this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2025
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macOS updates haven't cost money since 2009
But... They did?! (Never had a mac)
No, major OS releases used to cost money for a license. The same way a Windows 11 license costs money. Apple stopped charging for OS releases but Microsoft still does.
But Lemmy assured me that Apple is BAD!
I know this is a joke. Apple is bad for some reasons and good for others. I think there are technologies where the bad clearly outweighs the good (e.g. anything Facebook/Meta). I don’t think Apple is as clear cut. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put serious pressure (government regulation?) on them for the bad things. IMO Lemmy lacks the nuance for things that aren’t clear cut.
Here’s an example. Apple laptops are insanely well built +1 points. Apple silicon delivers incredible battery life and performance, and has pushed ARM into the mainstream +1. Apple locks down software and hardware too much -1. Apples labor practices -1. I would love to see better Linux support for Apple silicon (I think it’s exists, but idk how well it works).
There's not much demand for that as it's generally a tad more expensive than similar hardware from other manufacturers, so usually makes more sense to get more open hardware for using with Linux.
I feel like I’m this weird combination where I love the design of their products - are there other aluminum laptops that are as sleek as Apple? But on the other hand, I also think something modular like framework would be sick. I guess that’s the issue is you can’t have the sleek fully aluminum design and have it be modular/repairable. But I will say this, my M2 Max MacBook Pro has been a beast for 2 years, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
I think framework laptops look pretty sleek 🤷
And they sell an aluminium cover if you wanted it to be almost fully aluminum: https://frame.work/products/input-cover-kit?v=FRANHC0001
MacOS never had licenses, owning a mac was the license because you couldn't run it on non-apple hardware* until they switched to Intel. I got OS8 from a copy of MacAddict.
* not counting Gil Amelio's ill-fated hardware mac clone program
Every 10.x version of OS X cost money up through 10.6, just like how every version of Windows has cost money unless you use one of the keygens Microsoft doesn't care about.
7.1 was the first MacOS that apple charged for, nominally to cover the cost of the CDs. 7.1, 7.5 and 7.6 all cost $29, but you could get free installers from many of the Mac magazines.
8.0, 8.5 and 9.0 were $99
10.0 was $129
10.1 was free, but a lot of stores charged a handling fee. I remember picking up my copy from CompUSA for ten cents.
10.2 - 10.5 were $130 upgrades, but there were numerous ways to get it for free. I don't think I ever actually paid for any of them.
10.6 and 10.7 were both $30
10.8 was $20
10.9 and later were all free
I have a vague memory of spending $30 for an upgrade to MacOS more than a decade ago. Then Apple stopped charging for them. So, this comic is pretty off base, but people love to bitch, so what can you do.
Yeah, the last time they charged was Snow Leopard in 2009. Everything has all been free since. Snow Leopard was really a dream to use, though. If paying $30 would get us back to that kind of luxury, I would gladly pay for the privilege.
They used to charge for the OS, which was changed/updated every ~~year~~ 2 years to a new version. I remember prices around 20-30, so it was still cheaper than windows
It wasn't updated every year. Major paid versions came out every 2 years or so. They became free when they started updating major versions annually
Thanks, I didn’t remember exactly
Yeah, the first Mac I bought I only ever bought Snow Leopard as an upgrade, skipped other versions and then upgraded to Mountain Lion or whatever was the first free version. That's basically 30ish spent over the entire almost 20 years I've been using Macs on actual software.
The comic is kind of dumb because it's Microsoft who've typically made tons of money on software licenses, everyone knows that Apple makes their money on hardware.
And that $30 was largely for the physical media, in a time before broadband distribution. Apple never had license keys, if you owned a mac you were licensed.
Oh God yes. I used a Mac for work back in the day and it seriously had everything it needed to get me to dump all other operating systems (it was basically Unix with a cohesive user interface), but they couldn't stop stepping on their own dicks at every turn.
First they charged constantly for minor updates by calling them major revisions. And then they would come out with software fixes to programs and call that a major update and force you to pay an upgrade fee... except that "new version" required the new OS. And once you paid to update the program and the Os, you would find that several other programs you needed no longer fucking worked because you were running a version of the os that the software didn't support when it was built (because it didn't exist yet). At that point you got to roll the dice and see if the company that made that software was still around and bothered to update their software.
I loved that it never suffered from bit-rot like MS, but once you got a work flow working on it you didn't dare ever change anything on that machine again.
Except they are tied to hardware so eventually you get no updates at all
which is also true for all the windows users who can't update to 11 because their computers don't meet the arbitrary requirements
Sure ofc but linux user be like "let me update my vacuum cleaner to run doom"