Future of Hackies...?

[Tazling]

I was just glancing at Apple's current lineup (including refurbs) and got the usual sticker shock. Wowza. The Pro line is like buying a car.

Then looking at the mini (M1) I was noticing the shortage of ports (only one video output, gotta use usb I guess for a 2nd monitor) and thinking it is not very exciting.

Which then made me think that the motive to build a Hackintosh has not diminished. I would still rather have a Hackintosh, since there's no way I can afford a Pro. But the M1 seems like an ominous development.

So... how are the Wizards of Hackintosh feeling about the future? Will Apple continue to support x86 hardware, or will they go 100 pct M1, proprietary, enclosed? Any speculations? I don't expect to build another one for quite a while, as I am more than content with what I'm sitting at I'm just curious as to how the deeply expert perceive current trends, where they are leading etc.

 

[trs96]

To quote the famous 20th century poet James Morrison.

The future's uncertain and the end is always near

 

[pastrychef]

macOS support for X86 is a dead end. It's just a matter of time before X86 support is completely dropped. Just like what happened to 680x0 and PowerPC.

 

[trs96]

I'd say that Intel support will be in macOS 13 for sure. They still sell two Intel Macs today and they won't cut them off that quickly. After that who knows. We still don't have the M1/2 Mac Pro and they still sell a 6 core Intel Mac mini.

If Tim Cook decides he wants to keep supporting older Mac models longer he could do that. If he wants to sell M series Macs in greater volumes he'll cut off Intel Macs sooner rather than later. They still make services revenue off of their huge Intel Mac base of customers so it's possible they cut them some more slack. Anyone who bought the 2020 iMac 27" model in latter 2020 would be shocked if support ended with Monterey.

 

[trs96]

I'd say that Intel support will be in macOS 13 for sure.

That reminds me, we need to start up the old "Name the next macOS" thread fairly soon. Will they keep using California locations or change to something else ? We only had 8 big cats before we saw them switch to Cali locations with Mavericks. We've already had 9 of those names since 2013. Who knows, maybe macOS Lucky 13 ?

 

[Cerberus73]

Id say having gone through the 68000 series to PPC, and the PPC to x86 transitions.. that Apple will probably go for around 5yrs of ongoing support, after all wouldnt you be pissed if you bought a new Mac Pro this week, and in 18 months - 2yrs.. it was essentially an expensive obsolete doorstop with sod all ongoing support or updates? It may just be the next couple of iterations of Mac OS after Monterey, but i see it being 5yr after they sell there last intel based mac, especially in the professional field.

So its safe-ish to say that if you were to build a new hack right now (which i am) that there will be some x86 version of Mac OS around to run on it for the next 3-5yrs or so... by that time i might have saved enough up for a Mac Studio Ultra

I think what is more likely to happen is that before Apple themselves stop support, that big hitters like Adobe, Microsoft etc will stop offering dual binaries, and only offer ARM core versions.. i still reckon that will be 3yr+ away.

 

[pastrychef]

Id say having gone through the 68000 series to PPC, and the PPC to x86 transitions.. that Apple will probably go for around 5yrs of ongoing support, after all wouldnt you be pissed if you bought a new Mac Pro this week, and in 18 months - 2yrs.. it was essentially an expensive obsolete doorstop with sod all ongoing support or updates? It may just be the next couple of iterations of Mac OS after Monterey, but i see it being 5yr after they sell there last intel based mac, especially in the professional field.

So its safe-ish to say that if you were to build a new hack right now (which i am) that there will be some x86 version of Mac OS around to run on it for the next 3-5yrs or so... by that time i might have saved enough up for a Mac Studio Ultra

I think what is more likely to happen is that before Apple themselves stop support, that big hitters like Adobe, Microsoft etc will stop offering dual binaries, and only offer ARM core versions.. i still reckon that will be 3yr+ away.

The last version of Mac OS X the 2005 Power Mac G5 got was Leopard which was released in 2007. That's 2 years.

 

[Cerberus73]

The last version of Mac OS X the 2005 Power Mac G5 got was Leopard which was released in 2007. That's 2 years.

View attachment 544163

View attachment 544164

Yeah but support went on until July 2011 for rosetta with the intro of OSX Lion, and the first fully intel only OSX was Snow Leopard, released in Aug 2008, so you can either look at it as 3-3.5yrs... or 6yrs if you count end of rosetta support.. so my timeframe isnt too far out.. and remember for now they are still selling Intel based macs.. the last transition saw the end of PPC sales in 2005, and support in 2011. Itunes was still PPC and Intel up till 2012, and apple didnt obsolete the hardware officially until 2013.

 

[pastrychef]

Yeah but support went on until July 2011 for rosetta with the intro of OSX Lion, and the first fully intel only OSX was Snow Leopard, released in Aug 2008, so you can either look at it as 3-3.5yrs... or 6yrs if you count end of rosetta support.. so my timeframe isnt too far out.. and remember for now they are still selling Intel based macs.. the last transition saw the end of PPC sales in 2005, and support in 2011.

Yes, I'm sure "security updates" will continue to be released but new macOS versions will stop being released.

Another Mac that lost new versions of Mac OS X support early was the Late 2008 MacBook. The last version of Mac OS X it got was Lion which was released in 2011. Approx 2.5 years after the MacBook was released.

The current Mac Pros, the last of the Intel Macs still being sold were released in December 2019.

 

[Cerberus73]

Yes, I'm sure "security updates" will continue to be released but new macOS versions will stop being released.

Another Mac that lost new versions of Mac OS X support early was the Late 2008 MacBook. The last version of Mac OS X it got was Lion which was released in 2011. Approx 2.5 years after the MacBook was released.

Hey if i get the next couple of MacOS versions after Monterey, and Photoshop and Illustrator to run on the new i9 rig i intend on building, then ill be happy, therafter id just pick up a Mac Mini.. i wont buy a M1 version at the minute, i bought the first gen PPC mini almost as soon as it came out, and to this day it was the most unreliable computer i ever owned. Put me off first gen hardware for life, so ill wait till the M series are into late 2nd iteration or 3rd. and same with Laptop, im using a 2017 (bought in 2018) Macbook Pro, its fine for what i need it for, eventually ill replace that with a 13-14" Macbook pro, or air depending what is out and how quick it is.