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Which OS X Yosemite features will be supported on which Macs?

M

maclunian

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 15, 2011
31
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Which OS X Yosemite features will be supported on which macs?

(e.g. Will 2010 macs get phone and SMS capabilities or will these require newer (802.11ac wifi-capable or bluetooth 4.0-capable) macs)

I've tried to find specs on the apple site but can't see any... :confused:
 
My guess would be 802.11ac wifi and/or Bluetooth LE. From what I've seen in other threads it looks like SMS may work over Wifi so that feature should work on all macs not to sure about continuity and calling though
 
maclunian said:
Which OS X Yosemite features will be supported on which macs?

(e.g. Will 2010 macs get phone and SMS capabilities or will these require newer (802.11ac wifi-capable or bluetooth 4.0-capable) macs)

I've tried to find specs on the apple site but can't see any... :confused:
Click to expand...

I can confirm SMS worked on my 2010 Macbook Pro (10.10) while I had iOS 8 on my iPhone.
 
Mac's that don't have built in WiFi will probably miss out on all iOS sharing features.
 
Has Apple ever limited customer-facing features in OS X to certain Macs? I know certain backend technologies like quartz2D were limited to particular hardware, but not software features AFAIK.
 
rritterson said:
Has Apple ever limited customer-facing features in OS X to certain Macs? I know certain backend technologies like quartz2D were limited to particular hardware, but not software features AFAIK.
Click to expand...

Recently I thought you just had to be running the version of iOS that included the feature like 10.6+ for App Store or 10.7+ for iCloud. Not sure about these newer features though since it involves more than just operating system and system specs.
 
Julien said:
AirPlay.;)
Click to expand...

hamiltonDSi said:
...and AirDrop
oh, oh ! and PowerNap

:D
Click to expand...

Exactly.

What this means is that Apple (usually) includes everything they can unless the hardware literally cannot support it. Airplay? That requires the core I series (i3, i5, i7) wireless display function (known as WiDi on PCs). Powernap? That's a special lower power state the I series can do, but the Core2Duo series doesn't support.

My guesses:

Continuity utilizes iBeacon technology for proximity sensing, which relies on bluetooth 4.0, so my 2009 MBP is unlikely to get it.

I can say confidently though that I believe any model from the mac mini to the mac pro, with all laptops in between, that have an i3, i5, or i7 will get full functionality.
 
NT1440 said:
Powernap? That's a special lower power state the I series can do, but the Core2Duo series doesn't support.
Click to expand...

Actually that's not entirely true -- I have a 2010 MacBook Air that supports PowerNap. It was enabled via an official firmware update a few months after the OS was released.
 
hamiltonDSi said:
...and AirDrop
oh, oh ! and PowerNap
Click to expand...
Didn't AirDrop work for all Macs with built in WiFi? You can actually enable it to work over a every network interface (ethernet etc.) too, though it requires a defaults command via Terminal.

PowerNap does require hardware so it's not too surprising.


So far some of the iOS 8 integration features seem to require Bluetooth 4.0, which is a bit odd as you'd think they should work over WiFi as well; I mean, a lot of people just disable Bluetooth entirely to save battery (even if it's not quite the hog it used to be), but will more likely have WiFi enabled when at home.
 
haravikk said:
...So far some of the iOS 8 integration features seem to require Bluetooth 4.0.....
Click to expand...

Handoff probably requires BT ("When your Mac and iOS devices are near each other") but why would it have to be BT-LE? This wold element many if not most Macs. Did Apple specify BT-LE in the Keynote?

It looks like (and Apple even says) that the other services will be WiFi.
 
stiligFox said:
Actually that's not entirely true -- I have a 2010 MacBook Air that supports PowerNap. It was enabled via an official firmware update a few months after the OS was released.
Click to expand...

Ah, I guess the 2009 variant was the last that supported it.:eek:

Thanks for the correction!
 
Julien said:
Mac's that don't have built in WiFi will probably miss out on all iOS sharing features.
Click to expand...

Well, there aren't many Macs with no built in WiFi that can run Yosemite in the first place. Did you mean WiFi ac? That or BT 4LE are likely the key IMHO.

----------
Julien said:
Handoff probably requires BT ("When your Mac and iOS devices are near each other") but why would it have to be BT-LE? This wold element many if not most Macs. Did Apple specify BT-LE in the Keynote?

It looks like (and Apple even says) that the other services will be WiFi.
Click to expand...

That would make sense in order to reduce power drain and give both your devices longer battery life while using that feature...
 
jmazzamj said:
Well, there aren't many Macs with no built in WiFi that can run Yosemite in the first place. Did you mean WiFi ac? That or BT 4LE are likely the key IMHO...
Click to expand...

No, many if not most Mac Pros (3,1-5,1) including mine don't have built in WiFi.;)
 
NT1440 said:
Exactly.

What this means is that Apple (usually) includes everything they can unless the hardware literally cannot support it. Airplay? That requires the core I series (i3, i5, i7) wireless display function (known as WiDi on PCs). Powernap? That's a special lower power state the I series can do, but the Core2Duo series doesn't support.

My guesses:

Continuity utilizes iBeacon technology for proximity sensing, which relies on bluetooth 4.0, so my 2009 MBP is unlikely to get it.

I can say confidently though that I believe any model from the mac mini to the mac pro, with all laptops in between, that have an i3, i5, or i7 will get full functionality.
Click to expand...

Not all i-series chips have bluetooth 4.0.
 
jmazzamj said:
Well, there aren't many Macs with no built in WiFi that can run Yosemite in the first place. Did you mean WiFi ac? That or BT 4LE are likely the key IMHO.

----------



That would make sense in order to reduce power drain and give both your devices longer battery life while using that feature...
Click to expand...

Does that mean 802.11n macs in 2012 and Early 2013 would be cut off?
 
I was not aware of the possibility that certain continuity features may not work on my 2010 MBP. That is a bummer.
 
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