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macOS Mojave Q&A
Update Published June 5, 2019
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Which Macs are compatible with macOS Mojave (10.14)? What are the system requirements? Are 32-bit apps compatible?
Apple first previewed macOS Mojave (10.14) on June 4, 2018. It was released as a "public beta" starting on June 26, 2018 and shipped as a finished product on September 24, 2018.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (macOS Mojave on MacBook Pro)
macOS Mojave is free and only is available officially from Apple's own App Store.
New macOS Mojave Features & Depreciation
Apple's official press release places most of its emphasis on new features, noting:
In macOS Mojave, a new Dark Mode transforms the desktop with a dramatic new look that puts the focus on user content. The new Stacks feature organizes messy desktops by automatically stacking files into neat groups. Familiar iOS apps, including News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home, are now available on the Mac for the first time. FaceTime now adds support for group calling, and the Mac App Store gets a full redesign featuring rich editorial content and the addition of apps from top developers, including Microsoft, Adobe and others.
Some of these minor features like Dark Mode and Stacks can be helpful (or at least look rather dope), but the application and framework support changes and App Store emphasis may be a bit of a double-edged sword.
macOS Mojave is the last version of the macOS to support 32-bit apps entirely, which means that many older apps will be left behind with the next version. Although modernization is necessary from time-to-time, eliminating older apps and making it easier for developers to essentially port iOS apps to the Mac alongside deprecating support for OpenGL and OpenCL (and not adopting Vulkan), while placing much more aggressive emphasis on apps from the App Store very well could lead to the end of the macOS entirely.
It may be beneficial to have many formerly iOS-only apps make it to the Mac, but it also remains to be seen if developers will bother to continue to make macOS-specific apps, particularly if they are later required to only distribute them through Apple's app store where Apple takes a 30% cut of the developer's revenue.
System Requirements
In Apple's WWDC 2018 presentation and elsewhere, the company specifies that macOS Mojave runs on these Macs:
- MacBook (Early 2015 or later)
- MacBook Air (Mid-2012 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Mid-2012 or later)
- iMac Pro
- iMac (Late 2012 or later)
- Mac mini (Late 2012 or later)
- Mac Pro (Mid-2010 or later*)
It is worth noting that specific feature support can vary and this is a significantly smaller number of systems than were supported by macOS High Sierra (10.13) before it.
*The Mid-2010 and Mid-2012 Mac Pro models only support macOS Mojave (10.14) if they have a video card that supports Metal. Apple reports that these video cards are compatible with macOS Mojave:
- MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 128-bit 4GB GDRR5
- SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5
- SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition
- NVIDIA Quadro K5000 for Mac
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Mac Edition
Site sponsor OWC sells the SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition.
The Mac also needs to be running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later, have 2 GB of RAM or more installed, and have at least 12.5 GB of free storage if you are upgrading from OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 or least 18.5 GB of free storage if you are upgrading from an earlier version of the operating system.
Identification Help
If you're not sure if your Mac will run macOS Mojave, all of the supported computers can be identified by the above "subfamily" designations as well as by the Model Identifier in software. More details about specific identifiers are provided in EveryMac.com's exhaustive Mac Identification section.
To locate the model identifier, select "About This Mac" under the Apple Menu on your computer and click the "More Info..." button. If the Mac is running OS X "Lion" (10.7) or later, click the "System Report" button after clicking "More Info..." as well.
EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature also can identify these models by their Serial Numbers.
