“Every new version of OS X comes with harsh news for owners of older Macs: ‘Your Mac is too old. You’re stuck with your current OS. Forever,'” Chris Rawson reports for TUAW.
“For Mac OS X Leopard in 2007, anyone who owned a Mac with a processor slower than 867 MHz was stuck with Tiger. In 2009, Snow Leopard made the biggest (and most controversial) shift yet and dropped support for all PowerPC Macs,” Rawson reports. “In 2011, Lion dropped support for Macs that didn’t have 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo processors, which included most of the first-generation Intel Macs.”
Rawson reports, “The march of progress continues in OS X Mountain Lion, and with it comes a new set of minimum requirements. An anonymous developer clued us into the minimum requirements for OS X 10.8, and there’s bad news for some older Mac owners. Mountain Lion will only run on the following Macs…”
See the full list here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
My Core2Duo Macbook?!
*sniff*
/wipes tear
//opens store.apple.com/us
Yup; although my late 2006 MB meets the 64-bit Core2 Duo criteria, the author updated the article to note that there’s a minimum *graphics* chip/card requirement too, and the GMA 950 is not supported.
Doesn’t affect me too much, I haven’t even upgraded to Lion. Waiting for Black Friday sale 2012 🙂
No upgrade for me. Running white iMac 27″. Has the imac6.1 model number.
Means next year I’ll have to start looking for a replacement.
I think you mean 24″….right?
He does. It’s the same one I have, and I guess I’ll finally have to replace it. (darn!)
Hi, C
I finally replaced my iMac 20″ Core Duo last Spring with with a new 27″ i5 and love it.
I also just bought a ‘nused’ Mini 2010 model to start a lossless audio library/Hi-Fi system that can upgrade to Mountain Lion, although every computer I gave to family members for Christmas (3) are unable to upgrade (ironic since I bought them so we could all have Lion….).
Any advice from anyone on a decent receiver?
I am looking at the Onkyo TX-NR509 and some Cambridge S30-N speakers.
I would prefer a stereo receiver but, alas, still have to have video switching.
I’ve been threatening to get a new iMac for ages, and I really need one so it’s a good excuse. I’d like to get a matching 2nd monitor too.
I have no info on stereo gear. All I need are good wireless speakers.
I recommend the 2TB internal hard drive.
I maxed out the RAM aftermarket.
It’s been purty schweeeeet.
“sniff” is right. I knew when Lion came out that my late ’06 MacBook might be in trouble. Slipped in under the wire on that one, but no more…
I use my Macs for DJing and have a MBP from last spring as my main machine and an old MacBook 4,1 from 2008 for a backup. That one won’t be supported by Mountain Lion so I guess I’ll have to to get a new one this summer and continue the upgrade cycle. That WhiteBook made me a lot of money so I have no problems retiring it to a Web/email machine. It’ll be interesting to see what they do to the MBP lineup.
poop, my mac is on the Mountain Lion Death List…time to get a new one I guess.
They should have stopped with Snow Leopard for my MacBookPro2,1. Lion runs like a dog on that machine. It’s nearly dead anyway. Just waiting for the Ivy Bridge Chipsets before upgrading. When the upgrade happens, I’ll downgrade this guy to Snow Leopard so it will run reasonably fast again.
My mid-2007 iMac barely made it . . . which is my oldest office computer. That does suck for the mac mini I’ve got at home for the kids — it’s Core 2 duo but has the GMA 950 GPU.
I’ve got it rocking Lion . . . guess I won’t be upgrading her again.
Not to worry. There’s not much in this update.
Beg to differ. AirPlay is a pretty big feature and Gate Keeper means Macs will be nearly impervious to the worst new type of malware: Trojan horses. This means no matter how large the Mac marketshare becomes we will never see the epidemic that hit Windows.
I really like notification center and the integration with iCloud and how the Mac and iPad are unifying in ways that make sense.
