The “active” life cycle of a Mac It is undoubtedly the largest in the computer industry and, when I refer to the active life, I speak of the period in which the device continues to receive updates from its descendants and earn the latest features made by the manufacturer (or at least some of them). , since not all really come to the "older" models).
Still, it comes to an end one day: even the most powerful and resilient hardware will no longer be updated by Apple, eventually being classified as classic or obsolete. The idea of the tables below is to take a look at the working life of each Mac that has been released (at least from the last decade to c), so you can analyze Apple's longevity patterns and perhaps even make a better decision about it. It's time to choose a new computer especially if we are talking about a used device.
Our tables will be updated as needed (ie whenever a new model of Mac is released or a completely new version of macOS is released), so the invitation is invited to check back this post anytime.
iMac
| 20 ″ and 24 ″ (Mid 2007) | 2007 | Mac OS X 10.4.10 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 20 ″ and 24 ″ (Early 2008) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 20 ″ and 24 ″ (Early / Mid 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 21.5 ″ and 27 ″ (End of 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.6.1 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 21.5 ″ and 27 ″ (Mid 2010) | 2010 | Mac OS X 10.6.3 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 21.5 ″ and 27 ″ (Mid 2011) | 2011 | Mac OS X 10.6.6 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 21.5 ″ (End of 2011) | 2011 | Mac OS X 10.7 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 21.5 ″ and 27 ″ (End of 2012) | 2012 | OS X 10.8.2 | last available |
| 21.5 ″ (Early 2013) | 2013 | OS X 10.8.2 | last available |
| 21.5 ″ and 27 ″ (End of 2013) | 2013 | OS X 10.8.4 | last available |
| 21.5 ″ (Mid 2014) | 2014 | OS X 10.9.3 | last available |
| 27 ″ Retina 5K (End of 2014) | 2014 | OS X 10.10 | last available |
| 27 ″ Retina 5K (Mid 2015) | 2015 | OS X 10.10.2 | last available |
| 21.5 ″, 21.5 ″ 4K Retina and 27 ″ Retina 5K (End of 2015) | 2015 | OS X 10.11 | last available |
| 21.5 ″, 21.5 ″ 4K Retina and 27 ″ Retina 5K (2017) | 2017 | macOS 10.12.4 | last available |
| iMac Pro | 2017 | macOS 10.13.2 | last available |
| 21.5 ″ 4K Retina and 27 ″ 5K Retina (2019) | 2019 | macOS 10.14.4 | last available |
Mac mini
| Mid 2007 | 2007 | Mac OS X 10.4.10 | Mac OS X 10.7.5 |
| Early 2009 | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| End of 2009 | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| Mid 2010 | 2010 | Mac OS X 10.6.3 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| Mid 2011 | 2011 | Mac OS X 10.7 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| End of 2012 | 2012 | OS X 10.8.1 | last available |
| End of 2014 | 2014 | OS X 10.10 | last available |
| 2019 | 2018 | macOS 10.14 | last available |
Mac pro
| Early 2008 | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.1 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| Early 2009 | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| Mid 2010 | 2010 | Mac OS X 10.6.4 | macOS 10.14.6 |
| Mid 2012 | 2012 | Mac OS X 10.7.3 | macOS 10.14.6 |
| End of 2013 | 2013 | OS X 10.9 | last available |
MacBook
| 13 ″ (Early 2008) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 | Mac OS X 10.7.5 |
| 13 ″ (End of 2008) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.4 | Mac OS X 10.7.5 |
| 13 ″ Aluminum (End of 2008) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.5 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 13 ″ (Early 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 13 ″ (Mid 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.7 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 13 ″ (End of 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.6.1 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 13 ″ (Mid 2010) | 2010 | Mac OS X 10.6.3 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 12 ″ Retina (Early 2015) | 2015 | OS X 10.10.2 | last available |
| 12 ″ Retina (Early 2016) | 2016 | OS X 10.11.4 | last available |
| 12 ″ Retina (2017) | 2017 | macOS 10.12.5 | last available |
MacBook Air
| Original | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.1 | Mac OS X 10.7.5 |
| End of 2008 | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.5 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| Mid 2009 | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| End of 2010 | 2010 | Mac OS X 10.6.4 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| Mid 2011 | 2011 | Mac OS X 10.7 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| Mid 2012 | 2012 | Mac OS X 10.7.4 | last available |
| Mid 2013 | 2013 | OS X 10.8.4 | last available |
| Early 2014 | 2014 | OS X 10.9.2 | last available |
| Early 2015 | 2015 | OS X 10.10.2 | last available |
| 13 ″ (2017) | 2017 | macOS 10.12.4 | last available |
| 13 ″ (2018) | 2018 | macOS 10.14.1 | last available |
| 13 ″ (2019) | 2019 | macOS 10.14.5 | last available |
MacBook Pro
| 15 ″ and 17 ″ (Early 2008) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 15 ″ (End of 2018) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.5 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 17 ″ (End of 2018) | 2008 | Mac OS X 10.5.4 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 17 ″ (Early 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 13 ″, 15 ″ and 17 ″ (Mid 2009) | 2009 | Mac OS X 10.5.7 | OS X 10.11.6 |
| 13 ″, 15 ″ and 17 ″ (Mid 2010) | 2010 | Mac OS X 10.6.3 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 13 ″, 15 ″ and 17 ″ (Early 2011) | 2011 | Mac OS X 10.6.6 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 13 ″, 15 ″ and 17 ″ (End of 2011) | 2011 | Mac OS X 10.7.2 | macOS 10.13.6 |
| 13 ″, 15 ″ and 15 ″ Retina (Mid 2012) | 2012 | Mac OS X 10.7.4 | last available |
| 13 ″ Retina (End of 2012) | 2012 | OS X 10.8.1 | last available |
| 13 ″ Retina and 15 ″ Retina (Early 2013) | 2013 | OS X 10.8.2 | last available |
| 13 ″ Retina and 15 ″ Retina (End 2013) | 2013 | OS X 10.9 | last available |
| 13 ″ Retina and 15 ″ Retina (Mid 2014) | 2014 | OS X 10.9.4 | last available |
| 13 ″ Retina (Early 2015) | 2015 | OS X 10.10.2 | last available |
| 15 ″ Retina (Mid 2015) | 2015 | OS X 10.10.3 | last available |
| 13 ″ and 15 ″ (2016) | 2016 | macOS 10.12.1 | last available |
| 13 ″ and 15 ″ (2017) | 2017 | macOS 10.12.5 | last available |
| 13 ″ and 15 ″ (2018) | 2018 | macOS 10.13.6 | last available |
| 13 ″ and 15 ″ (2019) | 2019 | macOS 10.14.5 | last available |
For those interested, we also have these guides for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Apple TVs.
Enjoy! 😉
Last Update: November 11, 2019.
