Apple supports its computers, phones, and tablets for a long time compared to much of the industry, but once operating system updates end, you’re usually in trouble. Case in point: the Mac App Store is now broken for some older versions of macOS.
Users of Apple’s older macOS Sierra operating system are reporting widespread issues accessing the Mac App Store. The problem itself appears to have emerged following a recent change in how Apple signs App Store purchase receipts. These receipts act as proof of purchase for downloaded applications. Apple did warn developers at the time that the changes could potentially lead to app validation failures, possibly resulting in customers losing access to their content.
Apple also noted detailed steps for updating individual apps to prevent such issues, but going by this language, it might be that the company didn’t intend for the entire App Store to break. It might just be a mistake by Apple—telling everyone to update their certificates but forgetting to update their own.
Besides, if this was intentional, it wouldn’t make sense. While it is an older operating system, there are some Mac computers that are stuck with this software and people don’t tend to upgrade their laptops as frequently as they update their phones. Breaking the whole App Store, while it wouldn’t be devastating (you can still download apps and updates from the web), would spoil the experience for a lot of people and break updates to official Apple apps. Even older, deprecated versions of iOS keep access to the App Store, as limited as it might be.
Apple might fix this in a future update, but since it’s an older operating system, it might be low in the company’s list of priorities. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and we’ll update this article when we hear back.
Source: AppleInsider
