Question regarding longevity

As I am currently in development of an App for iOS, I also need a Mac. Currently, I am working on the Mac of my girlfriend. But, it turns out that I need a newer version of XCode which is not supported on Monterey. I also can't update Mac OS since it is not supported on this hardware anymore (also can't do it on her machine - it's hers).

Long story short, I am now in the process of getting my own Mac. Unfortunately, I am not really familiar with the different Macs out there and wanted to know about longevity or longterm support of these machines regarding OS Updates. I want to be able to update also in the next cycles.

As I do not have too much Budget, I wanted to find a refurbished one, but one that still supports OS Updates for a while so that I do not have the same situation next year and have a machine then which also can't update XCode/Mac OS.

Is there anything you would recommend?

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MAUIOxo
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I think that everything currently available will have similar levels of ongoing support. Breaks in support tend to happen when there is an architectural change, i.e. x86 to ARM and 32-bit to 64-bit. Don’t buy a used Intel mac obviously; otherwise get whatever you want.

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endecotp
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First of all, thank you very much for your response!

My grilfriend has a MacBook Air (13,3" - 2017) which is obviously not supported anymore for OS updates greater than Monterey.

So, you are saying more or less that I should not buy a Refurbished one as they are most of the time older (let's say around 2020) when you say the currently available will have similar levels of ongoing support? Why not going for Intel?

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MAUIOxo
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Addition: With "Support" in my question I mean how long can I get Mac OS Updates to upgrade to a new Mac OS Version not only within a certain Version. It turned out that XCode and OS are somehow closely coupled (nobody in a Linux/Windows World understands why), but if it is like that and I am not able to get newer XCode versions for me Support means just like that: "How long can I get Mac OS Upgrades"

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MAUIOxo
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So, you are saying more or less that I should not buy a Refurbished one

No, I'm saying "Don’t buy a used Intel mac obviously; otherwise get whatever you want."

Why not going for Intel?

Because the expectation for ongoing support in Xcode will be shorter.

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endecotp
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Is there also something that might be affected by the RAM Size regarding longterm support or did it have not too much impact in the past? Currently, I thought about an Apple MacBook Air 2022 | 13.6" | M2 | 8 GB | 256 GB SSD

What I wonder about, one Site mentioned Maximum OS Compatibility is macOS Monetery (?) and the other one also said that Monterey is installed? But, on [https://support.apple.com/en-us/105113), I see it compatible with Sonoma.

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MAUIOxo
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MacBook Air 2022 | 13.6" | M2 | 8 GB | 256 GB SSD

I have one of those.

one Site mentioned Maximum OS Compatibility is macOS Monetery (?)

For a less-than-two-year-old macbook that you can still buy new? No, that obviously supports the latest versions of everything.

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endecotp
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Was more directed regarding future versions. I don't know how much the hardware requirements changed over past versions. On a Windows-Machine, I would have said okay for now sufficient and when RAM requirements increase buy some additional 8 GB. But, here it's sad they have integrated everything non extensible :(

But anyway, thank you very much for all your responses and your help on that - it really did!

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MAUIOxo
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