What is "OpenCL"? Which Macs support the "OpenCL" technology provided by MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard"?

Apple explains that the "OpenCL" graphics technology that is part of MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard":

Takes the power of graphics processors and makes it available for general-purpose computing. No longer will graphics processors be limited to graphics-intensive applications such as games and 3D modeling. Instead, once developers begin to use OpenCL in their applications, you'll experience greatly improved speed in a wide spectrum of applications.

In basic terms, OpenCL essentially makes it possible for software to access and use the graphics processor and video memory for purposes other than just graphics. The key words in the Apple marketing copy, however, are "once developers begin to use OpenCL". OpenCL does not provide an immediate speed boost for existing software and programs have to be written explicitly to take advantage of it.

Apple further explains that not all Macs that can boot MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" can use OpenCL, and the technology is limited to systems with the following graphics cards:

• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, GeForce 9600M GT, GeForce 8600M GT, GeForce GT 120, GeForce GT 130, GeForce GTX 285, GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GS, Quadro FX 4800, Quadro FX5600
• ATI Radeon HD 4670, ATI Radeon HD 4850, Radeon HD 4870

For your convenience, a precise list of Macs that have video cards/subsystems that support OpenCL is provided below. This list is of Macs available at the time Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was introduced. Subsequently introduced Macs all support OpenCL.

Mac Model	OpenCL Video Card
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 24-Inch (Early 2008)	GeForce 8800 GS
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 20-Inch (Early 2009)	GeForce 9400M
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 24-Inch (Early 2009)	GeForce 9400M
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.93 24-Inch (Early 2009)	GeForce GT 120
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 24-Inch (Early 2009)	GeForce GT 130
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20-Inch (Early 2009)	GeForce 9400M
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 21.5" (Late 2009)	GeForce 9400M
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 3.06 27" (Late 2009)	Radeon HD 4670
iMac "Core i5" 2.66 27" (Late 2009)	Radeon HD 4850
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 13" (Unibody)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 13" (Unibody)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 13" (White-09)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.13 13" (White-09)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.26 13" (Uni/Late 09)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 1.6 13" (NVIDIA)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 1.86 13" (NVIDIA)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 1.86 13" (Mid-09)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 2.13 13" (Mid-09)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.2 15" (SR)	GeForce 8600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 15" (SR)	GeForce 8600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 17" (SR)	GeForce 8600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 15" (08)	GeForce 8600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.5 15" (08)	GeForce 8600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.5 17" (08)	GeForce 8600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 15" (Unibody)	GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 15" (Unibody)	GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 17" (Unibody)	GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 15" (Unibody)	GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.26 13" (SD/FW)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 13" (SD/FW)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 15" (SD)	GeForce 9400M
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 15" (SD)	GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 15" (SD)	GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 17" (Mid-2009)	GeForce 9600M GT
Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 (Early 2009)	GeForce 9400M
Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.26 (Late 2009)	GeForce 9400M
Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 (Late 2009)	GeForce 9400M
Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 (Server)	GeForce 9400M
Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008)	Radeon HD 2600 XT*
Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.66 (2009/Nehalem)	GeForce GT 120
Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.26 (2009/Nehalem)	GeForce GT 120
Xserve Xeon Nehalem 2.26 "Quad Core"	GeForce GT 120

* This model does not support "OpenCL" running the default ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT video card. If configured with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600, it does support OpenCL.

For a bit more on the potential of OpenCL, you also may be interested in reading a brief piece from ArsTechnica.

Also see:

• Which Intel Macs have 64-bit processors? Which have a 64-bit EFI? Which are capable of booting MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" in 64-bit mode?
• What is "Grand Central Dispatch"? Which Macs support the "Grand Central Dispatch" technology provided by MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard"?

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