Less and less support for Intel-based Macs

with the Apple Silicon Mac Pro is the complete change of strength in the Apple chip country. There are no devices with Intel in range anymore. This also affects support.

Apple recently started rolling out macOS14, better known as Sonoma. This is bad news for devices that are still powered by an Intel processor. Support for these devices will gradually disappear with the arrival of macOS 14.

T2 is number one

The current compatibility within the Mac offering is determined by the Apple T2 processor. Updates are now reserved for computers that have at least a T2 security chip on board. Support for devices still running Intel won’t completely disappear immediately, but it will be severely curtailed.

Sonoma will still support some late Intel Macs, but in principle, machines from before 2018 or those without T2 won’t be able to take advantage of the new update. Devices in this category include all versions of the 12-inch MacBook, the 2017 MacBook Pro, the 2017 MacBook Air, and the 2017 iMac.

Macs after 2017 usually have T2.

The exceptions define the rule

However, there is only one Mac from before 2018 that is supported and that is the iMac Pro. It was released in December 2017 and was the first Mac with the T2 under the hood.

The second odd guy is an iMac from 2019. It doesn’t have a T2 on board, but it uses the same firmware as the T2 Macs.

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Security remains important

Support for Intel-based Macs has been reduced since the arrival of Apple Silicon and M chips. Releases between 2009 and 2015 are still in principle based on seven or eight years of macOS updates, but for machines from 2016 or 2017, that drops The figure is up to six years earlier.

However, Apple provides older versions of macOS with additional security updates for two years. Users stuck in macOS 12 Monterey or macOS 13 Ventura will in principle still receive updates and patches for the most critical vulnerabilities in Safari, even after the release of Sonoma.

For those who are still running macOS 11 Big Sur, it’s time to upgrade your operating system or device. Or the daredevils can take a risk and move on without new spots.