Month: June 2023

Enlarge / macOS Sonoma runs on Intel Macs, but the list is getting awfully short. (credit: Apple)

With the introduction of the Apple Silicon Mac Pro, Apple has finally completed the Apple Silicon transition and booted all Intel Macs from its current lineup. But software support for Intel Macs isn't quite done, at least not yet. The macOS Sonoma update will still run on a couple generations of Intel Macs, but in general, if you're using anything made before 2018 or anything without an Apple T2 chip in it, you won't be able to run the new OS.

Sonoma drops support for all versions of the 12-inch MacBook, the 2017 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air updates, and the 2017 iMac. Macs made after 2017 all generally integrated Apple's T2 chip, which handled some Touch Bar functionality on some MacBook Pro models, but provided additional security and video encoding features to all Macs that included it. It's essentially an A10 coprocessor included along with the main Intel CPU, a bridge between the Intel era and the M1 and M2 Macs that would follow.

There is one 2017 Mac that's still supported: the one and only iMac Pro, released in December of 2017, which was the first Mac to include the T2. There's also one exception—the 2019 iMac, which doesn't have a T2 on board but does run the same firmware as the other T2 Macs.

Enlarge / StandBy and other iOS 17 features won't be coming to some older iPhones. (credit: Apple)

Apple sometimes releases new operating systems without changing the system requirements—but this year isn't one of those years. The iOS 17 update will drop support for several older phones that can currently run iOS 16: 2017's iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and the original iPhone X.

Apple's system requirements list the "iPhone XS and newer," which should encompass the iPhone XR and all subsequent iPhone X-style notched iPhones, plus the 2nd- and 3rd-generation iPhone SE.

The iPadOS 17 update also drops support for most of the pre-2018 devices that iPadOS 16 still supported, including the 5th-gen $329 iPad and the very first 12.9- and 9.7-inch iPad Pros from 2015 and 2016. All other iPad Pros, the third-generation iPad Air and later, and the 5th-generation iPad mini and later will all run iPadOS 17, though the older a device is, the more likely it is to miss out on a handful of newer features (like Stage Manager).

Enlarge / Apple's Vision Pro headset

CUPERTINO, Calif.—After years of speculation, leaks, rumors, setbacks, and rumblings of amazing behind-the-scenes demos, Apple has made its plans for a mixed reality platform and headset public. Vision Pro is "the first Apple Product you look through, not at," Apple's Tim Cook said, a "new AR platform with a new product" that "augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world."

"I believe augmented reality is a profound technology. Blending digital content with the real world can unlock new experiences," Cook said.

The headset, which looks like a pair of shiny ski goggles, can be controlled without a handheld controller. It solely uses your eyes, hands, and voice as an interface, and the EyeSight system lets you "control the system simply by looking." Icons and other UI elements react to your gaze, and you use natural gestures with your hands to select them—no need to hold your hands awkwardly in front of you constantly.

Enlarge / Apple's Vision Pro headset

CUPERTINO, Calif.—After years of speculation, leaks, rumors, setbacks, and rumblings of amazing behind-the-scenes demos, Apple has made its plans for a mixed reality platform and headset public. Vision Pro is "the first Apple Product you look through, not at," Apple's Tim Cook said, a "new AR platform with a new product" that "augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world."

"I believe augmented reality is a profound technology. Blending digital content with the real world can unlock new experiences," Cook said.

The headset, which looks like a pair of shiny ski goggles, can be controlled without a handheld controller. It solely uses your eyes, hands, and voice as an interface, and the EyeSight system lets you "control the system simply by looking." Icons and other UI elements react to your gaze, and you use natural gestures with your hands to select them—no need to hold your hands awkwardly in front of you constantly.