We have a Mac late 2015 retina that is running os El capitan.
Numerous things no longer work on it as it’s not up to date.
When I click on “about computer” and then software update all that comes up are some games that we never use.
Where are the updates hidden?
I’m assuming it can run Catalina.

As I understand it, Apple unofficially agrees to providing updates up to seven years after the product was released, after that…
I have a similar problem but with a 2009 iMac, it hasn’t had any updates for just about 3 years and in the past 6 months things have stopped working because the browser is out of date. I do know that this has security implications but have been using a more modern and regularly updated iPad for sensitive stuff.
Apparently there are ways of making it more up to date by going through a couple of stages but they are complex and way beyond my pay grade.
So I have just bought a new iMac. I don’t think that 12 years of nearly faultless use is too bad.

I have a mid-2014 retina 15″ (bought new in 2015)

It’s on 10.15.7 Catalina, and keeps trying to get me to update to Big Sur but I’m holding off until new imac comes just in case (though it’s never been a problem before, if anything, it always speeds the machine up slightly, or at worst no change)

I’ve always done the updates after a while because the notifications get more and more annoying until you just do it (and obviously also because it’s really important for security updates). So maybe that’s why I keep getting offered the latest os version.

Our 2012 mac book has catalina ,so the ability to update must be there somewhere.

Here are the step by step instructions:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201541

If all else fails you can download an OSX installer manually from the Apple website.

From Macworld

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/install-macos-old-mac-3654960/

Apple advises that macOS Catalina will run on the following Macs:

MacBook models from early 2015 or later
MacBook Air models from mid-2012 or later
MacBook Pro models from mid-2012 or later
Mac mini models from late 2012 or later
iMac models from late 2012 or later
iMac Pro (all models)
Mac Pro models from late 2013

As it says in the article, installing on even older macs like mine it isn’t straight forward

I have Big Sur on my 2015 MacBook Pro and it works great – snappier than the previous OS. I remember the first time I tried to update it didn’t work for some reason but I can’t remember why.

Wont be the full bore Big Sur…just some update the old hardware can actually run.

We are forever being asked to update the mac book why not the mac?

I looked in to updating our 2012 iMac earlier this year. From what I read it’s possible to force it to run later ios but it could cause problems. I ended up just installing the latest official one but may try the ‘pirate’ way at some point.

Btw, the speed at which they stop supporting the older iMac’s is terrible. Ours is high spec and runs everything perfectly but can’t update. Nonsense.

Wont be the full bore Big Sur…just some update the old hardware can actually run.

Don’t think that’s the case for a late 2015 machine – maybe for unsupported models.

That should run Big Sur. We have a 2014 15” MacBook Pro running big sur.

Regular Mac things work well. Obviously all 64-bit software. Anything <64-bit won’t run.

it struggles with Sims 4 but 🤞 for a neat 2021 M1? Update.

Would’ve replaced it earlier but other things got in the way.

As for the idea of built-in obsolescence, it’s a 7 year old laptop. Putting Moore’s law aside, expecting it to perform as well as a modern machine is optimistic. My 2017 15” MBP is noticeably slower than a modern M1 machine.

I won’t mention windows as every windows machine I’ve used in the last 20 years has been a disappointment.

If your problem is with ‘how do I update from El Capitan to something more modern’ then this should be in settings->software update. Failing that, open the App Store application and look for ‘featured’ that should highlight OS upgrades.

BACKUP before upgrading.

I do not understand how folks can tolerate using out of date, unsupported OSs.

I do not understand how folks can tolerate using out of date, unsupported OSs

Well, my machine has a number of applications that I use fairly regularly that I know won’t run on the very latest OS, or even the ones before that, and I have no desire to pay loads to update those because they still do the things I want them for which are not work related anymore. So I kept going as long as I could. It has only been in the past few months that I have started to have problems with the browser and finally bit the bullet. I’m keeping the old Mac to use on those occasions that I need those applications but won’t have it connected to the router and use the new one for security sensitive personal stuff and very occasionally for work related stuff. I have a Windows laptop provided by the people I work for for most of that, and I have no desire to go down the Microsoft route for anything else.

Assuming a MacBook Pro then the 2015 was a vintage mode. Better than any of the of the new shape.

Just reinstall OSX and your’ll be fine for at least until the new 14’’ models come out.

It’s not the MacBook Pro we are trying to update it’s a Mac late 15 retina

We asked a young person and within a minute he had found the big Sur update for us. Will press the button later.
Stand by for a where has everything gone question.

@jimw Firefox or Brave are the browser of choice in the office for our older Macs as Safari gets a bit holey for security after support stops.

I’m currently running a late 2010 27″ i7 iMac.
Upgraded the ram a few years ago, but otherwise it’s stock.

It would only upgrade as far as 10.13 (High Sierra?) Which is annoying as it’s still a bloody fast and stable computer 🤨

Used mostly for music making, and a bit of 3d cad + general browsing.

I’m loath to replace it, but also aware that at 10+ years old it could go pop at any time, and internet security night start to be an issue soon. I’m keeping my backups up to date!

Thinking of buying a new Mac Mini M1. Hopefully all my music software will work on it!

It only bloody works. Beers all round.

Running BigSur on my early 2014 Air with no issues.

Using Linux Mint on my 2018(?) MBP. I did keep a small iOS partition but haven’t booted into it for months.

@jimw Firefox or Brave are the browser of choice in the office for our older Macs as Safari gets a bit holey for security after support stops.

Yes, thanks for that, I’ve been using Firefox for a few years for exactly that reason, but even Firefox has had no updates for the OS (10.9.5) I have on the old Mac for a while now and so some sites, such as Nat West, just won’t open on the browser, I assume for security reasons.

@jimw That would fit as we’re just at that point now and considering renewing the rest of the IT equipment. Mac minis and screens are working out cheapest.

I use Brave as my standard browser and only did an update this morning on it.

Catalina on my 2012 MBP has been great until the latest safari 15 release. After a reinstall of the browser things look better again. It’s a quad I 7 MBP so still fast enough for me.