I am curious about this. Does anyone know when Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia will lose support? I don't imagine it will be much longer until they lose support.
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When will older OS's lose support?
- Thread starter ClaraStahlbaum
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opeter
macrumors 68030
From the Apple website:
Generally, Apple supports the Operating Systems with Updates and Security Updates for about 3 years since the date of release.
Generally, Apple supports the Operating Systems with Updates and Security Updates for about 3 years since the date of release.
frou
macrumors 68000
Which official page does it say that on? I thought Apple were very cagey about actually putting such a thing down in writing.
opeter
macrumors 68030
johan851
macrumors newbie
Curious about this as well... with 8GB of RAM I imagine Sequoia is more or less the end of the line. I'd be happy to get a couple more years out of it.
FreakinEurekan
macrumors G3
“Officially” Apple doesn’t say… discussions.apple.com is no more official than MacRumors.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by “Support.” OS X Catalina just got an update this week, over 6 years since its release. But if you call in with some feature of Catalina not working properly, they’ll try to assist… but won’t put in a bug report, since no bug fix releases are planned.
Gregg2
macrumors 604
I'm with ya, Johan! I'm reluctant to go to 26 on my Mac, although I have on my iPad. I clung to Snow Leopard past at least two upgrades. Maybe Sequoia will stretch to 28 or 29… fingers crossed!
Fishrrman
macrumors Nehalem
I've never cared one whit as to whether or not the version of the Mac OS I was using was still "supported" by Apple. If it suited my needs, I'd use it.
Right now using Sonoma on my m1pro MacBook Pro and Sequoia on my 2024 m4 Mini.
No plans to upgrade either for the foreseeable future...
Right now using Sonoma on my m1pro MacBook Pro and Sequoia on my 2024 m4 Mini.
No plans to upgrade either for the foreseeable future...
I am sure that when the next release comes out, Ventura will be put in the "Older Releases" category.
sw1tcher
macrumors 604
Look at Wikipedia to get an idea. But ~3 years of updates from original release date seems to be right. The only outliers going all the way back to macOS 10.10 Yosemite (didn't bother to check for macOS 10.9 Mavericks and earler versions) have been for macOS 10.15 Catalina and macOS 11 Big Sur. They each saw an update this past Monday
forums.macrumors.com
Ignoring that ^, then they also saw ~3 years of support.
macOS 10.10 Yosemite
released in Oct 2014
last security update (10.10.5) was July 2017
~ 3 years
macOS 10.11 El Capitan
released in Sept. 2015
last security update (1011.6) was July 2018
~ 3 years
macOS 10.12 Sierra
released in Sept. 2016
last security update (10.12.6) was September 2019
~ 3 years
macOS 10.13 High Sierra
released in Sept 2017
last security update (10.13.6) was November 2020
~ 3 years
macOS 10.14 Mojave
releaed in Sept 2018
last security update (10.14.6) was July 2021
~ 3 years
macOS 10.15 Catalina
released in Oct. 2019
last security update (10.15.7) was July 2022
~ 3 years
macOS 11 Big Sur
released in Nov 2020
last update (11.7.10) was Sept. 2023.
~ 3 years
macOS 12 Monterey
released in Oct 2021
last update (12.7.6) was July 2024
~ 3 years
macOS 13 Ventura
released in Oct. 2022
last update (13.7.8) was August 2025. Probably safe to say there won't be any more updates after this.
~ 3 years
macOS 14 Sonoma
released in Sept. 2023
last update (14.8.3) was Dec. 2025. 2026 will probably be the last year for updates marking ~3 years of support.
Apple Releases macOS 11, watchOS 10, and watchOS 9 Updates to Keep iMessage and FaceTime Working on Older Devices
Apple today released macOS 11.7.11, watchOS 10.6.2, and watchOS 9.6.4 for older Macs and Apple Watches that are not able to run the current watchOS and macOS 26. According to Apple's release notes, the updates extend the certificate that features like device activation, iMessage, and...
forums.macrumors.com
Ignoring that ^, then they also saw ~3 years of support.
macOS 10.10 Yosemite
released in Oct 2014
last security update (10.10.5) was July 2017
~ 3 years
macOS 10.11 El Capitan
released in Sept. 2015
last security update (1011.6) was July 2018
~ 3 years
macOS 10.12 Sierra
released in Sept. 2016
last security update (10.12.6) was September 2019
~ 3 years
macOS 10.13 High Sierra
released in Sept 2017
last security update (10.13.6) was November 2020
~ 3 years
macOS 10.14 Mojave
releaed in Sept 2018
last security update (10.14.6) was July 2021
~ 3 years
macOS 10.15 Catalina
released in Oct. 2019
last security update (10.15.7) was July 2022
~ 3 years
macOS 11 Big Sur
released in Nov 2020
last update (11.7.10) was Sept. 2023.
