iMac: which macOS each year can run

iMac (20-inch, Early 2006)iMac4,1

Model identifier

iMac4,1

Board ID

Mac-F42786C8

CPU generation

Core Duo (Yonah)

Graphics

R500

Wi-Fi

Atheros (AirPortAtheros40)

Last macOS from Apple

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

T1 / T2 chip

None

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac4,1 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (17-inch, Mid 2006)iMac4,2

Model identifier

iMac4,2

Board ID

Mac-F4218EC8

CPU generation

Core Duo (Yonah)

Graphics

Intel GMA 950

Wi-Fi

Atheros (AirPortAtheros40)

Last macOS from Apple

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

T1 / T2 chip

None

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac4,2 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (17-inch, Late 2006)iMac5,1

Model identifier

iMac5,1

Board ID

Mac-F4228EC8

CPU generation

Core 2 Duo (Conroe/Merom)

Graphics

R500

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM43224 (legacy)

Last macOS from Apple

OS X Lion

T1 / T2 chip

None

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac5,1 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (17-inch, Late 2006 CD)iMac5,2

Model identifier

iMac5,2

Board ID

Mac-F4218EC8

CPU generation

Core 2 Duo (Conroe/Merom)

Graphics

Intel GMA 950

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM43224 (legacy)

Last macOS from Apple

OS X Lion

T1 / T2 chip

None

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac5,2 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (24-inch, Late 2006)iMac6,1

Model identifier

iMac6,1

Board ID

Mac-F4218FC8

CPU generation

Core 2 Duo (Conroe/Merom)

Graphics

R500
Curie

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM43224 (legacy)

Last macOS from Apple

OS X Lion

T1 / T2 chip

None

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac6,1 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.

iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007)iMac7,1

Model identifier

iMac7,1

Board ID

Mac-F42386C8

CPU generation

Core 2 Duo (Penryn)

Graphics

ATI Radeon HD 2000–4000 (TeraScale 1)
NVIDIA GeForce (Tesla)

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM43224 (legacy)

Last macOS from Apple

OS X El Capitan

T1 / T2 chip

None

This model shipped with (or commonly runs) more than one GPU. OCLP picks the patch set for the GPU it finds: ATI Radeon HD 2000–4000 (TeraScale 1) → Non-Metal; NVIDIA GeForce (Tesla) → Non-Metal.

Compared with the iMac (24-inch, Late 2006) iMac6,1

• Root patches on Tahoe. New compared with the iMac (24-inch, Late 2006): AMD TeraScale 1, Legacy Wireless, Legacy Audio, Modern Audio, Legacy Backlight Control, Legacy USB 1.1 and Nvidia Tesla.

How much patching iMac7,1 needs on each macOS

OCLP installs 34 files for this Mac on Big Sur and 61 on Tahoe. A Kernel Debug Kit is needed from Ventura.

From OCLP's own documentation

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

• 2.0.2 Fix `iMac7,1` and `iMac8,1` failing to apply root patches on macOS Sequoia
• 2.0.0 Supporting Macs with Metal and non-Metal-based graphics: → iMac7,1 - 18,x
• 0.5.3 Resolve iMac7,1-8,1 and MacBookPro4,1 boot support in Ventura
• 0.2.5 Add iMac7,1 USB map
• 0.1.3 Fix iMac7,1 and iMac8,1 audio support
• 0.1.3 Work-around Bluetooth Kernel Panic on Apple's Bluetooth 2.0 Controllers (USB 05AC:8206) → Affects iMac7,1 and MacPro3,1
• 0.1.1 Fix USB kernel panics on iMac7,1
• 0.0.23 Fix iMac7,1 24" and iMac9,1 24" audio support

1 older entries are in the full changelog.

On Tahoe this Mac needs AMD TeraScale 1, Legacy Wireless, Legacy Audio, Modern Audio, Legacy Backlight Control, Legacy USB 1.1 and Nvidia Tesla. What each of those restores, and what to keep ready when root patching: macOS Tahoe: what works and what does not.

