Exactly. I think part of this is driven by changes in Microsoft's business model.
Previously every couple of years they'd come out with a new paid upgrade. But since they basically made Windows 10 a 'rolling distro', they've been losing a lot of income on this side.
As Windows 11 will be free for existing PCs but new PCs will have licensing included in the price (as they did with Windows 10), they have a strong incentive to have as many people as possible buy new PCs. Just as Apple does. After all, macOS mainly exists to sell Apple hardware, not the other way around.
It's no wonder their support model is changing, but I think it's sad they are dropping models so young. Windows used to be great at very long term support on hardware. Probably the best of the commercial OSes.
Based on that article, every MacBook Air released since 2008 will receive a patch update and every MacBook Air released since 2015 will support OSX Monterey. Is that not reasonable?
I believe the patches are all community sourced. They tend to be well made but they're not something the average consumer would use. It's hit or miss as to whether they work with your particular model.
That's true, but if you compare the resale value of PCs and MacBooks, you'll find that MacBooks(even with outdated OS) have higher resale value. Therefore, this is a bit of a tricky situtation for PCs since they can't be sold for much.
It's a tricky issue. Supposed I want to buy an used MacBook now, for a good price and still running the newest macOS. I'll find lots of 4GB or 8GB MacBooks from 2015 for example that can't be upgraded. Or... I could move back to 2012 and upgrade RAM to 16 GB and insert 2TB SSDs. 4GB MacBooks are practically unusable for any non-trival task so that fact that you can run the newest OS and enjoy security updates means very little if you can't do any real work.
I’m not sure that’s a problem. I usually thoroughly wear them out before they go obsolete and quite frankly I don’t want to use a 7+ year old computer. They’re pretty awful.
Really? I still use my now over 8 year old Thinkpad (upgraded screen, hdd, ram and replaced the keyboard after an orange juice 'incident') and it feels as quick as my 2 year-old work laptop.
Moore's law is long dead for consumer perception of speed, even other components have stagnated lately. RAM size and HDD space has not really moved much in the last 5 years for a regular laptop; CPUs have gotten a bit faster but the average user will not notice the difference in their every day workflow.
I’ve got a T440 here but I don’t use it because it’s slow. It’s for an SSD and 12Gb of RAM in it. The removable battery will no longer work due to a problem on the motherboard. The plastics are having worn.
I don’t want to use it any more so I don’t.
I’ve got a T495 Ryzen but I mostly use a M1 MacBook Air. If you think that there is stagnation in the last 5 years then you need to reevaluate that. These things are stupid fast.
You forgot that every MacOS release gets 2-3 years of security updates after the next version comes out. So just because you can't update to the next release doesn't mean you are unsupported yet.
Previously every couple of years they'd come out with a new paid upgrade. But since they basically made Windows 10 a 'rolling distro', they've been losing a lot of income on this side.
As Windows 11 will be free for existing PCs but new PCs will have licensing included in the price (as they did with Windows 10), they have a strong incentive to have as many people as possible buy new PCs. Just as Apple does. After all, macOS mainly exists to sell Apple hardware, not the other way around.
It's no wonder their support model is changing, but I think it's sad they are dropping models so young. Windows used to be great at very long term support on hardware. Probably the best of the commercial OSes.