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Introduction

For those considering the switch from an earlier version of OS X® to 10.11 (called El Capitan), MacSales.com provides a go-to resource for the information you need, including detailed compatibility notes for our major product lines, an overview of our favorite new features in El Capitan, and more.

OS X 10.11 "El Capitan" supports the following Macs:
  • iMac® (Mid 2007 or newer)
  • MacBook Air® (Late 2008 or newer)
  • MacBook® (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
  • Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro® (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
  • Mac Pro® (Early 2008 or newer)
  • Xserve® (Early 2009)

Here is a list of all Intel Macs and the most recent version of OS X which they can run.

Application Compatibility Notes

Java™ Application Support — starting with OS X 10.7 in 2011, Apple stopped including a Java installer with OS X. This has not changed in El Capitan. For OS X applications that require Java 7 or later, please visit Oracle's Java page for OS X to get answers to common questions, as well as Java installer links. For applications that require Java 6, please use Apple's legacy Java installer.

The large majority of Mac OS X applications do not require Java, however there are some notable exceptions. According to Adobe's official system requirements pages, some legacy applications within the Adobe® Creative Suite® (CS) and Adobe® Creative Cloud® (CC) do require Java. Examples of Adobe (and other) applications that require Java include, but may not be limited to:

Adobe:
Dreamweaver® CC (2013);
Dreamweaver CS6;
Flash® Builder® 4.5 and earlier;
Flash® Professional CS6;
Illustrator® CS6 – may require Apple's Java 6 runtime

Other Developers:
CrashPlan
OpenOffice
NeoOffice
Minecraft
Runescape

Notes: None of the applications bundled with OWC or NewerTech products require Java. If you are not sure whether a specific OS X app requires Java (or which version it might require), please contact the developer directly. Also, according to Apple's developer notes, OS X El Capitan is the last major release of OS X that will support the Java 6 runtime; plan your future application upgrades accordingly.

Adobe, Dreamweaver, Flash, Flash Builder, and Illustrator are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Apple, Apple Watch, Mac, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Pages, Retina, Safari, and Xserve are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.




Apple, iCloud, Mac, Macintosh, MacBook Air, and OS X are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Other marks may be the trademark or registered trademark of their owners.