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When does the iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) stop getting updates?

Each figure is from the source marked1 unless it carries its own number.

Quick look

Newest macOS it runs
macOS Ventura2newest macOS Apple lists it for
Current macOS
macOS 27 Golden Gatecurrent macOSReleased 14 September 2026
Security updates
15 September 2025Ventura security support ended, per endoflife.date
Feature updates
Not available3Feature updates until
Released
7 June 20174ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 5 June 2017.
Releases since launch
Not available5macOS releases since it launched
Releases newer than its newest macOS
4releases newer than its newest macOSSonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe and Golden Gate

Software support

Basis
endoflife.date’s listed end of security support for Ventura6
Security support for Ventura, as endoflife.date lists it
Ended 15 September 2025

Earlier iMac 21.5-inch models

Security support listed, from release to end.7

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)

Newest macOS
Monterey
Security support end (endoflife.date)
16 September 2024
From release
8 years 11 months

Apple’s pattern

New macOS
One a year
Patched in recent years
The two releases before the newest8
Older releases
Sometimes patched for longer8

More on this Mac

Sources

  1. endoflife.date — Apple macOS · Default for iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) · third-party figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  2. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  3. Not published by Apple. Apple has never published a date when a Mac stops getting macOS or security updates, and this site does not invent one. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  4. Apple Newsroom (UK) — iMac receives major update featuring more powerful graphics, faster processors, Thunderbolt 3 and brighter displays · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  5. Not counted: the iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) launched before 7 October 2019, the oldest release in the list.

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  6. This is endoflife.date’s cycle end for Ventura, not necessarily the day of Apple’s last patch. The newest macOS Apple lists this Mac for is macOS Ventura. endoflife.date records security updates for Ventura as ended on 15 September 2025. Source: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  7. Every earlier release in this line with a recorded end is shown. A row can stand for two Macs launched together on the same macOS. Each span runs from release to the end of security updates for the newest macOS that Mac ran, as endoflife.date lists it: its cycle end, not necessarily Apple’s last patch. Only Macs with a release day are listed; one known only by an announcement or a month is left out. Where Apple’s date is the day the Mac could be ordered online, the row says so. This is precedent, not a prediction. Apple publishes no date when a Mac stops getting macOS or security updates.

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  8. An inference from Apple’s past releases, not a commitment from Apple, which publishes no date when a Mac stops getting macOS or security updates. A Mac missing from a new macOS compatibility list is not supported by that release; this page changes when that list does.

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