Well, well, well. It’s official, and I think it shocked a lot of people. It shocked me. When Apple launches macOS Tahoe 26, the immediate successor to macOS Sequoia that’s currently powering the latest Macs, most old Intel-powered Macs won’t be able to upgrade.
It’s the end of the road for them. They’ll continue to work with macOS Sequoia, but Apple clearly is sunsetting them with the aim of moving people onto the Apple-designed chips that replaced the Intels beginning in late 2020.
If you’ve currently got an early-2020 Mac or earlier and want to keep getting the latest Apple operating systems, you’re gonna have to upgrade. I know, I know. Replacing a Mac is almost like emergency car shopping, given their price.
There are a few options that won’t break the bank, though, and all come with Apple silicon, meaning you’ll get macOS Tahoe 26 and all the new features it comes with.
the cheapest way to upgrade to apple silicon
I’ve written about how the best deal in MacBooks isn’t the top-selling MacBook on Amazon, the refurbished 2020 Intel-powered MacBook Air. It’s the runner-up, the refurbished 2020 M1-powered MacBook Air that replaced it.
Skip the MacBook Air M3. Right now, the deals aren’t all that appetizing. The M3 actually launched at a starting price of $100 more than the M4 that replaced it, which may explain part of why it’s a worse buy right now.
Of course, you could just upgrade to the brand-new MacBook Air M4 that launched on March 12, 2025. It retails for $1,000, but Apple has been selling it for $850 for a while now. That’s a killer price on a killer laptop.
Is it cheap? Not exactly. But it’s under $1k for a very fast, lightweight laptop, and you won’t have to even think about upgrading it for years and years, unless you plan on heavy video or photo editing, in which case you should get a MacBook Pro of some type.
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