Have a 2017 MacBook Air and want Ventura on it? Sorry, you’re out of luck: it, and all Macs made before 2017, aren’t supported. So why does Apple end operating system support for perfectly good computers?
Part of the answer is undoubtedly to sell new Macs. But there are more important factors here. Operating systems can encounter issues with new software or newly discovered security flaws, and fixing those issues costs money. And then there arebits of code that enable your Mac to talk to crucial components that are often made by third parties — AMD or Intel for GPUs, Broadcom for Wi–Fi radios and so on. Those third parties don’t keep updating their drivers forever, and when their updates stop that threatens the stability and safety of macOS. Few manufacturers will happily pay to patch their operating systems in perpetuity. Some Android firms only promise OS updates for two years from launch, so Apple’s six–ish years is positively generous by comparison.
