Windows users are really mad about this. It’s unusual in the PC world and it’s notable enough that I’ve heard them complaining about it a lot. For good reason.
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Only 7 years of support from release date is unacceptable for a $2000+ personal computer.
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You’re saying that as if you’re willing to trust that all parts are original and you’re not getting anything extra. With eBay, you don’t definitively know what the previous owner did until money has already changed hands — and that’s only if you’re willing to open the machine.
All I’m saying is that if one is so concerned with security that they’re not comfortable with either using the machine as-is or installing a different browser and/or OS on perfectly functional used hardware, the mere fact that it’s used should also be a significant concern due to potential hardware tampering.
Apparently this person believes exactly that, even after being told they are entirely capable of installing an updated browser to ensure continued secure web browsing or an alternative current OS, be it Windows or Linux or current macOS via OCLP (for now). They have described their computer as becoming a “paperweight” in two years.
My Late 2008 aluminum unibody MacBook received its final official security update in the late 2018(10 years of official support by Apple). I have macOS Mojave installed on this MacBook and recently used it to pay the bills without any issues.
I am guessing that the reason this thread is still going on is that people in general seem to relate to the idea that 'if you want something you will have to demand it in a good old-fashioned structural way'.
I am guessing that the reason this thread is still going on is that people in general seem to relate to the idea that 'if you want something you will have to demand it in a good old-fashioned structural way'.
The 2005 Powermac G5 released with Tiger, was supported in Leopard, and was dropped in Snow Leopard in 2009. So your complaint is meaningless.
Support for entire life? I have an Apple IIc, IIe, and IIGS in my collection that still work, by your logic Apple should still be supporting those, too?
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2026? No need to exaggerate.
Sequoia will be the current macOS until October 2025. The earliest it will stop getting security updates will be October 2027.
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7 years since they stop selling it sounds reasonable to me.
If I get a Mac around the end of its life on the shelves, I'm buying an old computer for the price of a new one, I can't get the hardware upgrades that other models and competitors got in that period, the least I should get is reasonable support. I shouldn't be punished any further because Apple didn't bother upgrading that model.
Plus, many people don't know how painful it is to find software, even simply an OS that runs, on some older models that could still work very well for everyday tasks. Apple just locks them with signing tricks and doesn't allow the community to freely get them to work. It's planned obsolescence at its worst, the manufacturer can remotely kill what you buy when they want you to buy new stuff. From a company that pretends to love the environment, of course.
It hurts the very core of my soul to say that even Windows is way better with this (although they tried some very dirty tricks too). And, of course, Linux rules.
Which Mac only gets 7 years of software support? I kind of agree with OP.
I have a m3 MacBook Air and I want to do at least 10 years with it, preferably 15 years.
I don't expect software updates that long, but security updates should be do-able and it seems like there is no logical reason not to, except capitalism.
I have a m3 MacBook Air and I want to do at least 10 years with it, preferably 15 years.
I don't expect software updates that long, but security updates should be do-able and it seems like there is no logical reason not to, except capitalism.
You lost me at a "A PC purchased in 2009 could still be running...".
Exactly, OP still hasn’t provided a single computer model from 2009, or from 25 years ago as they were trying to claim at a certain point, that is still being perfectly supported today that still has full support for the current version of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
In contrast, I can tell you that both the 2007 iMac and the 2007 MacBook Pros supported Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan, and received security updates until 2018. That’s nine years of the latest software update from 2007 to 2016, and two additional years of security updates until 2018. That is 11 years of official support.
To put it into perspective, when the 2007 iMac came out the iPhone was only a month and seven days old. When it stopped being supported, we were already at the iPhone XS and XR.
Despite the pessimism expressed by many commenters above, which is warranted based on past history, there is reason to be optimistic in the Apple Silicon era. Apart from the obvious (they control the silicon), the retail sales strategy for Macs has changed. As others have pointed out, the November 2020 M1 MacBook Air is still being sold new today, in three different colors and “Built for Apple Intelligence,” by Walmart for $649. More than 50 have been sold since yesterday.
So the retail price of this Mac has dropped from $999 at launch to $649 today. That is unheard of, both in terms of the drop in price and the use of a third-party merchant to continue sales after Apple has stopped carrying it. Since it is not discontinued (Apple is still building it), it is currently safe to predict this M1 Mac will still be supported in 2032. As a result, then, it isn’t crazy to think all M1 Macs could also be supported. Not every feature of the latest macOS will run on an 8GB machine with only seven GPU cores, and those limitations could kick in as early as macOS 27, but hey, it’s a complete solution for $649!
It’s disingenuous and short-sighted for people (not you) to pretend that these paradigm shifts in Apple’s retail strategies are meaningless and nothing is changing.
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Look at my post above. MacBook 2006 runs Windows 10.
My dad had a Windows PC (desktop) that ran Windows 10 and it was from 2003. He recently upgraded 😂. By recently, I mean a month ago.
He checked his e-mail online banking and did Office work on it and it worked fine. It won't run Windows 11 though.
I remember my first MacBook (early 2008) was supported till Lion. I was very disappointed that it couldn't run Mountain Lion. Honestly, my heart kinda broke and that's when my honeymoon with Macs ended. What upset me the most is that even apps like Notepad (simple app) required 10.8 and all the developers moved on so fast.
The irony is that mavericks runs better on it with patches than Lion ever did (not joking), so I do believe it should've received OS upgrades till 2013 - Mavericks.
My ASUS laptop, ULV SU7300 CPU with Nvidia GoForce G 210M graphics chip (it could Intel graphics and turn off the chip to use power) cost $739 in 2010. Came with Windows 7.
