Ever update an app and then be told that you need to update MacOS cause the new version need the latest MacOS? So you try to update MacOS but can’t cause your MBP can’t run the latest version. That’s okay, let’s go back to the older version of the app. Oh wait, now you can’t cause that version is no longer in the Apple Store. So you can’t update the app, can’t update MacOS and you can’t reinstall the older app version, which you may have paid for.
Apple’s enshittification was baked-in and normalised a long time ago. The rate it gets worse is slower compared to Win 11 in 2025 but the MacOS level of enshittification is already pretty fucking high.
Apple supports its devices for a lot longer than most OEMs after release (minimum 5 years since being available for sale from Apple, which might be 2 years of sales), but the impact of dropped support is much more pronounced, as you note. Apple usually announces obsolescence 2 years after support ends, too, and stop selling parts and repair manuals, except a few batteries supported to the 10 year mark. On the software/OS side, that usually means OS upgrades for 5-7 years, then 2 more years of security updates, for a total of 7-9 years of keeping a device reasonably up to date.
So if you’re holding onto a 5-year-old laptop, Apple support tends to be much better than a 5-year-old laptop from a Windows OEM (especially with Windows 11 upgrade requirements failing to support some devices that were on sale at the time of Windows 11’s release).
But if you’ve got a 10-year-old Apple laptop, it’s harder to use normally than a 10-year-old Windows laptop.
Also, don’t use the Apple store for software on your laptop. Use a reasonable package manager like homebrew that doesn’t have the problems you describe. Or go find a mirror that hosts old MacOS packages and install it yourself.
if you’ve got a 10-year-old Apple laptop, it’s harder to use normally than a 10-year-old Windows laptop.
Also, don’t use the Apple store for software on your laptop. Use a reasonable package manager like homebrew that doesn’t have the problems you describe. Or go find a mirror that hosts old MacOS packages and install it yourself.
Agree with both and able to do so cause I’m an IT professional and wo ked on all 4 major OSes in my past.
However, having to use an external package manager undercuts the advertising that they’re just plug and play.
Ever update an app and then be told that you need to update MacOS cause the new version need the latest MacOS? So you try to update MacOS but can’t cause your MBP can’t run the latest version. That’s okay, let’s go back to the older version of the app. Oh wait, now you can’t cause that version is no longer in the Apple Store. So you can’t update the app, can’t update MacOS and you can’t reinstall the older app version, which you may have paid for.
Apple’s enshittification was baked-in and normalised a long time ago. The rate it gets worse is slower compared to Win 11 in 2025 but the MacOS level of enshittification is already pretty fucking high.
Apple supports its devices for a lot longer than most OEMs after release (minimum 5 years since being available for sale from Apple, which might be 2 years of sales), but the impact of dropped support is much more pronounced, as you note. Apple usually announces obsolescence 2 years after support ends, too, and stop selling parts and repair manuals, except a few batteries supported to the 10 year mark. On the software/OS side, that usually means OS upgrades for 5-7 years, then 2 more years of security updates, for a total of 7-9 years of keeping a device reasonably up to date.
So if you’re holding onto a 5-year-old laptop, Apple support tends to be much better than a 5-year-old laptop from a Windows OEM (especially with Windows 11 upgrade requirements failing to support some devices that were on sale at the time of Windows 11’s release).
But if you’ve got a 10-year-old Apple laptop, it’s harder to use normally than a 10-year-old Windows laptop.
Also, don’t use the Apple store for software on your laptop. Use a reasonable package manager like homebrew that doesn’t have the problems you describe. Or go find a mirror that hosts old MacOS packages and install it yourself.
Agree with both and able to do so cause I’m an IT professional and wo ked on all 4 major OSes in my past.
However, having to use an external package manager undercuts the advertising that they’re just plug and play.