macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs

[SBlue1]

Final year for intel support I reckon. I wonder how long before M1 gets cut off?

Oh wow, I just realized my MacBook Air M1 is five years old! I used my last two Macs for almost 10 years each so I surely hope they support the M1 for another 4 to 5 years.

 

[bzgnyc2]

Oh wow, I just realized my MacBook Air M1 is five years old! I used my last two Macs for almost 10 years each so I surely hope they support the M1 for another 4 to 5 years.

Maybe but Apple's recent track record has been dropping a model for no obvious technical reasons from the latest OS after 4-8 years, with 5 being typical for lower-end (e.g. Air) models.

My guess is that the remaining Intel gets dropped next year (i.e. fall 2026) and M1s get dropped the year after. Then there will be 3 years of security updates after that.

 

[Tonye456]

I don't think they'll be so quick to drop the M1 Macbook Air. Apple officially sold them all the way up until March 2024

 

[VivienM]

I don't think they'll be so quick to drop the M1 Macbook Air. Apple officially sold them all the way up until March 2024

While I agree they probably won't drop the M1 machines anytime soon, Apple officially selling a model is... perhaps the worst indicator of OS lifecycle. Look at what happened to the trash can Mac Pro, and perhaps the last Intel Mac Mini...

 

[gank41]

Oh wow, I just realized my MacBook Air M1 is five years old! I used my last two Macs for almost 10 years each so I surely hope they support the M1 for another 4 to 5 years.

Yeah! I’ve got an M1 MBP from November 2020 and I’m not seeing any reason to upgrade. Yet.

 

[SnowPenguin]

I sincerely hope the Mini 2018 will get yet another year of updates. I know it already got 7, but it's powerful enough, and the Ram is uogradable.

 

[ResPublica]

I sincerely hope the Mini 2018 will get yet another year of updates. I know it already got 7, but it's powerful enough, and the Ram is uogradable.

Apple ought to support it, because they sold this machine until January 2023. But that doesn't mean that they will.

 

[gank41]

Apple ought to support it, because they sold this machine until January 2023. But that doesn't mean that they will.

I was thinking the same thing. I didn't buy my 2018 Intel Mac mini until after the M1 mini was announced.. A few months after, actually. I'm not expecting much, but I'd be surprised if they passed it over for this one.

 

[SnowPenguin]

Apple ought to support it, because they sold this machine until January 2023. But that doesn't mean that they will.

That's what I am hoping for, but as you know, support can be pretty arbitrary

 

[dmelgar]

Usually get 5-6 years of updates, so probably start seeing certain M1 Mac’s excluded 2026. Fortunately Apple devices get security updates for many years after.

Apple should base it on the final year of production, not the first year. Otherwise anyone who buys after launch will be at a disadvantage.
The 2020 M1 air is still currently being produced and sold via Walmart. It would be a very bad look for Apple to sell a brand new machine and drop support a year or two later.

 

[flottenheimer]

How does it affect you aside from knowing it exists?

It adds to OS complexity. It takes up space. I know it is there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I like things to be as simple as possible.

Just like I do not like keeping stuff I no longer need in my apartment.
Just like I look forward to the day when I can ditch my need for a Lightning cable and go all-usb-c (my external keyboard+trackpad are the last devices I own that needs it).

 

[chachawpi]

It adds to OS complexity. It takes up space. I know it is there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I like things to be as simple as possible.

Just like I do not like keeping stuff I no longer need in my apartment.
Just like I look forward to the day when I can ditch my need for a Lightning cable and go all-usb-c (my external keyboard+trackpad are the last devices I own that needs it).

Removing stuff from your apartment doesn't affect other people though. There are many Intel Mac owners.

 

[okkibs]

There are many Intel Mac owners.

I won't argue with the fact that computers need to be supported for longer than smartphones and Intel Macs have never seen particularly long official macOS support in the first place. Owners of a 2020 Intel Macbook Air got the worst of it. The writing has been on the wall for years now though. And anyone who switched soon after M1 launched could swap at a relatively low cost because Apple's trade-in deals were so great for months after that I can only assume they wanted as many customers as possible to switch over to M1.

I sold my 2020 Intel 4 ports touchbar Macbook Pro after a full year back to Apple in 2021 through trade-in. Apple credited me $1.2k even though I got this thing at 18% off MSRP for $1479.

Of course I jumped over to the M1 MBP which was $1499 to match the 16 gigs of RAM and got it at 10% off MSRP. To be fair I took the awful downgrade to the 256GB SSD on the M1.

With tax and all I paid just shy of $300 to upgrade to the M1 with the comically small SSD.

And boy was I glad to get rid of that Intel. It had the same display, same chassis, same everything. Yet the 2020 Intel was a hot monster on my desk with an external display attached (even though it only had Intel graphics) where both fans ran at 50% or higher anytime I did as much as move the mouse cursor. On the M1 with the 4k display attached it remained cool to the touch and the fans rarely were audible. And it was faster too. Battery lasted about 7 hours on the M1, the Intel gave out after 4.

That was back in 2021. In 2025 it's high time to finally kick them Intels to the curb. I have since switched to a M4 MBP and didn't it possible - the M1 now feels sluggish in comparison.