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 · 2014

iMac 2014: the newest macOS it can run

Every iMac sold in 2014, 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 9 min read
On this page 6 sections
  1. Which iMac 2014 do you have?
  2. macOS versions compared
  3. Model by model
  4. Installing on the iMac 2014
  5. Common questions
  6. Other Macs from 2014

Short answer

Apple stopped at macOS Big Sur. With OpenCore Legacy Patcher the iMac 2014 runs macOS Big Sur through macOS Tahoe 26. Our pick for most people: macOS Sequoia. No Intel Mac can run macOS 27.

Which iMac 2014 do you have?

Apple sold 2 different models as the iMac 2014. 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
iMac14,4iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)Intel Iris / HD (Haswell)Big SurYes
iMac15,1iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015)
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)		Intel Iris / HD (Haswell)
AMD Radeon / FirePro (GCN 1)		Big SurYes

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
iMac14,4AppleAppleOCLPLegacyLegacyLegacyLegacyNo
iMac15,1AppleAppleOCLPLegacyLegacyLegacyLegacyNo

Model by model

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)iMac14,4

Model identifier
iMac14,4
Board ID
Mac-81E3E92DD6088272
CPU generation
4th-gen Core i (Haswell)
Graphics
Intel Iris / HD (Haswell)
Wi-Fi
Broadcom BCM4350/4360-class (AirportBrcmNIC)
Last macOS from Apple
macOS Big Sur
T1 / T2 chip
None

Our pick

macOS SequoiaNewest possible: macOS Tahoe

Graphics: Intel Iris / HD (Haswell), patched as Legacy Metal (3802). Sequoia is the newest macOS the stable OCLP 2.5.1 supports. How we pick

iMac14,4: macOS Big Sur to Tahoe, and what OCLP patches on each
macOSStatusRoot patches OCLP applies
macOS Big Sur11.7.11AppleSupported by Apple: install from Software Update.
macOS Monterey12.7.6OCLPOpenCore only, no root patches
macOS Ventura13.7.8LegacyIntel Haswell
macOS Sonoma14.8.9LegacyIntel Haswell · Modern Wireless
macOS Sequoia15.8.2LegacyIntel Haswell · Modern Wireless
macOS Tahoe26.7.2LegacyIntel Haswell · Modern Wireless · Modern Audio
macOS Golden Gate27NoNo Intel Mac can run macOS 27, with or without OCLP.

Compared with the iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) iMac14,3

WhatiMac14,3iMac14,4
GraphicsIntel Iris / HD (Haswell) + NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler)Intel Iris / HD (Haswell)
Last macOS from ApplemacOS CatalinamacOS Big Sur
  • Root patches on Tahoe. No longer needed: Nvidia Kepler.
  • Kexts OpenCore loads. The same 12 as the iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013).

How much patching iMac14,4 needs on each macOS

macOSPatch setsFiles installedFiles removedKDKMetallibSupportPkg
MontereyOpenCore only00NoNo
VenturaIntel Haswell80NoNo
SonomaIntel Haswell · Modern Wireless110NoNo
SequoiaIntel Haswell · Modern Wireless1501NoYes
TahoeIntel Haswell · Modern Wireless · Modern Audio160YesNo

OCLP installs 0 files for this Mac on Monterey and 16 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 5 + 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:

  • 0.3.2 Fix iGPU-only iMac14,x display output when using Minimal/Moderate spoof
  • 0.2.3 Support optionally re-enabling iGPU in iMac14,x with dGPUs
  • 0.1.7 Add support for following models: → iMac14,4
  • 0.1.1 Fix DRM support on Nvidia-only configurations → Support optional setting between DRM and QuickSync support on iMacs13,x and iMac14,x

On Tahoe this Mac needs Intel Haswell, 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 iMac14,4 OpenCore 1.0.6 RELEASE · 12 kexts

From our build with the OCLP 3.0.0-rc.5 app's command line (--build --model iMac14,4) 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
  • 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
  • IOS3XeFamily.kext 1.0.0 Restores S1X/S3X NVMe support removed in macOS 14.0 beta 2 (Apple SSDs such as AP0128H and AP0256H); also covers Macs with the 12+16 pin SSD layout and newer drives.
  • CSLVFixup.kext 2.6.1
  • AMFIPass.kext 1.4.1
  • RestrictEvents.kext 1.1.7

Settings specific to this Mac

  • Disabling mediaanalysisd 24 of 86 builds
  • Setting RestrictEvents block arguments: media 22 of 86 builds
  • Setting RestrictEvents patch arguments: sbvmm 43 of 86 builds

6 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 iMac14,4 loads 12 kexts in an EFI folder of 33.4 MB. Across the 86 Macs we built, the median is 18; 8% of builds load fewer.

What owners reported for iMac14,4 1 report on GitHub

1 issue was filed in OCLP's tracker with iMac14,4 as the machine model (1 closed, 0 open), filed 2021; the newest is from 2021-10-30. The topics that come up most, by keyword match in the title and text: install or update (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.