Give up Starbucks and Big Macs and smoking for a few weeks. If then you can’t afford one, just ask ‘O’, he’ll give you one as part of your health-care package. Spread the wealth until it ALL runs out.
I miss being a kid and watching Thundercats and G.I. Joe and all the cartoons where there were noble good guys and evil villains who’s sole motivation was to destroy the world.
It seems I’m not alone.
Me = Saving up for a new MBP, w/ optical drive! 😉
I think my Mid 07 MBP is safe! Woo!
Well my 2005 Power Mac G5 will still continue to run Leopard. My 2009 Mac Book Pro will continue to run Snow Leopard (I just don’t need the broken software I run every day). My 2011 MacBook Air might get upgraded. Or maybe I’ll just buy a Mac mini media server if I’m not thrilled with the new tv.
So much for my Mac SE. Sheesh, why doesn’t Apple support Mtn Lion on my machine???
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!
When Windows Vista came out, it made FUTURE PCs obsolete, next generation of wintel motherboard weren’t able to run all Vista features.. still I don’t see “Analys” remembering that…
I don’t own any Macs that aren’t making this cut, but this just doesn’t seem right to me.
I understood the reasons for cutting PPC and 32-bit Macs – there were solid technical reasons for dropping older architectures – but what’s the reason behind this?
Maybe they are dropping older GPU’s and older Wifi Cards, to make sure AirPlay runs smoothly? I don’t know, it doesn’t seem likely any of this relatively new hardware would actually limit software planned in Mountain Lion.
I hope I’m wrong, but it really looks like Apple is just dropping hardware for the heck of it. Trying to force people to buy new computers or something, which of course doesn’t work (normal people don’t just give up working computers for the sake of spending more money), so they are just fragmenting the Mac market and leaving people with obsolete and less secure software.
I’m debating replacing my Mac this year. This may push me over the line.
While everyone else seems to be getting a sexy new laptop, I’m thinking I’ll go for a Mac mini. My modest mobile computing needs are satisfied by my iPhone.
——RM
Wow. Talk about drawing an imaginary line in the sand for the sake of greed!
Every tech reviewer has said the same thing:
Mountain Lion is not an OS update but a suite of new apps.
Apple could very easily allow *all Lion capable machines* to upgrade but is choosing not to, in order to grab more profit. In the past, older machines would simply be unable to use certain new features, but now they get dropped completely. Not cool Apple.
Wow my late 2008 13′ Uninody MacBook made it.
In contrast, many people bought two or three Windows PCs over the past decade, all of which ran Windows XP or, possibly, Vista. Is that better?
What other company in the consumer electronics industry provides a better upgrade path than Apple? Apple’s products actually improve with age, in most cases, especially if you are careful when you make your purchases. Look at any other platform including Android, and you will be unable to find anywhere close to the same upgrade path.
It is ridiculous to gripe about this. Would these folks rather still be using Tiger/10.4 just so they aren’t left behind?
There are 6 month old Android devices, models still being sold, that cannot run the latest Android OS. My 2005 Mac Pro is still going strong on Leopard, still doing everything it ever did. It’s got a TB+ of storage now, and 5 GB of RAM. It’s primary function at this point is as a media file server. But it’s now at least 7 years old. How many WinTel boxes are still running perfectly after 7 years?
Well I guess my ’06 Macbook fails due to the graphics but My PPC Mac Mini HD finally crapped out so maybe this year I’ll get a new Mini. For now I LOVE my Macbook regardless!
I actually planned to buy an iMac in addition to my MBP 15″ 2009 model (still supported by Mac OS X Mountain Lion) and later on just get a new MBP or MBA 🙂
Well, now if Apple would only release a new Mac Pro with Thunderbolt, I can finally repurpose my first edition G5 PowerMac…
-hh
Made the cut with my mid-2007 iMac core 2 duo!
Last upgrade for me. But, before I buy a new Mac, I have to get an iPad 3.