The Macintosh desktop version will often worn when the next year’s version is expected to be incompatible with the user’s current operating system. Since this is a warning for next year, it has no impact on your ability to file the current year tax return. However, you will likely find that if you attempt to purchase and install the 2021 software without upgrading your Mac operating system, the program will not install. If you are unable to upgrade your Mac operating system due to the age of the Mac, you will have to use TurboTax online, or upgrade your Mac, or borrow a PC to use the Windows version.
Apple is very aggressive about dropping support for older operating systems and this includes dropping support from their software developers kit. That means that software publishers must choose between using the most up-to-date software developers kit, or using an outdated SDK in order to maintain compatibility with older operating systems. Nearly all Macs made within the last nine years can be upgraded to Catalina, and if your Mac is older than nine years, you already got a lot more life out of it than most people ever get from a PC. But when Apple decides to drop support for an older system and they released the schedule to their developers, that allows TurboTax to inform their customers that the next version of the program won’t be able to support their older operating system.
