The support duration for macOS is quite short compared to Windows. But if one wants to continue using working hardware for longer, there’s always Linux. It won’t provide the same experience as macOS. When I tried it on even older Macs, I had some struggles in getting the trackpad (external one) to work nicely. But it’s an option to avoid throwing it out and instead using it (even as a secondary device) or handing it to someone else.

Other than software updates, repair and parts replacement options for those older models (which are easier to repair compared to the newer ones) may also dry up soon. Apple marks Macs as obsolete when they’re about seven years from the original release date. So Apple paid service is not an option.

Yes, this movement is called quarterly reports.

No. Apple is doing a wonderful job of making old hardware work for a long time. It's just that there is a limit to how far you can take this while also keep innovating and pushing the envelope.

Exactly. I'm running a 2012 MacBook Pro with all the latest patches and I'll continue getting patched for another year - then I can decide whether I want to upgrade to Catalina. I'm running Mojave by choice - I could have upgraded to Catalina but chose not to.

So, if I do nothing then I'll have had the machine for ten years before no longer receiving patches. If I upgrade to Catalina, which I probably won't, then I'll get 11. I don't think getting 10 years out of a laptop that's been my daily driver is a bad deal.

Yeah, I can't upgrade to Big Sur. So what? I'm still running on an OS that's supported and getting patched.

OTOH, MacOS today doesn't seem significantly more capable than it did in 2012.

I don't think that's a valid point to make now. A 2013 macbook is a fundamentally different machine, much more modular. For the all soldered machines, ultra compact, we simply don't have the data. And for real "repair" meaning you rip out everything and replace with a new board "module" isn't exactly sustainable design. You are extrapolating apples to oranges.

We still use my 2013 macbook air, it’s a good as new. Completely non-modular, the only thing we have replaced, and the only thing that can be replaced, is the battery. Just like in 2021. Modular macbooks are even older, maybe pre-2012?

I got 7 years out of my first Mac laptop and 10 out of my second.

Apple's entire business model is planned obsolescence

Haha no.

I'm going to be that guy...

Buck the "major operating systems."

Run Linux.

Sometimes old software can't keep up with new hardware. E.g. the FOSS alternative nvidia drivers for linux Nouveau. Totally uncompetitive - no support for the last 3-4 generations and the ones that run are just better than software rendering.

alfred p sloan prefers the term 'dynamic obsolescence'