Editing MacOS (section)

=== Hardware compatibility ===
List of macOS versions, the supported systems on which they run, and their RAM requirements

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

|-
! Operating system
! Release year(s)
! Supported systems<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/#hardware-requirements |title=macOS – Mac Hardware Requirements}}</ref>
! RAM requirement

|-
| [[Mac OS X 10.0|10.0]] – [[Mac OS X Jaguar|10.2]]
| 2001 – 2002
| G3, G4 and G5 [[iBook]] and [[PowerBook]], [[Power Macintosh|Power Mac]] and [[iMac]]<br /><small>(except [[PowerBook G3]] "Kanga")</small>
| data-sort-value=128 rowspan=2 | 128 MB

|-
| [[Mac OS X Panther|10.3]]
| 2003
| Macs with a [[New World ROM]]<ref name="TigerRequirements">{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2005 |title=Mac OS X: System Requirements |url=https://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106163 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809065541/https://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106163 |archive-date=August 9, 2007 |access-date=December 20, 2006 |publisher=[[Apple Inc.|Apple]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

|-
| [[Mac OS X Tiger|10.4]]
| 2004
| Macs with built-in [[FireWire]] and either a [[New World ROM]] or Intel processor
| data-sort-value=256 | 256 MB

|-
| [[Mac OS X Leopard|10.5]]
| 2006
| Select G4, G5, and Intel Macs <small>(32-bit or 64-bit)</small> at 867&nbsp;MHz or faster<br />[[List of macOS components#Classic|Classic]] support dropped from 10.5 and later.
| data-sort-value=512 | 512 MB

|-
| [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard|10.6]]
| 2008
| Intel Macs <small>(32-bit or 64-bit)</small><ref name="LionReq" />
| data-sort-value=1024 | 1 GB

|-
| [[Mac OS X Lion|10.7]]
| 2010
| Intel Macs <small>(64-bit)</small><ref name="LionReq">{{Cite web |title=System requirements for OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6 |url=https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202328 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923033514/https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202328 |archive-date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=2016-09-22 |language=en-AU |df=mdy-all}}</ref><br />[[Rosetta (software)|Rosetta]] support dropped from 10.7 and later.
| data-sort-value=2048 rowspan=4 | 2 GB

|-
| [[OS X Mountain Lion|10.8]] – [[OS X El Capitan|10.11]]
| 2012 – 2015
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (Aluminum, Late 2008 or later), [[MacBook Air]] (Late 2008 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (Mid 2007 or later)
* ''Desktops'':  [[Mac Mini]] (Early 2009 or later), [[iMac]] (Mid 2007 or later), [[Mac Pro]] (Early 2008 or later)
* ''Servers'': [[Xserve]] (Early 2009)
}}

|-
| [[macOS Sierra|10.12]] – [[macOS High Sierra|10.13]]
| 2016 – 2017
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (Late 2009 or later), [[MacBook Air]] (Late 2010 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (Mid 2010 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (Mid 2010 or later), [[iMac]] (Late 2009 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017) (macOS 10.13), [[Mac Pro]] (Mid 2010 or later)
}}

|-
| [[macOS Mojave|10.14]]
| 2018
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (Early 2015 or later), [[MacBook Air]] (Mid 2012 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (Mid 2012 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (Late 2012 or later), [[iMac]] (Late 2012 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Pro]] (Mid 2010 or later<ref>{{Cite web|title=Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012)|url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898|access-date=March 3, 2021|website=Apple Support|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022658/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898|url-status=live}}</ref>)
}}

|-
| [[macOS Catalina|10.15]]
| 2019
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (Early 2015 or later), [[MacBook Air]] (Mid 2012 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (Mid 2012 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (Late 2012 or later), [[iMac]] (Late 2012 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Pro]] (Late 2013 or later)
}}
| rowspan="3" data-sort-value="4096" | 4 GB

|-
| [[macOS Big Sur|11]]
| 2020
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (Early 2015 or later), [[MacBook Air]] (Mid 2013 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (Late 2013 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (Late 2014 or later), [[iMac]] (Mid 2014 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Pro]] (Late 2013 or later)
}}

|-
| [[macOS Monterey|12]]
| 2021
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (Early 2016 or later), [[MacBook Air]] (Early 2015 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (Early 2015 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (Late 2014 or later), [[iMac]] (Late 2015 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Studio]] (2022), [[Mac Pro]] (Late 2013 or later)
}}

