About the survival of our Data ( when Apps die )

Posted by Andy Brice
Jun 11, 2025 at 09:28 AM

>I’m not sure what you mean by Apple nuking everything from
>orbit

I am referring to the fact that Mac apps have to be continually updated to work with the latest macOS OS/processor.

I develop apps for Windows and Mac.

If you take a Windows release of my software from 20 years ago, there is a good chance it will run on the latest Windows OS.

If you take a Mac release of my software from 20 years ago, there is no chance it will run on the latest Mac OS. In fact a release from 5 years ago might not run on the latest Mac OS.

I understand macOS 26 is not going to support Intel chips. So you won’t be able to update that expensive Intel Mac you bought in 2020. It looks like Intel apps will continue to run under Rosetta translation, for now:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-to-phase-out-rosetta-2-starting-with-macos-28-as-intel-era-ends.2458631/

As a vendor:

On the plus side:

-Mac users are pretty much forced to upgrade their apps regularly if they want to stay on the latest version of macOS.

-apps that aren’t being actively maintained disappear as competitors quite quickly.

On the minus side:

-It is a grind to keep on jumping through the hoops created by Apple’s changes.