Why is Apple killing OpenCL functionality with Catalina Security Update 2021-002 and when will functionality be restored

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Enzo1902 Author

Level 1

12 points

Why is Apple killing OpenCL functionality with Catalina Security Update 2021-002 and when will functionality be restored

Why the heck is Apple removing functionality without prior notice?

I know that Apple won't support OpenCL in the future. So be it.

I know that Big Sur won't support some of my apps. So I wait with upgrading.

I know that exploits happen. So I turned automatic software update on for minor upgrades.

Now out of the sudden apps which rely on OpenCL do no longer work. And the reason seems to be only a simple Security Update. That is very bad customer service. You cannot remove functionality with a Security Update nor with a Minor Upgrade. I want to be informed upfront if something serious is changed. I have disabled automatic software update but I am stuck for the moment not knowing whether Apple will solve this or I can request help from the software provider. The later one will definitely work an a new version supporting maybe M1, maybe Metal and all that fancy stuff. But I cannot and do not wait for this. That's why I did not upgrade yet.

So what can I do to make Apple provide a fix for this mess?

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on May 11, 2021 10:05 AM

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Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

62,082 points

May 11, 2021 2:37 PM in response to Enzo1902

The basic answer is: The OS belongs to Apple, and they can do whatever they want with it.

Longer: OpenGL and OpenCL were dumped starting with Mojave. If your Mac's video hardware doesn't support Metal, you can't install Mojave or later.

Why?: OpenGL and OpenCL are closed resources that require a licensing fee. Metal is based on free, open source code that has less overhead than OpenGL/CL. Translation. No licensing fees, uses less system resources and is faster.

Conclusion: Don't expect to ever see it return.

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