Another WWDC keynote is in the can and another new version of macOS has been announced. The next version, macOS Ventura, will release to the public in the fall, preceded by the developer and public betas. The first developer beta is available now to install (at your own risk) on your Mac.
However, with every year that passes and every new version of macOS that releases, there is older hardware that gets left behind. The good news is that plenty of Macs, both old and new, are supported. But the bad news comes for anyone with hardware older than five years old.
The oldest machines supported by macOS Ventura are from 2017, so there's still life in your old Intel-powered machines yet. Here's a full breakdown of the supported Macs for Ventura:
- iMac (mid 2017)
- iMac (2019)
- iMac (2020)
- iMac (2021)
- iMac Pro (late 2017)
- MacBook Air (late 2018)
- MacBook Air (2019)
- MacBook Air (2020)
- MacBook Air (2022)
- MacBook Pro (mid 2017)
- MacBook Pro (2018)
- MacBook Pro (2019)
- MacBook Pro (2020)
- MacBook Pro (2021)
- MacBook Pro (2022)
- Mac Pro (2019)
- Mac Mini (late 2018)
- Mac Mini (2020)
- MacBook (mid 2017)
- Mac Studio (2022)
The current version of macOS, Monterey, supports hardware going back to 2015 so the dropouts aren't that surprising. It does mean, alas, that if your Mac is from 2015, Monterey is as far as you go. Even with these machines that are supported, older ones may struggle more with some of the newer features, and some, for example, parts of the new dictation tool, are only available on the new Apple Silicon Macs.
Ventura has a ton of great features that it's bringing to the Mac, not least a renewed focus on gaming. On the latest Macs, you'll soon be able to play No Man's Sky, on top of features like SharePlay and a redesigned Game Center. The Mac also gets Stage Manager in macOS Ventura, similar to the M1-powered iPads, which will change multitasking for the better.
For help identifying your Mac model for compatibility, Apple has a complete breakdown of everything you need to know.