With great hardware, great build quality, and continued software support, Macs can last for years without fail. The problem is that Macs with Intel CPUs have been slowly losing steam since Apple switched to Apple Silicon CPUs. Even if Macs with Intel CPUs aren’t completely obsolete, things are changing.
Apple has done a really good job of moving Macs away from Intel CPUs.
In 2020, when Apple introduced the M1 chip to power the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro, the SoC outperformed Intel's chip designs.
These Macs are much faster, but they offer the kind of battery life typically only found in iPads, to the point where Apple removed the cooling fan from the MacBook Air because it wasn’t needed. By comparison, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with a current Intel CPU runs too hot to actually use on your lap, and the fan is so loud that it’s unusable for music production or podcasting.
Mozilla - the current owner of Pocket - recently announced that it would be discontinuing the Mac version and encouraging users to install the iOS version. This is good news for Mac owners with Apple Silicon, as they run iPad and iPhone apps just fine. More importantly, it signals that Mozilla has ended all support for Intel Macs.
It’s not just third-party software. Even the upcoming version of macOS, Sonoma, will drop support for a range of Intel models. Specifically, if you have any Mac made before 2018 or anything without the Apple T2 chip in it, you won’t be able to run the new operating system.
Software limitations will be something Intel Mac users will have to face
Basically, it all comes down to software. As Apple moves away from Intel in Macs, it will become harder to use the devices due to software issues. As Apple adds features that require its M-series chips, they won’t run on Intel-based models. Meanwhile, third-party software developers won’t want to create two versions of their apps, so the Intel version will be phased out. Even if they still work, new software and updates may not support them.
If you buy a Mac with an Intel CPU, you're taking the risk. Meanwhile, if you're thinking about buying a Mac, it's best to stay away from the Intel version unless you have a very good reason.
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