When Adobe drops macOS Big Sur support, will I keep getting updates?

[Selwin]

Lightroom Version Number

12.0.1

Operating System

1. macOS 11 Big Sur

MacBook Pro late 2013 retina 15” 16GB, 500GB RAM. Declared vintage by apple a couple of years ago. Big Sur is as far as it will go. how will Adobe play this? I suppose I’ll be stuck with the then current LrC release, from here on referred to as “final Big Sur LrC release”
questions:
1. Will I continue to receive software patches (dot or dotdot releases) for the final Big Sur LrC release?
2. Will I be able to continue using the final Big Sur LrC release as long as I keep paying for my Adobe subscription?
The whole point of choosing subscription over perpetual is to keep receiving bug fixes and new features down the line.

I just feel sorry by the thought of retiring a perfectly good and healthy piece of kit. I’ve pampered it for 9 years, never dropped it, hardly scratched it. I’m generally fiercely against throwing away good things just because something more appealing comes along.

Still:
Three weeks ago, during a sale, I ordered a brand new M1 Max MBP with 24GPU/64GB/2TB for a €790 discounted price, an all time low for this model. As much as I love Apple products, I haven’t touched even the box it came in, which is still wrapped in cellophane. However, while the heart wants to return the new M1 monster and keep my trusted 2013 MBP, the head knows it’ll be only 10 months before Apple drops macOS Big Sur support and even when the M2 successor comes (rumoured for Q1 2023), it may be hard to find a deal this good so I had better just unbox it and get it over with.

opinions?

 

[Denis de Gannes]

MacBook Pro late 2013 retina 15” 16GB, 500GB RAM. Declared vintage by apple a couple of years ago. Big Sur is as far as it will go. how will Adobe play this? I suppose I’ll be stuck with the then current LrC release, from here on referred to as “final Big Sur LrC release”
questions:
1. Will I continue to receive software patches (dot or dotdot releases) for the final Big Sur LrC release?
2. Will I be able to continue using the final Big Sur LrC release as long as I keep paying for my Adobe subscription?
The whole point of choosing subscription over perpetual is to keep receiving bug fixes and new features down the line.

I just feel sorry by the thought of retiring a perfectly good and healthy piece of kit. I’ve pampered it for 9 years, never dropped it, hardly scratched it. I’m generally fiercely against throwing away good things just because something more appealing comes along.

Still:
Three weeks ago, during a sale, I ordered a brand new M1 Max MBP with 24GPU/64GB/2TB for a €790 discounted price, an all time low for this model. As much as I love Apple products, I haven’t touched even the box it came in, which is still wrapped in cellophane. However, while the heart wants to return the new M1 monster and keep my trusted 2013 MBP, the head knows it’ll be only 10 months before Apple drops macOS Big Sur support and even when the M2 successor comes (rumoured for Q1 2023), it may be hard to find a deal this good so I had better just unbox it and get it over with.

opinions?

I am in the same boat, I am using LrC 12 on my iMac mid 2015 with macOS BigSur and will not be able to update my iMac any further. So my Mac is now frozen in time and when in October LrC 13 is released in October 2023 I will not be able to upgrade and will get no further up dates, with new features or bug fixes.
I am therefore planning to sell my iMac and move to a new system that can function in the future.

 

[clee01l]

Generally speaking, Apple will continue to update security patches but not bug fixes.
Adobe OTOH will drop support of the obsolete Apple version when a release of a new Adobe version (e.g. from V12 to v 13.) is available.

Technology advances necessitate OS changes to take advantage of the technology and consequentially the app software to take advantage of the technology. It should be expected as this has always been the nature of the industry.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Conrad Chavez]

1. Will I continue to receive software patches (dot or dotdot releases) for the final Big Sur LrC release?
2. Will I be able to continue using the final Big Sur LrC release as long as I keep paying for my Adobe subscription?
…opinions?

On this subject, opinions are not as useful as the facts: The pattern for Apple/Adobe support of Macs has become very regular and therefore predictable over the past few years, and every Mac user needs to pay attention to that pattern because it sets up how we need to schedule for new hardware.

These are the ground rules:

• Both Apple and Adobe provide support and updates for the last three major versions of macOS. Whether by design or by coincidence, it still helps that both companies are in lock step on this, because it means you can plan: If your Mac cannot run any of the last three major versions of macOS, don’t expect further upgrades from either company.
• Every fall, Apple and Adobe release the next major upgrade of their software, which increments which versions are the three most recent. So every year, every Mac moves one step closer to no longer getting updates.
• And finally, Apple tends to cut off a specific Mac model from further macOS upgrades after about 7 or 8 years.

If you put all that together, you can plan. When you buy a new Mac, the clock starts running. It actually starts from the date the model was released, not the date you bought it. Things are fine for about 7 or 8 years after the release date. Then, Apple releases a new major macOS upgrade that drops support for that model and cannot be installed.

Things are still OK so far, you still get updates from Apple and Adobe because the Mac is still running one of the three latest versions of macOS. But because it has fallen to running the second-latest version, now there are only two more years left before update support is dropped.

Over the next two years Apple releases two more macOS major upgrades. Now that Mac is running the fourth-latest version of macOS, not one of the last three. Now it will no longer get updates from Apple or Adobe.

Given that pattern, it’s very clear: By the time you reach the year you find out your Mac can't install the newest macOS, if you want to continue getting the latest updates, you should already be saving or setting up financing so that you can get a new Mac when you reach the year the current Mac will lose support for all updates from Apple and Adobe.

