Apple ditches support for pre-2015 MacBook Air, Pro laptops with macOS Monterey
- Reference: 1623168913
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/08/apple_ditches_support_for_pre2015/
- Source link:
Things are rosier on the mobile front, with Apple committing to ship its latest-and-greatest iOS 15 on the first-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and larger iPhone 6s Plus. Each of these devices was released in 2015.
Apple has historically provided support for iOS devices long after their initial release, in start contrast to how most Android vendors do business. Although some come close (with [1]Samsung and [2]Fairphone both good examples), these are rare exceptions.
[3]
It makes sense for Apple to provide long-term support for the SE and 6s family specifically considering the lengthy period in which it sold the devices. Apple continued to [4]sell the iPhone 6s and SE as new until 2018 . In India, where consumers are more price sensitive, sales continued [5]until 2019 .
[6]
[7]
Cupertino has a unique strategy when it comes to legacy handsets. Rather than discontinuing older models with each refresh cycle, it instead has tended to position them as budget devices for those looking to enter the iOS ecosystem without committing to a wallet-crushing 24-month contract.
[8]Everything Apple announced: Tor-ish Safari anonymization. Cloaked iCloud addresses. Cloud CI/CD. And more
[9]Apple settles with student after authorized repair workers leaked her naked pics to her Facebook page
[10]Mac OS X at 20: A rocky start, but it got the fundamentals right for a macOS future
[11]Apple faces app store payments fight in Arizona, Throttlegate suit in Portugal
However, on the Mac front, Apple took a carving knife to several older machines, culling support for [12]pre-2015 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops , as well as iMac computers released before that point.
The 2013 “trashcan” Mac Pro – which Apple [13]continues to sell to this day , albeit refurbished – will receive an update to MacOS Monterey, as will all Mac Mini devices released after 2014.
We note the existing version of MacOS, [14]Big Sur , was compatible with all MacBook laptops released after 2013.
[15]
Also notably, Apple has said [16]the 2015 12-inch MacBook will miss out on MacOS Monterey.
Despite the 2015 MacBook's newer vintage, this news has come as less of a surprise. Performance has always been its Achilles heel, in part thanks to the inclusion of a passively cooled Intel Core M processor. Matters weren't helped by the inclusion of a first-generation [17]butterfly keyboard , which was uncomfortable to type on and notoriously fault-prone.
Owners of these machines can take solace in knowing that Apple will at least provide security updates for the coming year or so. MacOS 10.13 High Sierra received at least three year’s worth of patches. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect the same for Catalina and Big Sur. Users won't be left completely high and dry, even if they lose out on the latest features.
[18]
We can expect third-party patches to sneak MacOS Monterey onto these unsupported devices, although questions remain about how soon this might happen and what performance will be like. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/04/samsung_galaxy_s8_support/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/18/fairphone_support_comment/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YL-ohQG4uIbsOpTTcloSXQAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/12/17824594/apple-iphone-x-6s-se-discontinued-2018-event
[5] https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/07/15/apple-stops-shipments-of-iphone-se-6-6-plus-6s-plus-in-india
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YL-ohQG4uIbsOpTTcloSXQAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YL-ohQG4uIbsOpTTcloSXQAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/08/apple_2021_wwdc/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/07/apple_college_student_photo_leak/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/26/mac_at_20/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/02/apple_app_store_payments/
[12] https://www.apple.com/macos/monterey-preview/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/28/apple_is_selling_an_8yearold/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/13/apple_releases_big_sur/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YL-ohQG4uIbsOpTTcloSXQAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2015/05/06/apple_macbook_2015_review/?page=2
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/07/in_memoriam_apple_butterfly/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YL-ohQG4uIbsOpTTcloSXQAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
you can always vote with your feet and disembark from the Apple gravy train
Now why would I do that given how much better it works that the alternatives for my use-case?
In any event, I'm a) a geek, and I enjoy using OSs of all stripes - I love Linux, I love MacOS, I even love playing with DOS and Windows - and VMS, CP/M and MOS. Besides, it gives me 'one who knows what he's talking about status' which has got to be better than 'one who is prejudiced and likes to talk out of his hat status'.
And b) my software has been quite popular, and makes me more money on macOS than on all the other platforms it sells on put together. I'd be a mug to get off the gravy train given that I'm quite enjoying the gravy myself.
The thing is, my Mid 2010 MacBook Pro is still a usable machine. You can run Office 2019, Zoom, Teams, etc. Modern websites still load on it. You can connect to modern wifi networks. Nothing like as fast as my 16" MacBook Pro, but it works fine, and the speed when doing these things is usable.
