OS X Mountain Lion Officially Drops Support for Some Older 64-Bit Macs

MacRumors · Jul 11, 2012, 09:33 AM

With Apple having seeded the golden master build of OS X Mountain Lion to developers earlier this week, the company has locked in which Macs will support the forthcoming version of the operating system. While the machine requirements have been known for some time, the seeding of the final public release is a good time to remind users which machines will support Mountain Lion.

Quote:

Your Mac must be one of the following models:

- iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
- MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
- MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
- MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
- Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
- Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
- Xserve (Early 2009)

Ars Technica has more on Apple's decision, including discussion of why Apple has dropped support for some early 64-bit Macs that do support OS X Lion.

Quote:

Apple declined to tell us the reasoning behind leaving some of these models out of potential Mountain Lion upgrades, but we suspected it was related to an updated graphics architecture that was designed to improve OS X's graphics subsystem going forward. Our own Andrew Cunningham suspected the issue was related to graphics drivers, since the GPUs not supported under Mountain Lion had drivers that were written before 64-bit support was common.

Information included with the first Mountain Lion GM now corroborates the connection to 32-bit graphics drivers as the culprit. While Mountain Lion is compatible with any Mac capable of running a 64-bit kernel, the kernel no longer supports loading 32-bit kernel extensions (KEXTs).

The report notes that some of the GPUs used in early 64-bit Macs were deprecated before 64-bit KEXTs were in common usage, and thus they were never upgraded from their original 32-bit KEXTs. With the affected machines now being a number of years old, Apple apparently decided that it was not worth investing the resources to upgrade those drivers to 64-bit in order to support OS X Mountain Lion.

Article Link: OS X Mountain Lion Officially Drops Support for Some Older 64-Bit Macs

hollerz · Jul 11, 2012, 09:36 AM

Looks like Mountain Lion is the end of the road for my Mid 2007 iMac! Hopefully some nice new ones released in time for 10.9

bobobenobi · Jul 11, 2012, 09:36 AM

The ARS report seems to miss that EFI64 is required for Mountain Lion. While a Mac might have a CPU capable of 64-bit, it still might be running EFI32 and therefore won't be supported. No EFI64 means no 64-bit kernel which means no Mountain Lion.

alent1234 · Jul 11, 2012, 09:36 AM

what about my Powerbook? that was 64bit, i should be able to run it on that

applesith · Jul 11, 2012, 09:38 AM

Not too unreasonable.

mdntcallr · 09:50 AM

Whoah, bad news for me using a 3.0 2x dual core mac pro tower maybe.

Kinda pisses me off my mac pro may not get new osx, especially when there isn't a proper new mac pro. Apple ought not release osx that won't work on semi recent models. Pretty bad for customers. Could be an reason to upgrade... To a windows workstation

bedifferent · Jul 11, 2012, 09:38 AM

Quote:

With the affected machines now being a number of years old, Apple apparently decided that it was not worth investing the resources to upgrade those drivers to 64-bit in order to support OS X Mountain Lion.

How much effort does it take to upgrade a kext/driver? I would guess less effort than working on "Game Center".

leman · Jul 11, 2012, 09:38 AM

They dropped all models which do not support at least OpenGL 3.2 core profile. I think this is the main story here. Personally, I welcome this decision.

O and A · Jul 11, 2012, 09:40 AM

I have 3 - 2007 mac pros at work. Not happy. Especialy as an iOS developer where apple will surely force me to run the latest OS X to run the latest version of xcode.

fishmoose · Jul 11, 2012, 09:41 AM

Good thing I upgraded from my early 2008 MacBook (plastic) to an early 15" MBP 2011 last summer. Don't want to miss out on Mountain Lion.

hobo.hopkins · Jul 11, 2012, 09:41 AM

People can't legitimately expect to receive the newest updates on machines that are 3+ years old.

Blakeasd · Jul 11, 2012, 09:42 AM

Barely made the cut on a unibody Late 2009, white MacBook

Schtumple · Jul 11, 2012, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedifferent

How much effort does it take to upgrade a kext/driver? I would guess less effort than working on "Game Center".

