Most compatibility lists answer only half the question. They tell you whether your Mac is on the list — but not what actually happens once you install. On some Macs OpenCore Legacy Patcher just works. On others you get modern macOS but permanently lose graphics acceleration. On two models it does not work at all.
This page covers all 101 Mac models OCLP recognises, sorted by product line, and tells you which of those situations you are in before you spend an evening making a USB installer.
Step 1: find your Mac’s model identifier
Everything below is organised by model identifier (for example MacBookPro9,2), not by the name on the box. This matters: Apple sold several different machines under the same marketing name, and they do not all behave the same way under OCLP. Two Macs both called “MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)” can have different graphics hardware.
There are two ways to find yours.
- Terminal (most reliable). Open Terminal and run
sysctl hardware.model. The identifier is printed directly. - System Information. Hold Option and click the Apple menu, choose System Information, and read the “Model Identifier” row.
Write it down. You will need it again when you build the installer, because OCLP asks you to confirm the target model.
What “supported” actually means: the four tiers
OCLP targets macOS Big Sur (11) through macOS Sequoia (15). Within that range, which tier your Mac falls into decides how good the result is far more than the macOS version does.
Still native
Apple still supports your Mac. You probably do not need OCLP at all — install macOS normally and skip the complexity.
Native graphics
Your Mac is past Apple’s cutoff, but its graphics hardware is new enough that macOS still ships working drivers. You need OCLP to boot, but no graphics root patches. This is the smoothest outcome — six models qualify.
Legacy Metal
Your GPU supports Metal, but Apple removed its drivers. OCLP puts them back through root patches. You get real, full graphics acceleration — with two ongoing costs: System Integrity Protection has to stay lowered, and every macOS update wipes the patches, so you reapply them after each one. 37 models are in this tier, and it is the most common outcome for Macs from roughly 2012 to 2017.
Non-Metal
This is the tier to understand before you commit. Your GPU predates Metal, so no patch can give you full acceleration on Big Sur or later — the capability does not exist in the hardware. macOS will run, but with real day-to-day consequences covered in detail below. 39 models are here, broadly Macs older than 2012. Dortania’s own rule of thumb: Macs older than 2012 are non-Metal, except where the GPU can be upgraded.
Full supported Mac list by product line
Find your identifier below. The “What you’ll need” column is the short version of your situation; the sections after the tables explain each one properly.
MacBook
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) | MacBook5,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) | MacBook5,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) | MacBook6,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010) | MacBook7,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) | MacBook8,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) | MacBook9,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017) | MacBook10,1 | Native | No graphics root patches needed |
MacBook Air
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2008) | MacBookAir2,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) | MacBookAir3,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010) | MacBookAir3,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011) | MacBookAir4,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011) | MacBookAir4,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) | MacBookAir5,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012) | MacBookAir5,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) | MacBookAir6,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) | MacBookAir6,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) | MacBookAir7,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) | MacBookAir7,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018) | MacBookAir8,1 | Not supported | T2 security chip causes a boot panic — OCLP cannot run on this model |
| MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019) | MacBookAir8,2 | Not supported | T2 security chip causes a boot panic — OCLP cannot run on this model |
| MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) | MacBookAir9,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
MacBook Pro
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008) | MacBookPro4,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) | MacBookPro5,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) | MacBookPro5,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) | MacBookPro5,3 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) | MacBookPro5,4 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) | MacBookPro5,5 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) | MacBookPro6,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) | MacBookPro6,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) | MacBookPro7,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) | MacBookPro8,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) | MacBookPro8,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. |
| MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) | MacBookPro8,3 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) | MacBookPro9,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) | MacBookPro9,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012) | MacBookPro10,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) | MacBookPro10,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) | MacBookPro11,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| AMBIGUOUS: row lists "MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) | MacBookPro11,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| AMBIGUOUS: same shared row as MacBookPro11,2 (see that row's notes) | MacBookPro11,3 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) | MacBookPro11,4 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) | MacBookPro11,5 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) | MacBookPro12,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro13,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro13,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) | MacBookPro13,3 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro14,1 | Native | No graphics root patches needed |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro14,2 | Native | No graphics root patches needed |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) | MacBookPro14,3 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| AMBIGUOUS: row lists "MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) | MacBookPro15,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro15,2 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| AMBIGUOUS: same shared row as MacBookPro15,1 (see that row's notes) | MacBookPro15,3 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro15,4 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) | MacBookPro16,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro16,2 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports) | MacBookPro16,3 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) | MacBookPro16,4 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
