macOS 27 ‘says no’ to Macs using Intel chips

As announced at the WWDC 2026 global developers conference, taking place on June 8 in the US, Apple said macOS 27 Golden Gate will no longer run on any Mac using Intel chips. Instead, only models equipped with M1 chip or higher can upgrade to the new operating system version.

This announcement does not come as a surprise. Last year, when introducing macOS 26 Tahoe, Apple said it would be the last version available on Macs with Intel chips. According to Engadgetwith these models launching in 2020 or earlier, Apple actually has quite a long support period.

However, Apple will not completely “discontinue” Macs running Intel chips. The company will continue to release security updates for these machines through 2028.

Apple decided to part ways with Intel in 2020 when it developed its own M Silicon chip, equipped on the first three models including MacBook Air M1, MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 and Mac mini M1. The decision to switch from Intel chips to “homegrown” products at that time was considered a risk for the company in the computer chip segment, but it was quickly successful. This chip line has now grown to its 5th version (Apple M5) with M5 Pro and M5 Max variants, but the M5 Ultra has not been announced.

The macOS 27 Golden Gate operating system was introduced by Apple at WWDC 2026 with a series of new features. While macOS 26 Tahoe focuses on the Liquid Glass interface, Golden Gate is an upgrade that revolves around three pillars: Siri AI, system-wide intelligent search, and performance optimization.

Among them, Apple focuses most strongly on Siri AI. The new virtual assistant has the ability to maintain multi-step conversations, understand context from previous requests, and handle tasks related to personal data on the device. Users can search for emails, photos, notes or documents in natural language, request to compare information between multiple documents or perform a series of operations on the system. “Apple” also added its own Siri application, allowing chat history to be saved and synchronized between Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Spotlight was redesigned to be a system-wide search and task engine. Users can enter natural language commands to find data in multiple applications or take actions without opening the corresponding application. Apple says Spotlight’s indexing system has been changed to process data faster and support contextual searches.

In addition, Apple also completely improved and restructured the way it indexes content, thereby overcoming the problem that Finder stops searching for files, folders and applications on the Mac – a factor that has persisted on previous versions.

Golden Gate is the first version of Apple bringing Visual Intelligence to Macs. This AI feature can recognize the content being displayed on the screen, analyze images, summarize text and answer questions related to the content the user is viewing. Users can activate this tool from any location on the operating system using a separate keyboard shortcut.

The Shortcuts application also integrates the ability to create automated processes in natural language. Instead of setting up each step by hand, users simply describe the task to be performed using text or voice. The system will create a corresponding icon based on that request.

Regarding the interface, Apple continues to use Liquid Glass but adjusts some components. According to 9to5macLast year, users complained that the interface was inconsistent across the system, and macOS 26 fixed the problem. Users can change the transparency level of the interface through a separate adjustment bar. Apple also changed the way icons are displayed in the sidebar of apps and adjusted some window elements.

On the new macOS, AI is more deeply integrated. Many system applications add tools related to artificial intelligence, for example, Safari has the ability to manage tabs with AI; Mail and Notes support semantic search; Photos includes image editing tools; or Image Playgrounds supports image editing, creating contact avatars and wallpapers. Apple also updated Screen Time and parental management functions.

In addition to new features, Apple said macOS 27 Golden Gate focuses on optimizing the system platform, which changes a number of components to improve application opening speed, data processing and interface response. The first beta for developers was released immediately after WWDC 2026, the public beta next month and the official version is expected to be available to all users this fall.