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I wonder what does macCatalyst version means and how it is mapped to macOS version? For example, API which is available from macCatalyst 14.0 means it requires macOS 11.0 (Big Sur), macCatalyst 13.0 means macOS 10.15.0, but what does it mean when API required minimal target macCatalyst 13.4? To what version of macOS it correspond?

3 Answers 3

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I haven't found an official list or a way to pull the macOS version from code. I think UIDevice.current.systemVersion used to return the macOS version, but now it returns the macCatalyst version. That makes it hard to support users who know their macOS version but have no idea what the embedded macCatalyst version is.

Building on the previous posts and my own observations, here's a partial list:

macCatalyst 13.0 = macOS 10.15 (Catalina)
macCatalyst 13.4 = macOS 10.15.4
macCatalyst 14.0 = macOS 11.0 (Big Sur)
macCatalyst 14.2 = macOS 11.2
macCatalyst 14.7 = macOS 11.6
macCatalyst 15.0 = macOS 12.0 (Monterey)
macCatalyst 15.3 = macOS 12.2 and 12.2.1
macCatalyst 15.4 = macOS 12.3
macCatalyst 15.5 = macOS 12.4
macCatalyst 15.6 = macOS 12.5
macCatalyst 16.6 = macOS 13.5 (Ventura)
macCatalyst 17.0 = macOS 14.0 (Sonoma)
macCatalyst 17.2 = macOS 14.2 and 14.2.1
macCatalyst 18.4 = macOS 15.5 (Sequoia)
macCatalyst 18.5 = macOS 15.5
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5 Comments

For those wondering, Mac Catalyst versions are almost always the same as iOS versions, with a few exceptions at the introduction. Therefore, if your project can be deployed to iOS 15.0+, it means it can be deployed to Mac Catalyst 15.0+ as well. Find the corresponding macOS and Xcode building requirements at developer.apple.com/support/xcode
Mac Catalyst 16.x = macOS 13.x and 17.x = macOS 14.x
Can you explain how macCatalyst 18.4 is macOS 15.5? What is that based on? Just trying to understand. Seems like macCatalyst 18.x = macOS 15.x since there has been an even release of macOS 15.x and iOS 18.x.
For example. there is a GameKit API (GKReleaseState) that shows it's available in iOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, and macCatalyst 18.4. This demonstrates that your latest update is incorrect.
I don't know why Apple sometimes increments one version number but not the other. Most of these numbers were reported to me by my app's users. When they report a problem, I ask them to look at the OS version number shown inside my app, which is the macCatalyst version, and the OS version number shown in the Apple > About This Mac window, which is the macOS version.
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The Mac Catalyst version is usually the same as the iOS version. The corresponding minimum macOS version can be found in the same documentation page as follows:

enter image description here

So, I'd just suggest checking the online docs page for the feature/API you're trying to use to figure out the minimum macOS version.

1 Comment

It doesn't show the macOS version now in the documentation.
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Based on the information you supplied, macCatalyst 13.4 corresponds to macOS 10.15.4.

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