OS X Mountain Lion system requirements

To install Mountain Lion, you need one of these Macs:

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

Your Mac needs:

• OS X v10.6.8 or OS X Lion already installed
• 2 GB or more of memory
• 8 GB or more of available space
   

Feature-specific requirements

Some Mountain Lion features have additional requirements.

Time Machine
Requires an additional hard drive or Time Capsule (sold separately).

Photo Booth
Requires a FaceTime or iSight camera (built in or external), USB video class (UVC) camera, or FireWire DV camcorder. Backdrop effects when using a DV camcorder require fixed focus, exposure, and white balance.

FaceTime
Video calls require a built-in FaceTime camera, an iSight camera (built in or external), a USB video class (UVC) camera, or a FireWire DV camcorder, and a 128-Kbps upstream and downstream Internet connection. Making HD video calls requires a built-in FaceTime HD camera and a 1-Mbps upstream and downstream Internet connection. Receiving HD video calls requires a supported Mac.

AirDrop
AirDrop works with the following Mac models:

• MacBook Pro (Late 2008 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)
• iMac (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2009 with AirPort Extreme card, or Mid 2010)

Boot Camp
Supports existing Boot Camp installations with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. New Boot Camp installations require Windows 7 (sold separately).

Exchange Support
Requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Update Rollup 4 or Exchange Server 2010. Auto-setup requires enabling the Autodiscovery feature of Microsoft Exchange Server.

AirPlay Mirroring
Requires a second-generation Apple TV or later. Supports the following Mac models:

• iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
• Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)

Power Nap
Supports MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Gestures
Requires a Multi-Touch trackpad, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse.

VoiceOver Gestures
Requires a Multi-Touch trackpad or Magic Trackpad.

Mac App Store
Available only to persons age 13 or older in the U.S. and many other countries. Requires compatible hardware and software and Internet access; broadband recommended (fees may apply). Terms apply.

Dictation
Requires a microphone (built-in or external) and a broadband Internet connection.

Note: Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.

Learn more about applications and utilities included with Mountain Lion.

Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.