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Steam Ending Support for older Macs [1]

['Séamus Bellamy']

Date: 2025-08-06

Attention gamers: if you own an older Mac or run a Hackintosh, you may soon need to upgrade. Steam has had it with supporting anything older than macOS Big Sur. On October 15th, the gaming juggernaut will be leaving the aging operating system behind, not out of cruelty, but necessity:

From Steam:

This change is required as core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of macOS. In addition, future versions of Steam will require macOS features and security updates only present in macOS 12 and above. We strongly encourage all macOS 11 users to update sooner rather than later. Apple ended security updates and technical support for macOS 11 in 2023. Computers running these operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits that will not be patched. That malware can cause your computer, Steam, and games to perform poorly or crash. That malware can also be used to steal the credentials for your Steam account or other services.

So, if you've been thinking about upgrading to a laptop that comes with Apple Silicon baked into it or switching to Linux, this would be an outstanding time to pull the trigger. Which one you opt for is up to personal taste—you can even use Windows, if you must.

As an owner of hardware that runs all three systems, I can tell you that Apple Silicon's gaming future will be amazing if gaming companies continue to develop or port their wares to the platform (don't hold your breath). Using Linux is surprisingly great for gaming, and a largely stress-free computing experience… until you need to use a mainstream productivity product that's become a vital part of your workflow over the years. As for Windows, you'll never run out of games to play. You'll also never run out of frustrations over weird hardware hangups, constant OS downloads, and other Microsoft-linked irritants.

Choose your Destructor.

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/06/steam-ending-support-for-older-macs.html

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