Has Apple announced which specific models of Macs will OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) run on and if so, what are they?
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Moving this and all answers to CW since we don't need more answers to this as it's a basic list question.– bmike ♦Jun 20, 2014 at 18:34
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what about RAM requirements? Will upgradeing from 4 GB to a larger RAM (say 8 GB or 16 GB) yield noticeable improvements for day to day computing?– smashtasticOct 29, 2014 at 12:11
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1@smashtastic You can ask that question as a new thread here so that people can answer you..– bmike ♦Oct 29, 2014 at 14:38
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4 Answers
Business Insider lists the following Macs as compatible :
- iMac (mid-2007 or newer)
- MacBook Air (late 2008 or newer)
- MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
- Mac Mini (Early 2009 or newer)
- MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
- Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
- Xserve (Early 2009)
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The machines are not dated in the online catalog. Isn't it the BIOS/CPU/memory/storage that makes the difference? Oct 30, 2014 at 19:51
From Wikipedia, regarding the Developer Preview:
The OS X v10.10 Developer Preview is compatible with all Macs that are capable of running OS X Mountain Lion and OS X Mavericks.
The full list of compatible models from the release notes:
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid 2007 or newer)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
Mac Mini (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
Xserve (Early 2009)
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1Additionally, (this is speculatory, which is why I'm adding as a comment): you will most likely need at least 10 GB of free HDD space to run it (this is also true for OSX 10.7+). Note this doesn't mean the installer package is 10 GB, just that you need at minimum 10 GB free to boot and run OS X. I also wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple bumped the minimum RAM specifications to 4 GB.– njbootJun 3, 2014 at 6:49
The watershed for Mavericks seems to be 64-bit hardware drivers, particularly the video card. If your kernel is 64-bit, extensions need to be the same. As video manufacturers tend not to update software for chips they don't make anymore (that would be last year's models) and Apple doesn't (and can't) write all of the hardware drivers, that limits what you can run a 64-bit OS on.
So, the compatibility list for Mavericks will likely be the compatibility list for a while, maybe until a significant processor change. As 128-bit architecture won't be happening any time soon we may be good with current hardware for many years.
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That is not true, there are plenty of 32bit intel macs. I have a 2006 Mac mini that came with a core solo CPU which is 32 bit. I believe the early intel MacBooks were the same way. Another limitation was the pathetic intel gma950 graphics chip used back then that simply just can't handle newer osx versions. This is why you have the 2007 Mac mini and 2007 MacBook stuck on lion. They are 64bit, but have a gpu that is just too weak.– user79657Jun 3, 2014 at 12:42
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@njboot: From Apple's 64-bit transition guide for developers: "The 64-bit kernel cannot load 32-bit kernel extensions." OS X can run 32-bit processes under a 64-bit kernel (or vice versa), but extensions load as part of the kernel and must run in the same mode. Jun 3, 2014 at 14:55
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So a late 2009 white Macbook, (upped in my case to 8Gb RAM,) will run Yosemite! I've stayed with Snow Leopard, having read online horror stories about upgrading to Mountain Lion. "Available Fall" maybe means that the bugs will be sorted by this time next year... So stay with Snow Leopard for at least another year? (Don't have iPhone or iPad).– user79682Jun 3, 2014 at 15:17
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I've put several of the comments as to why people feel the OS upgrades are either fluid or workable here on this - but perhaps that's better for another thread or even the chat room until the OS is released to the public.– bmike ♦Jun 3, 2014 at 15:27