Skip to main content

Intel Macs support could disappear soon if Apple remains consistent

Apple made the switch to its own silicon, the M-series chips, when it first released the M1 MacBook Air in 2020 and with it launched an uncertain future for Intel CPU-based MacBooks uncertain, as the tech giant slowly drops support.

Apple tends to support its devices for several years after its initial release. According to data collected by Ars Technica, “the average Mac receives about 6.6 years of macOS updates that add new features, plus another two years of security-only updates.” Based on this, the 2017 Macs will most likely get approximately 6.3 years of macOS updates.

According to Intel’s roadmap for maintaining support for its processor generations, when a product reaches its ‘End of Servicing Lifetime’ (ESL) date, the manufacturer will no longer provide any technical support or updates. When a product is within 12 months of its ESL date, Intel adds it to this page. And based on all this, we know that the 7th-generation ‘Kaby Lake’ CPUs for the 2017 MacBooks will reach that ESL date in March 2024.

This ties in with Apple’s release of its latest desktop OS, macOS Sonoma, which will launch six months after Kaby Lake’s ESL date. This leaves Apple with a hard choice, as continued support for its Intel Macs that use these chips would mean ongoing firmware updates and updated drivers in order to prevent crashes, bugs, and general instability. And it seems that Apple is already cutting Sonoma support for older Macs

While a major reason for wanting to end support is one that benefits Apple – aka encouraging consumers to buy a new laptop instead of clinging on to an old one – it also benefits users for the tech giant to drop Intel Mac support. For instance, as Ars Technica points out, removing old Intel architecture support from macOS Ventura saved between 3GB to 4.5GB of disk space in those MacBooks compared to ones running macOS Monterey.

What will Apple do? 

There are several scenarios in which Apple could tackle support for Intel Macs, as outlined by Ars Technica. The first is that Apple only supports 2019/2020 Intel Macs with the upcoming macOS 15 and ends it with macOS 16 instead. The second is that Apple ends all Intel Mac support with macOS 15. And the last one is Apple supports all Intel Macs with macOS 15 and ends support with macOS 16.

Out of all these cases, the first one is most likely, considering Apple’s past behavior. As established before, Apple usually supports past devices for about six and a half years followed by two more years of security-only updates. And considering that it had been selling the 2019 Mac Pro up until recently in 2023, cutting off support for such relatively recent releases would be very much against its normal practices.

If you’re an Intel Mac owner from before 2018/2019, you might need to prepare to invest in one of the newest and best MacBooks to ensure proper support. If you have a newer model, though, you should be safe for at least a few more years.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The latest Apple TV 4K test lets you watch four sports streams at once

Apple is trying something new with the latest beta version of tvOS 16.5: the option to watch up to four simultaneous streams at once. Right now it's limited to live sports streamed through the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K , specifically MLB Friday Night Baseball and the MLS Season Pass. A multi-view option was spotted in the tvOS software last month, but the code was hidden and not enabled. MacRumors reported that the feature would be enabled this weekend, and beta testers have since been able to use it. As yet multi-view hasn't been officially announced by Apple, but it's expected that tvOS 16.5 is going to be pushed out in its final form within the next month or so. WWDC 2023 is around the corner as well, when we should be hearing about the next major updates for Apple's various operating systems – including tvOS 17. How it works Over at 9to5Mac there's a hands-on demonstrating how the multi-view feature works, and it's pretty much as you would expe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Quantum computers are fast becoming cheaper and smaller — and they could be coming to a data center near you very soon

IonQ claims we’re closer to widespread enterprise quantum computing deployment as it lifted the lid on two rack-mounted models that can be deployed on-premises.   The startup has built the fourth-generation #AQ35 IonQ Forte Enterprise and fifth-generation #AQ64 IonQ Tempo, both of which are designed to be deployed in enterprise and government data centers. It’s also said it is deploying two quantum computers to the US Air Force.  While revealing these two models, IonQ co-founder and CTO Jungsang Kim said quantum computers are already in use by enterprises to churn through machine learning workloads. This, he added, suggests we’re much closer to readily available and affordable machines. Priming enterprises for a quantum future “We believe in the enterprise-grade quantum computing, which is where it can be something of value for enterprises, can happen in the next few years as we build powerful enough quantum computers that can actually do things that classical computers w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU could get cheaper with a new version – but don’t get your hopes up

Nvidia’s RTX 4080 is purportedly getting a new spin on the GPU which could reduce the cost, but any price reduction will likely be very minor, sadly, if it happens at all. Tom’s Hardware flagged up this rumor – and treat it with caution, as with anything from the ever-spinning mill – that originated from HKEPC (a tech site in Hong Kong), claiming that while the current RTX 4080 graphics card is built on the AD103-300 chip, Nvidia is going to use a slightly different GPU in the future, namely AD103-301. There’s now more evidence this is actually happening, Tom’s points out, courtesy of a graphics card maker, Galax, which under its RTX 4080 product details lists the GPU as ‘AD103-300/301’. Furthermore, VideoCardz , which also picked up on this, informs us that Gainward, another card maker, has also listed the updated GPU variant AD103-301 in its product specs. With two separate third-party graphics card makers mentioning this new spin on the GPU in their specs, it seems pret...
Post a Comment
Read more