What’s the future for your Intel Mac?
From its first announcement of Apple silicon Macs on 22 June 2020, there has been speculation as to when support of Intel models will cease. Now Apple has given exceptionally clear details of its future intentions, and we have a clearer idea of what’s coming in macOS Tahoe, we can make plans at last. This article looks at the years ahead. In each case, major events are scheduled to occur with the annual transition of macOS to the next major version, normally in September-October.
2025
Final security update for macOS 13 Ventura, ending support for:
- iMac 18,1-3
- MacBook 10,1
- MacBook Pro 14,1-3.
If you’re still running Ventura on a Mac capable of Sonoma or later, now is the time to plan the upgrade.
2026
Final security update for macOS 14 Sonoma, ending support for:
- MacBook Air 8,1-2.
First release of an Arm-only version of macOS, 27. However, that and all its updates will continue to include full support for running Intel binaries using Rosetta 2 translation. macOS 27 will be the last major version that supports Rosetta 2 fully in Virtual Machines.
2027
Final security update for macOS 15 Sequoia, ending support for:
- iMac 19,1-2
- iMac Pro
- Mac mini 8,1
- MacBook Air 9,1
- MacBook Pro 15,1-4 16,3.
First release of macOS 28, with full Rosetta 2 support removed. Limited Intel binary support will continue for “older unmaintained gaming titles” only. As a result, virtual machines running macOS 28 will no longer be able to run most Intel binaries.
2028
Final security update for macOS 26 Tahoe, ending support for all remaining Intel models:
- iMac 20,1-2
- Mac Pro 7,1
- MacBook Pro 16,1-2 16,4.
T2 firmware updates are almost certain to cease with the end of support for macOS 26. Major third-party vendors are likely to stop providing Universal binaries, as they too drop support for macOS 26 and Intel models. Apple may decide to remove x86 support from Xcode 29, but hasn’t yet made any statement either way.
Benefits of upgrading macOS in Intel models
Although macOS Sequoia and Tahoe have brought some new features for Intel Macs, much of Apple’s emphasis now requires Arm systems. Major reasons for upgrading your Intel Mac to the most recent version of macOS it can run include:
- Third-party support. Major software vendors like Microsoft normally only support their products on versions of macOS still supported by Apple.
- Safari is only updated in supported versions of macOS.
- Bug fixes. Although new versions bring their own bugs, the chances of an existing bug being fixed in the current release of macOS are far greater than it being fixed in an older version.
- Security vulnerabilities. Only the current version of macOS gets a full set of fixes in each round of security updates, and the older two supported versions often lag the current one.
- Enhancements. Some new features are still provided for both platforms.
- Compatibility. If you already use Apple silicon Macs, or intend doing so, they are more compatible when running the same version of macOS. One topical example is Tahoe’s new ASIF disk image format.
- Quantum-secure encryption. Apple has already started to transition to cryptographic techniques designed to remain secure as and when quantum computers are used in the future to break older methods. This started with iMessage last year, and Apple has announced that macOS 26 Tahoe will support quantum-secure encryption in TLS. This is unlikely to be added retrospectively to older versions of macOS.
I hope you find that helpful in your planning, and wish you success in whatever you choose.