The whole point of choosing subscription over perpetual is to keep receiving bug fixes and new features down the line.

Yes…but only for software deemed “Supported” by whatever company is selling the subscription. That’s the fine print. It’s rare for a developer to support specific hardware forever, so the game is to understand where each developer has drawn the line. Apple doesn’t charge a subscription to get you the latest macOS upgrades, and yet they still draw a line as to how far back they will support a specific model year.

 

[Conrad Chavez]

2. Will I be able to continue using the final Big Sur LrC release as long as I keep paying for my Adobe subscription?

Yes, they won’t kill it or uninstall it, but…there is a catch.

As you know, Creative Cloud applications are installed using the Creative Cloud desktop app. Per Adobe support policy, that app provides only the last two major versions of Creative Cloud applications for installation. When the last version of Lightroom Classic that runs on Big Sur is no longer one of the two most recent versions of Lightroom Classic, it will be dropped from the Creative Cloud desktop app so it will never again be able to be reinstalled from that app. That would be a problem if your version of Lightroom Classic stopped working for any reason, because easy reinstallation would no longer be an option.

So, you can keep running the last version of Lightroom Classic that runs on Big Sur as long as you subscribe. But you will want to keep that Mac system running reliably and maintain regular and verified backups of not just data but also applications, in case you need to restore things after a system failure. Time Machine backups should work fine for this.

 

[Selwin]

Thank you for your thoughts and explanations. I am fully aware of the Apple release cycle but totally unaware of how Adobe handles it. Thank you Conrad for your detailed write up. And yes Cletus this is the nature of computing, I really know, I just find it hard to part from my old machine. Maybe if I’d just start using the new one it will make me convince to take the step.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I just feel sorry by the thought of retiring a perfectly good and healthy piece of kit. I’ve pampered it for 9 years, never dropped it, hardly scratched it. I’m generally fiercely against throwing away good things just because something more appealing comes along.

I find that too, but I bet you could find a low income family who could put it to good use.

You'll love the new MacBook when it's set up just as you like it!

 

[Selwin]

I find that too, but I bet you could find a low income family who could put it to good use.

You'll love the new MacBook when it's set up just as you like it!

Dear Victoria,
Thank you for relating to my dilemma and what a great suggestion. I'll look into that.

 

[Zenon]

Isn't 7 - 8 years a lot in the computer world especially with the exponential rate the tech improves? Seems to be fairly reasonable to me. I had a 2011 iMac which was great when it came out but became useless with Topaz AI apps. I could only achieve a good result if I cropped a file by 50% before sending it. In 8 years processing speeds and everything just gets so much better.

I remember saying who needs 5G or LTE but now when I wind in a area that only has 3 or 4GB service I get ticked off.

 

[Selwin]

Isn't 7 - 8 years a lot in the computer world especially with the exponential rate the tech improves? Seems to be fairly reasonable to me. I had a 2011 iMac which was great when it came out but became useless with Topaz AI apps. I could only achieve a good result if I cropped a file by 50% before sending it. In 8 years processing speeds and everything just gets so much better.

I remember saying who needs 5G or LTE but now when I wind in a area that only has 3 or 4GB service I get ticked off.

You are right, 7-8 years is respectable and I’m close to 9. I still have a 2010 Mac Pro quad core base model that is perfectly usable for most things. Not for adobe as it’s stuck on high sierra. oh well, I should be pleased that my hardware has made it through the full product life cycle, meaning until apple stops updating. The fact that the hardware is still capable shows that an apple investment lasts for a long time.

 

[DLee]

I'm in the same boat with the exact same computer Selwin. This thing still works pretty great although I do hit a wall with Premier Pro now and working with video. At this stage I'm still reviewing footage as keeper or not so I can do that on Quicktime. But eventually that will be the final nail in the coffin when I need to start editing.

So here's the question, which M1 to get? I'd like it to last another nine years... although reading the thread above that may not be a viable dream anymore as obsolescence seems to be being built in.

But still, which model to get? I'm also torn between the 14" price and the 16" size. Been fairly happy with this 15" for the past decade.

Dennis

 

[DLee]

Prices of course are heading into the astro range... do I take advantage at this point of saving a few hundred $$$ on an M1 or wait for the M2, pay the extra bucks, and maybe stretch the life by a year or two?

This buying of hardware these days just never ends. Wasn't like this in film days... lol.

d

 

[Selwin]

Hi Dennis,
Thanks for your reply. Wanting 15" or more, the only options are:
- M1 Pro/Max MBP 15"
- M2 or M2 pro MacBook Air rumoured for Q2 2023
- M2 Pro/Max MBP, also rumoured for Q1/Q2 2023
In Europe, prices of any new Apple product will rise by 17%, as we have seen with the iPhone 14 models and subsequent smaller releases such as Airpods.
In the US this won't be much of an issue though.
As the current 13" M2 Macbook air with 24GB/2TB is already over Eur 3000, the new 15" will be considerably more (3500?) and in Europe x 1,17 = 4095.
The new M2 MBP's will reach astronomical prices in Europe: with 24core GPU, 64GB/2TB it will be 4569x1,17 = Eur 5345
Therefore, the M1 MBP 15" I picked up for 3800 appears to be best route to go.

 

[Selwin]

Therefore, the M1 MBP 15" I picked up for 3800 appears to be best route to go.

M1 MBP 16” of course