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MickeyVee

macrumors member
Jun 28, 2009
97
76
Canada
Hope they carry on at least through 15. Still rocking a 2018 MacMini (16GB, 1TB SSD). Was going to upgrade at M2 but still works quite well for photo processing (DxO Photolab processing Nikon, Olympus & Rich RAW files). Will probably upgrade to a M4 MacMini either standard or Pro processor so MacOS 15 will take me there.
 

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,554
5,730
Horsens, Denmark
In fact, you can't make a real MacPro on Apple Silicon: I mean, a modular Mac extensible with PCI slots and industry standards memory modules. It is completely at the opposite of Apple Silicon design.
As Apple was forced to roll back after the flop of the trashcan MacPro, what if the key accounts put enough pressure to get a modular MacPro again?
What are you saying? I don't understand. - The Apple Silicon Mac Pro already has PCIe expansion slots. The lane count could be higher but it's still pretty expandable. Memory modules and GPUs off-SoC won't happen, no. But PCIe expansion is already very possible
 

Heindijs

macrumors 6502
May 15, 2021
380
663
As you wish... right here:



I don't say stuff without KNOWING I'm right, first. And I never say stuff expecting people to automatically believe me, hence why I just provided two links to PROVE what I've said is legit.

Google is your friend... 😁

"You can lead a man to wisdom, but you cannot make him wise."
This is a bit misleading. This is an early beta build where some components still had PPC code. The Appstore has nothing to do with it at all as it wasn't even in Snow Leopard until 2011 with version 10.6.6.
You're talking as if Snow Leopard actually did get a PPC release lol
 
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rin67630

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2022
524
359
The Apple Silicon Mac Pro already has PCIe expansion slots.
Oh, yes, my mistake !
But what does fit in here?
I mean an expansion board, that also has a driver for Apple silicon?
I really don't know, please forgive my ignorance.
 

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,554
5,730
Horsens, Denmark
Oh, yes, my mistake !
But what does fit in here?
I mean an expansion board, that also has a driver for Apple silicon?
I really don't know, please forgive my ignorance.
Most things that aren't GPUs work. A lot of stuff will just work with the generic kernel drivers. Some stuff can be made to work with DriverKit so it can be bundled with apps all in userspace. Kext drivers are permitted only if the developer writes Apple why it cannot be done without a kext.

But anything from networking to audio to SSD host cards that can hold several NVMe drives in a kind of RAID-like setup are examples of things that work in the AS Mac Pro. It is admittedly all very niche stuff, but it works
 

JustAnExpat

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2019
1,009
1,009
Assuming Apple stick to their general promise to support Macs for 5 years after they are discontinued
Source on that please? Apple never made a promise to support Macs for 5 years after they are discontinued (for the software).

They DID agree to support hardware for 5 years, and to be able to get repairs, but it has nothing to do with software support.

ASSUMING there is a 5 year lifecycle for MacOS Support for the Intel Macs (a big assumption):

Once a system can no longer get new versions of MacOS, Apple usually releases bug fixes for the last two MacOS versions, usually for another 2 years. That'll bring support up to about 8 years.

Web browsers usually support Mac OS six versions back. For Example, Opera RIGHT NOW supports Mac OS 10.13 (released in 2017). Mac OS 10.13 can work on late 2009 machines and later - or about 14 year old machines.

At a 14 year old machine, most people would be using light web browsing. The limiting factor then would be banking. A quick search of Bank of America's website shows that it requires Google Chrome 93, which was released two years ago, and I think requires Mac OS X 10.10 (per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Google_Chrome_release_compatibility) . Mac OS X 10.10 was released in 2014 - 10 years ago.

I think that system still has some life to it before it becomes unusable.
 
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frou

macrumors 65816
Mar 14, 2009
1,339
1,876
I plan to use my 2018 Mac Mini for about another 2 years while the OS still receives security updates, and then get a Mini or Studio that's an absolute beast at on-device AI thanks to the M5 or M6.
 
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sublunar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2007
2,159
1,455
Source on that please? Apple never made a promise to support Macs for 5 years after they are discontinued (for the software).

They DID agree to support hardware for 5 years, and to be able to get repairs, but it has nothing to do with software support.

ASSUMING there is a 5 year lifecycle for MacOS Support for the Intel Macs (a big assumption):

Once a system can no longer get new versions of MacOS, Apple usually releases bug fixes for the last two MacOS versions, usually for another 2 years. That'll bring support up to about 8 years.

Web browsers usually support Mac OS six versions back. For Example, Opera RIGHT NOW supports Mac OS 10.13 (released in 2017). Mac OS 10.13 can work on late 2009 machines and later - or about 14 year old machines.

At a 14 year old machine, most people would be using light web browsing. The limiting factor then would be banking. A quick search of Bank of America's website shows that it requires Google Chrome 93, which was released two years ago, and I think requires Mac OS X 10.10 (per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Google_Chrome_release_compatibility) . Mac OS X 10.10 was released in 2014 - 10 years ago.

I think that system still has some life to it before it becomes unusable.
There's nothing in writing in particular but they have a track record of of support alongside looking after the hardware side of things which is covered by consumer laws around the world.