The latest VMWare doesn't work, but the latest supported version will boot up Windows 10, though not at a usable speed. Windows 8 is just about usable except for the UI disaster zone, as is XP. Vista & 7 not so much, unless you go for the imbedded version.
This is an 11 year old computer. in 2000, the laptop the released was the first to have AirPort. iSight wouldn't come to the lineup for another 5 years. That model certainly would not have been remotely usable in 2011.
The increase in speed over the 2010s is probably about the same as in the 2000s, but the ability of software other than games to make use of that extra performance hasn't. But if you are looking for a gaming machine, don't buy a Mac.
Linux?
It'll probably run a (light) Linux distro reasonably well, still. I'm running Trisquel Lite on a 2007 Core2Duo MacBook (MacBook 2,1) and it runs well enough for light browsing.
Re: Linux?
On Safari / High Sierra, or Hackintoshed Mojave, mine runs well enough for any sort of browsing.
...can any other computer make such a claim?
In theory* the latest versions of RISC OS will still run on the original ARMv3 based RISC-PC released in 1994.
*I've not tried it, obviously.
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s are different things
The subheading "But it seems the iPhone 6 and SE will be looked after until the end of time" isn't right - the iPhone 6 was dropped in 2019.
The iPhone 6s is a different thing.
Even that is unlikely to be looked after until the end of time, but that's a different matter :-)
Re: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s are different things
The iPhone 6 (and 5S) were only "dropped" from NEW iOS releases in 2019. They are still getting security updates to their latest OS, iOS 12, to this day - almost 8 years now since the 5S first shipped.
The thing that makes a phone become obsolete is having security updates stop. Not getting the new features from a new OS (some of which require newer hardware so you couldn't use them anyway) doesn't make the phone any less useful, it just stops becoming MORE useful.
Re: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s are different things
Although getting security updates is important and its something I look for in a phone, I doubt many end users know not to use a phone that isn't being regularly patched.
But they are more likely to stop using a phone if their OS version is no longer supported by the majority of the apps they want to run.
I know someone who had a Windows phone and the only reason they stopped using it was when Whatsapp stopped working on it, otherwise they would probably still be using it today even though it hasn't been patched in 18 months.
Re: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s are different things
I doubt many end users know not to use a phone that isn't being regularly patched
Oh I don't disagree, there is a reason why there were so many Windows XP installs years after support for it ended, and why there are a pretty fair number of Windows 7 installs now despite Microsoft doing their best to force people into a free upgrade to Windows 10.
These worries about how long a phone is supported with patches is not a concern of the average smartphone buyer. You ask them if iPhone or Android get software updates longer and you'll get a blank look from most. Ask them why they should care and their eyes will glaze over.
The general public completely ignored Windows malware until ILoveYou and a few others hit within a short period of time. I suspect we will need to see one or more widespread malware outbreaks (or the modern equivalent, some sort of smartphone-based ransomware) for people to start noticing. The problem for Android is that OEMs are in control of patching, not Google. Imagine if Microsoft had to rely on Dell and Acer to distribute Windows patches!
Who cares?
If you have a pre-2013 Mac (and I have several) you probably run it to run old software that more recent Macs don’t support (Adobe CS6 anyone?). You wouldn’t dream of upgrading beyond High Sierra. If you are an app developer, you need a machine that will run the latest version of X-code Apple will accept. True, you can’t synch your iPhone to these older Mac OSs. That’s what bugs me, but I assume there are technical reasons as well as the obvious.
Remove OS/X , install Linux.
Problem solved.
Oops, bleep oops!
As I get older, the more of a pain in the proverbial this becomes. Back in the day, when my Mac LCIII became unsupported after only 3 major releases (7.1, 7.5, 7.6) and 4.5 years, it felt kind of annoying but okay. I mean, 4.5 years was practically the same as forever when I was in my twenties. Nowadays, with fewer years ahead of me than I have in the rear-view mirror, time gallops by at a hell of a lick - and it seems iniquitous that support for a computer should be dropped after a mere six years. Especially when one of my main computers is celebrating its 12th birthday (Mac Pro, with Catalina) and another is celebrating its 32nd (Mac SE/30 with A/UX).
I have an IBM 5150 in the loft (original 5 slot PC to you), and that was supported for the latest versions of its primary OS (MS-DOS) for a conquering 13 years. Outside of mainframes and industrial use, can any other computer make such a claim?