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Long before the MacBook ever existed, Apple offered consumers its iconic iBook line. Born after Steve Jobs' return to the company in 1996, it was a cheaper and less powerful follow-up to Apple's professional laptop solution, the PowerBook. Clearly, that segmentation didn't hurt its support, because even 27 years after its launch, the iBook lineup is still capable of receiving updates from Apple's servers.
The post above — which has triggered this wave of nostalgiac outpouring — shows an iBook G4, released later in 2003, but the longevity of Apple's legacy software support in theory applies to the whole iBook lineup, including the older, colorful iBook G3, first released in 1999.
The poster was able to download a few patches in the ripe year of 2026; granted, these aren't truly full updates, as even security support for the iBook G4 ended in 2011. Still, the fact that these files are sitting ready, just waiting for anyone who needs them, is impressive. Having a functional macOS still up and running on this machine is equivalent to Windows 98 being hosted on Microsoft 's servers today (spoiler alert: it isn't).
Retro Apple Mac mod implements thermal printer floppy swap
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/premium
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/macos/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/macos/you-can-still-get-legacy-updates-from-apples-servers-on-its-decades-old-ibook-lineup-21-year-old-ibook-g4-seamlessly-connects-to-wi-fi-downloads-updates-with-no-mods#main
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.