  • #664 2021-10-30 · closed · Monterey · 1 comment iMac 14,4 Thunderbolt HDMI doesn't work

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) · iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)iMac15,1

Model identifier
iMac15,1
Board ID
Mac-42FD25EABCABB274
CPU generation
4th-gen Core i (Haswell)
Graphics
Intel Iris / HD (Haswell)
AMD Radeon / FirePro (GCN 1)
Wi-Fi
Broadcom BCM4350/4360-class (AirportBrcmNIC)
Last macOS from Apple
macOS Big Sur
T1 / T2 chip
None

Our pick

macOS SequoiaNewest possible: macOS Tahoe

Graphics: Intel Iris / HD (Haswell) + AMD Radeon / FirePro (GCN 1), patched as Legacy Metal (3802). Sequoia is the newest macOS the stable OCLP 2.5.1 supports. How we pick

iMac15,1: macOS Big Sur to Tahoe, and what OCLP patches on each
macOSStatusRoot patches OCLP applies
macOS Big Sur11.7.11AppleSupported by Apple: install from Software Update.
macOS Monterey12.7.6OCLPOpenCore only, no root patches
macOS Ventura13.7.8LegacyIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN
macOS Sonoma14.8.9LegacyIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN · Modern Wireless
macOS Sequoia15.8.2LegacyIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN · Modern Wireless
macOS Tahoe26.7.2LegacyIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN · Modern Wireless · Modern Audio
macOS Golden Gate27NoNo Intel Mac can run macOS 27, with or without OCLP.

Compared with the iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) iMac14,3

WhatiMac14,3iMac15,1
GraphicsIntel Iris / HD (Haswell) + NVIDIA GeForce GT 6xx/7xx (Kepler)Intel Iris / HD (Haswell) + AMD Radeon / FirePro (GCN 1)
Last macOS from ApplemacOS CatalinamacOS Big Sur
  • Root patches on Tahoe. New compared with the iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013): AMD Legacy GCN. No longer needed: Nvidia Kepler.
  • Kexts OpenCore loads. Dropped: KDKlessWorkaround.kext. (12 kexts on the iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), 11 here, from our builds.)

How much patching iMac15,1 needs on each macOS

macOSPatch setsFiles installedFiles removedKDKMetallibSupportPkg
MontereyOpenCore only00NoNo
VenturaIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN222YesNo
SonomaIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN · Modern Wireless252YesNo
SequoiaIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN · Modern Wireless1643YesYes
TahoeIntel Haswell · AMD Legacy GCN · Modern Wireless · Modern Audio312YesNo

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

From OCLP's own documentation

Universal Control. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hardware: Wi-Fi 5 + 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:

  • 0.1.7 Add support for following models: → iMac15,1

On Tahoe this Mac needs Intel Haswell, AMD Legacy GCN, 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
  • When OpenCore boots an iMac15,1, the firmware limits the internal 5K display to 3840×2160. The OCLP developers documented this in #359 (July 2021, 67 comments, closed), noting that Windows, Linux and UEFI boot loaders hit the same limit on 5K iMacs. OCLP issue #359
What OCLP puts on the EFI partition for iMac15,1 OpenCore 1.0.6 RELEASE · 11 kexts

From our build with the OCLP 3.0.0-rc.5 app's command line (--build --model iMac15,1) 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
  • 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
  • IOS3XeFamily.kext 1.0.0 Restores S1X/S3X NVMe support removed in macOS 14.0 beta 2 (Apple SSDs such as AP0128H and AP0256H); also covers Macs with the 12+16 pin SSD layout and newer drives.
  • CSLVFixup.kext 2.6.1
  • AMFIPass.kext 1.4.1
  • RestrictEvents.kext 1.1.7

Settings specific to this Mac

  • Disabling mediaanalysisd 24 of 86 builds
  • Setting RestrictEvents block arguments: media 22 of 86 builds
  • Setting RestrictEvents patch arguments: sbvmm 43 of 86 builds

6 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 iMac15,1 loads 11 kexts in an EFI folder of 33.5 MB. Across the 86 Macs we built, the median is 18; 2% of builds load fewer.

What owners reported for iMac15,1 13 reports on GitHub

13 issues were filed in OCLP's tracker with iMac15,1 as the machine model (13 closed, 0 open), filed 2021 to 2022; the newest is from 2022-01-23. The topics that come up most, by keyword match in the title and text: install or update (6), graphics (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.

  • #902 2022-01-23 · closed · Monterey · 1 comment We Should Show Beta Downloads with Warnings.
  • #904 2022-01-23 · closed · Monterey · 1 comment Bluetooth Mouse not working after wake from sleep (5k iMac late 2014)
  • #786 2021-12-11 · closed · Monterey · 5 comments Mac15,1 5K - "An error occurred loading the update." when upgrading from Big Sur
  • #524 2021-09-30 · closed · Monterey · 3 comments iMac 15.1 hangs in the middle of the boot after auto-updating to Monterey B8
  • #359 2021-07-04 · closed · 67 comments 5k Output issues on iMac15,1 (27" 5k iMac - 2014)

Installing on the iMac 2014

Choose iMac14,4 or iMac15,1 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 Big Sur, 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 2014 running Tahoe?

The root patches for its hardware: Intel Haswell, Modern Wireless, Modern Audio and AMD Legacy GCN. 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 2014?

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

Other Macs from 2014

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

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