Apple quietly kills off support for Intel Macs and MacBooks

If you're using an older Mac or MacBook with an Intel chip, then we have bad news, as Apple has quietly killed off support for any device sold before 2020 that doesn't have an Arm-based Apple silicon chip (that is, Macs with M1 chips or newer, or the A18 Pro, in the MacBook Neo's case).

Apple announced macOS 27 Golden Gate at WWDC 2026, and highlighted new features and performance improvements. However, it didn't reveal which Macs would be getting the upcoming operating system, which is due to release 'this Fall', so expect it about October.

Instead, we found confirmation tucked away at the bottom of the macOS news site. This is a bit cheeky, as it's a major change that will impact a lot of people, though it's also not that surprising, as it was only a matter of time before Apple dropped support for older Macs.

This also means there's no Mac Pro or iMac Pro model which can run macOS 27. Will Apple silicon models come out this year for those super-powerful workstations? Let's hope.

Bye bye Intel

Here is the list of Macs and MacBooks that will be able to run macOS 27 Golden Gate:

MacBook Air M1 or later

MacBook Pro M1 or later

MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 2020 or later

MacBook Pro 14-inch M1 Pro 2021 or later

MacBook Pro 16-inch M1 Pro 2021 or later

MacBook Neo

iMac M1 2020 or later

Mac mini M1 2020 or later

Mac Studio 2022 and later

By concentrating on its own chips, which use Arm architecture, Apple also no longer has to worry about Macs running on Intel's x86 chip tech, which will hopefully mean the macOS team has more scope to improve the performance of the software and add features in the future.

If you have an Intel Mac, you can continue to use it with macOS 26, though running a not-updated operating system isn't recommended. So, it might be time to consider a new Mac — see below for some top deals.

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

MacBook Air M1 or later

MacBook Pro M1 or later

MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 2020 or later

MacBook Pro 14-inch M1 Pro 2021 or later

MacBook Pro 16-inch M1 Pro 2021 or later

MacBook Neo

iMac M1 2020 or later

Mac mini M1 2020 or later

Mac Studio 2022 and later

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

MacBook Air M1 or later

MacBook Pro M1 or later

MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 2020 or later

MacBook Pro 14-inch M1 Pro 2021 or later

MacBook Pro 16-inch M1 Pro 2021 or later

MacBook Neo

iMac M1 2020 or later

Mac mini M1 2020 or later

Mac Studio 2022 and later

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.