Apple’s 2020 13-inch MacBook Air will work with MacOS Monterey.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
MacOS Monterey, Apple’s latest Mac operating system, arrived on Monday, Oct. 25. The software, also known as MacOS 12, is included on the new laptops announced at Apple’s event in October — both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro — and is compatible with a variety of earlier Mac models as well. The new OS was first unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June and includes new features like Universal Control, AirPlay and a host of updates coming to iOS 15 like spatial audio in FaceTime.
Whether you installed the MacOS Monterey public beta, or are planning to install the final version, you’ll need to have a compatible device. And while the Windows 11 rollout has been full of confusion over which devices will be able to run it, Apple’s compatibility list is far more straightforward.
Read more: The three best features we found in MacOS Monterey so far
Will my Mac run MacOS Monterey?
Here are all the models of Macs that can run MacOS Monterey, according to Apple:
- MacBook, early 2016 and later
- MacBook Air, early 2015 and later
- MacBook Pro, early 2015 and later
- Mac Pro, late 2013 and later
- Mac Mini, late 2014 and later
- iMac, late 2015 and later
- iMac Pro, 2017 and later
As our sister site ZDNet notes, that means that the following Macs will not be able to update to anything beyond MacOS Big Sur:
- iMac, mid- and late 2014 and early 2015
- MacBook Air, mid-2013 and early 2014
- MacBook Pro, late 2013 and mid-2014
- MacBook, early 2015
For more, check out what we know so far about MacOS Monterey and its features and our guide to whether you should buy a new Mac now, or wait. You can also take a look at the best new features of WatchOS 8 and see if your iPhone is compatible with iOS 15.
Watch this:
Hands-on with MacOS Monterey
5:44
