump ship. I can't even fathom how those chip gens could factor into Apple's future Mac OS support.
Would you buy a computer that would only be serviced for 5 to 6 years? Not building in future capability (A.I.) is no excuse, would you buy a car that only had a 6 year lifespan? no this is money making exercise, and no wonder Apple is always losing in desktop sales... 8 years should be a minimum turnaround for the money you pay.
IDK, people buy Chromebooks and cheap Windows machines all the time, not to mention Android phones. I go into every new Mac purchase expecting around 7 years of support. Hopefully I don’t get caught on the short end of an architectural change. Regardless I usually upgrade every 5 years.
Their is no lack of transparency really, 5 years after a product is discontinued it becomes "Vintage" this is when hardware support and major OS feature updates end (outside of California in North America), at 7 years it becomes "Obsolete" and apple offers no more hardware support, and usually ends security updates. Apple has been pretty consistent about this for the past 30 years. Evrey model of device has its own unique build of its OS, so as each year goes by, more and more models would have to be supported which is not really feasible. Older devices often aren't capable of running new features with decent performance because of all the improvements in chip design, additionally the Intel machines don't have some of the hardware physically like the neural engine. Apple usually updates its Vintage and Obsolete lists twice a year. the 2018 mini launched 7 years ago, 2019 iMac is 6 years old. So apple is still pretty consistent. If being used as a business having a business lease for hardware can help keep the organization current.
I expected it to be dropped this year, so this is a welcome surprise. Perhaps we'll end up getting another year or two from some of those final Intel models. It would be nice if the Pro machines got support for a little while longer.
Shocked that the 2020 Intel MacBook Air is being dropped. It's barely 5 years old.
On one hand Apple espouses saving the planet, and on the other it contributes to electronic waste. It's a fraud and greenwashing scam.
With Apple Silicon, Apple now has complete control over the machines that the OS can run on. If they decide to drop the M1 next year, you're out of luck. It's not like OCLP where you can just take the Intel code, modify it, and run it on a newer Intel machine.
This is why MacOS will never be a corporate enterprise OS. It can take a company years to test their software on a new platform. 5 years of MacOS upgrades is unacceptable, especially when you factor in how expensive Macs are. Get a cheap Windows box and get years of Windows upgrades.
Anyone in the fight against climate change and global warming should be outraged. Apple should be held accountable.
On one hand Apple espouses saving the planet, and on the other it contributes to electronic waste. It's a fraud and greenwashing scam.
With Apple Silicon, Apple now has complete control over the machines that the OS can run on. If they decide to drop the M1 next year, you're out of luck. It's not like OCLP where you can just take the Intel code, modify it, and run it on a newer Intel machine.
This is why MacOS will never be a corporate enterprise OS. It can take a company years to test their software on a new platform. 5 years of MacOS upgrades is unacceptable, especially when you factor in how expensive Macs are. Get a cheap Windows box and get years of Windows upgrades.
Anyone in the fight against climate change and global warming should be outraged. Apple should be held accountable.
That is why I find it little hard to believe Apple would keep only the 2020 but not the 2019. 😅
And those are the last 27" iMac as well.
I am surprised they are dropping the iMac Pro and Mac mini. Hope this is wrong. They should support the same models as the previous version, IMO. Apple is not broke and can easily take care of that minor support.
I think the big difference is the T2 chip, not the rest of the computer.
Most likely the Apple Incompetence feature set might be eventually marketed as the reason for dropping support for M1.
I can imagine, but Apple Watch isn't a Mac though. Makes a huge difference and would harm the brand.
For example, my mom is looking for a new phone, I offered her Motorola and she didn't want Motorola, because she owned one Motorola phone back in 2002 and she didn't like it.
If Apple would drop the support on a Mac that fast I'd go back on Windows, which is 1000x better anyway.
I agree that it would be nice if Apple supported Macs for at least 10 years. However, the Macbook Air doesn't become e-waste just because it doesn't run the newest macOS. It will get security updates for two more years (so we are talking about 7 years instead of 5, which is far more reasonable), and many people use their Macs for even longer.
