End of an Era: macOS 27 Drops Support for Intel-Based Macs

Apple is making its latest macOS 26 release the last official operating system that will run on Intel-powered Macs. This means that starting with next year’s macOS 27 release, new operating system updates will be available only on the M-Series of Apple Silicon. For macOS 26, codenamed “Tahoe,” several Intel-based Macs will still support this latest release. These include the 2019 Mac Pro, 2019 MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2020 MacBook Pro 13-inch, and the 2020 release of the 27-inch iMac. These models will receive the latest macOS “Tahoe” operating system support this year, while next year’s macOS 27 will officially end the rollout for Intel-based Macs. This marks the end of an era for Intel-based Macs and represents the Hackintosh community’s final efforts to get this operating system on non-Apple PCs.

The transition to Apple Silicon officially began in late 2020 with the introduction of the M1 SoC—Apple’s first custom silicon processor that features an in-house developed CPU, GPU, and much of the surrounding IP that make up an SoC. This initiated a series of M-Series designs over the years, with the current latest being the M5 generation, led by the M5 Pro and M5 Max. The Cupertino giant has been creating custom silicon for years with its A-Series of smartphone SoCs, but only recently started a special line for Macs. The company even offers the A18 Pro-based MacBook Neo, incorporating some smartphone silicon into a $599 Mac computer for basic PC work.

Apple will likely detail the transition at its upcoming WWDC 2026 event, showcasing how the entire Apple ecosystem has transitioned from Intel x86 CPUs to Apple Silicon custom solutions. We expect to hear more in June when the conference starts, including how the ecosystem looks now.