Apple Previews macOS 12 Monterey - Available Fall 2021

[zzmadd]

• Apple has already transitioned iMacs, MacBook Airs, and MacBook Pros to Apple Silicon.
• Only the Mac Pro hasn't moved to Apple Silicon yet. (Also, 16" MacBook Pro from 2019 and 27"+ iMac from 2020, if you count those separately.)
• Assuming that Apple will no longer introduce any new Intel Macs anymore, the last new models that were released will be the MacBookPro16,x and iMac20,x, both from 2020.
• I think it's a pretty safe assumption that some time between now and the end of the year, Apple will replace the 16" MacBook Pros and 27" iMacs with Apple Silicon models.
• My guess is that the MacPro7,1 from 2019 will be replaced early 2022 and that will be the last Intel Mac to be discontinued.
• If the above guesstimations are correct, 3-5 years of additional support will mean that all the 2020 models and 2019 Mac Pro will gets support up to 2025-2027. That means 2019 Mac Pro and 2020 models will have received official support 6-8 years after their introduction. I think that's fair and in line with how long they've historically supported most models.

Supporting them any further than that will not make sense regardless of how much money the company makes. It would be fiduciarily irresponsible of management towards shareholders.

Edit:
When I say 3-5 years of support, I mean 3 years of new macOS releases + 2 years of security updates.

There seem to be reference in xCode to a new Intel Mac Pro using the latest Intel Xeon Ice Lake CPUs.

 

[pastrychef]

There seem to be reference in xCode to a new Intel Mac Pro using the latest Intel Xeon Ice Lake CPUs.

I know. My best guess is that separate teams are working on different things and them not knowing what the other teams are doing.

In 2020, Apple announced their transition would take about two years. That means the entire Mac line will be on Apple Silicon by 2022. Personally, it wouldn't make much sense to release new Intel based iMac Pros or Mac Pros between now and end of 2022. I mean, what knucklehead would waste thousands on a system they will be discontinued within months? I just doesn't make any sense.

 

[Ben42]

I mean, what knucklehead would waste thousands on a system they will be discontinued within months? I just doesn't make any sense

Well in that professional sphere those kind of investments are either a tax write off or you are doing some big project that in the end pays for the investment in the machine. People who need x86 compatibility / expandability and that much power in a machine will definitely consider buying one. Especially since a lot of pro apps and plugins are not native on M1 and who knows when or if they will be. I don't expect apple to sell them in the same number as M1 mac mini but there certainly is a market for them.

 

[trs96]

Whether or not Intel support gets dropped in macOS 14,15 or 16 etc. it will be close to 20 years of Intel support in OS X and macOS so we've got nothing to complain about. Apple let the hackintosh movement thrive and flourish over all those years. They didn't try to go the legal route to stop it or lock hackintoshers out of their ecosystem when they easily could have. So I can applaud Apple for doing the right thing. It was obvious that they had to ditch Intel due to the Intel roadmap going way off course.

The MBP is the the biggest selling Mac. How can you keep using Intel CPUs delivered too late that run too hot ? That would make many customers look elsewhere and leave Apple. Mac sales will keep improving and gain a lot more market share if the M series keeps leading in performance per watt over the long term. Prices have stayed about the same for new Apple Silicon Macs and if they prove to be long lasting and perform as well as the first M1s the future looks good.

 

[trs96]

In one MacRumors thread they discussed the topic of "What if Apple had stayed with PPC?"

 

[pastrychef]

Well in that professional sphere those kind of investments are either a tax write off or you are doing some big project that in the end pays for the investment in the machine. People who need x86 compatibility / expandability and that much power in a machine will definitely consider buying one. Especially since a lot of pro apps and plugins are not native on M1 and who knows when or if they will be. I don't expect apple to sell them in the same number as M1 mac mini but there certainly is a market for them.

They can just pick up the current Mac Pro and Apple won't have to extend support for Intel Macs for another year...

 

[Ben42]

They can just pick up the current Mac Pro and Apple won't have to extend support for Intel Macs for another year...

Yea right. Two year old hardware for the price of the latest and the greatest.
I'm sure people are lining up in queues.

 

[pastrychef]

Yea right. Two year old hardware for the price of the latest and the greatest.
I'm sure people are lining up in queues.

Two years is nothing. Look at how long it took them to update the MacPro5,1 or MacPro6,1.

 

[jaymonkey]

Not sure if it's already been noted elsewhere but many of the new features in MacOS Monterey will only work on Mac's with Apple Silicon.

New features that are not going to work on Intel Mac's are :-

• Live Text in photos
• Improved city maps
• High-detail globe view in Apple Maps
• Portrait mode video effect
• On Device translation
• Unlimited/continuous keyboard dictation

So pretty much everything they announced for MacOS Monterey with the exception of iCloud+

I'm guessing that these features require the use of either Apples on chip Neural Engine or other unique features of Apple Silicon hence no support on Intel mac's ...

We should not be surprised at this news, it was only a matter of time before Apple started to flex the in-built power of Apple Silicon, you just need to look at iOS and iPadOS to see how Apple plan to use those AS features in new Mac's.

The above info is confirmed in the fine print at the very bottom of the Monterey Preview page:-

macOS Sonoma

macOS Sonoma brings stunning screen savers, desktop widgets, new ways to share work and web apps along with fun personalization tools and Game mode.

www.apple.com

Odd that Tim or Chris failed to mention this in the WWDC keynote ... thanks Apple

I hate to say it but I think this will be a trend we will see more and more as Apple make use of the unique and advanced features of AS in the their new Mac's ...

In a few years AS based Mac's will leave Intel based Mac's in the dust, at least in terms of new features.

Cheers
Jay

 

[Ben42]

Two years is nothing. Look at how long it took them to update the MacPro5,1 or MacPro6,1.

Mac pro 6.1. with the questionable design/cooling choices they made and then not upgrading it, is the reason it failed. From 1.1. to 5.1 it was a yearly upgrade. But after Jobs died Apple lost interest in the pro market and became completely oriented towards consumer products.