Installing El Capitan On Mac

OS X El Capitan Q&A - Updated September 29, 2015

  1. El Capitan For Mac Download
  2. Install El Capitan On Mac
  3. Install El Capitan On Mac Mini 2009
  4. Install El Capitan On Mac Pro 2008
  5. Upgrade Mac To El Capitan
  6. El Capitan Yosemite

Mac OS El Captain was publicly launched on Wednesday the 30th of September last year. This tutorial provides a clear and systematic guideline with respect to downloading and installing Mac OS X El Capitan on a PC. Though it is hectic, complicated and tiresome to install MAC OS X on non- Apple hardware, this guidebook provides an easy way out. How-To; Trying out El Capitan on your Mac isn't too hard. Photo: Apple. If you’ve got an Apple developer account and a Mac, you might want to instal the latest OS X 10.11, better known as El. Mac Pro introduced in early 2008 or later Xserve models introduced in early 2009. To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple ( ) menu. If your Mac isn't compatible with OS X El Capitan, the installer will let you know.

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Which Macs are compatible with OS X El Capitan (10.11)? What are the system requirements? Which Macs support which features?

On June 8, 2015, Apple previewed OS X 'El Capitan' (10.11). On September 9, 2015, Apple quietly noted that the ship date would be on September 30, 2015, and issued a formal press release the day before.

OS X 'El Capitan' is named after the El Capitan mountain inside the Yosemite National Park. With this name choice, the company is subtly implying that the relationship between OS X El Capitan and OS X Yosemite (10.10) is similar to the relationship between OS X Leopard (10.5) and OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) in that the latter operating system is more of a refinement of its predecessor rather than a release packed to the brim with new features.

In the original press release, Apple uses the word 'refine' no less than five times and summarizes the operating system accordingly:

Building on last year's landmark release of OS X Yosemite, El Capitan introduces enhancements to window management, built-in apps and Spotlight search, and makes everyday activities -- from launching apps to accessing email -- faster and more responsive. Metal, Apple's breakthrough graphics technology, is integrated into El Capitan, delivering system-wide performance gains and enabling games and pro apps to tap into the full power of Mac graphics processors.


Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (MacBook Running OS X El Capitan)

El Capitan For Mac Download

System Requirements

Apple notes that OS X El Capitan runs on the following Mac categories:

  • iMac (Mid-2007 or newer)
  • MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, Early 2009 or newer)
  • MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
  • Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
  • Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
  • Xserve (Early 2009)

These are the same general system requirements for the previous version of OS X -- OS X Yosemite (10.10). At least 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage space also are required for OS X El Capitan. Specific feature support varies, though.

Identification Help

If you're not sure if your Mac will run OS X El Capitan, all of the supported systems can be identified by the above 'subfamily' designations as well as by the Model Identifier in software. More details about specific identifiers are provided in EveryMac.com's extensive Mac Identification section.

To locate the model identifier, select 'About This Mac' under the Apple Menu on your computer and click the 'More Info..' button. If the Mac is running OS X 'Lion' (10.7) or later, click the 'System Report' button after clicking 'More Info..' as well.

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature -- as well as the EveryMac app -- also can identify these models by their Serial Numbers.

OS X El Capitan Supported Systems

El capitan software for mac

Specifically, the following Macs are compatible with OS X El Capitan. However, just because a Mac runs OS X El Capitan does not mean that it is compatible with all features, most notably the new 'Metal' graphics performance technology.

Supported Mac

Subfamily

Model ID

Mid-2007

Mid-2007

Mid-2007

Mid-2007

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Mid-2009 (Edu)

Mid-2009 (Edu)

Late 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Late 2011 (Edu)

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Early 2013 (Edu)

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Mid-2014

Late 2014

Late 2014

Carrier service manuals download. Mid-2015

Late 2008 Aluminum

Late 2008 Aluminum

Early 2009

Mid-2009

Late 2009

Mid-2010

Early 2015

Early 2015

Early 2015

Late 2008

Late 2008

Mid-2009

Mid-2009

Late 2010

Late 2010

Late 2010

Late 2010

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2013

Mid-2013

Mid-2013

Mid-2013

Early 2014

Early 2014

Early 2014

Early 2014

Early 2015

Early 2015

Early 2015

Early 2015

Mid/Late 2007, 2.4/2.2GHz

Mid/Late 2007, 2.4/2.2GHz

Mid/Late 2007, 2.4/2.2GHz

Mid/Late 2007, 2.4GHz

Mid/Late 2007, 2.4GHz

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early/Late 2008

Early/Late 2008

Late 2008

Late 2008

Late 2008

Early 2009

Early 2009

Late 2008/Early 2009

Late 2008/Early 2009

Mid-2009 13'

Mid-2009 13'

Mid-2009 15'

Mid-2009 15'

Mid-2009 15'

Mid-2009 15'

Mid-2009 17'

Mid-2009 17'

Mid-2010 13'

Mid-2010 13'

Mid-2010 15'

Mid-2010 15'

Mid-2010 15'

Mid-2010 15'

Mid-2010 17'

Mid-2010 17'

Mid-2010 17'

Early 2011 13'

Early 2011 13'

