BobK1957 wrote:
I was getting ready to purchase a refurbished 2019 iMac with an Intel chip and I heard that Apple is not supporting this anymore because they went to a different ship and therefore I wouldn't be able to upgrade the computer when necessary is this true?
Apple started the transition to Apple silicon in 2020, and has more recently completed the transition away from Intel x86-64 processors.
iMac x86-64 is lacking various new features that are specific to Apple silicon.
iMac 2019 is the oldest supported iMac on the current macOS 15 “Sequoia” version.
I would expect macOS support for the remaining Intel x86-64 processors to end before the Apple silicon processors start to be deprecated, though Apple has not made statements here.
Apple has been on a yearly release cycle for new macOS versions.
Roughly five to seven years of hardware and software support is typical.
I would not purchase a Mac Intel x86-64 at this time. Not unless you’re planning to also directly boot Microsoft Windows, and can’t run the Windows Arm guest for some reason. I’d look at the Mac mini as mentioned above, or the iMac 24”.
Beware private sales and the possibility of Activation Lock, too. Lost or stolen devices are unfortunately available, and will not be useful to the buyer. Expensive bricks. If the seller can disappear, consider the purchase very speculative.