This means that Mac users often have no idea that they’re using unpatched, insecure software that could expose them to drive-by malware installations and other security problems.
Worse, when users run Apple’s Software Update program, it misleadingly tells them “Your software is up to date.” Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t give users any kind of warning when their operating system or Mac is no longer supported. Apple hasn’t sold any PowerPC-based Macs since 2006. If you still use a Mac with a PowerPC processor, including G4 or G5 Macs, Apple hasn’t released any security updates for your Mac for over a year now, aside from iTunes and QuickTime updates.
If you have an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, or Mac mini model that was originally released in Early/Mid 2006, the latest version of Mac OS X your system supports is Snow Leopard. Macs That Can’t Run Mountain Lion or Lion However, when Macworld called last Wednesday they were told at that time that Lion was not available. If you search for OS X Lion in the Mac App Store you’ll only find Mountain Lion, and Apple no longer sells an OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive (part number MD256Z/A) in its online store.Īn Apple spokesperson told Macworld that customers should be able to purchase Lion from Apple’s “legacy products list” by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE. If your Mac can’t handle Mountain Lion but does support Lion, finding a legitimate copy of Lion could be a little tricky if you haven’t already purchased it.
If all you need is a RAM upgrade in order to upgrade your OS, by all means, do it! RAM is cheap, and you can either install it yourself by following guides available online, or simply have an Apple-authorized repair technician do it for you. If you’re not sure which Mac model you own, you may find EveryMac and apple-history to be useful sites. MacBook (Late 2006 or any 2007 or 2008 model).If your Mac isn’t new enough to run Mountain Lion, it should still be able to run Lion if you have a Mac with a Core 2 Duo processor (one of the Mac models listed below), as long as it has at least 2 GB of RAM and 7 GB of free hard drive space: MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer).Mountain Lion requires one of the following Macs with at least 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of available hard drive space: If your Mac is older than the ones listed, read on for suggestions on what you can do to upgrade to a supported system. If you bought a new Mac on or after June 11, 2012, Apple’s Up-to-Date Program allows you to request a free upgrade to Mountain Lion by August 24.įollowing are lists of Macs that can run a supported version of OS X. The good news is that most new Macs sold within the past few years can be upgraded to a newer version of OS X. Back in February I inquired of Apple whether any security updates would be released for Snow Leopard after the release of Mountain Lion, and Apple never responded.
In other words, don’t expect to get a corresponding Security Update for Snow Leopard the next time Apple patches vulnerabilities in Mountain Lion and Lion.Īpple dropping Snow Leopard support was inevitable.
Apple’s lack of commitment to patch the 121 vulnerabilities in Snow Leopard’s version of Safari is only a harbinger of things to come. That’s not a good thing, because it means that Apple likely won’t patch security vulnerabilities for those Macs’ operating system anymore.įor the past several major versions of Mac OS X, Apple has only released patches for OS vulnerabilities in the current and one previous version of the operating system. Some older Macs cannot be upgraded to Lion, meaning they’ll be stuck with Snow Leopard (version 10.6.8) or older. This means that some Macs will be limited to Lion (version 10.7.4), which will presumably still receive security updates for the next year or so.
Last week Apple released a new version of its Mac operating system, OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8).Īs usual with major new Mac OS X updates, support for some machines has been dropped.