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When does the MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) stop getting updates?

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

Quick look

Newest macOS it runs
macOS Monterey2newest macOS Apple lists it for
Current macOS
macOS 27 Golden Gatecurrent macOSReleased 14 September 2026
Security updates
16 September 2024Monterey security support ended, per endoflife.date
Feature updates
Not available3Feature updates until
Shipped with
OS X El Capitan4shipped with
Released
20 April 20165ReleasedIn Apple Stores; available online from 19 April 2016.
Releases since launch
Not available6macOS releases since it launched
Releases newer than its newest macOS
5releases newer than its newest macOSVentura, Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe and Golden Gate

Software support

Basis
endoflife.date’s listed end of security support for Monterey7
Security support for Monterey, as endoflife.date lists it
Ended 16 September 2024

Earlier MacBook 12-inch models

Security support listed, from release to end.8

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)

Newest macOS
Big Sur
Security support end (endoflife.date)
2 February 2026
From release
10 years 9 months (from online availability)

Apple’s pattern

New macOS
One a year
Patched in recent years
The two releases before the newest9
Older releases
Sometimes patched for longer9

More on this Mac

Sources

  1. endoflife.date — Apple macOS · Default for MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) · third-party figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  2. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook 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) — Apple Updates MacBook with Latest Processors, Longer Battery Life & New Rose Gold Finish · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026

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  5. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple Updates MacBook with Latest Processors, Longer Battery Life & New Rose Gold Finish · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  6. Not counted: the MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) launched before 7 October 2019, the oldest release in the list.

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  7. This is endoflife.date’s cycle end for Monterey, not necessarily the day of Apple’s last patch. The newest macOS Apple lists this Mac for is macOS Monterey. endoflife.date records security updates for Monterey as ended on 16 September 2024. Source: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  8. Every earlier release in this line with a recorded end is shown. 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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  9. 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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