“Apple has already informed developers of which Mac hardware will be supported under macOS Mojave,” Anthony Casella reports for iMore. “The general rule of thumb is that if your hardware is from 2012 and newer (other than regular MacBook that must be from 2015 and newer), you’ll likely be able to enjoy all of the macOS Mojave features including the long awaited Dark Mode.”
“One exception is that Apple has thrown us older Mac Pro 2010-2012 owners a bone and if you happen to have a GPU that supports Metal, you’ll be able to get all of the neat features available under macOS Mojave despite having older hardware,” Casella reports. “Yay!”
“Mac Pros that are older than the general rule of thumb 2012 date will still be allowed to install macOS Mojave and those with Metal capable GPUs will be able to run the new fancy-dancy Dark Mode,” Casella reports. “Here’s how to check if your Mac GPU is Metal capable for Dark Mode.”
Simple instructions here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, you’ll have it, because Dark Mode looks great!
Well, if Apple wants to give us “classic and future Mac Pro” owners a nice surprise then how about out-of-the-box boot support for modern graphic cards?
Does “Dark Mode” bring benefits like enterprise management/better AD integration, APFS with high-confidence per-file erase on flash media, a significantly improved dock, USB A ports, or Photos library merging? Asking for a friend…
The AMD Sapphire HD7950 is basically the only easy plug & play graphics card update for the 2010-2012 Mac Pro workstations. It is fully Metal compatible. Benchmarks show it’s on par with the AMD FirePro D300 that is installed in the 2013+ Mac Pro trashcan, about twice as capable as the best card Apple originally installed back in the day (ATI Radeon HD 5870).
Comes with warranty here:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sapphire/100352MAC/
It is beyond sad that since 2013 Apple has done absolutely nothing to keep its graphics hardware competitive with the rest of the planet. It doesn’t make sense to steer people to external GPUs. That is a an ugly desktop wart bandaid solution if you ask me.
When I hear “Dark Mode,” I think of the NSA and CIA.
No doubt it will look good, but I’d like to see more screen/Finder customization available to users. I used to have a couple of apps that were good for eye candy, but also very good for color coding folders and photos. Would like to see that again, but from Apple.
Counts my 17″ MBP circa 2011 out of the picture.
Can we get serious here? Like Dark Mode is going to make me or my machine more productive!! It’s just eye candy. Nice, but so what?! What the article doesn’t make clear is if you can install Mojave on a 2010 Mac Pro, even if you can’t get Dark Mode (oh, how could I live with myself???)
The answer is “No.” If the hardware can’t handle Metal, the installer will not install Mohave. The limiting factor is the integrated or discrete graphics. If it cannot manage Metal, it cannot handle any part of the user interface, including but not limited to Dark Mode. So a lot of us are just out of luck.
It is a shame that Metal looks like just a proprietary protocol to drive hardware sales, rather than a technological advantage that would make Macs more effective than the competition.
Apple, out of ideas to provide the user better value through more efficient/cost effective/powerful hardware and software, is resorting to these tactics to maintain high cost margins:
1) constant nagging for software updates and subscription services, without delivering demonstrated continuous product improvement (especially on the Mac) in exchange for the monthly fees (example: iTunes desperately broken, but Apple adds Apple/Beats Music nagware to it and leaves longstanding issues unsolved)
2) refusal to allow users to repair or upgrade hardware (drives, RAM, GPU, etc) – driving AppleCare profits
3) One step further toward designed obsolescence: attempts to make sealed boxes with time-limited hardware inside (batteries) which will force a new purchase of either professional service or new unit
4) proprietary hardware or software that artificially forces incompatibility and a new purchase (Metal, connectors, etc) forces new purchase when old hardware may still be otherwise viable
5) unannounced software abandonment forces users to redesign their workflows and buy new software — or software so dumbed down or buggy it doesn’t work and Apple refuses to fix it (Aperture, iTunes, Quicktime, iMovie, Maps, Disk Utility)
6) dead-end products and tech that are not updated at all after launch and/or not adequately supported with 3rd party interoperability thanks to Apple’s licensing fees & design (Fusion Drive, Thunderbolt 1 & 2, Apple TV, HomePod, Pencil, Airports, Time Capsules, Displays, iPods, … all islands without a functioning ecosystem beyond Apple’s limited imagination
7) Overpriced poor quality white plastic adapters with skinny wires that are designed to fail
8) Fashion changes rather than getting the fundamentals right. More resources devoted to emojis than to APFS, for example.
9) Media media media — after getting humiliated by superior media distribution companies, Apple suddenly wants to be a big time movie producer and push its politically correct programming out through its exclusive ATV. In other words, imitate Netflix except force hardware sales of a clunky streaming box plus subscriptions in order to make more money. Or imitation Amazon Prime without the value Amazon offers.
10) Apple Stores are not education centers and community gathering spots, and people don’t do there to see new hardware or try out software. Overpriced fashionistas have turned it into an accessory shop to hide the fact that the genius bar is being overrun with software help and repair requests.
Once Apple was underdog, overdelivering and making its competitors look slow. Now Apple is complacent, fat, and greedy. It cares more about extracting money from customers and maintaining an overpriced luxury image than it does providing consistent product leadership with stuff that is designed for users first.
is mostly true. since metal is inferior to DirectX in every way, not to mention Vulkan..
change out a widget on the OS, for hardware updates.
This is the model, apple sells hardware, the software is just the carrot.
Apple already said that the 2010 Mac Pro can run Mojave (and I presume a 2009 flashed to 5,1 can too with a better graphics card).
Btw pretty much any modern graphics card will work in a Mac Pro, you just don’t get the boot screen – so keep the original in case you need it.
How about releasing the LONG OVERDUE Mac Pro’s and Monitors so we don’t have to worry about old products and we can all give Apple our MONEY to have NEW STUFF THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED YEARS AGO!!!!!