~ 3 years
macOS 12 Monterey
released in Oct 2021
last update (12.7.6) was July 2024
~ 3 years
macOS 13 Ventura
released in Oct. 2022
last update (13.7.8) was August 2025. Probably safe to say there won't be any more updates after this.
~ 3 years
macOS 14 Sonoma
released in Sept. 2023
last update (14.8.3) was Dec. 2025. 2026 will probably be the last year for updates marking ~3 years of support.
Last edited:
Really makes me wonder why MacOS has a new release every single year instead of just having one continuous OS that has updates to it over time.Look at Wikipedia to get an idea. But ~3 years of updates from original release date seems to be right. The only outliers going all the way back to macOS 10.10 Yosemite (didn't bother to check for macOS 10.9 Mavericks and earler versions) have been for macOS 10.15 Catalina and macOS 11 Big Sur. They each saw an update this past Monday
Apple Releases macOS 11, watchOS 10, and watchOS 9 Updates to Keep iMessage and FaceTime Working on Older Devices
Apple today released macOS 11.7.11, watchOS 10.6.2, and watchOS 9.6.4 for older Macs and Apple Watches that are not able to run the current watchOS and macOS 26. According to Apple's release notes, the updates extend the certificate that features like device activation, iMessage, and...
Ignoring that ^, then they also saw ~3 years of support.
macOS 10.10 Yosemite
released in Oct 2014
last security update (10.10.5) was July 2017
~ 3 years
macOS 10.11 El Capitan
released in Sept. 2015
last security update (1011.6) was July 2018
~ 3 years
macOS 10.12 Sierra
released in Sept. 2016
last security update (10.12.6) was September 2019
~ 3 years
macOS 10.13 High Sierra
released in Sept 2017
last security update (10.13.6) was November 2020
~ 3 years
macOS 10.14 Mojave
releaed in Sept 2018
last security update (10.14.6) was July 2021
~ 3 years
macOS 10.15 Catalina
released in Oct. 2019
last security update (10.15.7) was July 2022
~ 3 years
macOS 11 Big Sur
released in Nov 2020
last update (11.7.10) was Sept. 2023.
~ 3 years
macOS 12 Monterey
released in Oct 2021
last update (12.7.6) was July 2024
~ 3 years
macOS 13 Ventura
released in Oct. 2022
last update (13.7.8) was August 2025. Probably safe to say there won't be any more updates after this.
~ 3 years
macOS 14 Sonoma
released in Sept. 2023
last update (14.8.3) was Dec. 2025. 2026 will probably be the last year for updates marking ~3 years of support.
CrabQueenInc
macrumors regular
Add me to the list of those that wonder the same thing.
Sadly, the answer is Apple wants to drive sales.
splifingate
Contributor
What does it mean to "lose support," no longer getting updates? Big Sur officially ended security support in November 2023, but a few months ago (November 2025) Apple released another update to Big Sur which enabled continued support for FaceTime and iMessage. So apparently "losing support" doesn't literally mean that immediately.
Additionally, I'm typing this on a G4 iBook running Max OS X 10.5.8 Leopard, so…again, I ask, what does "losing support" mean?
CrabQueenInc
macrumors regular
frou
macrumors 68000
Again, strange definition of "official" policy where it's not actually written down anywhere
There are browsers specifically designed to work on ancient hardware and software! 🙂 This cool website has a whole subforum dedicated to "Old Hardware"
I am frequently on this forum with a G4 500Mhz tower using a browser called Aquafox in Tiger. There is also a newer browser that runs on Leopard and newer operating systems that works quite well.
Clearly there are security concerns with the overall system not being patched, but if you limit the access those devices you have with strict Network tools (firewalls and such), and limit where you visit online, the systems can generally be used without issue.
I clearly don't do any banking, or anything risking loss of PII on those older machines.
Clearly there are security concerns with the overall system not being patched, but if you limit the access those devices you have with strict Network tools (firewalls and such), and limit where you visit online, the systems can generally be used without issue.
I clearly don't do any banking, or anything risking loss of PII on those older machines.