Will your Mac run OS X 10.10 Yosemite?

Will your Mac run OS X 10.10 Yosemite?

Summary: Here's a list of the oldest Apple hardware capable of running the new OS X 10.10 Yosemite operating system. If you have this hardware (or better) then you're good to go.

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TOPICS: Hardware, Apple
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Apple's new desktop operating system – OS X 10.10 Yosemite – is out, and Mac users are asking the obvious question: Will my Mac run Yosemite?

I've dug around in the published specs for and drawn up a list of hardware that will run OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

Before you do that, you need to know what Mac you are running. To do find out, click on the Apple then select About This Mac and then click on More Info…. This will bring up a dialog box that tells you what hardware you are running.

With that out of the way, here's a listing of the oldest Apple hardware capable of running OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

  • MacBook – Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009
  • MacBook Air – Late 2008
  • MacBook Pro – Mid/late 2007
  • Mac mini – Early 2009
  • iMac – Mid 2007
  • Mac Pro – Early 2008
  • Xserve – Early 2009

This, incidentally, is the same list of hardware that can run OS X 10.9 Mavericks.

So, if you have the above hardware or newer (in any configuration, it doesn't matter if you did or didn't buy extra RAM or disk space or the better CPU) then you are good to go with Yosemite.

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Topics: Hardware, Apple

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202 comments
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  • Nice.

    It is awesome that my 5 year old white
    MacBook will be able to run the latest and greatest. It has been a workhorse and looks tired but keeps on going despite a hard life. My older 2007 vintage MacBook is stuck at Lion, but it too keeps getting security updates.
    StandardsMan
    • Anchor for October, 2014, comments

      For Mac users left high and dry by Apple, there's always GNU/Linux and BSD if you want to run a supported operating system.
      Rabid Howler Monkey
      • Time travel that's how

        or has the old'e world'e white MacBook's clock just running slow?

        How can you post a comment dated 4th June 2014?
        Badboyabout
      • Thank You

        Though, I knew that. Tried it on some of the PowerPC Macs I still have collecting dust to unsatisfactory results. It's also getting harder to find PowerPC versions of the easier to install distro.

        Yes, I could do the work, maybe build Debian from source, but why bother?

        The real point — and please think about this carefully — isn't the operating system, but the applications that run on top. And while you and I can quickly identify replacements, we cannot so quickly wave away the time it takes to gain proficiency in, say, gimp when one knows Photoshop 7, or inkscape when one works with 2003's Illustrator.

        Besides, if I did want to update an always-a-cat Mac with a supported os, I'd go with PC-BSD. I like BSD better than Linux.
        DannyO_0x98
        • Both Debian and Ubuntu support PowerPC CPUs

          Don't know about other distros...

          I also like PC-BSD, but have switched to Debian kFreeBSD as I like apt for package management.
          Rabid Howler Monkey
      • No thanks.

        Laraine Anne Barker
  • 5 Years?

    A good machine should last at least that long. It is a shame with their high prices that they don't (not can't) support older machines. My 2007 HP laptop originally running Vista works great with Windows 8.1. I expect to be able to upgrade it again next year to Windows 9.
    toph36
    • Ah Vista

      My "wifi" crapped out on me on my Gateway right out of the box back in 2007 on Vista. Brand new machine from Best Buy and the drivers were not functional on Vista.
      YTjay
      • And?

        What was the point of your post?
        ye
        • Maybe the same as the O.P.'s

          Namely: none.
          He might have tried to RTFA, seeing as how machines from 2007 also support 10.10.
          .DeusExMachina.
          • Irony

            My 2006 iMac 24" is supported by Microsoft with Windows, but can't run the 3 latest versions of OS X.
            wright_is
      • Errr

        Blame HP for selling laptops with flakey drivers.
        Gisabun
    • It has to do with features that simply are not

      supported in older hardware/chipsets because the technology didn't exist then. Sometimes it means loss of a feature (airdrop), other times it affects the core aspect of the OS (graphic cards needing to have a certain abilities in order to render the screen).

      Apple has always been willing to leave hardware behind to optimize for new technology. MS has always been willing to sacrifice taking advantage of the newest technologies in favor of backward compatibility.

      It's a difference in philosophy. You can debate which one is the better approach. I like the Apple approach. Until I have a machine that is behind the technology curve. Then I like the MS model.
      baggins_z
      • Apple makes money selling hardware

        It is not in their best financial interest for long term support of their devices. That may sound simplistic, but it is the truth.

        Apple could easily support the older devices if they so choose to. The hardware isn't limiting them from doing so, it is a choice.
        Emacho
        • Not for OS X

          They haven't cut a lot of Macs out since they moved to Intel. The last time they cut was because some of their Macs lacked 64-bit EFI support.
          Michael Alan Goff
          • Ironically 64-bit versions of other operating systems work just fine on...

            ...those same systems.
            ye
          • Yes

            But Apple uses a different version of EFI. They cut out the 32-bit version to focus on the 64.
            Michael Alan Goff
          • Rationalization, not a reason

            Other operating systems do just fine on older hardware, both 32 and 64 bit. Apple chooses not to, because Apple is a hardware company.

            Reality is that Macs just don't matter to Apple as much anymore since iOS devices now drive almost all of their revenues. Interestingly enough, the discontinuation of older devices is now creeping into that area.
            Emacho
          • Re: Macs just don't matter to Apple as much anymore....

            Which is precisely the reason Apple have taken to refreshing OS X. Your comment doesn't hold up but I guess that should come as no great surprise.
            5735guy
          • I will explain it really slow for you. Try to follow

            I never said Macs were being abandoned, try not to imply things that were not said.

            Apple makes most of their money from iOS devices and content sales via those devices, which makes macs far less relevant to their bottom line.

            As such, forcing people to upgrades Macs is not as attractive to Apple as it once was, because their sales represent such a small amount of the companies revenues (and future).

            One only needs to look at the actual OSx and iOS updates to see which operating system is slowly morphing into the other by 1,000 cuts.


            Like I said, Apple could make OSx.whatever work on older machines if they choose to, but why bother? Some people act like there is some hardware limitation that cannot possibly be overcome, which apologetic nonsense.

            It doesn't make Macs bad, but they don't get the length of support other operating systems do for almost any hardware and iDevices are heading down the same path as well.
            Emacho