This is very true.

KnightWRX · Jul 11, 2012, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobobenobi

The ARS report seems to miss that EFI64 is required for Mountain Lion. While a Mac might have a CPU capable of 64-bit, it still might be running EFI32 and therefore won't be supported. No EFI64 means no 64-bit kernel which means no Mountain Lion.

First Unibody Macbooks released in 2008 had EFI32 only and yet can still run Mountain Lion.

Radio · Jul 11, 2012, 09:44 AM

very fair.

this is why im on the verge of jumping ship entirely to apple.

my notebook is a sony vaio and support has been weak.

have they invented two button mouses yet in the apple world?

Baytriple · Jul 11, 2012, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobobenobi

The ARS report seems to miss that EFI64 is required for Mountain Lion. While a Mac might have a CPU capable of 64-bit, it still might be running EFI32 and therefore won't be supported. No EFI64 means no 64-bit kernel which means no Mountain Lion.

I am running my Mac Pro 2,1 on Mountain Lion DP4. I'll be upgrading it when it is paid for.

You CAN run it on a Mac Pro 2,1 and earlier.

It took me a little time but really it is quite simple once you know what you are doing. You can PM me if you need any help.

Here is how you do it on a Mac Pro

http://www.jabbawok.net/?p=47

G51989 · Jul 11, 2012, 09:44 AM

" macs last/supported longer than windozers lolz " whoops.

Sarcasam aside, its pretty typical of Apple to stop supporting computers pretty quickly. It helps force users to upgrade. Business model.

Hopefully 10.7 will be supported for awhile so older machine users can get more use out of their machines

Carniphage · Jul 11, 2012, 09:45 AM

The members on this forum thread seem to be making some headway in getting ML to run on older Macs - turning Macintoshes into Hackintoshes.

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,1123.0.html

I haven't tried it, but someone should.

KnightWRX · Jul 11, 2012, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedifferent

How much effort does it take to upgrade a kext/driver? I would guess less effort than working on "Game Center".

Working on the low levels required for hardware access in a driver is where 32bit to 64 bit porting requires the most effort as often you're dealing with fixed width registries and can't simply "recompile" code into a 64 bit binary, you have to adjust types.

fishmoose · Jul 11, 2012, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radio

very fair.

this is why im on the verge of jumping ship entirely to apple.

my notebook is a sony vaio and support has been weak.

have they invented two button mouses yet in the apple world?

No. But you still don't have much of a reason to right click on a Mac

So it's all good.

Schtumple · Jul 11, 2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobo.hopkins

People can't legitimately expect to receive the newest updates on machines that are 3+ years old.

I'm pretty certain a few years ago people used to say "5+ years", by 2015 are people going to be saying "People can't legitimately expect to receive the newest updates on machines that are the last generation."

supremedesigner · Jul 11, 2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobo.hopkins

People can't legitimately expect to receive the newest updates on machines that are 3+ years old.

From what I read, looks like a machine that is 5+ years old can still run ML. Interesting.

jonnysods · Jul 11, 2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedifferent

How much effort does it take to upgrade a kext/driver? I would guess less effort than working on "Game Center".

Agreed!

bobobenobi · Jul 11, 2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KnightWRX

First Unibody Macbooks released in 2008 had EFI32 only and yet can still run Mountain Lion.

In that case, I guess it's boo ****** hoo for the unsupported. It's not like unsupported hardware will stop working when ML is released.

Navdakilla · 02:02 PM

Not a big deal. They are dropping support for computers 4-5 years old.
I would love to see my old single core windows xp computer handle windows 8.