macOS Mojave Supported Systems
Specifically, the following Macs are compatible with macOS Mojave:
Mojave Supported Mac |
Subfamily |
Model ID |
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Early 2013 (Edu) |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
5K, Late 2014 |
||
5K, Late 2014 |
||
5K, Mid-2015 |
||
Late 2015 |
||
Late 2015 |
||
4K, Late 2015 |
||
4K, Late 2015 |
||
5K, Late 2015 |
||
5K, Late 2015 |
||
5K, Late 2015 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
4K, Mid-2017 |
||
4K, Mid-2017 |
||
4K, Mid-2017 |
||
5K, Mid-2017 |
||
5K, Mid-2017 |
||
5K, Mid-2017 |
||
5K, Mid-2017 |
||
4K, 21.5", 2019 |
||
4K, 21.5", 2019 |
||
5K, 27", 2019 |
||
5K, 27", 2019 |
||
5K, 27", 2019 |
||
5K, 27, 2019 |
||
Late 2017 |
||
Late 2017 |
||
Late 2017 |
||
Late 2017 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2016 |
||
Early 2016 |
||
Early 2016 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012/Edu** |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2013 |
||
Mid-2013 |
||
Mid-2013 |
||
Mid-2013 |
||
Early 2014 |
||
Early 2014 |
||
Early 2014 |
||
Early 2014 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
13-inch, 2017** |
||
13-inch, 2017** |
||
Late 2018** |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 Retina |
||
Mid-2012 Retina |
||
Mid-2012 Retina |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Early 2013 |
||
Early 2013 |
||
Early 2013 |
||
Early 2013 |
||
Early 2013 |
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Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Mid-2014 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
||
Mid-2015 |
||
Mid-2015 |
||
Mid-2015 |
||
Mid-2015 |
||
Mid-2015 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Late 2016 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
Mid-2018 |
||
2019 |
||
2019 |
||
2019 |
||
2019 |
||
2019 |
||
2019 |
||
2019 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2012 |
||
Late 2014 |
||
Late 2014 |
||
Late 2014 |
||
Late 2014 |
||
2018 |
||
2018 |
||
2018 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
If your Mac isn't listed above, it isn't compatible with macOS Mojave.
macOS Mojave Features Compatibility
All of the above Macs support macOS Mojave, but not all features are supported by each Mac. Most of these features were introduced by earlier versions of the operating system, but are documented again below for your review:
These are the earliest models that support each of these features running macOS Mojave:
Hey Siri |
Continuity Camera* |
Handoff** |
|
MacBook |
None |
Early 2015 |
Early 2015 |
MacBook Air |
None |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2012 |
MacBook Pro |
Mid-2018 |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2012 |
iMac |
None |
Late 2012 |
Late 2012 |
iMac Pro |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Mac mini |
None |
Late 2012 |
Late 2012 |
Mac Pro |
None |
Late 2013 |
Late 2013 |
Instant Hotspot† |
Universal Clipboard |
Auto Unlock‡ | Apple Pay on the Web |
|
MacBook |
Early 2015 |
Early 2015 |
Early 2015 |
Early 2015 |
MacBook Air |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2013 |
Mid-2012 |
MacBook Pro |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2012 |
Late 2013 |
Mid-2012 |
iMac |
Late 2012 |
Late 2012 |
Late 2013 |
Late 2012 |
iMac Pro |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Mac mini |
Late 2012 |
Late 2012 |
Late 2014 |
Late 2012 |
Mac Pro |
Late 2013 |
Late 2013 |
Late 2013 |
Late 2013 |
AirDrop to iOS |
AirPlay |
Power Nap |
|
MacBook |
Early 2015 |
Early 2015 |
Early 2015 |
MacBook Air |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2012 |
Mid-2012 |
MacBook Pro |
Mid-2012 |
Early 2012 |
Mid-2012 Retina |
iMac |
Late 2012 |
Mid-2012 |
Late 2012 |
iMac Pro |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Late 2017 |
Mac mini |
Late 2012 |
Late 2012 |
Late 2012 |
Mac Pro |
Late 2013 |
Late 2013 |
Late 2013 |
* Continuity Camera, which makes it possible to take a photo with an iPhone or iPad and have it show up automatically on your Mac, requires an iPhone or iPad running iOS 12 or higher.
** Handoff, which makes it possible to start a simple task like reading a webpage on an iOS device and continue on your Mac (or vice-versa), requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector that is running iOS 8 or higher.
† Instant Hotspot, which allows a Mac to "borrow" the cellular connection from an iPhone or iPad, requires an iPhone or iPad with a cellular connection and a Lightning connector that is running iOS 8.1 or higher.
‡ Auto Unlock, which unlocks your Mac automatically with a nearby secondary device, works with an Apple Watch running watchOS 3 or later and an iPhone 5 or later.
macOS Mojave Summary
Ultimately, macOS Mojave certainly appears to be a double-edged sword. The addition of helpful features and what likely will later prove to be a flood of effectively ported iOS apps to the Mac bring benefits, but also could signal the end of the macOS entirely.
Whether developers will continue to make macOS apps instead of porting iOS apps to the Mac remains to be seen.
Before considering an upgrade to macOS Mojave, be sure to review compatibility with your existing applications, particularly older 32-bit ones.
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