• acosmichippo@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    If you spent money for that lovely premium computer hardware they sell, you only get updates for a few years, if you bought it at the end of the cycle.

    this is not true. maybe you can point to a few exceptional cases around major changes like the architecture transitions but the vast majority of macs get updates for many years.

    • auzy1@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Apple only updates their computers for about 6-7 years. After that, no new MacOS updates. Architecture changes are unrelated, but, yes, they did that twice in the past 20 years (Microsoft and Linux both support mostly the same architectures they always did, with the itanium builds, or other funky architectures that never succeeded).

      In contrast, even Microsoft only JUST broke backwards compatibility with old processors (and, have only done it once)… And I’m not even sure that’s a hard cut off (as, I’ve seen older CPU’s than 7XXX series with windows 11 being sold)

      Apple profits on both the OS, and the hardware directly. They’re in full control, and it isn’t as though they need to support a RANGE of hardware. And they charge a premium for this hardware.

      As BJW mentioned, even worse, developers hoping to develop for Mac OS or IOS NEED to buy an Apple computer to ensure compatibility with the latest builds. Microsoft doesn’t force you to buy a Surface if you want to develop for them. On Linux, you don’t need a specific system either

      • unidentifiedfelineobject@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 hours ago

        with windows 11 it depends a bit, there’s cpus you were able to install win11 with some workarounds but that due to missing cpu instruction sets can’t run newer builds

        so the latest win11 major update running on a machine below official system requirements is no guarantee of the next one doing so as well

    • BJW@lemmus.org
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      16 hours ago

      Lol. Right… That’s why my MacBook Pro is collecting dust while the spec-inferior MacBook Air I was required to purchase to keep getting OS updates is now my development machine… 🙄

      • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
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        12 hours ago

        You don’t need to run macos on that older machine.

        I distinctly remember how at some point the “best all around laptop for running windows” was a MacBook pro,

        Ofc by now more people are catching on they are much bettered served with linux…

        • BJW@lemmus.org
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          9 hours ago

          That would be GRAND if Apple didn’t unnecessarily lock iOS compiling to only the very latest MacOS, and iOS application development is the only reason I even own Apple products.

      • auzy1@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        Yeah, I bought a Mac Studio, Mac Pro, and used to own a powerMac G5. The worst part was that Apple sucks at GPU’s and always did. I dumped my Mac Pro when I realised the GPU was totally crap compared to PC half the price on the market, and there was no official way to update it, and keep using MacOS. I could switch GPU, but, Mac OS wouldn’t have the drivers.

        It was super embarressing. Despite only needing to support a handful of GPU’s, Apple still didn’t offer a long timeframe of support for that system. The only solution was buy a whole new computer