Hacker Neue

Preferences
lokar parent
It’s a bit unfair to say apple threw out backwards compatibility.

Each time they had a pretty good emulation story to keep most stuff (certainly popular stuff) working through a multi-year transition period.

IMO, this is better then carrying around 40 years of cruft.

layer8
This was absolutely not the case for 32-bit iOS apps, which they dropped from one year to the next like a hot potato. I still mourn the loss of some of the apps.
alt227
Apple purposely make it so after 3 new versions of the OS you cannot upgrade the OS on the hardware any further. This in turn means you cannot install new software as the applications themselves require the newer versions of the OS. It has been this way on apple hardware for decades, and has laid the foundation of not ever needing to provide backwards compatibility for more than a few years as well as forcing new hardware purchases. The 'emulation story' only needs to work for a couple of generations, then it itself can be sunsetted and is not expected to be backwards compatible with newer OSes. It is also the reason it is pretty much impossible to upgrade CPUs in Apple machines.

> IMO, this is better then carrying around 40 years of cruft.

Backwards compatibility is such a strong point, it is why windows survives even though it has become a bloated ad riddled mess. You can argue which is better, but that seriously depends on your requirements. If you have a business application coded 30 years ago on x86 that no developer in your company understands any more, then backwards compatibility is king. On the other end of the spectrum if you are happy to be purchasing new software subscriptions constantly and having bleeding edge hardware is a must for you, then backwards compatibility probably isnt required.

mxey
> Apple purposely make it so after 3 new versions of the OS you cannot upgrade the OS on the hardware any further.

A new major version of macOS comes out every year. The oldest Mac still supported by the upcoming macOS 26 is from 2019.

rerdavies
Depends on the OS version. I had a Mac Mini blown away after three years.
alt227
Wow, 6 years!
commakozzi
> Apple purposely make it so after 3 new versions of the OS you cannot upgrade the OS on the hardware any further

"oh a post about Apple, let me come in and share my hatred for Apple again by outright lying!"

As stated already, macOS 26 runs on the M1 and even the 2019 Macbook Pro. So i think i know where you got the "3 new versions" figure, and it's a dark and smelly place.

alt227
Apologies I was under the impression that the major OS release was every 2 years, and so I equated 6 years into 3 releases. No need to be quite so rude when you could just factually correct.

However My parents 2017 Macbook pro can only upgrade to Ventura, which is a 2022 release. 5 years and that $2.5k baby was obselete. However rude you are about your defense of Apple, 5-6 years until software starts being unable to install is pretty shitty. I use 30 year old apps daily on windows with no issue.

Looks like defending Apple is the smelly place to be judging by your tone and condescending snark.

commakozzi
If you truly believed major releases were every 2 years, then i apologize, but i thought my "objectionable commentary" was fairly light on the snark. It's quite trendy to hate on Apple, so i assumed you were one of those. I don't honestly care, but what i do care about is when people lie about things to try to make a point. It's been happening more often lately it seems and i quickly respond when i think i see it.
filoeleven
> My parents 2017 Macbook pro can only upgrade to Ventura, which is a 2022 release. 5 years and that $2.5k baby was obselete.

Meanwhile, in [Windows land], > Microsoft has provided the minimum and feature-specific device specifications required for upgrading to Windows 11. A number of devices will meet these requirements, however devices with legacy BIOS or without a Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) are not compatible for the upgrade.

> Microsoft also provided a full list of supported Intel processors; however this loosely translates to compatibility with Intel's 8th-generation processors and newer, meaning devices produced within the last 6-7 years have a high chance of being compatible.

Sure looks like Apple's support of old machines is in line with Windows here.

[Windows land] https://www.rm.com/blog/2024/may/a-surprising-number-of-pcs-...

lokar OP
It's a real trade-off.

I don't really know why windows is so very very bad, I just assume it has a lot to do with all the compatibility. If that's the case, then I prefer the Apple approach.

hollerith
>Apple purposely make it so after 3 new versions of the OS you cannot upgrade the OS on the hardware any further.

This is false.

alt227
Apologies I meant 5-6 years, with a release every 2. Turns it its every year so I was wrong,
JustExAWS
Apple has released every year for the last almost decade

This item has no comments currently.