When Apple announced its next major macOS release yesterday at its annual WWDC keynote, the company revealed that macOS 26, also known as macOS Tahoe 26, will be the last release that supports Intel-based Macs.
As reported by 9to5Mac, macOS Tahoe marks the end of the road for Intel-based Apple computers. The final Mac to ship with an Intel-based processor was the previous-generation Mac Pro, which was replaced in 2023 by the M2 Ultra-powered Mac Pro.
However, for most of Apple’s product lines, Apple Silicon-powered machines arrived in 2020 and 2021 with the introduction of the M1 series. In the years since, Apple has introduced M2, M3, and M4-series machines, and more Intel-based Macs have landed on Apple’s vintage products list.
Those who still love their Intel-based Macs will be pleased to learn that critical security updates will continue to be available for Intel Macs for a while longer, although these too will inevitably come to an end. MacOS 27, whatever catchy name it takes, will only be released for Apple Silicon Macs, meaning M1 and later machines.
There is a bit more to the story, however, as not every Mac that runs the current version of macOS, Sequoia, will run Tahoe. Only Macs that include Intel’s ninth-generation Coffee Lake and Cascade Lake-based Xeon-W processors can run Tahoe, which includes the Mac Pro (2019), MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019), MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, four Thunderbolt 3 ports), and the iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020), per MacRumors. This means that a wide range of Intel Macs that run Sequoia are being kicked to the curb, including 2018 and older MacBook Pro models of all sizes, the iMac Pro, 21.5-inch iMac models, the MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020), and 2018 and older Mac mini computers.
Apple released its first Intel-based Mac in 2005 after moving away from PowerPC processors, which had powered Macintosh computers since 1994. Apple then transitioned from 32-bit Intel processors to 64-bit ones in subsequent years, eventually dropping macOS support for 32-bit machines in 2011.
While there is little doubt that some Intel-based Macs continue to be competent and capable machines, users will likely want to start considering making the switch to the faster, more efficient, and better supported Apple Silicon. Fortunately, some of Apple’s most affordable new computers are still extremely powerful, whether users want a laptop or desktop.
Image credits: Apple
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