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Im planning on getting the new M5 MBP i expect to be released next week. Is it possible to downgrade? I assume it comes with Tahoe :(

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Typically no, Mac's don't expect to run versions of macOS before the one they were released with.

It’s not worth it, especially since the M6 MBP is rumored to already come out later this year (though likely with a price hike): https://9to5mac.com/2026/02/26/two-unique-new-macbook-pros-a...

Depends on what one is looking for. I'm considering upgrading to an M5 model because while the M6 redesign might come with some nicer specs, it's also going to be coming with some teething pains by virtue of having a new design. The M5 generation is probably going to be a speed bump with a chassis and screen that's a known quantity and has had the kinks smoothed out.

I'm also cautious of the redesign. But I got burned by the first Touchbar Macbook back in the day, so twice shy etc.

I skipped the touchbar/buttery era, but before that the GPU/ballgate disaster plagued the MacBookPro lineup — pushed me away from Apple hardware for over decade!

My vision has since gotten bad enough that I can't really use laptops/phones well, anymore — but recently got a 15" MacBookAir, M3 pre-Tahoe (for bedtime youtubies).

The hardware is exceptional, battery life even more so... and I'll never update the operating system.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/how-to-downgrade-fro... describes how to downgrade.

From that page:

> As a rule of thumb, Macs will not run any version of macOS older than the one they shipped with when they launched. Apple provides security updates for older versions of macOS, but it doesn’t bother backporting drivers and other hardware support from newer versions to older ones.

So the answer is “no”, they probably won’t be able to downgrade on the models that are about to be released.

Why not buy a used M4 Pro/Max?

It's possible if you do a wipe and do a fresh install. You essentially boot into the Sequoia installer. I'm also looking at possibly picking up a M5 MBP and was the first things I looked into.

I bought a refurb m4 mac recently just to avoid tahoe slop ... worth considering, I think.

Almost certainly not :|

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