I have an older macBook Pro

[usonian]

11. Good luck. My old MBA is 2010. I use it only to run RadioShark software which stopped upgrading.

But be aware that those 32 bit apps won’t run (AFAICT) on Catalina or newer.

And I totally dislike the new “subscription model” MS and Adobe “apps” hosted elsewhere.

I don’t see any way to get installed versions of your apps that will run on MacOS past Mojave.

Is it possible to get a laptop that has Mojave or older installed? Those old apps are gems,.

A quick scan of sites … they don’t say what OS the used/refurbished units run, just the hardware specs.

I have an old mini that I capped out at Mojave, so there must be others with laptops, for the same reasons as yours.

I have gone the mini route, because you can get an M4 mini for $600.

I use an ipad pro for my music scores with the keyboard case, so it’s like an ios laptop FWIW. Typing on it right now. Keyboard above the piano keyboard. I like the mac apps a lot more, and have a 27 inch display for my aging eyes. The music is easier to read with the lighted screen compared to print.