[Digital Today reporter Choi Jae-won (최재원)] Apple has fully ended support for Macs powered by Intel processors starting with its latest operating system, macOS 27 Golden Gate. The shift to Apple silicon that began in 2020 has effectively been completed in operating system support as well.

According to IT media outlet Engadget on Aug. 26 (local time), macOS 27 can be used only on Macs equipped with Apple silicon such as the M-series or A-series. For MacBooks, supported models include the 2020 M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro and later Apple silicon models. By contrast, Intel-based products such as the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro and the 2020 Intel MacBook Pro cannot be upgraded.

The last major operating system supported on Intel Macs is macOS 26 Tahoe. Tahoe supported some Intel Macs, including the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro and the 2020 Intel MacBook Pro, but support has fully shifted to Apple silicon starting with Golden Gate.

Golden Gate includes a revamped Siri AI based on Apple Intelligence, along with new harmful content blocking features and improvements to system responsiveness and stability. Intel Mac users cannot use these new operating system features.

Users can check which chip their Mac uses by opening "About This Mac" from the Apple menu. If it shows an Apple chip such as M1, M2 or M3, they can install Golden Gate, but devices showing an Intel Core processor are excluded from supported models.

Intel Macs will not become unusable immediately. The outlet forecast that, if Apple's recent support cycle continues, Tahoe will receive security updates for about the next 2 years. As a result, Intel Mac users could receive security patches until around 2028, but this is not an officially guaranteed end-of-support date from Apple.