Chrome: Google cuts support for older macOS
macOS 12, also known as Monterey, which was released less than five years ago, will soon be dropped by Google's browser. Security vulnerabilities remain.
(Image: Google / heise online / dmk)
Owners of older Apple computers who appreciate Google Chrome will have to seek an alternative in the foreseeable future: Google has officially announced on its Chrome Platform Status website that macOS 13, also known as Ventura, will become the minimum requirement starting with desktop version 151 of Chrome. The operating system was released in the fall of 2022. Accordingly, Chrome 150 will be the last version that can still run on macOS 12, also known as Monterey. Google states that Monterey is already “outside its support window with Apple,” meaning it is no longer supported by the Mac manufacturer.
macOS 12 itself is unprotected
For context: Chrome 144 is currently the latest version. It is not possible to say exactly how long it will take for version 151 to be released. If Google were to maintain a release rhythm of approximately once a month, users would likely have until late summer or fall – but winter is also conceivable.
Videos by heise
In principle, it is unwise to continue using an old operating system like Monterey, which dates back to 2021, on a Mac with internet access, as Apple has not provided security updates for a long time. However, using Chrome ensured that one did not run into purely browser-based vulnerabilities, as this browser, unlike Apple's own Safari, which is part of macOS, was still regularly patched.
The situation with Firefox
At competitor Mozilla, the situation is already worse for users of old Macs. With version 115, Firefox decided to move Macs with macOS 10.12, 10.13, and 10.14 into the so-called Extended Support Release (ESR). These are versions of the browser that do not receive all new features and are primarily focused on stability, which is why they are valued by enterprise customers, for example.
Standard Firefox has now reached version 147, while the ESR variant is at version 140. However, confusingly, the latter only runs on macOS 15 and higher; users with macOS 14 and below require ESR version 115, which is expected to be supported until March 2026. After that, it will also end.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
