Will your Mac or Windows PC still get security updates in 2026? Check this chart

The tech world was outraged — outraged, I tell you! — when Microsoft attached strict compatibility requirements to the launch of Windows 11. Those new rules meant some PCs that were only six or seven years old would be effectively abandoned, no longer eligible for security updates, and unable to upgrade to the newest OS version.

And yet, as it turns out, this is just another example of Microsoft copying one of its oldest competitors. Apple’s update policy for its desktop and laptop computers running MacOS is at least as restrictive as Microsoft’s.

Also: Can your old PC handle the Windows 11 upgrade? How to find out – before you try

One reason no one has launched any petition drives aimed at Apple (yet) is that the company’s support policies are so hard to figure out. Apple has nothing like Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle pages. Instead, you have to assemble bits of Apple knowledge into a list by watching as things suddenly stop being updated. A new MacOS version comes out, but you can’t upgrade to it. Then, a few years later, your orphaned OS stops getting security updates.

Here’s how it works in Cupertino:

• Every year, Apple releases a new version of its MacOS. The next release, MacOS 26 Tahoe, is “coming this fall.” The smart money is betting on September.
• Apple provides free security updates to the three most recent MacOS releases. So, when Tahoe hits the streets, MacOS 13 Ventura will stop receiving security updates.
• Apple’s hardware compatibility requirements mean that some older Macs that are currently running Ventura will be unable to upgrade to a later version of MacOS. And because Apple will stop supplying security updates to those Macs, they will effectively be orphaned.

Sound familiar? Fortunately, the end-of-support dates are documented on an independent, open-source site, endoflife.date. Meanwhile, another independent site, Macworld, has an authoritative MacOS Compatibility list that identifies Macs that will be unable to update to MacOS 14 Sonoma; those Macs will be stuck on Ventura. Based on Apple’s previous behavior, those Macs will stop receiving security updates after Tahoe is released this fall. The unsupported models include any MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac Mini from 2017 or earlier, and iMac and Mac Pro models from 2018 or earlier.

I found that totally confusing, so I put together this chart, using the data from Macworld’s MacOS 14 Sonoma compatibility list.

That first column, “Platform year,” is the one that matters most. It is not the same as the year you bought your PC or Mac. Instead, it represents the generation of silicon inside your PC or Mac, the year when the chipmakers released the core components inside that PC or Mac.

In general, if the guts of your PC or Mac contain a CPU and related components that were released in 2019 or later, you’re in good shape. So, how do you know? As with so many things in this complicated world, it depends.

When will your Mac stop getting security updates?

Not every Mac is updated every year, so sometimes your only option is last year’s model, or even the year before. If you bought a MacBook Air in June 2022, for example, your only option was the original M1 model, which had been released more than 18 months earlier, in 2020. If you had waited a month, you could have bought the 2022 model.

Also: Your old MacBook’s days are numbered, as Apple confirms end of support

Apple and third-party resellers also regularly offer older models for sale, often at big discounts. It’s mid-2025 as I write this, and Apple is still selling 2021 model iMacs on its Refurbished Mac store. At Amazon, right now, you can buy a “brand new, factory sealed” Mac Mini (Late 2018) at a steep discount over the cost of a newer model.

Because Apple has total control over its hardware, it’s (relatively) easy to find the platform year for your Mac. Go to the Apple menu, click About This Mac, and look at the model information at the top of the page.

For a more definitive answer, copy your serial number from the About This Mac box and then paste it into Apple’s Check Coverage page. That will give you the information you need to identify your Mac — just be sure to look at the model info and not the purchase date.

Then look at the chart. If there’s a No on the line that corresponds to your Mac’s year, you’ll be running a MacOS version that no longer receives security updates as of the end of this year.

When will your Windows PC stop getting security updates?

For Windows PCs, the technical details involved in determining whether a PC is compatible with Windows 11 are quite a bit more complicated. It’s not as easy as just finding out when your system’s CPU was released.

Also: Is your Microsoft account passwordless yet? Why it should be and how to do it right

There’s a huge array of CPUs for Windows PCs, from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. If your PC was built using a CPU that was released in 2019 or later, it’s almost certain to be compatible with Windows 11. Intel’s 8th Generation Core CPUs (the Coffee Lake family, released in 2017 and 2018) probably qualify as well. But some budget-oriented Pentium and Celeron processors that were popular in 2018 aren’t on Microsoft’s list.

You could spend a lot of time and energy hunting down that information, but it’s much simpler to run Microsoft’s PC Health Check app and use its tools to check for compatibility problems.

Why does the chart say “Maybe” for Windows PCs that were built using CPUs released between 2015 and 2018? Welcome to the confusing world of Windows compatibility. Most PCs that were built during those years should be able to pass every compatibility test except one — the CPU. 

Indeed, on the PC where I ran the PC Health Check app earlier, the only compatibility problem is that the TPM isn’t enabled. But every PC that was sold with Windows preinstalled after mid-2016 was required to have a TPM, so that’s a simple matter of flipping a switch in the firmware menu.

Also: Why Windows 11 requires a TPM – and how to get around it

And as much as Microsoft would desperately like you to forget this fact, the company created a simple Windows registry setting that allows anyone to bypass that CPU check and install Windows 11. (I document that setting in Option 1 here: “How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 – 2 free options.” )

Owners of PCs running Windows 10 also have the option to pay for security updates for up to three years after the official end of support date in October 2025, an option that is not available for Mac owners.  

The bottom line? If you own a Mac or a Windows PC, you should expect it to get security updates for eight to ten years after its release date (not your purchase date). Although you can save money by buying a model based on a two- or three-year-old design, there’s a chance it will reach its end-of-support date that much sooner.

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