Buy a mac now or wait a year...?

Thanks, Peru Bob, yes, I typed the opposite of what I meant.

If Intel is phased out then dual boot isn't going to be an option for running old apps. A new computer is not going to boot Mac OS 10.14 or older. In general you can't boot a system older than the release date of the computer (sometimes one version back). I hope there will be a good Intel emulator. I really like carrying one laptop that can boot both Mac and Windows.

I'd say that After Effects, Flash (now Animate), Photoshop, and Illustrator handled the switch from PowerPC to Intel much better than most Apple native applications (Final Cut Pro classic included).

You could use Get Info to switch between the emulated PowerPC version and the Intel native version.  It was pretty impressive.  Or wait.. was the Get Info thing from the switch to PowerPC so many years earlier?  I forget.  It went smoothly though.

-Warrren

Sure, that's a technical issue. Let's look at the Intel chip timeline. Apple's transition to Intel processors - Wikipedia

2007 (Mac OS 10.4.4), first Intel processors to replace PPC processors; run PPC apps via "Rosetta".

2009 (Mac OS 10.6), last version of Mac OS that ran on PPC processors

2011 (Mac OS 10.7), Mac OS will run run PPC apps

What this meant for Adobe apps was that CS2, written for PPC and released in 2005, would no longer run on Mac OS 10.7, some 6 years later. But that's a LONG time and Apple are speeding up their incompatible changes.

For example, Mac OS 10.15 (expected later this year, 2019) will no longer run 64-bit apps. At a stroke this wipes out CS3, CS4 and most CS5 apps, released as late as 2011, and Acrobat versions up to Acrobat XI, released 2012. Only Acrobat DC, released 2015, will run, so Acrobat older than 4 years will be gone for people up to date on Mac.

Buying Macs is not future proof. If Apple could find a way to force you to buy a new Mac every Thursday, they would do it.

Perhaps I wasn't very clear. I do feel that this is an Adobe question not a Mac forum question.

In the past, when apple moved from a Motorola chip to an Intel chip much of the third party software that I used was quickly no longer supported. Mainly third party audio recording software/plugins.

I am currently a light user of the Creative Cloud subscription, Premier, Photoshop, Lightroom, and After effects. Can anyone tell me if apple were to switch processors what has Adobe's track record been on supporting the software written for the older processor? The question isn't really about how long will the hardware last, I understand that things change quickly. The question is, how long will Adobe Software written for an Intel chip continue to be supported if Mac moves on to a new chip. Or is that even a technical issue?

Thank you for your responses so far.

Graham

I think this question really belong in an Apple forum Any 'new' technology you buy is really going to be outdated as soon as you get it, which can be quite frustrating. Something else to consider is what sort of Adobe software you use. Do you have a CC subscription? Are you still using something like CS3? The newer the machine, the less likely older software is going to run. Best of luck in making your decision!

Are you hoping to keep running old apps without keeping current on Creative Cloud?

Sounds like a question best directed to the Apple forums

Notebooks - Apple Community