Edit: Guess my old computer could run it afterall. My bad

Jul 11, 2012, 09:36 AM	#2
hollerz macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Durham, UK	Looks like Mountain Lion is the end of the road for my Mid 2007 iMac! Hopefully some nice new ones released in time for 10.9
	18

Jul 11, 2012, 09:36 AM	#3
bobobenobi macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2010	The ARS report seems to miss that EFI64 is required for Mountain Lion. While a Mac might have a CPU capable of 64-bit, it still might be running EFI32 and therefore won't be supported. No EFI64 means no 64-bit kernel which means no Mountain Lion. __________________ Mac Pro (Early 2009) 2x2.26GHz, 24GB RAM, 240GB OWC SSD, 3x1TB RAID0, GTX 285; MacBook Air 13" (Late 2010) 1.86GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB; iPad 3 Wi-Fi 32GB; iPhone 5 64GB; Apple TV 3; iPod Classic 160GB
	23

Jul 11, 2012, 09:38 AM	#6
mdntcallr macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Los Angeles, CA	Whoah, bad news for me using a 3.0 2x dual core mac pro tower maybe. Kinda pisses me off my mac pro may not get new osx, especially when there isn't a proper new mac pro. Apple ought not release osx that won't work on semi recent models. Pretty bad for customers. Could be an reason to upgrade... To a windows workstation __________________ "Bite my Shiny Metal Ass!" Bender (Futurama) Last edited by mdntcallr; Jul 11, 2012 at 09:50 AM.
	61

Jul 11, 2012, 09:41 AM	#11
hobo.hopkins macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2008	People can't legitimately expect to receive the newest updates on machines that are 3+ years old. __________________ Think morality requires religion? Name me an ethical statement made or an action performed by a believer that could not have been made or performed by a non-believer. I'm waiting...
	11

Jul 11, 2012, 09:44 AM	#15
Radio macrumors 65816 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Central California	very fair. this is why im on the verge of jumping ship entirely to apple. my notebook is a sony vaio and support has been weak. have they invented two button mouses yet in the apple world? __________________ iPhone 5 32gb black; iPad (3rd Gen) 32 gb black -- iPhone 4 32 gb black-- iPod classic 64 gb
	5

Jul 11, 2012, 09:36 AM	#4
alent1234 macrumors 601 Join Date: Jun 2009	what about my Powerbook? that was 64bit, i should be able to run it on that
	15

Jul 11, 2012, 09:38 AM	#5
applesith macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jun 2007	Not too unreasonable.
	7

Jul 11, 2012, 09:38 AM	#8
leman macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2008	They dropped all models which do not support at least OpenGL 3.2 core profile. I think this is the main story here. Personally, I welcome this decision.
	9

Jul 11, 2012, 09:40 AM	#9
O and A macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: New York City	I have 3 - 2007 mac pros at work. Not happy. Especialy as an iOS developer where apple will surely force me to run the latest OS X to run the latest version of xcode.
	23

Jul 11, 2012, 09:41 AM	#10
fishmoose macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sweden	Good thing I upgraded from my early 2008 MacBook (plastic) to an early 15" MBP 2011 last summer. Don't want to miss out on Mountain Lion.
	3

Jul 11, 2012, 09:42 AM	#12
Blakeasd macrumors 6502 Join Date: Dec 2009	Barely made the cut on a unibody Late 2009, white MacBook
	6

Jul 11, 2012, 09:44 AM	#17
G51989 macrumors 68000 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Somewhere amazing.	" macs last/supported longer than windozers lolz " whoops. Sarcasam aside, its pretty typical of Apple to stop supporting computers pretty quickly. It helps force users to upgrade. Business model. Hopefully 10.7 will be supported for awhile so older machine users can get more use out of their machines
	9

Jul 11, 2012, 09:45 AM	#18
Carniphage macrumors 68000 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sheffield, England	A glimmer of hope for older Mac Pros The members on this forum thread seem to be making some headway in getting ML to run on older Macs - turning Macintoshes into Hackintoshes. http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,1123.0.html I haven't tried it, but someone should.
	11

Jul 11, 2012, 09:46 AM	#25
Navdakilla macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada	Not a big deal. They are dropping support for computers 4-5 years old. I would love to see my old single core windows xp computer handle windows 8. Edit: Guess my old computer could run it afterall. My bad __________________ New convert, and never turning back!!! Last edited by Navdakilla; Jul 11, 2012 at 02:02 PM. Reason: I stand corrected
	15

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