[andreasley]

For a while now, the lifespan of Apple devices has mostly been limited by Apple stopping to provide software updates. Most Macs from 20 years ago still work fine today. If some component died, it was usually the hard drive or the power supply in my experience.

Apple Silicon will definitely be the architecture best supported by Apple for the foreseeable future. There is no downside to it in terms or reliability or longevity.

[kmmlng]

To make a somewhat exaggerated comparison: horses still work fine today, but it really doesn't make sense for people to be using them anymore outside of niche use cases or as a hobby.

Sure, macs from 20 years ago still work "fine", but the reason they aren't widely used anymore is not the lack of software updates.