macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs - MacRumors
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macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs

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The next major version of macOS, now dubbed "macOS 26," is rumored to drop support for several older Intel-based Mac models currently compatible with macOS Sequoia.

macOS 26 visionOS Inspired Feature
According to individuals familiar with the matter cited by AppleInsider, the following Macs will not be supported by the next version of macOS:

These Macs were the oldest supported by macOS Sequoia, and their omission in development builds suggests they are likely to be excluded from macOS 26's official compatibility list.

This would mark the second consecutive year that Apple has narrowed support for Intel-based Macs, while continuing to deliver the full feature set primarily to Apple Silicon devices. macOS 26's compatibility list is expected to be as follows:

  • ‌MacBook Pro‌ (2019 and later)
  • ‌iMac‌ (2020 and later)
  • Mac Pro (2019 and later)
  • ‌Mac mini‌ (M1 and later)
  • Mac Studio (all models)
  • ‌MacBook Air‌ (‌M1‌ and later)

macOS 26's first developer beta is expected to exceed 17GB in size—approximately 2GB larger than the initial beta of macOS Sequoia. The update is expected to borrow heavily from the design language of visionOS with 3D translucent materials and rounded window elements. The design changes are said to be among the most significant visual updates to macOS in years.

Apple is rumored to be shifting the naming system used by its software platforms toward consistent year-adjacent numerical titles. As a result, we are expecting the next major version of macOS to be "macOS 26" rather than "macOS 16."

macOS 26 will be officially introduced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which starts on June 9, with the first developer beta expected to be released immediately following the keynote address. Public beta testing typically follows in July, with a full public release in the fall.

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Top Rated Comments

A
abatabia
11 months ago
Final year for intel support I reckon. I wonder how long before M1 gets cut off?
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
ricketysquire
11 months ago
My grievance is the lack of transparency regarding security updates. Every year we play this game, what perfectly functioning products will lose support. And then we're left to hope that Apple continues to update older OSes, and we've been fortunate that they have been mostly. I mean IOS 12 was getting a security update in 2022. But eventually they drop off. I don't care if my old device gets x new features, but if I'm using it for banking or medical or as a business, I want to be sure my device isn't vulnerable. Ideally they set expectations ahead of time, and anything extra is considered a bonus. I wish they'd say, okay every device is guaranteed X IOS full updates with new features, but once that's done they are guaranteed X years of security updates with point releases. Im worried we're going to have or already have so many vulnerable devices that are full of unpatched holes.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
DEMinSoCAL
11 months ago

I think M1 will be dropped next year or just after that.

Apple want to push people off the first generation of M series Macs and their marketing has increasingly been targeting those people.

M1 is still super powerful but it’s impacting new Mac sales in a big way. It was just so powerful but AI and the relatively low RAM allocation in base models gives Apple an excuse to end support.
I think there would be huge blow-back if they went "unsupported" with M1. People know (and so does Apple) it's just as capable to run the same OS's as M2-M4. Code-wise, is there really anything that is exclusively M4-compatible because of code that won't run on M1?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
Mactech20
11 months ago
What about the 2019 iMac? No mention of dropping it from support but the supported list says 2020 and later.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
WarmWinterHat
11 months ago

i think after a big blowback they would placate users with a couple year security updates

Apple want people off intel ASAP, and would like people to move off M1. It’s just hitting their bottom line too hard. I think the move to base models with 16 GB of RAM was a move to clear out a load of support for the M1 to M3 work 8 GB RAM. It’s a clear cut off strategy.
I don't think it's hitting it at all, Mac sales are doing great. I'm guessing it'll be at least 2027, or even 2028, before they start cutting out the M1 series.

They might not offer the newest Apple AI stuff on the M1, or other 8gb variants, but that's not not going to convince many to upgrade. It wouldn't convince me, since I keep it disabled anyway.

All that said, they are doing some series penny-pinching, and might ramp it up when the $20B Google payola ends.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Y
ypl
11 months ago

I think M1 will be dropped next year or just after that.

Apple want to push people off the first generation of M series Macs and their marketing has increasingly been targeting those people.

M1 is still super powerful but it’s impacting new Mac sales in a big way. It was just so powerful but AI and the relatively low RAM allocation in base models gives Apple an excuse to end support.
~20% CPU speed difference + 24GB RAM option for M2 is not sufficient driver to stop supporting M1 but keeping support for M2.
I think you’re wrong (and I hope you’re wrong as I have M1 based MBA and I love its speed and efficiency).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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