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A comment on Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for future Macs. Parent comment

Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by kemiller2002 on Monday June 22, 2020 @02:50PM (#23604142)
What is really sad is that I don't think the majority of Apple consumers really understand what this means for the Intel macs in the long run. I fear a number of people will buy them not realizing they have a very limited lifespan.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by throw0101a on Monday June 22, 2020 @03:03PM (#23604483)
> […] not realizing they have a very limited lifespan.

It may depend on one's definition of "limited": the Rosetta was first released with Mac OS 10.4 in 2005, [1][2] and was last available in Mac OS 10.6, which first released in 2010, [3] but whose last update was in 2011.

Six years of transitional support is not unreasonable.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(software)

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Tiger

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Snow_Leopard

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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by fomine3 on Monday June 22, 2020 @10:34PM (#23609387)
Nowadays we can use a same computer for around 8 years easily if we bought with decent spec.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by tinus_hn on Monday June 22, 2020 @03:38PM (#23605218)
Rosetta is for the other case where you want to run old software on a new machine. This is about running new software on an old machine.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by throw0101a on Monday June 22, 2020 @06:52PM (#23607874)
> This is about running new software on an old machine.

New software will be cross-compiled with both instruction sets:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_binary

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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by tinus_hn on Monday June 22, 2020 @07:08PM (#23608005)
Great until there is no more OS support for computers running your computers instruction set. Rosetta does not help with that.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by foldr on Monday June 22, 2020 @02:54PM (#23604229)
They won't, necessarily. Fat binaries worked ok the last time around. Sure, Apple could stop making updates available for Intel Macs, but they can stop making updates available for any older model of Mac if they want to.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by valuearb on Monday June 22, 2020 @02:54PM (#23604232)
Their lifespans will be no different than any other Apple hardware, which typically has very long usable lifespans.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by inapis on Monday June 22, 2020 @02:52PM (#23604178)
If those devices will have 4-5 years worth of use, then I think most people would be fine with the purchase. 4-5 years already does require upgrading for either performance or quality of life features.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by adwww on Monday June 22, 2020 @02:59PM (#23604354)
Your comment made me look how old my current laptop is. "Mid-2014".

It's still as powerful as any of the current Apple laptops - progress has been slow these last 6 years.

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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by unsignedchar on Monday June 22, 2020 @03:11PM (#23604657)
Part of the motivation for the transition is the hope that the progress will be much faster over the next 6. If that happens, those intel macs may age out sooner.
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Re:Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for ... by gerardnll on Monday June 22, 2020 @02:56PM (#23604274)
Yes, I think they will support them for at least 5 years.
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