Some Mac users who were able to run macOS High Sierra on their machines will be left out in the cold when macOS Mojave hit machines in the fall. At least if the system requirements for the first developer beta of the new macOS version stand pat.
Whereas High Sierra will run on many Macs from 2009 and 2010, the oldest Macs supported by Mojave are 2010 Mac Pros with Metal-compatible graphics cards installed. Otherwise the cutoff is typically 2012, and in fact no basic MacBooks are supported prior to 2015 models.
The complete compatibility list reads like this:
- MacBook (Early 2015 or later)
- MacBook Air (Mid-2012 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Mid-2012 or later)
- Mac mini (Late 2012 or later)
- iMac (Late 2012 or later)
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro (Late 2013)
- Mac Pro (2010 or later with Metal-compatible GPU)
Mojave may require more modern Macs due to GPU performance specs required by such new features as Dark Mode, Dynamic Desktops, the ability to edit photos, videos, and PDF files inside Quick Look, or the multiple-person-capable version of FaceTime calling that all come with the new macOS Mojave operating system.
Apple is depreciating the use of OpenGL and OpenCL in favor of its own Metal API, which demands more from the Mac hardware.
