MacOS Big Sur compatibility: Will your laptop work with the new operating system?

This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.

Apple’s latest Mac operating system, MacOS Big Sur, is now available for download on all supported Apple devices. Big Sur – first announced at Apple’s annual event World Developer Conference in June – includes important updates for the Safari browser and updated map and messaging apps (we’ve put together some of the best new features of MacOS Big Sur and how to use them here, and has instructions on how to download Big Sur, too).

Big Sur represents the biggest design update since OS X was released almost 20 years ago, Apple executives said during WWDC. The new operating system includes adjustments to the corner curves of the windows, docking icons and user interface colors. But a lot of it looks quite familiar: the same iPadOS photo design comes to MacOS, as well as many of the app updates we’ve seen iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. The control center in the menu bar, widgets and notification center are more sophisticated as well.

On a virtual event on November 10, Apple revealed new Mac computers running Big Sur and powered for the first time by the company itself M1 silicon chips. If you buy one new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or Mac Mini with the M1 chip, MacOS Big Sur is optimized to run on these machines. Applications will run more quickly and smoothly, Apple executives said during the event, and you will also see greater device security.

Now playing:
See this:

MacOS Big Sur: Check out these 5 amazing new features now

3:44

If you want to download and install Big Sur now, you will need to have a compatible Mac to run the new operating system. Here are all the models of Macs that can run MacOS Big Sur, according to Apple:

• MacBook ($ 749 in the rear market), 2015 and later
• MacBook Air, 2013 and later
• MacBook Pro ($ 2,249 on Amazon), end of 2013 and after
• Mac Mini, 2014 and later
• iMac ($ 1,800 at Best Buy), 2014 and later
• iMac Pro ($ 5,000 at Best Buy) (all models), 2017 and later
• Mac Pro, 2013 and later

For more information, see our MacOS Big Sur review here.

Now playing:
See this:

New Apple M1 chip designed for MacOS Big Sur

3:27