MacOS 26 ‘Tahoe’ Is the End of the Road for Intel-based Apple Computers

Apple has officially announced that macOS 26 “Tahoe” will be the final version of its desktop operating system to support Intel-based Macs, effectively drawing the curtain on the architecture that powered Macs for nearly two decades.

The news came not during the widely viewed WWDC keynote but rather in a quieter moment of the Platforms State of the Union presentation. Matthew Firlik, Apple’s Senior Director of Developer Relations, revealed that with Apple silicon now standard across all Macs, macOS 26 will be the last to support Intel hardware. The announcement follows five years after Apple began transitioning away from Intel chips with the introduction of its ARM-based M1 processor.

This moment of finality was documented in a report by Ernie Smith for Tedium, who framed the move as a “graceful exit,” especially in contrast to Apple’s abrupt cutoff of PowerPC Macs back in 2009. The final Intel-compatible release will still receive security patches for the foreseeable future, providing some breathing room for users and developers who haven’t yet transitioned to Apple silicon.

Apple first embraced Intel chips in 2006, abandoning the PowerPC architecture. This shift not only brought significant performance and thermal benefits at the time but also opened the door to broader software compatibility. It was during this era that the “Hackintosh” scene flourished, with users installing macOS on non-Apple hardware, enabled largely by the shared Intel architecture. macOS 26’s Intel swan song essentially ends the viability of Hackintoshing, barring extensive virtualization or unsupported patching.

Tahoe brings new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic

Apple’s macOS 26 “Tahoe,” set to launch in the fall of 2025, is a substantial upgrade, introducing a redesigned interface featuring a new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic, overhauled Spotlight search with deep integration of actions, and major enhancements to Apple Intelligence, the company’s privacy-focused AI suite. Tahoe also includes Live Translation, improved multitasking tools, a system-wide Games app, and new Continuity features like iPhone call relaying and real-time Live Activities on the Mac’s menu bar. However, many of these features, including Apple Intelligence, require Macs equipped with M1 chips or newer.

While the user-facing features of Tahoe are notable, the undercurrent of the announcement is the final push toward a unified Apple silicon ecosystem. For Apple, this means tighter integration between hardware and software, better power efficiency, and complete control over the silicon roadmap. For Intel Mac users, however, the implications are more sobering.

Intel-based Macs, some sold as recently as 2020, will receive no major OS updates beyond this year’s release. This includes models like the 2020 Intel MacBook Air, whose owners are now facing a prematurely shortened software support lifespan. While Apple has committed to continuing security updates for now, the writing is on the wall.

Apple’s current hardware offerings, particularly the M-series Mac Mini and MacBook Air, are among the most performance- and cost-efficient machines the company has ever produced. But even with compelling hardware on offer, the move highlights the increasingly disposable nature of modern computing, where capable devices can be rendered obsolete by software cutoffs rather than hardware failure.

For those unwilling or unable to migrate to Apple silicon, few options remain. Projects like T2Linux offer Linux compatibility for newer Intel Macs that include the T2 security chip, allowing users to repurpose their hardware beyond Apple’s software ecosystem. Still, their functionality is limited, and they’re not free of problems. Users of Intel Macs should take data backups and begin migrating workflows to Apple silicon-compatible environments.