iMac 2017: the newest macOS it can run

iMac (21.5-inch, 2017)iMac18,1

Model identifier

iMac18,1

Board ID

Mac-4B682C642B45593E

CPU generation

7th-gen Core (Kaby Lake)

Graphics

Intel Iris Plus / HD 600-series (Kaby Lake)

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM4350/4360-class (AirportBrcmNIC)

Last macOS from Apple

macOS Ventura

T1 / T2 chip

None

Compared with the iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) iMac17,1

• Root patches on Tahoe. No longer needed: Intel Skylake and AMD Legacy GCN.
• Kexts OpenCore loads. The same 11 as the iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015).

How much patching iMac18,1 needs on each macOS

OCLP installs 2 files for this Mac on Sonoma and 2 on Tahoe. A Kernel Debug Kit is needed from Tahoe.

From OCLP's own documentation

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

• 1.0.0 Supports same range of hardware as Ventura, in addition to: → iMac18,x
• 0.5.0 Ventura Specific Updates: → Switch boot.efi model patch to iMac18,1

On Tahoe this Mac needs 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

• Native graphics support Dortania, Supported Models

Our build for iMac18,1 loads 11 kexts in an EFI folder of 33.4 MB. Across the 86 Macs we built, the median is 18; 2% of builds load fewer.

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac18,1 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)iMac18,2

Model identifier

iMac18,2

Board ID

Mac-77F17D7DA9285301

CPU generation

7th-gen Core (Kaby Lake)

Graphics

Intel Iris Plus / HD 600-series (Kaby Lake)
AMD Radeon Pro 400/500 (Polaris)

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM4350/4360-class (AirportBrcmNIC)

Last macOS from Apple

macOS Ventura

T1 / T2 chip

None

Compared with the iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) iMac17,1

• Root patches on Tahoe. No longer needed: Intel Skylake and AMD Legacy GCN.
• Kexts OpenCore loads. The same 11 as the iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015).

How much patching iMac18,2 needs on each macOS

OCLP installs 2 files for this Mac on Sonoma and 2 on Tahoe. A Kernel Debug Kit is needed from Tahoe.

From OCLP's own documentation

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

• 1.2.0 Resolve iMac18,2 internal 4K display support
• 1.0.0 Supports same range of hardware as Ventura, in addition to: → iMac18,x

On Tahoe this Mac needs 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

• Native graphics support Dortania, Supported Models

Our build for iMac18,2 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.

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac18,2 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)iMac18,3

OCLP treats this model exactly like iMac18,2: 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-BE088AF8C5EB4FA2 instead of Mac-77F17D7DA9285301 and sold as iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017). The macOS table, patch timeline and build details above apply unchanged.

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac18,3 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.