Apple has released the latest version of macOS 10.14 Mojave but the bad news for some Mac Pro users is you can’t upgrade to it without changing your graphics card. In addition, some iMacs with Windows installed via Boot Camp also can’t upgrade to the latest version of macOS without removing their Windows installation first.
Mac Pros & Mojave
Firstly, it’s important to be aware that this only affects Mac Pro towers not MacBook Pros.
Here’s the type of Mac Pros that are affected:
If you own a Mac Pro tower from Mid 2010 or Mid 2012 then the default graphics card installed is not compatible with Mojave.
Apple has stated:
macOS Mojave requires a graphics card that supports Metal, an Apple technology that lets the system and apps efficiently tap into the capabilities of today’s graphics processors (GPUs). The graphics cards offered by Apple in Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012) don’t have GPUs that support Metal, so these systems require upgraded graphics cards in order to install macOS Mojave.
To see whether you’re affected by this, go to the Apple logo in the top left of your screen and select About This Mac. Look at the Graphics entry.
If the Graphics Card is not one of the following, then you’re out of luck unfortunately:
- MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 128-bit 4GB GDRR5
- SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5
- SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition
- NVIDIA Quadro K5000 for Mac
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Mac Edition
The good news is that you can upgrade the graphics card in a Mac Pro very easily. We recommend either going with the NVIDIA Quadro K5000 For Mac:
Or the SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition:
Apple has also stated that some of the following AMD cards may be compatible with Mojave but can’t guarantee it.
- AMD Radeon RX 560
- AMD Radeon RX 570
- AMD Radeon RX 580
- AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
- AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100
- AMD Radeon Frontier Edition
If you’ve got a graphics card other than the ones listed here, you need to contact the vendor directly to find out whether it supports macOS Mojave.
iMacs & Mojave
If you own an iMac 27-inch late 2012 with a 3TB hard drive, you must remove any Boot Camp partitions with Windows installed before upgrading. Once removed, you can upgrade as normal but unfortunately you won’t be able to use Boot Camp anymore. If you try to ignore this and upgrade anyway, you’ll get the error message:
Installation cannot proceed with Boot Camp configured
However, you can still run Windows on your Mac using a virtualization software such as Parallels. Parallels is a better solution in many ways because it allows you to switch between macOS and Windows at any moment.
However, it does have limitations such as lack of DirectX 11 support and it’s also heavier on your Mac’s resources to run both operating systems at the same time.
For more on everything that’s new in Mojave including Dark Mode, Dynamic Desktop, Stacks and more, we recommend checking out Apple’s Mojave site.
Mojave is also the first version of macOS that’s fully embracing the next generation of Virtual Reality headsets and eGPU units that allow Macs to harness the power of VR or AI applications.
If you’ve got any questions, thoughts or issues on upgrading to macOS Mojave, let us know in the comments below.
But the 2011 iMac only has USB ports and eGPUs need Thunderbolt ports, as per the linked article, so this is a non-starter, unless there are USB 3.0 solutions.
You can get USB to Thunderbolt adapters although whether it would enable older Macs to use an eGPU properly is doubtful.
I have a 27 iMAC (late 2011) with an AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB running High Sierra OS.
I uploaded Unreal 4 and launched it.
I got a message window stating I need a “Metal compatible graphics card”.
What is it and what does it cost and can I install it myself?
I used to be a Navy Electronics Tech and installed additional ram in this MAC.
You basically need an eGPu unit for your Mac. Metal is Apple’s own technology for accelerated 3D graphics and enables Macs to support VR, AI etc.
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