By and large you can assume that to include software updates (after all, if Apple abandoned a non vintage computer without software support you could imagine lawsuits if a significant exploited software issue came to light) but if you look back over time you'll find that they generally do except in odd circumstances where a Mac outstayed its welcome on the 'current active' list for too long - eg 2014 Mac mini. We'll never get an explanation why.

We recognise it to be 5 years of full OS versions after official discontinuation plus 2 years of security updates so technically 7 years.

I've always said the clock generally starts once a Mac is officially discontinued from the Apple Store (does not includes situations where a third party continues to sell old models for months or years after Apple stop, but clearly with the blessing of Apple.

With SSD and better CPUs Apple hardware stays usable for years in theory (even with soldered in RAM etc), a pity the MacOS software doesn't look like it will stay updated for timescales over 7 years following a model's discontinuation - but that's where Linux comes in I guess.

Apple will want to divest themselves of Intel support as soon as they can, we can easily estimate the kill dates for Intel stuff - again Linux can come to the rescue. Even Windows 11 could too...

Your example of a 14 year old machine, that's likely to be a Mac mini 2010 with Core 2 Duo for example. The biggest upgrade for these machines was always going to be an SSD which is the biggest performance boost and the ability to add more RAM. But formal software support will have long since finished. What do you do if you want to do your banking online in that case? Would you be able to install a version of linux capable of running a certified up to date browser that works on Core 2 Duo?
 

JustAnExpat

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2019
1,009
1,009
Your example of a 14 year old machine, that's likely to be a Mac mini 2010 with Core 2 Duo for example. The biggest upgrade for these machines was always going to be an SSD which is the biggest performance boost and the ability to add more RAM. But formal software support will have long since finished. What do you do if you want to do your banking online in that case? Would you be able to install a version of linux capable of running a certified up to date browser that works on Core 2 Duo?

From my other post:

"At a 14 year old machine, most people would be using light web browsing. The limiting factor then would be banking. A quick search of Bank of America's website shows that it requires Google Chrome 93, which was released two years ago, and I think requires Mac OS X 10.10 (per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Google_Chrome_release_compatibility) . Mac OS X 10.10 was released in 2014 - 10 years ago."

Yes, a Mac mini 2010 can do online banking, per Bank of America's website :O
 

Luposian

macrumors 6502
Apr 10, 2005
383
249
This is a bit misleading. This is an early beta build where some components still had PPC code. The Appstore has nothing to do with it at all as it wasn't even in Snow Leopard until 2011 with version 10.6.6.
You're talking as if Snow Leopard actually did get a PPC release lol
I simply meant that a PPC version of a bootable Snow Leopard existed, when others said that no PPC version of Snow Leopard existed. Beta version is still a version of Snow Leopard, running on PPC processors. Sure, it was never released (Retail), but it DOES exist, period. If what others said was 100% true, there would be NO beta builds to even show. Now, if they said no RETAIL PowerPC builds of Snow Leopard exist... THAT would be entirely true.
 

JustAnExpat

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2019
1,009
1,009
I simply meant that a PPC version of a bootable Snow Leopard existed, when others said that no PPC version of Snow Leopard existed. Beta version is still a version of Snow Leopard, running on PPC processors. Sure, it was never released (Retail), but it DOES exist, period. If what others said was 100% true, there would be NO beta builds to even show. Now, if they said no RETAIL PowerPC builds of Snow Leopard exist... THAT would be entirely true.

Until Mac OS X 10 (I believe), beta software wasn't released to the public. It can be argued that this version was stolen and is used incorrectly, but Apple will have to figure out damages caused by people installing this piece of software.

It's not worth it to Apple.
 

Torty

macrumors 65816
Oct 16, 2013
1,195
928
if intel support is stopped… will rosetta Support be stopped too? So no more intel apps for apple chips?
 

Chancha

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2014
2,141
1,933
But I vaguely remember the PPC Rosetta was off from future OS X versions a bit too soon, at least sooner than people wanted. (I think dropped in Lion or Mountain Lion?). The practical reason was 64bit transition and also the x86 pickup pace of Mac app scene was probably better than Apple expected. At some point in time sticked to using PPC apps felt quite dumb unless you absolutely must.

For the current transition I am not feeling the exact same momentum. Not to say the Apple Silicon pick up pace is slower, in fact it may be faster, but the remaining x86 code base of Mac apps aren't as bad as the PPC counterparts. Also Rosetta2 being as efficient as it is, with relatively little performance penalties also means using x86 code on AS Macs is still viable in foreseeable future. All in all it means Apple has more incentive to keep Rosetta2 going.
 

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,554
5,730
Horsens, Denmark
But I vaguely remember the PPC Rosetta was off from future OS X versions a bit too soon, at least sooner than people wanted. (I think dropped in Lion or Mountain Lion?). The practical reason was 64bit transition and also the x86 pickup pace of Mac app scene was probably better than Apple expected. At some point in time sticked to using PPC apps felt quite dumb unless you absolutely must.

It got killed off with Lion. I had nothing requiring Rosetta anymore by the time Lion came out so I thought it was fine personally. There will always be something requiring the older stuff. But I was more hurt by 32-bit dying than Rosetta 1 dying
 
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TheIntruder

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2008
1,731
1,233
The final answer? Nope.

That probably means that my 2019 iMac will have received about eight years of support, assuming Sequoia will be the final stop on the tracks.

Which is acceptable in my book.
 
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