Macs Compatible with Snow Leopard, Lion & Mountain Lion: EveryMac.com

OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" Q&A - Published September 7, 2012

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Which Macs can run Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), and Mountain Lion (10.8), all three?

EveryMac.com's Maximum Supported Version of Mac OS X listing from the By Capability section of the site makes it easy to see all G3 and later Macs on a single page with the maximum version of the operating system each supports.

However, as requested by readers, it is clear that there also is a great deal of interest in Macs capable of running Snow Leopard for legacy compatibility -- particularly those with PowerPC only applications -- in addition to Lion and/or Mountain Lion in a dual boot or multiboot setup for "bridge" support of both older and newer applications.

Identification Help

If you are trying to identify a specific Mac that you want to purchase on the used market and need to ensure operating system compatibility, EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup can help.

This feature makes it easy to lookup any of these Macs by the Model Identifier listed in software (select "About This Mac" under the "Apple" menu and click "More Info"), its Serial Number, and a variety of other methods.

Macs Capable of Running All Three Operating Systems

No Mac can run a version of the operating system earlier than the one pre-installed, so those interested in running an older version of the operating system will need to purchase a used Mac capable of running the version of interest.

This is a complete list of all non-server Macs capable of booting Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), and Mountain Lion (10.8):

Compatibility Summary

Rather than buying a new Mac, buying a recent used Mac that is capable of running multiple versions of the operating system may make more sense for some users and the above list makes it easy. Those with irreplaceable or expensive "legacy" applications or peripherals that are not compatible with the latest version of the operating system can find it particularly beneficial to purchase a "bridge" system between the old and new.

Also see: Do Mac OS X applications written for the PowerPC processor really not work with OS X 10.7 "Lion" and OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion"? How can I tell if a Mac OS X application is written for PowerPC or Intel processors?

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