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macOS High Sierra Q&A - Updated September 25, 2017
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Which Macs are compatible with macOS High Sierra (10.13)? What are the system requirements? Which Macs support HEVC?
On June 5, 2017, Apple previewed macOS High Sierra. It was available as a "public beta" starting on June 26, 2017, and was released as a final product on September 25, 2017.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (macOS High Sierra on MacBook Pro)
macOS High Sierra is a free release and the final version only will be available officially via Apple's own App Store.
New macOS High Sierra Features
Long-term Mac users can guess that macOS High Sierra (10.13) is a refinement of macOS Sierra (10.12) because of the naming structure.
Just as Mac OS X "Snow Leopard" (10.6) was a refinement of Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) and OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) was a refinement of OS X Lion (10.7), rather than offering radical new features, macOS High Sierra (10.13) is a refinement of macOS Sierra (10.12), too.
In the corporate press release, Apple uses the word "refine" five times and further summarizes macOS High Sierra as offering:
An all-new file system, support for High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and an update to Metal, Apple’s advanced graphics technology that powers everything from machine learning to virtual reality content creation. macOS High Sierra also includes a number of refinements to the apps Mac users enjoy every day, including Photos, Safari and Mail.
Although that may not sound exciting, the all-new file system (APFS) is promised to provide "enhanced performance, security, and reliability" (at least initally on SSDs as the beta support for hard drives and "Fusion" Drives was removed in the final version), HEVC promises to provide 4K video that is "up to 40 percent smaller" than the current H.264 standard, and Metal 2 promises improved graphics performance and support for external graphics processors ("planned for spring 2018"), as well.
These improvements may not be sexy, but they're definitely worthwhile.
System Requirements
In Apple's WWDC 2017 presentation and elsewhere, the company notes that macOS High Sierra runs on the same Mac categories as macOS Sierra before it:
- iMac (Late 2009 or later)
- MacBook (Late 2009 or later)
- MacBook Air (Late 2010 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Mid-2010 or later)
- Mac mini (Mid-2010 or later)
- Mac Pro (Mid-2010 or later)
In addition to being one of the categories of Mac listed above, it also needs to be running OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) or higher prior to installation and have 2 GB of memory installed.
All of these Macs support HEVC, but not all of them support hardware accelerated HEVC.
In fine print, Apple notes that for hardware accelerated HEVC support, only "6th generation" and newer Intel processors are supported. More precisely, that would be this much smaller number of Macs:
- iMac 21.5-Inch (Mid-2017 or later)
- iMac 27-Inch (Late 2015 or later)
- iMac Pro (Late 2017 or later)
- MacBook (Early 2016 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Late 2016 or later)
Furthermore, only Macs with "Kaby Lake" processors -- released in 2017 -- support hardware accelerated HEVC with 10-bit color:
- iMac 21.5-Inch (Mid-2017 or later)
- iMac 27-Inch (Mid-2017 or later)
- iMac Pro (Late 2017 or later)
- MacBook (Mid-2017 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Mid-2017 or later)
Identification Help
If you're not sure if your Mac will run macOS High Sierra, all of the supported systems can be identified by the above "subfamily" designations as well as by the Model Identifier in software. More details about specific identifiers are provided in EveryMac.com's extensive Mac Identification section.
To locate the model identifier, select "About This Mac" under the Apple Menu on your computer and click the "More Info..." button. If the Mac is running OS X "Lion" (10.7) or later, click the "System Report" button after clicking "More Info..." as well.
EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature also can identify these models by their Serial Numbers.
macOS High Sierra Supported Systems
Specifically, the following Macs are compatible with macOS High Sierra. However, just because a Mac runs macOS High Sierra does not mean that it is compatible with hardware accelerated HEVC.
