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While glancing through the marketing page of High Sierra, I read from the first footnote that:
[…] The playback of 4K HEVC content requires a Mac with a sixth‑generation Intel Core processor or newer.
I don't know which nth generation my iMac's CPU is. How do I find this information?
About this Mac says "Processor 2,8 GHz Intel Core i5", but no mention of a "generation".
You can get the processor generation by running the following command in Terminal:
sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string
If the output contains a dash and a number after your "iX"-Core model, the first digit after the slash is the processor generation. See: Intel® Processor Numbers: Laptop, Desktop, and Mobile Device
Examples:
If the dash is missing, it's first generation (or a different CPU altogether), e.g.:
Different approach:
sysctl machdep.cpu
Gives you detailed CPU information.
From machdep.cpu.extmodel:
Although it's inconsistent:
From fsb's comment below:
According to Intel, the generation is the first number after the "-" (in machdep.cpu.brand_string)
machdep.cpu.brand_string: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770HQ CPU @ 2.20GHz. According to Intel, the generation is the first number after the -. My number is 4770HQ so I have a 4th gen processor.
brand_string method seems to be the most straightforward. And, dang, my cpu is from "1st generation", but I had my suspicions as the computer is 7+ years of age 😄 feels old only on paper. We'll see if "6th generation" is really a requirement or merely a strong recommendation. IIRC h.264 4k videos play fine, although HEVC is a different beast.
Sep 24, 2017 at 17:57
In case you don't have access to the computer to run the commands from the accepted answer (but know the model), Every Mac has a comprehensive list of all Mac processors. You can drill down to the specific device to then see the details, including processor specifications.
For your scenario, the path would look something like this:
Core i5
-> iMac 21.5-Inch "Core i5" 2.8 (Late 2015)
---> Processor Type: Core i5 (I5-5575R)
Based on this data (and referencing the Intel chart from the accepted answer), this machine appears to use a 5th generation processor.
More info: Macworld: How to check the specs of your Mac: find out processor and RAM