|-
| [[MacOS Ventura|13]]
| 2022
| {{Plainlist |
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook]] (2017), [[MacBook Air]] (2018 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (2017 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (2018 or later), [[iMac]] (2017 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Studio]] (2022 or later), [[Mac Pro]] (2019 or later)
}}
| rowspan="3" data-sort-value="8192" | 8 GB

|-
|[[MacOS Sonoma|14]]
| 2023
|{{Plainlist|
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook Air]] (2018 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (2018 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (2018 or later), [[iMac]] (2019 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Studio]] (2022 or later), [[Mac Pro]] (2019 or later)
}}

|-
|[[MacOS Sequoia|15]]
| 2024
|{{Plainlist|
* ''Laptops'': [[MacBook Air]] (2020 or later), [[MacBook Pro]] (2018 or later)
* ''Desktops'': [[Mac Mini]] (2018 or later), [[iMac]] (2019 or later), [[iMac Pro]] (2017), [[Mac Studio]] (2022 or later), [[Mac Pro]] (2019 or later)
}}
|}

Tools such as [[XPostFacto]] and patches applied to the installation media have been developed by third parties to enable installation of newer versions of macOS on systems not officially supported by Apple. This includes a number of pre-G3 Power Macintosh systems that can be made to run up to and including Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, all G3-based Macs which can run up to and including Tiger, and sub-867&nbsp;MHz G4 Macs can run Leopard by removing the restriction from the installation DVD or entering a command in the Mac's [[Open Firmware]] interface to tell the Leopard Installer that it has a clock rate of 867&nbsp;MHz or greater. Except for features requiring specific hardware such as graphics acceleration or DVD writing, the operating system offers the same functionality on all supported hardware.

As most Mac hardware components, or components similar to those, since the Intel transition are available for purchase,<ref>{{Cite web |title=iMac – Tech Specs – Apple |url=https://www.apple.com/imac/specs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728131342/https://www.apple.com/imac/specs |archive-date=July 28, 2015 |access-date=July 28, 2015 |publisher=Apple Inc. |df=mdy-all}}</ref> some technology-capable groups have developed software to install macOS on non-Apple computers. These are referred to as [[OSx86|Hackintoshes]], a [[portmanteau]] of the words "hack" and "Macintosh". This violates Apple's [[End-user license agreement|EULA]] (and is therefore unsupported by Apple technical support, warranties etc.), but communities that cater to personal users, who do not install for resale and profit, have generally been ignored by Apple.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home page – footer |url=https://www.tonymacx86.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728064306/https://www.tonymacx86.com |archive-date=July 28, 2015 |access-date=July 28, 2015 |website=tonymacx86.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=K |first=M |title=Is installing Mavericks on Hackintosh legal? |url=https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/107324/is-installing-mavericks-on-hackintosh-legal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823154640/https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/107324/is-installing-mavericks-on-hackintosh-legal |archive-date=August 23, 2015 |access-date=July 28, 2015 |website=apple.stackexchange.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Choosing the right CPU for your hackintosh |url=https://www.macbreaker.com/2012/07/choosing-right-cpu-for-your-hackintosh.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711181943/https://www.macbreaker.com/2012/07/choosing-right-cpu-for-your-hackintosh.html |archive-date=July 11, 2015 |access-date=July 28, 2015 |website=www.macbreaker.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> These self-made computers allow more flexibility and customization of hardware, but at a cost of leaving the user more responsible for their own machine, such as on matter of data integrity or security.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Arment |first=Marco |title=Far Too Much Analysis Of The Alleged New Mac Pro Geekbench Score |url=https://www.marco.org/2013/06/20/new-mac-pro-geekbench |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405214346/https://www.marco.org/2013/06/20/new-mac-pro-geekbench |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |access-date=14 August 2015 |website=Marco.org |df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Psystar]], a business that attempted to profit from selling macOS on non-Apple certified hardware, was sued by Apple in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taub |first=Eric |date=July 16, 2008 |title=Apple sues Psystar to block Macintosh clones |url=https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/apple-sues-psystar-to-block-macintosh-clone-sales/comment-page-2/?_r=0 |access-date=1 August 2015 |website=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=October 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020004206/https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/apple-sues-psystar-to-block-macintosh-clone-sales/comment-page-2/?_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref>