When to renew imac?

[Jonzjob]

At the moment, as you can see from my details, we have 2 Macs. An iMac 21 1/2 which is running High Sierra and a mid 2010 MBP 13" running the same. Now that the Mojave is up and running I can't upgrade either machine to it.

So my question is has anyone any idea just how long I can safely run my 2 Macs before they become too far behing and unsupported please?

They are both running fine at the moment and I have the max memory on both, 8 gig, and a **** of a lot of hybrid SSHD on the iMac, 2 Tb, and I have removed the DVD drive from the MBP, swopped a 1 Tb hybrid SSHD from the primary disk into the old DVD slot and have a 500mb SSD as the primary drive for the OS.

Whilst everything is running fine I would be reluctant to shell out for new machines, but I am curious as to how long I can continue as I am?

Any ideas please folks?

 

[pigoo3]

So my question is has anyone any idea just how long I can safely run my 2 Macs before they become too far behind and unsupported please?

Any ideas please folks?

The word "safely" was used...and can mean different things to different people. Can you give us more details on what "safely" means to you?

Thanks,

- Nick

p.s. Moved thread to better area (Desktops).

 

[Jonzjob]

Safety for me in this instance Nick is about the security updates. So really it would be for how long those updates are likely to be issued?

I realise that security starts with the user and we try to be as careful as we can, but it's quite handy to have the backup of the updates

 

[pigoo3]

Sounds good John...thanks for clarifying. Wanted to be 100% sure we were talking about security concerns.

Apple has no "etched in stone" or official process whereby we as users can strictly depend on how long a particular macOS will be supported with security updates. And even when Apple stops supporting a macOS version (with security updates)...they don't usually communicate it (we need to find out from 3rd party sources usually).

But with that being said (using history as a guide)...it seems that Apple generally supports each OS version with security updates for the next 2 macOS releases:

- If each of these 2 newer macOS releases is one/year...then that would mean that each macOS version would be supported for 3 years total (the 12 months when a particular macOS version is the most current macOS...and 2 more years when the next 2 macOS releases are released).
- If the new macOS release frequency was more frequent than once/year...then the older OS might be supported for less than 3 years total.

For example:

- The current macOS (at the time of this post) is Mojave (OS 10.14).
- Older macOS's are High Sierra (10.13)...and Sierra (10.12).
- When the next macOS version is released (Catalina, 10.15)...very likely security updates for macOS Sierra will discontinue.
- And when the macOS 10.16 is released...very likely security updates for macOS High Sierra (10.12) will discontinue.

Finally...there is a pretty useful Apple Security Update webpage available to track this sort of stuff. Basically it's an Apple Security update webpage that tracks ALL (I do mean ALL) of the security updates Apple has ever released for macOS X. This Apple security update webpage literally goes back to 2001 (18 years)...wow!

Here's the link:

Apple security updates - Apple Support

As can be seen. The latest security update for supported macOS's was 13-May-2019...and it included security updates for:

- macOS Sierra 10.12.6
- macOS High Sierra 10.13.6
- macOS Mojave 10.14.4

And if someone looks further down the list (before Mojave was released)...it can be seen that a similar "3 OS version security update support trend" is in place. This is why (most likely)...when macOS Catalina (10.15) is released...security updates for macOS Sierra (10.12) will discontinue. And when macOS 10.16 is released...security updates for High Sierra (10.13) will discontinue.

Since Apple doesn't exactly come out and directly say "Apple will support each macOS version with security updates for 3 years from the date of release"...there is some reliance on historical info, trends, and educated guess's (plus the Apple Security Update website itself)...to support what was mentioned above.

I know this is a lot of info...but hopefully it helps explain how security updates for each macOS can be expected to play out.

- Nick

 

[Jonzjob]

Thank you for taking the time to type all that info in for me Nick. It looks as if we should possibly be looking to buy new/newer in about a year or so. Just as well at the mo as we now have a flat garage and a verticle bed!

Flat garage because the builders are building a 3rd bedroom where it used to be. Verticle bed because until the 3rd bedroom is done there's no room for it to be a horizontal jobbie! Life is so thrilling init? And so busy at the moment.

 

[pigoo3]

Thank you for taking the time to type all that info in for me Nick. It looks as if we should possibly be looking to buy new/newer in about a year or so.

The other parameter to consider is...even without security updates...what is the actual risk to an individual user? Kind of a "fuzzy" question I know...probably without a clear cut answer. If someone doesn't do any financial transactions on a particular computer...or there is no sensitive personal information on a particular computer...then the security risks to this person probably aren't super high.

And something else to consider. Even with Apple security updates...we still aren't 100% protected.

Either way in your case...both of your computers are 8-9 years old (2010)...and maybe you were ready for a computer upgrade anyway.

- Nick

 

[chscag]

Flat garage because the builders are building a 3rd bedroom where it used to be.

Hey John....

Lots of folks here in Texas do the same thing with the garage - turn it into another bedroom. Construction costs are less expensive that way. Fortunately for me, my house has 4 bedrooms - two of them loaded with junk. LOL!

We try to keep the garage clear for our two cars. When the weather gets bad here in Texas, it's not a good time to keep the car outdoors. My daughter's car has lots of hail dents from getting caught in a nasty Texas hail storm.

 

[Jonzjob]

Hail in Texas? Not heard that one before. We don't get much of that I am pleased to say and what we do get is small stuff in the main.

I wonder at times because the man from the council came to look at our new hole this morning, said it was a nice hole and the builder can now fill it with concrete.

And there was I thinking that they wanted a hole?

Why can't they make up their minds? Next thing they will want to build another wall to replace the one they knocked down on Thursday.

It's no wonder my brain cell hurts at times and I get confused

But at least I now know that I don't need to chuck my iMac in it before they fill it up again. Now, that would be one **** of a time capsule wouldn't it loveit