Apple Announces "3rd Transition" for macOS: From Intel CPUs to Apple Silicon

[pastrychef]

Your interpretation of the chart is flawed. It's one possible forecast with the assumption that macOS will be supported for 7 years on last Intel model sold. Every forecast has built-in assumptions.

If you create a chart yourself, it too will be flawed because you don't know what Apple will do.

I haven't made any assumptions as to how long Apple supports discontinued Macs with new versions of macOS because they have never made any commitments to such.

I just pointed out how Apple has set a precedent and shown that 7 years is not even close to set in stone. It should be made clear to others so as to not disillusion users in to spending on a new build that can potentially lose support in far less time than 7 years.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Nobody knows what Apple will do but I really don't see intel support going away in 3 years. The pace of CPU performance gains has really slowed. I'm still using a 2012 computer daily (w/ i7 3770) which is still pretty fast in modern operating systems. Even Apple's own CPUs aren't immune. I used to get a new phone every 2 year like clockwork because old phones felt sluggish, but I'm still using my iPhone 7, which is nearly 4 years old.

That Core 2 Duo macbook probably couldn't run El Capitain well enough, but I don't see a 2021 intel mac struggling to run whatever OS apple releases in 3 years.

Good points

I only recently changed my iPhone 7 Plus for a newer model and with iOS13 on both I was surprised at how similar the overall feel of use was. True, the newer model can do so much more - camera effects, screen resolution, data-crunching - but as a phone they remain feeling very similar. A10 versus A12.

 

[CaseySJ]

I have a Late 2012 13” MacBook Pro – Big Sur just moved it to the unsupported list.

I haven't made any assumptions as to how long Apple supports discontinued Macs with new versions of macOS because they have never made any commitments to such.

I just pointed out how Apple has set a precedent and shown that 7 years is not even close to set in stone. It should be made clear to others so as to not disillusion users in to spending on a new build that can potentially lose support in far less time than 7 years.

macOS 11.0 Big Sur will be supported on certain Macs going back 7 years. That is the basis for my forecast. Of course reality can be different. There is no need to mention "disillusionment" because even for owners of Real Macs such as myself with my new 2020 13" MacBook Pro, Apple has not told them (or me) how much longer they will be supported.

 

[pastrychef]

From the DTK screengrabs of About this Mac it also has no main drive or GPU either. Confused me ... Maybe same reason no TB ports?

As for dropping TB - interesting, given the Mac Mini 2018 features just 2x conventional USB3.1 ports and 4x Thunderbolt 3. My expectation for this choice by Apple was that when the Mac Mini's onboard SSD finally reached EOL and becomes write-only, the owner could plug in an external USB/TB3 SSD caddy and resume operations. TB having the edge, but perhaps there for another reason...

Yep, USB4.0 will be the new USB standard but it needs a USB-C format plug/socket. It will also support Thunderbolt 4. To the outside world it will look just the same, with a different icon/logo.

I think moving away from Intel makes implementing Thunderbolt impossible since Intel "integrate Thunderbolt 3 into future Intel CPUs". (Source:https://www.dignited.com/53093/usb4-vs-thunderbolt-3/)

Plus, features and bandwidth between USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 are on par with each other.

 

[pastrychef]

macOS 11.0 Big Sur will be supported on certain Macs going back 7 years. That is the basis for my forecast. Of course reality can be different. There is no need to mention "disillusionment" because even for owners of Real Macs such as myself with my new 2020 13" MacBook Pro, Apple has not told them (or me) how much longer they will be supported.

View attachment 477700

Yes, Big Sur supports 7 year old Macs but that's no guarantee future versions of macOS will support 7 year old Macs. I've already shown you one instance where a 4 year old Mac lost support.

Yes, that's why, in my opinion, it doesn't make sense to invest in an Intel base Mac right now.

Edit:
If you look at the last Power Mac G5, the PowerMac11,2, it was released in October, 2005. The last version of Mac OS X that supported it was Mac OS X Leopard which was released on October, 2007. That's just two years or four years if you count 10.5.8.


Source:https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/specs/powermac_g5_quad_2.5.html


Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Leopard


Meanwhile, the PowerMac3,5 received eight years of Mac OS X support, from Mac OS 9.2 to Leopard 10.5.8 (August, 2009).
Source:https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_867_qs.html

 

[UtterDisbelief]

I think moving away from Intel makes implementing Thunderbolt impossible since Intel "integrate Thunderbolt 3 into future Intel CPUs". (Source:https://www.dignited.com/53093/usb4-vs-thunderbolt-3/)

Plus, features and bandwidth between USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 are on par with each other.

Yes TB4 is floundering a bit, being shown to be little better than TB3, but it comes included in the USB4.0 spec. Intel and Apple both parties to it. And it's true, USB4.0 only matches TB3, BUT comes with twisty-tunnelling-trickery to improve PCI-e and DisplayPort data throughput.

If you think that Apple will separate TB4 out of the USB4 they implement, I think, or hope, this is unlikely. They may not push it but why be a part of the spec-defining process if you then go your own way? My as well call it USB4Mac.

 

[vesalius]

OS X => Raspberry Pi 4 = RasPintosh.

 

[Ritchie333]

If you look at the last Power Mac G5, the PowerMac11,2, it was released in October, 2005. The last version of Mac OS X that supported it was Mac OS X Leopard which was released on October, 2007. That's just two years.

A few years back, somebody gave me a job lot of old IT parts, which included two Power Mac G5s, upgraded to Leopard's last update in 2011. It could boot MacOS and ran some old version of Logic, but otherwise wasn't really any use to me, so I threw it in the trash. No salvageable parts whatsoever.

 

[Stork]

A few years back, somebody gave me a job lot of old IT parts, which included two Power Mac G5s...wasn't really any use to me, so I threw it in the trash...

Oh, no! Case mods for hackintoshes. Sigh!

 

[Stork]

tonymacarm.com is registered today but who bought it is unknown.

Gee! I wonder who?