sennen

If this comes in, I'll source a phone from a different country and download updates from that country. The problem is that if Apple acquiesces to the idiot Australian government, other governments will follow. As part of Five Eyes, no doubt Australia is the thin edge of the wedge, the other 4 won't be far behind and then everyone else.

Our politicians are effing stupid.

ivanh said:

fallenjt said:

Damn, my Mini 2011 won’t make the cut...:(. I can’t believe I’ve used a this Mac Mini for 7 years and it still works great!

Not just Mini 2011. The best MacBook Pro I’ve used is MBP Early 2011.  
Apple should continue releasing security patches of macOS High Sierra, or the last upgrade versions for older intel-based Macs.

ElCap is still getting security updates, and even Yosemite as far as I know, so you'll have a few years of support on Sierra and High Sierra left yet.

eightzero said:

neilm said:

mac_128 said:

macxpress said:

And its not like your Mac just stops working just because you're not using Apple's latest version of macOS. You can still easily use your Mac with High Sierra for at least 2-3yrs if you choose to do so. 

Heck my company forces the Macs to run on El Capitan, despite being able to run High Sierra, and this will likely continue until their next scheduled replacement in 5 years.

Wow, that's incredibly shortsighted of them. Whoever implemented that policy should be fired on security grounds alone.

What do they do about replacements for failed units, or new Macs for new positions? Those are going to come with High Sierra, and most won't work — one exception is the Mac Mini, which of course isn't what you'd call "new" — with El Cap.

Has Apple dropped support for El Cap? No future security updates for that? 

Last night I downloaded a ElCap security update (dated June 01, 2018) for my now home-bound 2008 Mac Pro. I don't ask that much of it or my old 2009 17" MBP these days, but ElCap runs perfectly on them for home/casual use.

My MBP17 will be 9 years-old in a few months - still fine for everyday home use, however I have replaced it as a 'multi-media hub' at home with an even older 2008 Mac Pro (retired from work duty) which handles video, especially online video, a bit more elegantly and quietly. A refurb 2015 MBP took over work duties in Dec 2016 and I managed to pick up a second hand thunderbolt display for a song as well - no regrets in not choosing the 2016 MBP.

Several years ago I picked up a maxed-out 12" Powerbook on eBay for $50 that is still in almost-perfect cosmetic and functional condition - though it struggles with the modern web and has to run TenFourFox. I can still plug in the old mini-DV camera and fire up FCP, though - hehe! I've been fighting temptation for a few years to waste $80 on a PATA-ssd drive just so it will boot and run a tad snappier!

My mother was having issues with her PC about 3 or 4 years ago so I got her a 2007 15-in MBP from eBay for a couple of hundred dollars, it suits her purposes just fine and is still going well on Yosemite.

We have an original iPad Mini (wifi) that is used as a traveller, no problems even if it is a couple of iOS versions behind now. My wife's old iPhone 5S is now 4 and a half years old and has been passed to the youngest member of the family as a camera (we'll start using it as a phone again next year when she starts at school).

My old 4S is still 100% functional - I used it for 4 years before upgrading to a 6S+ - and it still gets some use as an audio recorder with an external mic plugged in.

I'd love to upgrade to the rumoured 2018 Plus-sized iPhone, but I simply have no issues with the 6S+ to justify it. I think I might try to go 2 more years.

Generally, I'd say Apple products are long-lived.