Imac 21.5in late 2013 big sur compatibility

[Jordan246]

Hi guys I have a question im very stumped on why apple has dropped the 2013 imacs because the 21.5in 2014 models are pretty much the same as the 2013 machines. If anyone here knows why it is marked as incompatible or if apple might later release like a later update of big sur to add these machines. Please let me know. Please write back. I would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[im_to_hyper]

Intel won’t provide hardware-level microcode security patches for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs, and it seems Apple is not content with continuing software-level only support.

unfortunate

 

[lixuelai]

Intel won’t provide hardware-level microcode security patches for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs, and it seems Apple is not content with continuing software-level only support.

unfortunate

Late 2013 has Haswell.

It is more likely due to certain models having 1GB vram. Apple then decided to cut support for the entire model year to keep things simple.

 

[im_to_hyper]

Late 2013 has Haswell.

It is more likely due to certain models having 1GB vram. Apple then decided to cut support for the entire model year to keep things simple.

Another thing I saw is that it had issues with Fusion drives on 2013 iMacs, so combined with CPU issues, was cut.

It can’t be VRAM alone, as my 2012 13” MacBook (non-Retina) has an HD 4000 with 1.5GB VRAM and works GREAT on Big Sur

 

[lixuelai]

Another thing I saw is that it had issues with Fusion drives on 2013 iMacs, so combined with CPU issues, was cut.

It can’t be VRAM alone, as my 2012 13” MacBook (non-Retina) has an HD 4000 with 1.5GB VRAM and works GREAT on Big Sur

Yours is not officially supported. The OP isn’t asking if Big Sur will work on the late 2013.

 

[aednichols]

Apple seems to support machines for around 7 years plus or minus 1.

 

[im_to_hyper]

Yours is not officially supported. The OP isn’t asking if Big Sur will work on the late 2013.

lixulai mentioned that the reason for 2013 and earlier couldn’t be due to sandy bridge and Ivy bridge as the 2013 has haswell... so it must be the 1GB RAM.

But this device has a 1.5GB iGPU, and works fine.

So what’s the reason? That’s the point of the message I quoted which was response to a message I posted about what I heard re: reasons for cutoffs

 

[lixuelai]

lixulai mentioned that the reason for 2013 and earlier couldn’t be due to sandy bridge and Ivy bridge as the 2013 has haswell... so it must be the 1GB RAM.

But this device has a 1.5GB iGPU, and works fine.

So what’s the reason? That’s the point of the message I quoted which was response to a message I posted about what I heard re: reasons for cutoffs

1) Errr you do realize 1.5 > 1...

2) This isn’t something I just cooked up. It’s been discussed before and the VRAM was the most likely culprit.

 

[frou]

It's a fallacy to think that Macs get dropped purely for specific technical reasons that we can tease out by examining specs.

Dropping support is just what Apple does as a matter of course. Every Mac is living on borrowed time the second it is released. That's a fact!

 

[im_to_hyper]

1) Errr you do realize 1.5 > 1...

2) This isn’t something I just cooked up. It’s been discussed before and the VRAM was the most likely culprit.

Yee, but I mean the MacBook is not officially supported. So if it has more than 1.5GB VRAM, and works fine in Catalina, why was it dropped?

 

[lixuelai]

Yee, but I mean the MacBook is not officially supported. So if it has more than 1.5GB VRAM, and works fine in Catalina, why was it dropped?

Intel won’t provide hardware-level microcode security patches for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs, and it seems Apple is not content with continuing software-level only support.

unfortunate

Seem like a fair guess to me. Your MBP has Ivy Bridge, the OP's doesn't.

 

[im_to_hyper]

Seem like a fair guess to me. Your MBP has Ivy Bridge, the OP's doesn't.

Ah, so it’s not either one *or* the other, thinking it’s a combo of multiple things?

Sandy/Ivy Bridge
<1GB VRAM
Poor Fusion Drive performance on 2013 iMac

 

[ww1971]

Hi guys I have a question im very stumped on why apple has dropped the 2013 imacs because the 21.5in 2014 models are pretty much the same as the 2013 machines. If anyone here knows why it is marked as incompatible or if apple might later release like a later update of big sur to add these machines. Please let me know. Please write back. I would appreciate it. Thanks.

i had the same machine but fortunately I recently replaced it with the macbook Pro 13” 2020 on which I can get Mac OS big sur when it cones out

 

[coach jim]

My late 2013 27" iMac has 4GB VRAM. Any chance there'll be a version of Big Sur that I can use? There is almost no aftermarket for the machine, it works great for all my needs. No reason to buy something new, from the standpoint of productivity, unless Big Sur is gonna block me somehow down the line. Any wisdom?