I would be extremely surprised to see any Intel-based Macs to receive the next update as they’re pretty much obsolete from most people’s view, even more so from Apple’s. But if they do, though, I’ll be happy at the same time (as I remain a user of a 16-incher from 2019).
On the other hand, it wouldn’t make much sense to cut off 2018 Pros and keep 2019 on the list, as the 2018-2019 MacBook Pros were nearly identical as far as internal harware goes (13” used the same generation CPUs, 15” used the exact same GPUs).
I guess we’ll see.
On the other hand, it wouldn’t make much sense to cut off 2018 Pros and keep 2019 on the list, as the 2018-2019 MacBook Pros were nearly identical as far as internal harware goes (13” used the same generation CPUs, 15” used the exact same GPUs).
I guess we’ll see.
I have a 2018 mac mini, but it will still recieve security updates which is all I really need.
For example, macOS Ventura (macOS 13) is still getting security updates - 13.7.6 came out May 12 little over two weeks ago in conjunction with macOS Sequoia 15.5 update.
So I'll have at least until sometime late in 2027 when the security updates stop?
The 2018 mac mini was discontinued January 17, 2023 - not that long ago. I thought it would be supported longer.
For example, macOS Ventura (macOS 13) is still getting security updates - 13.7.6 came out May 12 little over two weeks ago in conjunction with macOS Sequoia 15.5 update.
So I'll have at least until sometime late in 2027 when the security updates stop?
The 2018 mac mini was discontinued January 17, 2023 - not that long ago. I thought it would be supported longer.
New macOS support is more dependent upon the Mac launch date and not the discontinuation date. In contrast, hardware repair support is more dependent upon the discontinuation date.
That is why I expect the M1 Mac mini to lose new macOS support in 2026, or at the latest 2027, and hence why I passed on an inexpensive M1 MacBook Air in 2025, and sold my M1 Mac mini some months ago to after getting the new M4. The M1 Mac mini will still get security updates for a couple of years after that though.
However, I kept my 2017 iMac for my kid, since it’s still a beautiful form factor which no longer exists.
When I got home after work yesterday my old 2017 iPad Pro had a red badge for an update. It is a vintage product so its official OS stopped with 17. The badge was for a security update. I looked at Apple’s official support page and found that this model isn’t on the obsolete list yet. That leads me to believe that hardware with Apple Silicon will get longer ropes than their Intel brethren. Keep in mind that seven years is basically a legal requirement.
This support is normal. It doesn’t seem that iPad Pro is getting particularly special treatment. At best maybe an extra year than regular iPads. Also remember that Apple Silicon has been in iPads for 15 years now (2010). Apple has never released an iPad with an Intel SoC.
BTW, Apple refused to replace the battery in my 2017 iPad Pro back in 2024, even though the battery replacement program for that model was still in effect. Apple said it was because the part was no longer available. I tried the local Apple Store, Apple phone support, and even a third party authorized Apple service centre, but all three said they couldn’t do it despite it being eligible under the battery replacement program. What’s the point of the program if they won’t actually honour it? I guess I should have tried to get it done in 2023 or something, although I’m not sure the battery health had degraded enough by 2023 to qualify. I think it’s because for that model, the battery replacement involves replacing the entire machine.
So, I went to a third party repair shop and had them replace just the battery. It lasted less than 6 months before killing the entire machine. Dammit!
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And if you've got beta updates enabled, we'll still continue to get the advanced RC releases, too. I'm ok with mine staying on Sequoia, seems to be working fine for me...
The third party battery swap is a gamble. I'm not sure how much of it is the fact that the battery parts used have probably been in storage for a while. I chose to swap out the battery by myself on my 2013 MacBook Air 13" a couple years ago, back before everything was glued in. The replacement was cheap on eBay and okay except that it noticeably drains more quickly even when I don't use the machine, so every couple of weeks I check and I have to recharge it. Sad that your iPad Pro got hosed, now I know to stay away from a new battery there.