Here Are the Macs Compatible With macOS Golden Gate

[MacRumors]

Apple today unveiled macOS Golden Gate, the next major version of its Mac operating system, during its WWDC 2026 keynote.

As expected, the update confirms the end of Intel Mac support. Apple said last year that macOS Tahoe would be the final release to run on pre-Apple silicon machines, and macOS 27 makes that official – you'll need an Apple silicon Mac to install it.

Here are the Macs compatible with macOS Golden Gate:

• MacBook Neo (2026)
• MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
• MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
• iMac with Apple silicon (2021 and later)
• Mac mini with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
• Mac Studio with Apple silicon (2022 and later)
• Mac Pro with Apple silicon (2023 and later)

Four models that ran macOS Tahoe didn't make the cut this year. They include the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019), the MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports), the iMac (2020), and the Mac Pro (2019).

Owners of those machines aren't entirely out of luck, however. Apple usually keeps issuing security fixes for the previous macOS version well after it's superseded, so anyone sticking with Tahoe will continue to get the necessary patches. But for the latest features, though, the only path forward is a newer Mac.

Article Link: Here Are the Macs Compatible With macOS Golden Gate

 

[gsmornot]

Looks like my 2017 iMac has been left out again. 😉 I have to update at some point.

 

[nortonandreev]

Really curious if this will make the experience on the Neo faster in any way.

 

[WilliApple]

Elephant in the room:
watchOS device support 💀

 

[visualseed]

Thinking about trying the beta, but too many of my Intel apps haven’t been updated for AS yet, so I’m not ready to deal with that hassle at the moment.

 

[Yamcha]

Not active yet for me. It says the Mac is already up to date.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

The first macOS to only run on Apple Silicon, and probably one of the only that at the time of release, supports all models, because eventually the M1 will get dropped, although I’m guessing there’s gonna be support for that for a lot longer than we’ve seen with Intel

 

[LightProtector]

Looks like my 2017 iMac has been left out again. 😉 I have to update at some point.

Apple silicon will be such an incredible upgrade. So good that it turned me into an Apple glazer, despite being a heavy Windows/Linux user. The value is just too good now.

 

[visualseed]

The first macOS to only run on Apple Silicon, and probably one of the only that at the time of release, supports all models, because eventually the M1 will get dropped, although I’m guessing there’s gonna be support for that for a lot longer than we’ve seen with Intel

I don’t see them justifying dropping M1 support anytime soon. It’s still incredibly capable, and they were selling brand-new ones at Walmart just a little over three months ago.

 

[Lioness~]

Nice, my Mac's made it to the Golden Gate 😎

 

[Wasp14]

Looks like my 2017 iMac has been left out again. 😉 I have to update at some point.

Depends on your use case but mine has been fine for what I use it for with OCLP (Sequioa) and a 512GB SSD. The 8GB RAM can be limiting at times but it doesn't get pushed hard enough for me to justify a $1000+ upgrade.

 

[redheeler]

I don't blame Apple for dropping Intel at this point, but leaving them on Tahoe is in poor taste. Tahoe was always an unfinished product, with Golden Gate being the actual finished version. Leaving them on Sequoia and giving that version one more year of security and app updates past what it'd normally be would've made a lot of sense.

 

[iDento]

The first iMac with M1 was released in 2021 or 2020?

 

[CarlJ]

Nice, my Mac's made it to the Golden Gate 😎

While some other Macs are going to the pearly gates.

 

[atonaldenim]

So did anyone correctly guess "Golden Gate" for MacOS 27? I didn't.

 

[Rayansb]

looks like something chatgpt coughed up

 

[Porco]

Golden Gate: For intel Macs, it’s a bridge too far.