Mac mini
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini (Early 2009) | Macmini3,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Mac mini (Mid 2010) | Macmini4,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Mac mini (Mid 2011) | Macmini5,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Mac mini (Mid 2011) | Macmini5,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. |
| Mac mini (Mid 2011) | Macmini5,3 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. |
| Mac mini (Late 2012) | Macmini6,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| Mac mini (Late 2012) | Macmini6,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| Mac mini (Late 2014) | Macmini7,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| Mac mini (Late 2018) | Macmini8,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
iMac
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) | iMac7,1 | Non-Metal | Requires an SSE4.1-capable CPU; GPU upgrade recommended |
| iMac (20-inch, Early 2008) | iMac8,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) | iMac9,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) | iMac10,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) | iMac11,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) | iMac11,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) | iMac11,3 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) | iMac12,1 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) | iMac12,2 | Non-Metal | No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012) | iMac13,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) | iMac13,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Early 2013) | iMac13,3 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) | iMac14,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) | iMac14,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) | iMac14,3 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014) | iMac14,4 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) | iMac15,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015) | iMac16,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015) | iMac16,2 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) | iMac17,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) | iMac18,1 | Native | No graphics root patches needed |
| iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) | iMac18,2 | Native | No graphics root patches needed |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) | iMac18,3 | Native | No graphics root patches needed |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) | iMac19,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) | iMac19,2 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) | iMac20,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) | iMac20,2 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
iMac Pro
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| iMac Pro (2017) | iMacPro1,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
Mac Pro
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Pro (Early 2008) | MacPro3,1 | Non-Metal | GPU upgrade recommended. No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Mac Pro (Early 2009) | MacPro4,1 | Non-Metal | GPU upgrade recommended. No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Mac Pro (Mid 2010) | MacPro5,1 | Non-Metal | GPU upgrade recommended. No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Mac Pro (Late 2013) | MacPro6,1 | Legacy Metal | Root patches required from Ventura onward; SIP must stay lowered afterwards |
| Mac Pro (2019) | MacPro7,1 | Still native | Apple still supports this model — you may not need OCLP at all |
Xserve
| Model | Identifier | Graphics | What you’ll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xserve (Early 2008) | Xserve2,1 | Non-Metal | GPU upgrade recommended. No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
| Xserve (Early 2009) | Xserve3,1 | Non-Metal | GPU upgrade recommended. No full graphics acceleration on Big Sur or later. USB 1.1 also lost on Ventura+ (keyboard, trackpad, Bluetooth) |
What running non-Metal actually feels like
“No graphics acceleration” sounds abstract. In practice it means specific things break, and they are worth knowing before you wipe a working machine.
- Maps and anything built on it stopped working from Monterey onward. That includes Find My and the Places view in Photos.
- Metal-only apps will not launch. As developers drop OpenGL, more software falls into this category over time — so this gets worse, not better.
- Firefox and Thunderbird can freeze the system on Intel HD 3000 Macs — the 2011 MacBook Pros, 2011 MacBook Airs, and the 2011 Mac mini without the Radeon card. Mozilla dropped HD 3000 support in v145. Turning off hardware acceleration in the browser works around it.
- Zoom needs a third-party binary patch, because it partly relies on Metal.
- Permission prompts break on Ventura 13.3 and later. When an app asks for camera or microphone access, the dialog never appears — so the app silently has no access until you grant it another way.
- Menu and background blur render badly, and keyboard backlight controls stop responding (the hardware still works; you need a third-party app to set brightness).
- Safari extensions cannot be enabled — a known bug in the legacy acceleration patches.
None of this makes a Mac unusable. It does mean a non-Metal machine is better suited to a secondary or single-purpose role than to being your only computer.
Root patches, and why every macOS update undoes them
Root patches are how OCLP restores drivers Apple removed — graphics, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Touch Bar, the built-in camera, and USB 1.1.
The part that surprises people: macOS updates wipe them every time. That is not a bug. macOS normally keeps the system volume sealed and unwritable. Root patching has to break that seal to write drivers to disk. Once broken, macOS treats the volume as damaged and downloads a complete copy of macOS for each update instead of a small delta — which is also why updates are so large on a patched Mac. OCLP prompts you to reapply afterwards.
The tell that patches need reinstalling is distinctive: the system feels really slow, and the Dock and menu bar lose their wallpaper and transparency. If you see that after an update, your patches are gone rather than your Mac dying.
