Product Information
macOS Big Sur (11.0) was released on November 12, 2020. Technology Support Services has tested Big Sur with our "standard" software to ensure it is compatible.
PLEASE NOTE that macOS Big Sur will NOT support 32-bit software and may require you to upgrade your software (beyond what is supported by Technology Support Services). Please read "How to Determine Which Apps May or May Not Work in macOS Big Sur" for more information.
Recommendation
macOS Big Sur (11.0) is supported by Academic Technology / Technology Support Services.
If you have macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or an older version, we strongly recommend that you upgrade to at least macOS 10.15 (Catalina). Apple will no longer be supporting macOS 10.13 (High Sierra).
System Requirements
You will need one of the following models in order to run macOS Big Sur:
- Macbook (2015 or later)
- MacBook Air (2013 or later)
- MacBook Pro (2013 or later)
- Mac mini (2014 or later)
- iMac (2014 or later)
- iMac Pro (2017 or later)
Apple's Big Sur press release:
Apple introduces macOS Big Sur with a beautiful new design
Software Compatibility
Please read "How to Determine Which Apps May or May Not Work in macOS Big Sur" for more information.
Please note some new Apple computers use a CPU designed by Apple instead of an Intel CPU. These computers require a program called Rosetta in order to run software designed to run on an Intel CPU. Most major software companies are working on software that will run on these Apple CPU's natively so they won't need Rosetta, but this may take several months or longer. Most current software will run fine with Rosetta. This page provides a summary of what software is currently compatible with Apple's CPU and what software needs Rosetta.
| Software | Supported |
|---|---|
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Active Directory |
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Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Acrobat Reader DC, Acrobat DC, Acrobat 2020, and Acrobat 2017 are compatible with macOS Big Sur (version 11). |
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Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe Creative Cloud 2021 is compatible with Big Sur. |
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Adobe 32-bit Applications (legacy Adobe apps and Adobe CS6) |
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Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 is compatible with Big Sur. |
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BigFix Client Supported with BigFix version 9.5.17. |
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Cisco AnyConnect (VPN) Supported with Cisco VPN 4.9.04043 released 11/12/202020. |
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Duo Duo's Mac authorization plugin 1.1.0 supports macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and all later macOS 10 versions. |
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ExamSoft MacOS Big Sur (version 11.0) is only compatible with Examplify version 2.5 or higher. |
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Google Chrome |
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MATLAB MATLAB is compatible with macOS 11 (Big Sur) from release R2020b onwards. |
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Microsoft Office Microsoft supports the three latest versions of macOS (Big Sur, Catalina and Mojave). |
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Mozilla Firefox |
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Printer Logic No known issues. |
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SafeConnect (campus WiFi) |
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SmartPrint The vendor says SmartPrint should work on Big Sur. Rosetta is required for M1 Macs (testing ongoing for M1 compatibility). |
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Sophos Home (Personally Owned Computers) Sophos Home fully supports macOS 11. Please see Known Issues section for specific issues. |
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Sophos Central (University Owned Computers) Supported with version 10.0.4 or later. Make sure you are running Sophos 10.0.4 or later prior to upgrading. |
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Sophos Encryption
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SPSS The latest version of SPSS Statistics, 27.0.1.0, is compatible with Big Sur with only a few minor exceptions. |
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Zoom Web Conferencing Supported with 5.4.4 and higher. |
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Last Updated 3/9/2021