Apple's Support Community forum closes on 20 November
12 November 2026 · Mac news
If you have ever typed a Mac problem into a search engine, there is a good chance the answer came from the Apple Support Community, the public forum at discussions.apple.com where Apple customers help each other. That forum is closing. Apple stopped accepting new posts on 10 November 2026 and says the site will close for good on 20 November 2026. Here is what has happened, what it means for you, and where to turn when your Mac goes wrong.
What Apple has announced
A notice at the top of the Apple Support Community home page now says the site "will permanently close on November 20, 2026", and that it no longer accepts new posts and is available read-only. The notice points people to the official Apple Support site at support.apple.com instead, and thanks the members who gave their time to help others.
MacRumors reported the change on 10 November and said Apple told it the decision came after a careful evaluation of strategy and customer needs. Apple has not given any further reason. According to MacRumors, the forum began in 1998 as the Apple Tech Exchange, became Apple Discussions in 2000, Apple Support Communities in 2011 and Apple Support Community in 2022, so it has been running for around 28 years.
One thing Apple has not said is what happens to the existing threads after 20 November. TidBITS, which covered the closure on 11 November, noted that Apple's notice is silent on this. It is safest to assume that old threads, and links to them, may stop working.
What this means for Mac owners
For most people the forum was not somewhere they posted, but somewhere search results led them. Years of answers about error messages, odd behaviour after updates and older Mac models built up there, and much of that knowledge was written by experienced volunteers rather than by Apple. Once the site closes, those search results are likely to disappear or lead nowhere.
There are two practical things to do now:
- Save anything you rely on. If a thread helped you fix a recurring problem, or you have bookmarked one for later, save a copy before 20 November. In Safari, open the thread and choose File, then Export as PDF.
- Be careful with advice from other places. As people look elsewhere for answers, take extra care with instructions from unknown websites or videos. Be wary of Terminal commands you do not understand, software that promises to "clean" or "speed up" your Mac, and any step that erases a drive or reinstalls macOS before you have a backup.
Where to get help with your Mac now
Apple's own support articles at support.apple.com remain the most reliable starting point for how-to questions, such as resetting settings, checking battery health or reinstalling macOS. They are written for the current versions of macOS and are usually kept up to date.
Your Mac can also test itself. Apple Diagnostics checks the hardware and gives a reference code if it finds a problem. On a Mac with Apple silicon, shut it down, then press and hold the power button until the startup options appear and press Command-D. On an Intel Mac, turn it on and immediately press and hold the D key. A clean result does not rule out every fault, but a code is a useful clue to pass on to a repairer.
Forum threads were often at their best for problems that are not software at all: a Mac that will not power on, a screen with lines across it, a battery that has swollen, or a laptop that has had a drink spilled on it. No forum post can fix those, and following generic advice for too long can make things worse, especially after liquid damage, where corrosion carries on spreading inside the machine.
When it is time for a repairer
Online advice is fine for settings and software. It is time to get your Mac looked at when:
- Apple Diagnostics reports a hardware fault, or your Mac will not get far enough to run it.
- The fault is physical: no power, no picture, liquid, a cracked screen, a bulging case or a burning smell.
- Your Mac is out of warranty and you have been told the only option is a new logic board or a new Mac.
- Your files matter and the Mac or its drive is struggling. Stop and get advice before you try anything that could make data recovery harder.
We repair Macs at chip level, so a fault on the board does not automatically mean replacing the whole board. Our full diagnostics tell you what is actually wrong, and if a repair is not worth it we will say so. You can read more about logic board repair or browse our Mac guides for faults you can check safely at home.
Sources
- MacRumors: 'Apple Support Community' Permanently Closing on November 20, 10 November 2026
- TidBITS: Apple Support Community Closes, but Better Options Exist, 11 November 2026
- Apple Support Community: closure notice on the home page, Apple, read 12 November 2026
Get a quote
If your Mac has a fault that online advice has not fixed, call 020 7394 2525 or bring it to 80 Willow Walk, London SE1 5SY. We are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday, with bike collection in London and courier collection across the UK.