Browser for 10.13.6 supporting WebGL 2.0?

Question

Browser for 10.13.6 supporting WebGL 2.0?

I'm looking for the most up-to-date browser I can run on a 2010 MBP running macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra in order to play an online game (tabletop RPG with friends through FoundryVTT). High Sierra is the latest OS this MBP supports. Firefox ESR works for most elements of the game, but it brings up a warning that the browser doesn't support WebGL 2.0.

The information I've found indicated that WebGL 2.0 will work on this machine with Safari 15 or later, but Foundry doesn't work properly in any version of Safari. This is, in fact, the reason we're trying to make this work on this old machine in the first place: Spouse's primary device is an iPad, and on iPadOS, all browsers are really Safari. We can't afford to buy a newer machine right now just for her to play this game with our friends. It's the newest of all our retired Macs (replaced by a 2019 MBP—yes, I know my timing sucked), so if we can't get it to work on this one, none of the others will be much use either.

My first search was for information relating specifically to Foundry, but all the advice I found related to this issue was from a few years ago, and none of it worked when I tried it. So now I'm trying alternate browsers to see if any will work without giving the error, without much luck. This thread led me to this thread which has lots of information, but it seems to be somewhat outdated despite being last updated this September (and replies are blocked on both threads).

Of the browsers suggested for this system, here's the results I've gotten:

Firefox ESR: works but brings up WebGL error.
Chrome: works but brings up WebGL error. Can turn off hardware acceleration, but brings up similar error.
Edge: unable to find a link to download a version that runs on earlier than Big Sur.
Brave: download archive repeatedly indicated by Archive Utility as corrupted and unopenable.
iCab: browser works but cannot even handle properly loading the login screen for Forge.
Vivaldi: has page with download links to just about every prior version, but changelogs don't appear to list system requirements for these versions. Current version requires Big Sur or later. I'm not going to spend hours going through the old versions trying to figure out which is the newest one that will run on High Sierra.

So, before I spend more time trying to find ways to download the right versions of these browsers to try, does anyone know if there's something else I need to look at, such as the video hardware itself? If not, can anyone point me to a download link to a specific version of one of these browsers that I can get this to work properly in?

MacBook Pro 17″

Posted on Dec 28, 2024 2:43 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

christopher rigby1

Level 4

2,531 points

Dec 29, 2024 6:26 AM in response to MarquelleDavianMcKean

There is a browser specially written for earlier versions of Mac OS - Firefox Dynasty which is based on Firefox 133 so it's much more recent than Firefox 115 ESR which is the latest official version for High Sierra.

It's a GitHub project and can be found here:

https://github.com/i3roly/firefox-dynasty

Lower right there is a link under "Releases" is what you want. I'm not guaranteeing that it will run WebGL 2 but it must be worth giving it a go?

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Answer 2

Dec 29, 2024 7:23 AM in response to MarquelleDavianMcKean

In addition to Firefox Dynasty which I mentioned earlier, I followed a brody's link to the page where you should see a spinning cube : I can see it in Chromium Legacy on a 2011 iMac running Mavericks, so that's another browser you could try, which you can get via this topic:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/chromium-legacy-google-chrome-for-os-x-10-7-10-9.2283612/

Though it's created for OS X 10.7 - 10.9, it does run on later systems too.

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

85,372 points

Dec 29, 2024 6:37 AM in response to MarquelleDavianMcKean

https://get.webgl.org

Do you get the spinning cube on that page?

If not, your browser doesn't support it at all.

A person composiing in Webgl will get better compatibility with 1.0.

enable webgl on high sierra - Apple Community

shows it is possible to use the Develop menu to access WebGL 2.0 on support. But that specific release of Safari may be hard to come by.

Even better yet, stick with HTML5 specifications. Keep in mind HTML5 is standard across all Mac web browsers going back to El Capitan. That was one thing that was different between Internet Explorer 11 and earlier versions of Internet Explorer on Windows 7. Edge had better HTML5 support.

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Answer 4

Dec 28, 2024 8:47 PM in response to MarquelleDavianMcKean

One browser tried that I inadvertently left out: Opera. Opera has been my primary browser for well over a decade, so it was already installed on this machine, but it doesn't appear to have been updated to the last version for High Sierra, probably because the machine was still running Sierra when I retired it. That version could not properly run Foundry (no WebGL error, but other unacceptable visual issues), though it works in the current version of Opera on my 2019 MBP running Big Sur. And, as with Edge, I couldn't find any links to download prior versions, and the current version requires Big Sur.

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

85,372 points

Dec 29, 2024 9:37 AM in response to MarquelleDavianMcKean

Well you can always contact the author of the website. If they are doing any business with you, you can tell them you'll go elsewhere if they don't use backward compatible technologies.

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Answer 6

Dec 28, 2024 5:13 PM in response to dialabrain

I would be inclined to agree, except that according to another thread I saw (that isn't coming up in my searches now—I'll have to check the history on that old machine, where I did the searches) a 2010 MBP is capable of using WebGL 2.0 if you update to Safari 15. As High Sierra is the highest OS a 2010 MBP can run, that would imply by extension that High Sierra is capable of this. The reason that I don't just use Safari for this is that, as I stated above, Foundry doesn't run properly on Safari, in any version, for reasons that have nothing to do with WebGL 2.0.

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Answer 7

Dec 29, 2024 7:38 AM in response to a brody

Spinning cube is visible, so basic WebGL is supported.

While your advice on what technology to use is valid, it's irrelevant. I have no control over what technologies Foundry uses. I have no way to change their site to use HTML5.

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