Known issues

• Requires SSE4.1 CPU (source) Dortania, Supported Models
• non-Metal GPU (macOS 11+) (source) Dortania, Supported Models
• USB 1.1 (macOS 13+) (source) Dortania, Supported Models
• Remove stock Bluetooth to prevent panics Dortania, Supported Models

Our build for iMac7,1 loads 22 kexts in an EFI folder of 18.4 MB. Across the 86 Macs we built, the median is 18; 70% of builds load fewer.

iMac (20-inch, Early 2008)iMac8,1

Model identifier

iMac8,1

Board ID

Mac-F227BEC8

CPU generation

Core 2 Duo (Penryn)

Graphics

ATI Radeon HD 2000–4000 (TeraScale 1)
NVIDIA GeForce (Tesla)

Wi-Fi

Broadcom BCM43224 (legacy)

Last macOS from Apple

OS X El Capitan

T1 / T2 chip

None

This model shipped with (or commonly runs) more than one GPU. OCLP picks the patch set for the GPU it finds: ATI Radeon HD 2000–4000 (TeraScale 1) → Non-Metal; NVIDIA GeForce (Tesla) → Non-Metal.

Compared with the iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) iMac7,1

The hardware OCLP looks at is identical.

• Root patches on Tahoe. The same set as the iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007).
• Kexts OpenCore loads. The same 22 as the iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007).

How much patching iMac8,1 needs on each macOS

OCLP installs 34 files for this Mac on Big Sur and 61 on Tahoe. A Kernel Debug Kit is needed from Ventura.

From OCLP's own documentation

Universal Control. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hardware: Wi-Fi 5 + BT 4.0. Not out of the box. Hardware supports UC. Spoofing required. Dortania, Universal Control guide

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

• 2.0.2 Fix `iMac7,1` and `iMac8,1` failing to apply root patches on macOS Sequoia
• 0.5.3 Resolve iMac7,1-8,1 and MacBookPro4,1 boot support in Ventura
• 0.1.3 Fix iMac7,1 and iMac8,1 audio support

On Tahoe this Mac needs AMD TeraScale 1, Legacy Wireless, Legacy Audio, Modern Audio, Legacy Backlight Control, Legacy USB 1.1 and Nvidia Tesla. What each of those restores, and what to keep ready when root patching: macOS Tahoe: what works and what does not.

Known issues

• non-Metal GPU (macOS 11+) (source) Dortania, Supported Models
• USB 1.1 (macOS 13+) (source) Dortania, Supported Models

Our build for iMac8,1 loads 22 kexts in an EFI folder of 18.4 MB. Across the 86 Macs we built, the median is 18; 70% of builds load fewer.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)iMac20,1

Model identifier

iMac20,1

Board ID

Mac-CFF7D910A743CAAF

CPU generation

10th-gen Core (Comet Lake)

Graphics

Intel UHD (Comet Lake)
AMD Radeon Pro 5000 (Navi)

Wi-Fi

Broadcom (T2-era)

Last macOS from Apple

macOS Tahoe

T1 / T2 chip

T2

Compared with the iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) iMac19,2

• Root patches on Tahoe. No longer needed: Modern Audio.

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac20,1 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, 2020)iMac20,2

Model identifier

iMac20,2

Board ID

Mac-AF89B6D9451A490B

CPU generation

10th-gen Core (Comet Lake)

Graphics

Intel UHD (Comet Lake)
AMD Radeon Pro 5000 (Navi)

Wi-Fi

Broadcom (T2-era)

Last macOS from Apple

macOS Tahoe

T1 / T2 chip

T2

Compared with the iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) iMac19,2

• Root patches on Tahoe. No longer needed: Modern Audio.

No issue in OCLP's tracker was filed with iMac20,2 as the machine model (searched 2026-11-05), so there is no owner feedback to summarise for this exact model.