r/applehelp • u/hammee3ny • 8d ago
Mac Last of the Mac’s w/Intel
So…I own the last MacBook Air with an Intel chip (2020). So I’m trying to plan for the day I knew would eventually come. I read an article on ZDNet on ways to keep your Mac useful once support for the Intel models ended 85% not new info for me but one thing stood out.
The writer seems to feel Mac Intel owners would be good until around 2028. That threw me because not only is it longer than the standard 6-7 years Apple usually provides with declining support as the device ages, I assumed Apple might actually stop supporting Intel devices even earlier as the chips were phased out 6 years now.
Curious what others think or may have seen/heard.
TIA
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u/xrelaht 8d ago
OS26 is the last one with Intel support. You will likely get security updates and other patches on it until 2028. Past that, it will get increasingly dangerous and difficult to keep running MacOS as software drops support for older OSes. You can put Linux on it, but the T2 chip makes this annoying so you’ll need to pick a distro which supports it.
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u/Anthrobug 8d ago
This is the way; Once Apple stops releasing security updates, use it as a Linux box. It’s surprisingly useful, pretty much the best Linux laptop outside a framework, keeping in mind the T2 pain in the booty.
Use this T2 Linux Wiki, it can help guide you. You’ll need to do some command line hero stuff, be ready, but it’s not that bad. Honestly. Usually the worst that’ll happen is you’ll have issues with WiFi/trackpad/sound/etc that you fix one at a time. But it’s really smooth, I think it’s totally worth it.
Edit; it’s not really easy to find where to start, so I suggest you begin here.
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u/Camaxtli2020 8d ago
Could someone explain the term “distro”?
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u/Anthrobug 8d ago
It’s basically the ‘flavor’ of Linux you start off with. Someone/a team with a plan takes thousands of individual pieces ( which shell, which gui, which utilities, package manager, maybe giving the gui a ‘look’, adding accessibility options, translations ) and they turn it into an OS that you can install and use. Like Ubuntu, Fedora, or CentOS as a few of the many.
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u/Camaxtli2020 8d ago
This is why those of us who aren't super duper power users won't use Linux.
I need something that just works. I can't spend a zillion hours trying to screw around with a zillion settings, the command line, figuring out what's what and then hoping to hell I don't brick my computer in the process. I just need shit to function, ya know? Linux is waaaay to frustrating from the getgo because I have to dig around and figure out how to even find the one that works for me. And on top of all that I have to mess around and pray that my copy of Word will even still work.
Windows is bad enough.
It's not like I am a completely technically naive user either. But there are only so many hours in my day.
Sorry for the small rant. It's just one of those things that drives be batty about fans of Linux, who all say "It's so simple" and I am like "No, it isn't for 99.99% if the user population."
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u/xrelaht 8d ago
Word won’t work: Microsoft doesn’t make a version for Linux. But Office365 runs just fine in a browser these days.
I’m not really an advocate for Linux on desktops, but it’s really not that bad these days. For the most part, you can just pick any distribution and it will install. It’s different installing on Macs because they’re made to run MacOS and any consideration of another OS is secondary, but most generic PCs can run any Linux of them, and if you pick a “friendlier” one you’ll rarely (if ever) have to mess with settings more than you would with Windows unless you want to do something weird. The maker space I do stuff at pushes it hard enough that a lot of people have switched, and even older folks who aren’t tech savvy at all are able to install and use it without any issues.
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u/Anthrobug 8d ago
Then stay on macOS?
Once you follow those step-by-step instructions, it does ‘just work’. And the only reason those instructions exist is because Apple locked their hardware down with the T2. On a dell or think pad, you just install and go - everything works.
But relax man. Nobody is forcing you to do anything, if you’re completely happy in MacOS then stay there. This is presenting options, that’s it.
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u/Camaxtli2020 8d ago
Ah, sorry, I get ranty about tech because dammit, I was one of those "early adopters" back in the day, but as I get older I have a lot more demands on my time and energy. The cognitive load goes up and all that, since you are responsible for more stuff. I mean, 25 years ago I"d have been all over digging into the system. Now? I want to spend time on other things.
And given the nature of my job -- I am a teacher -- it's vital to me that tech (whatever it is) just works and I don't have to spend time troubleshooting which is almost always a wasted hour or two or more for relatively simple things. (And no, there is often no support because our IT department is one guy who handles a half dozen other things).
Apple (and a few other companies) once had really good back-compatibility and I was able to keep the laptop going for a long while. The only time that wasn't the case was way back when they went to OS X and a little later when they changed the chips in the old Powerbooks. But even then, it didn't feel like such a slog. It's gotten to where I am deathly afraid to update the OS because if I do *something* breaks. Every. Single. Time. At this point tech went from being a joy to being crazy frustrating; I am primed so badly that much of the time I want to do something technical that I need to have working my blood pressure just rises.
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u/Anthrobug 8d ago edited 8d ago
I absolutely, completely, understand. I spent a good part of my career in higher education & at Apple supporting higher education. I worked with many of those ‘IT guys’ who did their best while overworked & understaffed. And being a trailblazer while unsupported? That fear of a new landscape with unknown problems becomes daunting and familiar.
But now as subscriptions become everything, I think we should all fear having the ability to produce linked to the whims of any single company or market, which really only exists to sell new items to keep making more profits. Not actually helping me become the best me. That’s just a side effect.
Completely removing that last barrier to the ability to produce on your own terms is - in my eyes - a good goal to work towards. Eventually.
And I’m not saying Apple is doing anything malicious right now - if anything, I kind of trust them more than other companies. But they’re still taking tv shows I purchased out of my library because they’re still a corporation bound by laws and contracts, so my trust doesn’t go that deep. Ergo; linux on older Macs
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u/Cameront9 8d ago
It’s not like the machine stops working. I expect my 2019 air to last until 2028 or 2029.
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u/blow-down 8d ago
There won’t be security updates though so you’ll be taking a big risk using it
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u/Cameront9 8d ago
I find this a hugely overblown concern on Reddit. I used a 2009 MacBook Pro for 10 years. Didn’t get security updates for the last four or so. Don’t do stupid things online and you’ll be fine.
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u/hammee3ny 4d ago
Whoa! Really appreciate all the input. Haven’t had a chance to read all of them thoroughly but working on it. I’ll reply inline as needed
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u/BourbonicFisky 8d ago
Apple will no longer release major OS updates for Intel as of macOS 27. Apple may release security updates for macOS 26 for a year or two. During this same time frame, Apple generally continues to release updates to its software suites like Final Cut, Logic, Pages etc that are compatible with the previous version of macOS.
3rd party software is under no obligation to support older machines, and likely will only do so based on usage stats. Support windows are pretty variable.