Five WWDCs ago, Apple unveiled macOS Big Sur. This was the last time the company updated its macOS design. Despite its many flaws, Big Sur was the company’s first attempt to make the Mac work even better with the iPhone and iPad, as they started to share a similar design language.
This design change was followed by another important milestone in Mac history — the introduction of Apple’s own silicon to its computers. This was an exciting moment for Apple’s personal computers, and to this day, the M1 Macs still hold incredible value. The computers were fast and reliable, and featured a brand-new software update made specifically for them.
A few months later, the company took an even bigger step forward with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips alongside a redesigned MacBook Pro. This aluminum product with a beautiful display and several new ports, offered, once again, impressive battery life and horsepower.
Two years ago, the company completed the transition from Intel Macs to Apple Silicon Macs with a lineup consisting of MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro, and chips ranging from standard to Ultra iterations.
However, as the company unveiled new computers and exclusive features for Apple Silicon Macs, the questioned remained: When would Apple drop support for Intel Macs? After all, they were starting to show their age with overheating, poor performance, and the company’s own mistakes, such as the butterfly keyboard and the eventually discontinued Touch Bar.
Now, we finally have the answer for when Apple will drop support for Intel Macs: macOS 27.
macOS Tahoe will let Intel Mac users taste the future before they have to upgrade
The announcement that macOS Tahoe would be the last operating system update for Intel Macs didn’t shock users, at least those who closely follow Apple. While it’s definitely bad news for those who spent a lot of money on an iMac Pro or 2019 Mac Pro, it also shows Apple’s commitment to its own processors, which are probably here for good.
Here’s what the company said during its Platforms State of the Union keynote on Monday, following the WWDC 2025 keynote presentation:
“Since we began the transition to Apple silicon over five years ago, we’ve been able to add incredible features like Apple Intelligence, Game Mode, Presenter Overlay, and more. We completed the transition to Apple silicon across our entire product lineup two years ago. So your apps can now depend on and build upon these features too. Apple silicon enables us all to achieve things that were previously unimaginable. And it’s time to put all of our focus and innovation there. And so, macOS Tahoe will be the final release for Intel Macs. So if you’ve not done so already, now is a great time to help your users migrate to the Apple silicon versions of your apps.”
What’s interesting about this announcement is that Apple could have ditched Intel Macs without giving them macOS Tahoe 26. Instead, the company decided that the best way to entice Intel Mac users to upgrade might be offering a taste of what the future looks like.
macOS Tahoe is a big moment for Apple, but I can’t wait for macOS 27
The new Liquid Glass design is solid, especially for the Mac. While the update is light on new Apple Intelligence features, this ecosystem-wide change is great for the unified experience between the different products the company sells.
That said, Intel Mac users will discover that there’s a lot more to love from the Mac, including the new designs introduced in 2021 and 2022, the latest processors, and several features that have been exclusive to Apple Silicon Macs over the past few years.
The end of Intel Mac support should also make you excited because it means Apple only needs to think about its own chips going forward. The macOS experience will now be focused on maximum integration between hardware, software, and services.
If the company is already able to deliver this good of an experience with macOS when it’s juggling Intel Macs alongside Apple Silicon Macs, maybe it will finally have the time to dedicate to Apple Intelligence as it fully transitions away from Intel’s chips.
In addition, the company has been slowly giving hints that Macs will only become better. Last year, Apple ditched all the Macs with 8GB of RAM, offering a minimum of 16GB without raising prices. In the next couple of years, another hardware redesign is expected, as the MacBook Pro might get an ultra-thin design and a one-of-a-kind OLED display.
For the past five years, owning a Mac has been a solid choice for anyone upgrading from an older model or coming from a Windows PC. Now, macOS Tahoe opens up the door to a new computing experience that will lead the way for the next decade.
