What to expect this autumn

[steve1960]

This year should be a makeover of Catalina rather than anything drastically new I think. i0S / iPad OS / Apple TV OS also? I am hoping that means it is unlikely any existing products will drop off the supported list.

Me and my family are not power users its really basic Microsoft Office, web browsing, social media and email so we do not need the latest greatest equipment. I tend to change hardware when Apple stops supporting the product with the latest OS. I last invested heavily back in 2014, although I do have hardware which will be OK I also have some marginal products. 2012 MBA, iPAD Air 2, iPhone 6s. I am hoping they will be supported through to 2021.

Thoughts?

 

[Tekguy0]

This year should be a makeover of Catalina rather than anything drastically new I think. i0S / iPad OS / Apple TV OS also? I am hoping that means it is unlikely any existing products will drop off the supported list.

Me and my family are not power users its really basic Microsoft Office, web browsing, social media and email so we do not need the latest greatest equipment. I tend to change hardware when Apple stops supporting the product with the latest OS. I last invested heavily back in 2014, although I do have hardware which will be OK I also have some marginal products. 2012 MBA, iPAD Air 2, iPhone 6s. I am hoping they will be supported through to 2021.

Thoughts?

Even if the next OS drops support for your products, you will still receive security updates for a while.

 

[steve1960]

As far as is possible at this point in the year I think I can answer my own question on iOS 14. It will support the 2017 5th Gen iPad with the A9 processor and therefore could continue to support the iPhone 6s and SE with the same processor. So looks like it will be a question of whether Apple wants to continue support or not. 50/50 I guess.

 

[Falhófnir]

the biggest change with 10.16 is likely to be adding in Arm support (unless that gets a separate macOS 11) so no, don't expect much else for the version to run on Intel machines (stability and a bit of polish is what Catalina really needs anyway). Your 2012 Air is in the danger zone though, they last dropped machines with Mojave, and that saw 2010 and 2011 Airs given the chop, before that Sierra dropped the 2008 and 2009 models, so it seems to be a pattern of two generations every other year. As Tekguy said above, Catalina will still be supported with security updates for a further 2 years if it does happen though, so you have a bit of breathing room before it becomes imperative to upgrade the machine.

iOS you should be good, it's meant to support all the same iPhones as now, I have a feeling the A8 based Air 2 and mini 4 will be dropped from iPadOS, though.

 

[steve1960]

Thank you that is an excellent guide. Despite security update support, given the age of the equipment, I think I will be shopping later this year. Replace the iPad Air, Air 2 and the 2012 MBA. Possibly the 2013 MBA too I guess. All equipment for my daughters which they use for school so probably better to update sooner rather than later. Dad may have to wait to update his iPhone 6s!