Independent guide. Not affiliated with Dortania or the OpenCore Legacy Patcher project.Official project on GitHub
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OCLP 2.5.1/3.0.0 RC5

iMac · 2012

iMac 2012: the newest macOS it can run

Every iMac sold in 2012, what Apple supports, what OpenCore Legacy Patcher adds, and what to expect on each macOS version. Generated from the OCLP 3.0.0 source.

Checked against OCLP 3.0.0-rc.5 sourceUpdated 7 min read
On this page 6 sections
  1. Which iMac 2012 do you have?
  2. macOS versions compared
  3. Model by model
  4. Installing on the iMac 2012
  5. Common questions
  6. Other Macs from 2012

Short answer

Apple stopped at macOS Catalina. With OpenCore Legacy Patcher the iMac 2012 runs macOS Big Sur through macOS Tahoe 26. Our pick for most people: macOS Sequoia. No Intel Mac can run macOS 27.

Which iMac 2012 do you have?

Apple sold 2 different models as the iMac 2012. They can behave differently with OCLP, so check your model identifier: choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then More Info > System Report, and read Model Identifier. Or open Terminal and run sysctl hw.model

IdentifierSold asGraphicsApple's last macOSOCLP
iMac13,1iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler)		CatalinaYes
iMac13,2iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler)		CatalinaYes

macOS versions compared

  • Apple supported by Apple, no patcher needed
  • OCLP runs with OpenCore Legacy Patcher
  • Legacy runs with OCLP; older “legacy Metal” GPU, more patches
  • No Metal runs with OCLP; GPU without Metal, apps that need Metal fail
  • No not possible
ModelCatalina10.15Big Sur11Monterey12Ventura13Sonoma14Sequoia15Tahoe26Golden Gate27
iMac13,1AppleOCLPLegacyLegacyLegacyLegacyLegacyNo
iMac13,2AppleOCLPLegacyLegacyLegacyLegacyLegacyNo

Model by model

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)iMac13,1

Model identifier
iMac13,1
Board ID
Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86
CPU generation
3rd-gen Core i (Ivy Bridge)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler)
Wi-Fi
Broadcom BCM4360 (802.11ac)
Last macOS from Apple
macOS Catalina
T1 / T2 chip
None

Our pick

macOS SequoiaNewest possible: macOS Tahoe

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) + NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler), patched as Legacy Metal (3802). Sequoia is the newest macOS the stable OCLP 2.5.1 supports. How we pick

iMac13,1: macOS Big Sur to Tahoe, and what OCLP patches on each
macOSStatusRoot patches OCLP applies
macOS Big Sur11.7.11OCLPOpenCore only, no root patches
macOS Monterey12.7.6LegacyIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler
macOS Ventura13.7.8LegacyIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler
macOS Sonoma14.8.9LegacyIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler · Modern Wireless
macOS Sequoia15.8.2LegacyIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler · Modern Wireless
macOS Tahoe26.7.2LegacyIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler · Modern Wireless · Modern Audio
macOS Golden Gate27NoNo Intel Mac can run macOS 27, with or without OCLP.

Compared with the iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) iMac12,2

WhatiMac12,2iMac13,1
CPU2nd-gen Core i (Sandy Bridge)3rd-gen Core i (Ivy Bridge)
GraphicsIntel HD Graphics 3000 (Sandy Bridge) + AMD Radeon HD 5000–6000 (TeraScale 2)Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) + NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler)
Wi-FiAtheros (AirPortAtheros40)Broadcom BCM4360 (802.11ac)
BluetoothBRCM2046BRCM20702 v1
StorageSATA 3.5SATA 3.5, mSATA
Last macOS from ApplemacOS High SierramacOS Catalina
  • Root patches on Tahoe. New compared with the iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011): Intel Ivy Bridge, Nvidia Kepler and Modern Wireless. No longer needed: Intel Sandy Bridge, AMD TeraScale 2 and Legacy Wireless.
  • Kexts OpenCore loads. Added: AirportBrcmFixup.kext, IOSkywalkFamily.kext, IO80211FamilyLegacy.kext, AirPortBrcmNIC-Tahoe.kext and KDKlessWorkaround.kext. Dropped: ASPP-Override.kext, CatalinaBCM5701Ethernet.kext, corecaptureElCap.kext, IO80211ElCap.kext, AirPortAtheros40-Tahoe.kext, AppleALC.kext and Bluetooth-Spoof.kext. (17 kexts on the iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011), 15 here, from our builds.)

How much patching iMac13,1 needs on each macOS

macOSPatch setsFiles installedFiles removedKDKMetallibSupportPkg
Big SurOpenCore only00NoNo
MontereyIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler160NoNo
VenturaIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler180NoNo
SonomaIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler · Modern Wireless220NoNo
SequoiaIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler · Modern Wireless3012NoYes
TahoeIntel Ivy Bridge · Nvidia Kepler · Modern Wireless · Modern Audio310YesNo

OCLP installs 0 files for this Mac on Big Sur and 31 on Tahoe. A Kernel Debug Kit is needed from Tahoe. MetallibSupportPkg is needed from Sequoia.

From OCLP's own documentation

Universal Control. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hardware: Wi-Fi 4 + BT 4.0. Universal Control works out of the box. Universal Control will work. Dortania, Universal Control guide

OCLP changelog entries that name this Mac, newest release first, word for word:

  • 0.3.0 Allow iMac13,x iGPU usage always
  • 0.3.0 Allow iMac13,x iGPU usage always → Due to both Kepler and Ivy needing root patching, no benefit to disable the iGPU
  • 0.1.7 Add beta macOS Monterey Support → Fix iMac13,x sleep support

On Tahoe this Mac needs Intel Ivy Bridge, Nvidia Kepler, Modern Wireless and Modern Audio. What each of those restores, and what to keep ready when root patching: macOS Tahoe: what works and what does not.

