Apple is ending support for Intel Macs next year
What's the story
Apple has announced that macOS 26 Tahoe will be the last version of its desktop operating system to support Intel-based Macs.
The decision means that from next year, major updates of Apple's desktop OS will only be compatible with Apple Silicon Macs (those released with the M1 chip and newer).
Feature updates
No new features from macOS 27 onward
Apple's decision means that Intel Macs won't be able to access new features from macOS 27 onward.
The company has already started the process of discontinuing support for some non-Apple Silicon models in its lineup.
For instance, macOS Tahoe isn't compatible with any Intel MacBook Air or Mac mini. However, it does support certain Intel Macs such as the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro and some other models released between 2019 and 2020.
Security support
Intel Macs will continue to receive security updates
Apple's warning suggests that macOS 27 will likely drop support for all legacy machines, making macOS 26 their last compatible version.
However, these devices will continue to receive security updates for another three years.
The minimum hardware generation supported in the future will be from 2020 onward, which is when Apple started its transition to Apple Silicon.