Two related consequences worth planning for:
- SIP stays lowered. On Ventura and newer, every unsupported system requires it. Once you have root patched, re-enabling SIP can break the install.
- Patch with an Ethernet cable if you can. Some Macs need an extra package downloaded during the first patch run — MetallibSupportPkg for Ivy Bridge, Haswell and NVIDIA Kepler on Sequoia, or the Kernel Debug Kit for AMD GCN cards on Ventura and newer. If you are patching over Wi-Fi, OCLP may install only the Wi-Fi driver on the first pass so you can get online, leaving you without graphics acceleration until you run patching a second time. Ethernet avoids the whole two-step dance.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: check your card, not your Mac
Wireless support depends on the chipset inside, which on desktops and older laptops may have been replaced at some point.
Apple dropped the Broadcom BCM94328 and BCM94322 and all Atheros Wi-Fi chipsets in Monterey, and again in Ventura. OCLP restores both through root patches. If your card is a BCM943224, BCM94331, BCM94360 or BCM943602, nothing is needed — these still work natively, and they are the sensible upgrade target if you are replacing a card anyway.
On Bluetooth, the BRCM2046 and BRCM2070 were dropped in Monterey and are likewise restored by OCLP. BRCM20702 and BRCM20703 remain natively supported. On Sonoma, pre-2012 Macs sometimes lose Bluetooth after boot; an NVRAM reset usually clears it, though dual-boot setups can reintroduce it.
The USB 1.1 problem on Ventura and later
Apple removed USB 1.1 driver support outright in Ventura, and it has stayed out through Sonoma and Sequoia. On the affected Macs this is more disruptive than it sounds, because USB 1.1 is what the built-in keyboard and trackpad, the infrared receiver, and in many cases Bluetooth are attached to. OCLP restores it via root patch — but it means a machine mid-install, before patches are applied, can be one with no working keyboard. If that has already happened to you, our guide to a dead keyboard and trackpad after Ventura lists every affected model and the USB hub workaround that gets input back.
The AVX2 catch on older Macs
Since Ventura, macOS assumes every supported Mac has AVX2 instructions. OCLP patches macOS itself to boot without them — but it cannot patch third-party apps. Increasingly, applications assume AVX2 too, and on a CPU that lacks it they crash with an “illegal instruction” error. You may find yourself pinned to older versions of some software.
AVX arrived with Sandy Bridge; AVX2 arrived with Haswell. The practical dividing line is roughly 2013–2014. This also explains a hard limit on older Mac Pros: the 2008–2012 models cannot get AVX2 no matter which graphics card you fit, which is why AMD Navi cards (RX 5000 and 6000 series) are entirely non-functional in them on Ventura and later. Polaris and Vega cards do work, because OCLP patches the graphics stack to stop requiring AVX2 — but Navi is a hard block, not a fixable one.
Macs OCLP cannot help
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018 and 2019) —
MacBookAir8,1andMacBookAir8,2. Booting through OpenCore triggers an AppleKeyStore/SEP timeout panic caused by the T2 security chip. This affects Ventura, Sonoma and Sequoia alike, and there is no fix or ETA. These two are the only models in the list that simply do not work. - Macs with Intel GMA graphics — completely unsupported, even with OCLP.
- Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and later) — OCLP is for Intel Macs Apple has dropped. Apple Silicon machines are still supported and do not need it.
If something goes wrong
Knowing your tier tells you what to expect; these cover what to do when the install does not go to plan.
- Mac won’t boot after OpenCore Legacy Patcher — prohibited symbol, boots only with the USB attached, recovery loops, and reverting root patches.
- macOS installer stuck or failing — including the T1 Touch Bar warning you need before you format the disk.
- Root patching errors — error code 71,
SystemVersion.plistmismatch, and SIP that will not stay set. - Keyboard and trackpad not working — the USB 1.1 removal that affects the older models listed above.
Where this information comes from
The model list, graphics classifications and hardware caveats above are compiled from the official Dortania documentation — principally the supported models list, the post-install and troubleshooting guides, and the per-release hardware notes for Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma and Sequoia. We have organised it by what you need to decide rather than by subsystem, but the underlying facts are the project’s own.
This is an independent community resource. We are not affiliated with Dortania or Apple, and we do not develop OpenCore Legacy Patcher. For the authoritative reference, and before filing any bug, go to the official documentation and the project’s GitHub repository.
Hardware support changes with each OCLP release. If you spot something out of date here, tell us and we will correct it.