Known issues

  • Legacy Metal (macOS 13+) (source) Dortania, Supported Models
What OCLP puts on the EFI partition for iMac13,1 OpenCore 1.0.6 RELEASE · 15 kexts

From our build with the OCLP 3.0.0-rc.5 app's command line (--build --model iMac13,1) on a GitHub macOS runner, 2026-11-05. Boot arguments: keepsyms=1 debug=0x100 -lilubetaall amfi=0x80.

Kexts Reasons are shown for kexts that set this Mac apart; the rest are explained in the kext glossary.

  • Lilu.kext 1.7.2
  • CryptexFixup.kext 1.0.5
  • AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext 1.0.0
  • AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient.kext 1.0.0
  • ECM-Override.kext 1.0.0
  • CatalinaIntelI210Ethernet.kext 1.0.0
  • AirportBrcmFixup.kext 2.2.1
  • IOSkywalkFamily.kext 1.2.0
  • IO80211FamilyLegacy.kext 1.0.0
  • AirPortBrcmNIC-Tahoe.kext 1.0.0
  • KDKlessWorkaround.kext 1.0.0 Helps with Mac os updates on KDKless patched systems
  • BlueToolFixup.kext 2.7.2
  • CSLVFixup.kext 2.6.1
  • AMFIPass.kext 1.4.1
  • RestrictEvents.kext 1.1.7

Settings specific to this Mac

  • Enabling Windows 10 UEFI Audio support 21 of 86 builds
  • Enabling BCM943224 and BCM94331 Networking Support 24 of 86 builds
  • Using known ARPT Path: PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1C,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0) 2 of 86 builds
  • Disabling mediaanalysisd 24 of 86 builds
  • Fixing CoreGraphics support on Ivy Bridge 12 of 86 builds
  • Setting RestrictEvents block arguments: media 22 of 86 builds
  • Setting RestrictEvents patch arguments: sbvmm,f16c 12 of 86 builds

10 more settings are applied to most of the 86 Macs we built; they are listed in the full build log.

Full build log · config.plist · file list

Our build for iMac13,1 loads 15 kexts in an EFI folder of 32.6 MB. Across the 86 Macs we built, the median is 18; 20% of builds load fewer.

What owners reported for iMac13,1 7 reports on GitHub

7 issues were filed in OCLP's tracker with iMac13,1 as the machine model (7 closed, 0 open), filed 2021 to 2022; the newest is from 2022-02-15. The topics that come up most, by keyword match in the title and text: install or update (5), graphics (1) and black screen or boot failure (1). These are owners' reports, not confirmed bugs, and all of them were filed on OCLP versions from before 2024, so many describe problems that have since been fixed.

  • #959 2022-02-15 · closed · Monterey · 3 comments Post install Volume patcher messes up partitions on 3T fusion disk on iMac13. Late 2012
  • #940 2022-02-03 · closed · Monterey · 2 comments While installing OpenCore Legacy Patcher monterey, the system reboots 12 minutes before and won't load.
  • #800 2021-12-14 · closed · Monterey · 3 comments Monterey 12.1 update not visible after update to OCLP 0.3.2
  • #507 2021-09-24 · closed · Monterey · 12 comments Kepler acceleration does not work even after patching the volume on Monterey beta 7

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)iMac13,2

OCLP treats this model exactly like iMac13,1: the same CPU, graphics, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth data, the same root patches on every macOS, and the same kexts in our build. What differs: board ID Mac-FC02E91DDD3FA6A4 instead of Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86 and sold as iMac (27-inch, Late 2012). The macOS table, patch timeline and build details above apply unchanged.

What owners reported for iMac13,2 10 reports on GitHub

10 issues were filed in OCLP's tracker with iMac13,2 as the machine model (10 closed, 0 open), filed 2021; the newest is from 2021-12-30. The topics that come up most, by keyword match in the title and text: install or update (4), black screen or boot failure (2) and sleep and power (2). These are owners' reports, not confirmed bugs, and all of them were filed on OCLP versions from before 2024, so many describe problems that have since been fixed.

  • #858 2021-12-30 · closed · Monterey · 4 comments Problem launching applications with dock
  • #773 2021-12-02 · closed · Monterey · 4 comments iMac13,2 (late 2012 iMac) does not install
  • #598 2021-10-21 · closed · Monterey · 7 comments Sleep state cause black screen and kernel panic on release 0.3.0
  • #455 2021-08-22 · closed · Monterey · 4 comments Solution Bluetooth

Installing on the iMac 2012

Choose iMac13,1 or iMac13,2 as the target model when OCLP builds OpenCore (it detects it automatically when you run OCLP on this Mac). Before that, install the newest macOS Apple offers for it, macOS Catalina, so the firmware is current. The steps themselves are the same for every Mac: How to install OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

Common questions

What does OCLP patch on a iMac 2012 running Tahoe?

The root patches for its hardware: Intel Ivy Bridge, Nvidia Kepler, Modern Wireless and Modern Audio. Which one applies depends on the model identifier; the table above lists each. Updates to macOS remove them, and Post-Install Root Patch puts them back.

What is the latest macOS for a iMac 2012?

Officially, macOS Catalina. With OCLP: macOS Tahoe 26.7.2. macOS 27 does not support any Intel Mac.

Other Macs from 2012

Keep going

How to installThe complete step-by-step guide for OCLP 3.0macOS TahoemacOS 26 on unsupported Macs with OCLP 3.0Mac compatibilityEvery Intel Mac and the macOS it can run, with and without OCLP

Something wrong or out of date on this page? Email hello@oclp.dev and we will fix it (see our corrections policy).