- Both Apple and third-party developers are dropping support for Intel Macs.
- Macs usually last for years, but not this last batch of Intel machines.
- It's just not practical to continue supporting dead hardware like this.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/christin-hume-mfB1B1s4sMc-unsplash-c9582ad4bb0144fb9c8aeb9691bd0d73.jpg "Thanks to Developers and Apple, Your Intel Mac is Already Obsolete—Here's Why (1)")
Unless you have a really, really good reason, don't buy an Intel Mac—they're pretty much done at this point.
Macs usually last a long time. Between the excellent, well-built hardware, and Apple's long ongoing software support for older computers, a Mac can last a decade or even more. But thanks to Apple's transition from Intel chips to its own Apple Silicondesigns, the last wave of Intel Macs may be heading for the dumpster faster than usual. Mozilla just ditched its Mac Pocket app, pointing to the iPad version as an alternative, and Apple itself is dropping support for a bunch of older models with this fall's upcoming macOS Sonoma update. It's time to get out.
"Intel Macs aren't fully obsolete yet, but things are changing. With new apps focusing on Apple Silicon Macs and macOS Sonoma dropping support for many Intel Macs, it's clear the shift is happening,"tech writerand software developerRajeev Beratold Lifewire via email.
Intel Outside
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/trinity-treft-k86_YnmIpW0-unsplash-f7a137dd5e084f26ad3974b361b81e9c.jpg "Thanks to Developers and Apple, Your Intel Mac is Already Obsolete—Here's Why (2)")
Apple introduced the M1 system-on-a-chip in 2020, putting it in the MacBook Air, the Mac Mini, and the faux MacBook Pro. This first-gen SoC was already way ahead of Intel chip designs, something made extremely obvious by the fact that Apple used the exact same Mac hardware designs, only switching out the guts.
These Macs were way faster yet offered the kind of battery life usually only seen in iPads and ran so cool that Apple removed the cooling fans from the MacBook Air because they just weren't needed. In comparison, Apple's then-current 16-inch Intel MacBook Pro ran so hot that it couldn't really be used on the lap, and the fans were so loud and persistent that you couldn't use it for music or podcast production.
I had oneand returned itbecause all that heat and noise felt like a step backward after using an iPad as a main computer for many years. And to twist the knife that Apple had sunk into Intel's guts, these ARM-based Macs couldn't even run Intel-only software faster than it could run on the previous Intel-based Macs—using the Rosetta 2 translator.
So, that's the main reason not to buy an Intel Mac ever again. They're just not as good. But even if you already have one, it's not going to last you as long as previous Macs may have, and that's down to the software.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/katarina-milosevic-OG9fvKCv4_I-unsplash-54acfec089284f83a1d447a34aafb2ad.jpg "Thanks to Developers and Apple, Your Intel Mac is Already Obsolete—Here's Why (3)")
Mozilla, the current owner of the Pocket read-later app, isshutting down the Mac version. Mac users should, instead, it says, install the iOS version. That's fine for Apple Silicon Mac owners because those Macs run iPad and iPhone apps just fine. But this is effectively Mozilla ending all support for Intel Macs. And remember, it was possible to buy a brand-new Intel Mac up until a couple of months ago when Apple completed its transition to home-made silicon.
And it's not just third-party software. The upcoming version of macOS, Sonoma, drops support for a slew of Intel models. "If you're using anything made before 2018 or anything without an Apple T2 chip in it, you won't be able to run the new OS,"writes Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham.
And it's all because of software.
"While today's Intel Macs should still be usable a decade from now when it comes to the actual hardware, the question remains whether the software will be usable. Because Apple has been slowly phasing out the Intel Mac, it's going to be more and more difficult to use because of software issues,"Troy Portillo, director of operations atonline learning platform Studypool told Lifewire via email.
Because Apple has been slowly phasing out the Intel Mac, it's going to be more and more difficult to use because of software issues.
Nobody's really complaining, though. A transition of this magnitude—changing the entire architecture of the Mac—is going to be rough in places. In this case, the actual transition was amazingly smooth. It's the aftermath that has the wrinkles. As Apple adds features that require its M-series chips, those features cannot be added to Intel machines. And third-party software developers don't want to develop two versions of their apps, so it's the Intel version that gets dumped or—if users are lucky—into a security-fix-only suspended animation.
"Usually, Macs last a long time, but Intel Macs might face challenges. They'll still work, but new software and updates might not support them. In simple words, they'll work, but maybe not as well as before."
It sucks for the folks who bought the last few generations of Intel Macs, but what's the alternative? To continue making worse Macs forever? Just make sure that you don't buy a new Intel Mac today unless you have a very, very good reason. It's just not worth it.
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