High Sierra Supported Mac |
Subfamily |
Model ID |
Late 2009 |
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Late 2009 |
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Late 2009 |
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Late 2009 |
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Late 2009 |
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Late 2009 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Late 2011 (Edu) |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Early 2013 (Edu) |
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Late 2013 |
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Late 2013 |
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Late 2013 |
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Late 2013 |
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Late 2013 |
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Late 2013 |
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Mid-2014 |
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Retina 5K, Late 2014 |
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Retina 5K, Late 2014 |
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Retina 5K, Mid-2015 |
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Late 2015 |
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Late 2015 |
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Retina 4K, Late 2015 |
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Retina 4K, Late 2015 |
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Retina 5K, Late 2015 |
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Retina 5K, Late 2015 |
||
Retina 5K, Late 2015 |
||
Mid-2017 |
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Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
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Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
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Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
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Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
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Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
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Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Late 2009 |
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Mid-2010 |
||
Early 2015 |
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Early 2015 |
||
Early 2015 |
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Early 2016 |
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Early 2016 |
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Early 2016 |
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Mid-2017 |
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Mid-2017 |
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Mid-2017 |
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Late 2010 |
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Late 2010 |
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Late 2010 |
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Late 2010 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011/Edu Only** |
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Mid-2012 |
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Mid-2012 |
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Mid-Edu Only** |
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Mid-2012 |
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Mid-2012 |
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Mid-2013 |
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Mid-2013 |
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Mid-2013 |
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Mid-2013 |
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Early 2014 |
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Early 2014 |
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Early 2014 |
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Early 2014 |
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Early 2015 |
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Early 2015 |
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Early 2015 |
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Early 2015 (2017)** |
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Early 2015 |
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Mid-2010 13" |
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Mid-2010 13" |
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Mid-2010 15" |
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Mid-2010 15" |
||
Mid-2010 15" |
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Mid-2010 15" |
||
Mid-2010 17" |
||
Mid-2010 17" |
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Mid-2010 17" |
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Early 2011 13" |
||
Early 2011 13" |
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Early 2011 15" |
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Early 2011 15" |
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Early 2011 15" |
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Early 2011 17" |
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Early 2011 17" |
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Late 2011 13" |
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Late 2011 13" |
||
Late 2011 15" |
||
Late 2011 15" |
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Late 2011 15" |
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Late 2011 17" |
||
Late 2011 17" |
||
Mid-2012 13" |
||
Mid-2012 13" |
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Mid-2012 15" |
||
Mid-2012 15" |
||
Mid-2012 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2012 |
||
Retina Mid-2012 |
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Retina Mid-2012 |
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Retina Late 2012 |
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Retina Late 2012 |
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Retina Early 2013 |
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Retina Early 2013 |
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Retina Early 2013 |
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Retina Early 2013 |
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Retina Early 2013 |
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Retina Late 2013 13" |
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Retina Late 2013 13" |
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Retina Late 2013 13" |
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Retina Late 2013 15" |
||
Retina Late 2013 15" |
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Retina Late 2013 15" |
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Retina Late 2013 15" |
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Retina Late 2013 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2014 13" |
||
Retina Mid-2014 13" |
||
Retina Mid-2014 13" |
||
Retina Mid-2014 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2014 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2014 15" |
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Retina Mid-2014 15" |
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Retina Mid-2014 15" |
||
Retina Early 2015 13" |
||
Retina Early 2015 13" |
||
Retina Early 2015 13" |
||
Retina Mid-2015 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2015 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2015 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2015 15" |
||
Retina Mid-2015 15" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 15" |
||
Late 2016 15" |
||
Late 2016 15" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Mid-2011 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2012 |
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Late 2014 |
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Late 2014 |
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Late 2014 |
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Late 2014 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
||
Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
||
Server Mid-2010 |
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Server Mid-2010 |
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Server Mid-2010 |
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Server Mid-2010 |
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Server Mid-2010 |
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Mid-2012 |
||
Mid-2012 |
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Mid-2012 |
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Mid-2012 |
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Mid-2012 |
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Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
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Server Mid-2012 |
||
Server Mid-2012 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
||
Late 2013 |
If your Mac isn't listed above, and it wasn't introduced after the release of macOS High Sierra in September 2017, it isn't compatible with the operating system.
macOS High Sierra Hardware Accelerated HEVC Compatibility
All of the above Macs support the macOS High Sierra operating system, but only the following support HEVC hardware acceleration:
Hardware Accelerated HEVC |
Subfamily |
Model ID |
Retina 5K, Late 2015 |
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Retina 5K, Late 2015 |
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Retina 5K, Late 2015 |
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Mid-2017 |
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Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
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Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Early 2016 |
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Early 2016 |
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Early 2016 |
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Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
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Mid-2017 |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 13" |
||
Late 2016 15" |
||
Late 2016 15" |
||
Late 2016 15" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
Only the models released in 2017 support hardware accelerated HEVC with 10-bit color:
Hardware Accelerated 10-bit HEVC |
Subfamily |
Model ID |
Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 4K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Retina 5K, Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 13" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
||
Mid-2017 15" |
If your Mac isn't listed above, and it wasn't introduced after the release of macOS High Sierra on September 25, 2017, it doesn't support HEVC hardware acceleration.
macOS High Sierra Summary
Ultimately, it would be wise to wait for performance reports and a couple of bug fixes before upgrading a mission critical Mac, but for those who have a Mac that is compatible with macOS Sierra, the refinements in performance, security, and reliability make macOS High Sierra a welcomed upgrade.
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