With release of Sequoia is Mac OS MONTEREY still supported

I would just like to point out that I still run my old 2011 MacBook Pro as a media device for workouts. It runs macOS High Sierra, last updated 4 years ago, always running. Hasn't been hacked yet.

As time goes on, your Apple apps and third party apps may stop working correctly if they need to access online services. As online services change over time, those changes may break an older unsupported app's ability to access those online services. Otherwise, any apps that do not require any online access should continue to function properly unless you are trying to access documents made with later versions of apps where the document format has changed or evolved. Some third party developers may provide app updates for much longer, but many developers are following Apple's support model and stop providing updates for a particular OS when Apple stops supporting that OS.

As for security.....if you follow the guidelines in the following article, then you should have very little to worry about:

Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community

You will still get security updates in future but the time frame will be much longer than usual.

I think you'll be OK for 2-3 more years at least.

Lisa M wrote:

My 2015 imac 27" works great and only can get up to Mac Os Monterey. It is on 12.7.6 right now. When will Apple stop releasing security updates. I can't afford a new computer right now! I hope I get more time on this one.

Don't worry about it. You aren't at any risk. The only way to install malware on a Mac is for you to purposefully install it in order to run some illegal pirate software and/or access some paid streaming movie or sporting event for free. You would have to bypass multiple levels of Apple security.

My hardware is

MacBook Pro 15" late-2016 with 4 × USB-C, 16GB RAM

and can get max Monterey MacOS only...

When have to replace this MacBook Pro, ... in other words when stopped security updates?

I can await a while --- as this MacBook Pro works OK, Also, own some Windows 11 PCs...

etresoft wrote:

I would just like to point out that I still run my old 2011 MacBook Pro as a media device for workouts. It runs macOS High Sierra, last updated 4 years ago, always running. Hasn't been hacked yet.

👍+1

I still use my 2012 i7 MBP especially when travelling, even internationally. High Sierra, Firefox, Malwarebytes. Privacy Badger, HTTPS Everywhere & uBlock Origin plugins for Firefox. Have never had any issues with security or hacking. (And there haven't been any security updates since 10.13.6 four years ago.)

Of course, I am also very careful about anything I ever do on the internet. But that's with all my Macs & iPhones, not just with my old gear.

Vivaldi is another option (from one of the original founders of the old classic Opera browser v1 to v12 & it is multi-platform). It is based on Chromium as well, but has lots of extra features & configuration options.

Yes, at some point Safari will start having problems with some websites. It could happen at any time, but it may work well for some years yet. I ran Opera v12.16 for several years after the last update since I loved that browser so much until Vivaldi was released some years later (not quite the same, but as close as I can come these days). You should definitely check out third party browser options now so you can be ready when Safari is no longer able to work for you.

As a Rule Apple only supports the last 3 OSes, but occasionally hands out securiy updates for a couple of older OS versions... I wouldn't worry too much.:)

And some parts of the security system, like the XProtect database updates, are still being pushed out to macOS 10.X systems.

Safari likely will be the 1st browser to fall behind on security & other features.

Might try this, it's Chrome Browser without google & without Ads...

https://brave.com/

Based on a historical review of updates to older versions of macOS, 12.7.6 is probably the last update to Montery. And since Monterey is now 4 generations old it is unlikely there will be any future security updates to it.

That said, macOS Monterey a very secure operating system and I would not hesitate to continue using it for the forseeable future.

Keep your browser up to date and if possible add privacy/security plugins like Privacy Badger & uBlock Origin to your browser.

I too was thinking this. My only concern is that Safari will no longer get updates and I may have to convert to (Ugh) Chrome just to maintain compatibility with websites and since your browser is always your 2nd line of defense (the user being the first line). It's dissapointing that Apple wouldn't just at least keep updating Safari with security updates for this reason. But, I agree, if you use common sense, Monterey will still work. That said, it's possible some iCloud features might not work if they expand capability with minimum OS requirements to take advantage.

I was wondering this, but not sure if they will continue that since we are now 4 OS's behind (which it seems history supports 3). I'm hoping you are correct, but would have like to see something regarding a Security Update with this last round.

Why would anyone ever switch to Chrome? Firefox's ESR releases for older macOS versions are all quite good - and of course, nowadays there's even more choices like Brave and Vivaldi - although they aren't really my cup of tea.