iMac 2011 for Mojave Upgrade

I have an iMac 27" mid 2011 with below specs.


Processor: 3.4 Ghz i7

Memory: 12Gb

Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6970 1024Mb

Storage Free: 350Gb


What is the reason why I can't upgrade to Mojave? Because this Mac is 2011?


Hoping to get a reasonable response on this matter. THanks

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), graphics card

Posted on Sep 25, 2018 6:59 AM

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Posted on Nov 6, 2018 12:11 AM

problem is the AMD Radeon HD 5xxx/6xxx series GPU acceleration. Currently, it is not possible to get full graphics acceleration when running Mojave on a system with a Radeon HD 5xxx or 6xxx series GPU. Mojave will be almost UNUSABLE without graphics acceleration. This includes the 15" and 17" MacBook Pro systems (MacBookPro8,2 and 8,3). If you want to enable GPU acceleration on these machines, you'll need to disable the AMD GPU (This will work on MacBook Pro 8,2 and 8,3 systems ONLY. You CANNOT disable the AMD GPU in an iMac.)

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Nov 6, 2018 12:11 AM in response to bisayakid07

problem is the AMD Radeon HD 5xxx/6xxx series GPU acceleration. Currently, it is not possible to get full graphics acceleration when running Mojave on a system with a Radeon HD 5xxx or 6xxx series GPU. Mojave will be almost UNUSABLE without graphics acceleration. This includes the 15" and 17" MacBook Pro systems (MacBookPro8,2 and 8,3). If you want to enable GPU acceleration on these machines, you'll need to disable the AMD GPU (This will work on MacBook Pro 8,2 and 8,3 systems ONLY. You CANNOT disable the AMD GPU in an iMac.)

Oct 25, 2018 6:05 AM in response to macjack

I didn't need to be a mind read - you just ignored the first part of the OP question which was:-


> I have an iMac 27" mid 2011 with below specs.


> Processor: 3.4 Ghz i7

> Memory: 12Gb

> Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6970 1024Mb

> Storage Free: 350Gb


> What is the reason why I can't upgrade to Mojave?


I'll answer the question in the way you should have! - because the AMD HD 6970 graphics card doesn't support metal and Apple have **decided** to drop support for Open GL.


See it wasn't hard to answer in a way that actually provided some useful information. Your answer was little more than ... because ... and worse than that your answer was the "Apple recommended" answer which just shows Apples complete disrespect to the OP and anyone else who has run into the same issue.

Jan 19, 2019 3:41 PM in response to netmeester

You're right it's not. It's the fact that Apple has their own proprietary Graphics Library also known as an API. The issue is not necessarily that the hardware isn't powerful enough for it. It's more of that the hardware wasn't designed for that compatibility in mind therefore it most likely doesn't run the best. It's why Fermi cards don't support DirectX 12 very well, while it is possible to select DirectX 12 and to run DirectX 12 only games it's more suited toward DirectX 11 and that's really where it should be used. Quite frankly the graphics are a little dated and so it would most likely be a pain and impractical to try and emulate or fix the library to get it to run on the card

Nov 11, 2018 6:57 PM in response to Magicalissimo

Magicalissimo wrote:


Hi macjack, I have a MacBook Pro mid 2012 not late 2012, is it OS Mojave compatible or not? I thought it was but still didn't upgrade, my High Sierra works fine, should I even try?... Please advise, thanx!


macOS High Sierra

Version 10.13.6 (17G65)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

Processor 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Here are the official Mojave System Requirements

<https://support.apple.com/kb/SP777?locale=en_US>

MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)

Jan 20, 2019 2:35 PM in response to fr4nk18

I'm still considering whether or not I'm going to buy it however here is the thing Hardware is Hardware if it does not support it it does not support it. Yeah there is sometimes trickery to get around it but it not always performs the best. Look High Sierra will be supported for a while just stick it out until the time comes a GPU upgrade to a GTX 660 which is a metal supported card is not recommended for these iMacs best case you lose the boot screen worst case you break the card.

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iMac 2011 for Mojave Upgrade

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