What happens when Apple stops supporting hardware?

[sillycyber]

From macOS perspective when a certain machine, in my case a Late 2015 iMac is no longer supporter and Apple stops making new OS versions for it, is the machine still usable on some old version of the OS and can I run software I'd previously installed like Logic Pro even if the computer can't get anymore updates?

What happens if I brick the computer, does Apple keep archives of the old OS and can I re-download the right version of Logic Pro from Apple?

Are there any authorization issues from Apple if I have to re-acquire Logic Pro from the App Store after that version of the OS has expired?

 

[yabeweb]

You can still run everything till the latest supported OS and App compatible with that OS.

If you brick your computer you can still find the older os.

Once you bought something from the store it's yours to install, so no need to reacquire.

It's no different than Running Windows XP on an old PC, you can still do everything you could back then and install all the software that supports XP.

It just means you won't get any new feature update (they do still release from time to time security patches for some older macOS version) but nothing else changes.

 

[Fishrrman]

"What happens when Apple stops supporting hardware?"

The hardware keeps running.
It's just not "officially supported" any more.

 

[Rich B22]

From macOS perspective when a certain machine, in my case a Late 2015 iMac is no longer supporter and Apple stops making new OS versions for it, is the machine still usable on some old version of the OS and can I run software I'd previously installed like Logic Pro even if the computer can't get anymore updates?

What happens if I brick the computer, does Apple keep archives of the old OS and can I re-download the right version of Logic Pro from Apple?

Are there any authorization issues from Apple if I have to re-acquire Logic Pro from the App Store after that version of the OS has expired?

My wife is running a 2010 Mac Mini with osX El Capitan(10.11.6) and no issues. Of course it's slow, but she mostly only does e-mail, some MS-Word and internet searches. Of course, by this time, there is basically NO security, but we try to keep anything financial or private off that machine.

If you want to download older versions of the operating system go to: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683
It says to use Safari, but I've gotten the files successfully with Firefox too.

 

[toru173]

Officially, Apple will continue to support you (for software troubleshooting) until your hardware can no longer be upgraded to the latest version of macOS. As others have said, you are currently able to download old versions of macOS directly from Apple; however, this only goes back to Mac OS X Yosemite (10.10.5). I make a habit of grabbing the latest installers from Apple once a year and stashing them somewhere, just in case they are no longer available. I've got installers going back to pre-app store days!

I'd thoroughly recommend following https://support.apple.com/HT201372 to put your latest compatible version of macOS on a USB stick, and put it somewhere safe (maybe even tape it to the back of your mac). This way, if Apple removes the software you will still be able to reinstall it.

I recently had an issue wherein the local Apple Retail Store was unable to reinstall macOS El Capitan on to an old 2008 iMac even though it should have been compatible. Even though you can download it from the website their tools weren't able to, so make sure you have your own copy.

 

[gilby101]

Are there any authorization issues from Apple if I have to re-acquire Logic Pro from the App Store after that version of the OS has expired?

The potential issue here is that the old version of Logic Pro which works with your old macOS is no longer available from the App Store.

Solution is to have a tested backup regime which allows you to recover all applications, files and settings. This is in addition to having a bootable installer.

 

[BrianBaughn]

On the unsupported side there's always the possibility that someone like dosdude1 will create a patch that will enable running versions of macOS beyond what Apple officially supports.

His current patch for Catalina has it running on models from as far back as 2008…like my MacBook.

With Logic Pro in particular it's probably a good idea to keep a backup, compressed version of the application somewhere. Even if you're on an up-to-date Mac and macOS version an update to Logic Pro can cause an issue with projects. Good to have the old one saved.