How safe is it to use an older Mac?

[SteelBlueTJ]

For example - A late 2013 iMac will not support Big Sur this year. Nor does it have a security chip (T-series). Are there any real security issues to continue using it online past this year and beyond since Catalina will not longer be updated? Just curious. I want to wait for the Silicon based macs if possible. Thanks

 

[chrfr]

For example - A late 2013 iMac will not support Big Sur this year. Nor does it have a security chip (T-series). Are there any real security issues to continue using it online past this year and beyond since Catalina will not longer be updated? Just curious. I want to wait for the Silicon based macs if possible. Thanks

Catalina will most likely get 2 more years of security updates. You’re fine to continue using a 2013 iMac.

 

[ruslan120]

^ Useful answer has been provided so I can write the following:
- iMac: Don’t mention bezels. Will use power cord against you if provoked.
- Mac Mini: Fairly safe. Steer clear of pointing of cooling inadequacies.
- iPod: Can threaten with headphone cable if offended. Not to mention the quality of those headphones stinks hahahhahaa......aa...grak....-(.?/?-$agavzgzvzvavahahabzbsa
...
...
.

 

[casperes1996]

^ Useful answer has been provided so I can write the following:
- iMac: Don’t mention bezels. Will use power cord against you if provoked.
- Mac Mini: Fairly safe. Steer clear of pointing of cooling inadequacies.
- iPod: Can threaten with headphone cable if offended. Not to mention the quality of those headphones stinks hahahhahaa......aa...grak....-(.?/?-$agavzgzvzvavahahabzbsa
...
...
.

Don’t forget that the Mac Pro will grate you like cheese

But yeah Apple has given two extra years of security support past the release of a new OS up until new with the yearly release schedule. Furthermore, unlike an insecure Windows XP, you won’t just get malware going online. It’s not that long ago I was browsing the web on 10.4 Tiger on an old PowerMac, and though not a pleasant experience speed wise, the vulnerabilities in the OS are generally not ones that just infect you with 0 effort Like Windows has had a lot of.

As for the T2 chip the security benefits it adds are mostly irrelevant to regular people, if you’re not pluggin untrusted hardware devices into your computer. It’s more relevant for business or high priority individuals. To a president it would matter, but to you and me, it’s not that big a deal. Without it, it is technically possible for a connected Thunderbolt device with malicious firmware to rewrite kernel code on boot up of the Mac, but how many Thunderbolt devices with compromised firmware do you expect to sit in your iMac while you boot it up? My guess is not many

Don’t worry too much about it as long as the computer otherwise fullfills your needs for the time

 

[throAU]

For example - A late 2013 iMac will not support Big Sur this year. Nor does it have a security chip (T-series). Are there any real security issues to continue using it online past this year and beyond since Catalina will not longer be updated? Just curious. I want to wait for the Silicon based macs if possible. Thanks

Yes there are concerns once a product goes end of security update support.

As to specifics, we do not know until they are uncovered, which may be days/weeks/months after vulnerable machines are compromised.

At least with a supported machine, most of the vulnerabilities are reported to the vendor and patched BEFORE exploits are found in the wild.

 

[eRondeau]

My "new" iMac is a year older than yours -- a 27" Late 2012. And yes I still think of it as "new" because it's fully up-to-date and runs everything that I need it to run. I expect I'll keep it until the second or third generation of the Apple Silicon iMac is available. I use a NAT Router (Airport Extreme) to connect to the internet and I sleep pretty well at night knowing my computer and the data it contains is perfectly safe.

 

[throAU]

I use a NAT Router (Airport Extreme) to connect to the internet and I sleep pretty well at night knowing my computer and the data it contains is perfectly safe.

A NAT router will do absolutely nothing to protect you from HTML/javascript browser exploits, email HTML processing bugs/exploits, image processing bugs/exploits etc. I.e., in the modern threat landscape it is basically useless.

If you think a NAT router is any real sort of protection, you may wish to reconsider your stance and look into how modern exploits are delivered. Nearly everyone on the internet is behind a NAT router of some kind these days, and yet malware is still rampant.

The browser/email are the most common vector for exploiting machines. If you do insist on running end of support platforms, your best bet is to migrate to a supported browser/mail reader that isn't heavily dependent on the OS libraries for processing HTML, images, etc.

Thinking you're secure purely because you're behind a NAT router is very much a false sense of security. All you need to do is visit ONE hacked website that targets your browser and you're done. The malware (acquired via browser/email client/torrent/etc.) will establish an outbound CnC connection to the remote server (that your NAT router will happily let through) and then the router's NAT is essentially bypassed.

Websites/companies get hacked all the time. Even reputable ones. e.g., Garmin just last month. If the attacker had decided to host malware on their site instead of merely going for ransom by encrypting their servers, any of their customers who hit the site would potentially be at risk.

 

[chrfr]

I use a NAT Router (Airport Extreme) to connect to the internet and I sleep pretty well at night knowing my computer and the data it contains is perfectly safe.

This is a very misguided assumption.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Catalina will most likely get 2 more years of security updates. You’re fine to continue using a 2013 iMac.

Yup, it should fit perfectly, supposed that Apple doesn't change its behaviour:

• WWDC June 2020 announcement: Transition to ARM within 2 years = mid 2022
• Catalina likely to get security updates until about October 2022

So you should have all options in two years before your iMac loses support. And dont' worry about the T2 chip:

As for the T2 chip the security benefits it adds are mostly irrelevant to regular people

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Basically, I'm waiting for DosDude and company to come up with a Big Sur mod so I can continue running as long as possible. I've read that there are 2010 iMacs running Catalina thanks to him and his team.

 

[Fishrrman]

Use it as long as it runs and can still do the things you need to do.

And... stop worrying about it.

(nothing follows...)

 

[Yebubbleman]

For example - A late 2013 iMac will not support Big Sur this year. Nor does it have a security chip (T-series). Are there any real security issues to continue using it online past this year and beyond since Catalina will not longer be updated? Just curious. I want to wait for the Silicon based macs if possible. Thanks

Catalina will continue to be updated with security updates until it is more than two releases behind the current, thereby still making it safe to use from a security standpoint.

You very likely won't see a 10.15.7 release, but you'll still see security update patches for it released whenever Big Sur (and the major macOS release immediately thereafter) gets a point release update. That said, I'd probably stop using macOS on it two years from now, when Catalina is on the verge of no longer getting security updates. But, again, that ought to be two years from now, so you have time. And, even then, once you get to that point, it will still very likely be supported for then-current versions of Windows 10, making it still able to run a currently supported OS. Though, at that point, yes, I'd stop using macOS on it for security purposes (unless you just unplug it from the Internet or are extremely careful with what you continue to use it for).

The security provided by the T2, especially on an iMac that likely won't ever leave your home, is likely overkill for your purposes. Not having it doesn't mean that you're too insecure to reasonably feel safe in 2020. It just means that you don't have all of the added (and often needless) security measures on your Mac. But, it is, by no means, a must.