The GPU was not supported in Windows 10. You could update it, then get all the right drivers installed, but once it started auto updating, it would f- up the graphics driver with another similar names 210 driver, and the screen would turn completely off. Black screen of death is worse than blue screen of death. It is still running somewhere offline I think.
Another similar computer from same time frame kept BSOD on a W7 upgrade, and to get it to work, I had to upgrade it to W8.1 (which was not free). That computer died of old age, memory failures, etc.
Point is, that major OS upgrades are not guaranteed, and Windows updates are historically bad.
Apple does make random security updates to old MacOS, iOS, etc a long time after you might think that they are not supported. And they do have newer versions of Safari on older versions of the OS.
I do wish that Apple would just publish exactly how long they will support something, so we know when it is not safe to use on the internet. I understand the OP frustration.
The GPU was not supported in Windows 10. You could update it, then get all the right drivers installed, but once it started auto updating, it would f- up the graphics driver with another similar names 210 driver, and the screen would turn completely off. Black screen of death is worse than blue screen of death. It is still running somewhere offline I think.
Another similar computer from same time frame kept BSOD on a W7 upgrade, and to get it to work, I had to upgrade it to W8.1 (which was not free). That computer died of old age, memory failures, etc.
Point is, that major OS upgrades are not guaranteed, and Windows updates are historically bad.
Apple does make random security updates to old MacOS, iOS, etc a long time after you might think that they are not supported. And they do have newer versions of Safari on older versions of the OS.
I do wish that Apple would just publish exactly how long they will support something, so we know when it is not safe to use on the internet. I understand the OP frustration.
OP, I totally agree with you for environmental reasons if nothing else. Everyone else is pointing out that other technology companies are no better than Apple—and are often worse—but two wrongs don't make a right.
Unfortunately, there is virtually no profit incentive for companies to change this. They would have to be forced via regulation, and that would be super tricky! For example, what if Apple (and Dell, etc) complied with this theoretical law by supporting old computers, but made new software releases run so slowly that the hardware was basically unusable? How would you even measure this?
Unfortunately, there is virtually no profit incentive for companies to change this. They would have to be forced via regulation, and that would be super tricky! For example, what if Apple (and Dell, etc) complied with this theoretical law by supporting old computers, but made new software releases run so slowly that the hardware was basically unusable? How would you even measure this?
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To be fair, Lion was supported until September 2014. But I feel your pain—especially lame for you is the fact that the late 2008 aluminum unibody MacBook could run up to El Capitan (X.11) while your early 2008 MacBook was stranded at Lion (X.7).
Apple is not going to make any money issuing security updates to a 13 year old machine. Furthermore, a new Mac Mini is dirt cheap in 13 year old dollars. I have no sympathy for digital luddites.
Honestly, it broke my heart. Many apps became unsupported and required Mountain Lion immediately and then I wasn't sure whether or not and for how long my Mac will be supported and paying 1000€ for a computer that's technically supported for 4 years felt like too much. Back then the average salary in my country was $500 a month and I saved up for a MacBook for a year at least. I can definitely see why the OP might be disappointed.
My next Mac was a used MacBook Pro mid 2010 and I gotta say, I was very happy with the support it got, but I had to switch to PC (due to price) and now my mom's using my old PC since hers doesn't support Windows 11 and well, I bought MacBook Air M1 anyway when it was released.
Windows PCs / Linux are better in that sense. My older brother was using his laptop from 2004 forever.
Dirt cheap where?
$600 for 8GB of RAM?
https://ispot.pl/apple-mac-mini-8-rdzeniowy-procesor-apple-m2-gpu-10-rdzeni-dysk-512-gb-ssd I could get so much better PC for that money that'll be supported for longer.
Well, the M4 version is at least 16GB, which looks like 25-30% more in ispot. Not making any PC to Mac value argument, but from a support point of view, I don't think you can assume any PC support after anticipated Win11 end of life in October 2031. I would certainly expect any M4 Mac to have support through 2031 as well. Chance are a well spec PC would make it to Win12, but I wouldn't buy a cheap, entry level PC with any expectations.
Looking at it from a practical perspective, Apple is a business. So, anything they spend their resources on should have a business ROI.
Providing security updates is good customer service, but with a point of diminishing returns as the level of effort increases with a greater number of hardware and software configuration out there.
At the point, it no longer makes business sense to provide security updates as the cost of people being angry is less than the money saved by not creating the updates.
I’m sure that bean counters at Apple have already calculated where the point is, and Apple has set their end of support dates based on that data.
So, ask away for longer support times, but at the end of the day, the number on the spreadsheet will win.
Providing security updates is good customer service, but with a point of diminishing returns as the level of effort increases with a greater number of hardware and software configuration out there.
At the point, it no longer makes business sense to provide security updates as the cost of people being angry is less than the money saved by not creating the updates.
I’m sure that bean counters at Apple have already calculated where the point is, and Apple has set their end of support dates based on that data.
So, ask away for longer support times, but at the end of the day, the number on the spreadsheet will win.
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Sad that some just can't wrap their heads around "security" updates. I could be mistaken but it's not support for anything but security updates?
There are so many Linux distros that you can run on any PC. Even a PC from 1998. You can't on a Mac. Not even PowerMac
There are distros that offer up to date web browsers. You can even run distros on 20 year old computers and they be up to date. Except Apple Silicon of course.
And looking PC to Mac price ratio you get so much more for the value of PC. More storage, more ram, more everything.