Early 2011 15'

Early 2011 15'

Early 2011 15'

Early 2011 17'

Early 2011 17'

Late 2011 13'

Late 2011 13'

Late 2011 15'

Late 2011 15'

Late 2011 15'

Late 2011 17'

Late 2011 17'

Mid-2012 13'

Mid-2012 13'

Mid-2012 15'

Mid-2012 15'

Mid-2012 15'

Also not being a fan of Retroarch myself, find it quite clunky and not a fan of everything being assimilated into the same place, what I would love to see is more standalone emulators being made for the Vita.If someone 'a dev' is reading this, is it possible? Mame romset version 0.78 download free. And it runs them fantastic.Is it possible that this '0.78' version of Mame could be ported over to the vita and be fullspeed like the 'Original Xbox' version was? But if you take it back to the original emulator of 'Mamedox' which was used soley to run arcade games. There is also a port of 'Final Burn', called 'Final Burn Legends' which runs great aswell. The sourcecode is out there and I only say this because the 'Mame 0.78' romset has a massive library of games, and had driver optimizations and many new game hardware drivers added to it over the years, it was possible to run games on it higher that '0.78' version, and they all run absolutely fantastic.Its still going strong today with more updated being added, over at original Xbox website 'Emuxtras', but is there a version of Mame that could be a sweet spot for the Vita?

Retina Mid-2012

Retina Mid-2012

Retina Mid-2012

Retina Late 2012

Retina Late 2012

Retina Early 2013

Retina Early 2013

Retina Early 2013

Retina Early 2013

Retina Early 2013

Retina Late 2013 13'

Retina Late 2013 13'

Retina Late 2013 13'

Retina Late 2013 15'

Retina Late 2013 15'

Retina Late 2013 15'

Retina Late 2013 15'

Retina Late 2013 15'

Retina Mid-2014 13'

Retina Mid-2014 13'

Retina Mid-2014 13'

Retina Mid-2014 15'

Retina Mid-2014 15'

Retina Mid-2014 15'

Retina Mid-2014 15'

Retina Mid-2014 15'

Retina Early 2015 13'

Retina Early 2015 13'

Retina Early 2015 13'

Retina Mid-2015 15'

Retina Mid-2015 15'

Retina Mid-2015 15'

Retina Mid-2015 15'

Retina Mid-2015 15'

Early 2009

Early 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Late 2009

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Mid-2011

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2014

Late 2014

Late 2014

Late 2014

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2008

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Mid-2010

Server Mid-2010

Server Mid-2010

Server Mid-2010

Server Mid-2010

Server Mid-2010

Server Mid-2010

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Server Mid-2012

Server Mid-2012

Server Mid-2012

Server Mid-2012

Server Mid-2012

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009

Early 2009


If your Mac isn't listed above, and it was released before June 13, 2016, it isn't compatible with OS X El Capitan (10.11).

Capitan

OS X El Capitan Features Compatibility

All of the above Macs support the operating system interface refinements as well as the updated Safari, Mail, Notes, and Spotlight applications.

However, originally based on analysis of the drivers in the Developers Release of OS X El Capitan from the well respected hacker netkas, it also seemed highly likely that the most major performance related enhancement -- support for the Metal graphics technology -- would be limited to Macs with a 'NVIDIA GeForce GTX 4xx and newer, Intel HD 4000 and newer, and AMD HD 7000 and newer' graphics processor.

This analysis was correct for the final release of OS X El Capitan, as well. As a result only these Macs support Metal graphics:

  • iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
  • MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
  • MacBook Air (Mid-2012 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro (Mid-2012 or newer)
  • Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
  • Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

Without the major performance enhancement provided by Metal, it may make less sense to upgrade earlier systems to OS X El Capitan, particularly if there are other trade-offs in terms of third-party application support or hardware compatibility that is important to you.

Support for other major features -- Handoff and Instant Hotspot, AirDrop to iOS, AirDrop Between Macs, AirPlay Mirroring, and Power Nap -- all of which were first introduced with earlier versions of OS X and carry over to OS X El Capitan also varies.

These are the earliest models that support each of these features running OS X El Capitan:

Metal

Handoff
Instant Hotspot

AirDrop to iOS

AirDrop (Mac-to-Mac)

AirPlay Mirroring

Power Nap

iMac

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Early 2009

Mid-2011

Late 2012

MacBook

Early 2015

Early 2015

Early 2015

Late 2008

Early 2015

Early 2015

MacBook Air

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Late 2010

Mid-2011

Late 2010

MacBook Pro

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Mid-2012

Late 2008

Early 2011

Mid-2012 Retina

Mac mini

Late 2012

Late 2012

Late 2012

Mid-2010

Mid-2011

Late 2012

Mac Pro

Late 2013

Late 2013

Late 2013

Early 2009

Late 2013

Late 2013

Xserve

None

None

None

None

None

None

Install El Capitan On Mac

Compatibility Summary

Ultimately, the improvements in system and graphics performance alone are welcomed by all who have Macs who can take advantage of the new technology. Some of the feature additions -- like improved Safari, Mail, Notes, and Spotlight -- should be welcomed by most users, too.


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