If you develop on macOS and target Apple ecosystem (iOS, watchOS, tvOS, macOS), you will need Xcode as the Integrated Development Environment (IDE). You will also need Xcode or Xcode toolchain when compiling third party software on your machine. You can download Xcode from App Store if you somehow don’t have it installed on your machine. However, note that every Xcode release comes with minimum macOS version requirement that must be satisfied. In this article, we provide you with macOS version compatibility for all Xcode versions released by Apple, starting from Xcode 10. To build the compatibility table, we extracted and compiled data from Xcode release notes and Xcode system requirements .
Version Numbers and Release Names for macOS
When macOS, the operating system (OS) for Apple’s Mac, was first released in March 2001, the OS came under the name of Mac OS X. The version number, as the name may suggest, starts from 10. To put it another way, the version number for the first release of Mac OS X was 10.0 instead of 1.0. Each version number is also assigned release name, that is used as the code name or marketing name for the operating system. The marketing name initially adopted big cat names but Apple later switched to use location names in California. The OS name also underwent several changes between releases. OS versions 10.0 – 10.6 came under Mac OS X lingo before getting changed into OS X for versions 10.7 – 10.11. Starting from version 10.12, the operating system was renamed into macOS.
The table below summarizes macOS version numbers, release names, and supported chip platforms:
| OS Name | Version | Release Name | Release Date | Chip Platform(s) | Darwin Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac OS X | 10.0 | Cheetah | March 24, 2001 | PowerPC | 1.3.1 |
| Mac OS X | 10.1 | Puma | September 25, 2001 | PowerPC | 1.4.1 |
| Mac OS X | 10.2 | Jaguar | August 24, 2002 | PowerPC | 6 |
| Mac OS X | 10.3 | Panther | October 24, 2003 | PowerPC | 7 |
| Mac OS X | 10.4 | Tiger | April 29, 2005 | PowerPC, Intel | 8 |
| Mac OS X | 10.5 | Leopard | October 26, 2007 | PowerPC, Intel | 9 |
| Mac OS X | 10.6 | Snow Leopard | August 28, 2009 | Intel | 10 |
| OS X | 10.7 | Lion | July 20, 2011 | Intel | 11 |
| OS X | 10.8 | Mountain Lion | July 25, 2012 | Intel | 12 |
| OS X | 10.9 | Mavericks | October 22, 2013 | Intel | 13 |
| OS X | 10.10 | Yosemite | October 16, 2014 | Intel | 14 |
| OS X | 10.11 | El Capitan | September 30, 2015 | Intel | 15 |
| macOS | 10.12 | Sierra | September 20, 2016 | Intel | 16 |
| macOS | 10.13 | High Sierra | September 25, 2017 | Intel | 17 |
| macOS | 10.14 | Mojave | September 24, 2018 | Intel | 18 |
| macOS | 10.15 | Catalina | October 7, 2019 | Intel | 19 |
| macOS | 11 | Big Sur | November 12, 2020 | Intel, ARM | 20 |
| macOS | 12 | Monterey | October 25, 2021 | Intel, ARM | 21 |
| macOS | 13 | Ventura | October 24, 2022 | Intel, ARM | 22 |
| macOS | 14 | Sonoma | September 26, 2023 | Intel, ARM | 23 |
| macOS | 15 | Sequoia | September 16, 2024 | Intel, ARM | 24 |
| macOS | 26 | Tahoe | September 15, 2025 | Intel, ARM | 25 |
As you can see in the table, the OS version number initially used 10.x numbering. The release of Big Sur earmarked the transition into step increment for version numbers. A big version number leap occurred when macOS Tahoe was released in September 2025, as the OS version number was increased from 15 to 26.
The consistent increment for macOS version release is the Darwin version number. The Darwin version number has been consistently step-increased since the release of Mac OS X 10.2. The latest macOS release, which is macOS Tahoe 26, has Darwin version number 25.
Xcode and Minimum macOS Version
If you actively develop on macOS, you need to understand the versions of Xcode that can be installed on your machine. This is especially true for the case that you cannot upgrade the macOS version on your current development machine due to various reasons. If your macOS version is not the most recent release, you may not be able to install the latest version of Xcode, which may hamper the ability to develop applications that can run on the latest devices released by Apple. However, you can still develop on older macOS version, if you target different OS platform, such as Linux.
The compatibility between various Xcode versions, starting from Xcode 10 release, and the minimum macOS version can be seen in the table below:
| Version Group | Xcode Release Version | Minimum macOS Version |
|---|---|---|
| Xcode 26 | Xcode 26.4 | macOS Tahoe 26.2 |
| Xcode 26.3 | macOS Sequoia 15.6 | |
| Xcode 26.2 | macOS Sequoia 15.6 | |
| Xcode 26.1.1 | macOS Sequoia 15.6 | |
| Xcode 26.0.1 | macOS Sequoia 15.6 | |
| Xcode 26 | macOS Sequoia 15.6 | |
| Xcode 16 | Xcode 16.4 | macOS Sequoia 15.3 |
| Xcode 16.3 | macOS Sequoia 15.2 | |
| Xcode 16.2 | macOS Sonoma 14.5 | |
| Xcode 16.1 | macOS Sonoma 14.5 | |
| Xcode 16 | macOS Sonoma 14.5 | |
| Xcode 15 | Xcode 15.4 | macOS Sonoma 14 |
| Xcode 15.3 | macOS Sonoma 14 | |
| Xcode 15.2 | macOS Ventura 13.5 | |
| Xcode 15.1 | macOS Ventura 13.5 | |
| Xcode 15.0.1 | macOS Ventura 13.5 | |
| Xcode 15 | macOS Ventura 13.5 | |
| Xcode 14 | Xcode 14.3.1 | macOS Ventura 13 |
| Xcode 14.3 | macOS Ventura 13 | |
| Xcode 14.2 | macOS Monterey 12.5 | |
| Xcode 14.1 | macOS Monterey 12.5 | |
| Xcode 14.0.1 | macOS Monterey 12.5 | |
| Xcode 14 | macOS Monterey 12.5 | |
| Xcode 13 | Xcode 13.4.1 | macOS Monterey 12 |
| Xcode 13.4 | macOS Monterey 12 | |
| Xcode 13.3.1 | macOS Monterey 12 | |
| Xcode 13.3 | macOS Monterey 12 | |
| Xcode 13.2.1 | macOS Big Sur 11.3 | |
| Xcode 13.2 | macOS Big Sur 11.3 | |
| Xcode 13.1 | macOS Big Sur 11.3 | |
| Xcode 13 | macOS Big Sur 11.3 | |
| Xcode 12 | Xcode 12.5.1 | macOS Big Sur 11 |
| Xcode 12.5 | macOS Big Sur 11 | |
| Xcode 12.4 | macOS Catalina 10.15.4 | |
| Xcode 12.3 | macOS Catalina 10.15.4 | |
| Xcode 12.2 | macOS Catalina 10.15.4 | |
| Xcode 12.1 | macOS Catalina 10.15.4 | |
| Xcode 12.0.1 | macOS Catalina 10.15.4 | |
| Xcode 12 | macOS Catalina 10.15.4 | |
| Xcode 11 | Xcode 11.7 | macOS Catalina 10.15.2 |
| Xcode 11.6 | macOS Catalina 10.15.2 | |
| Xcode 11.5 | macOS Catalina 10.15.2 | |
| Xcode 11.4.1 | macOS Catalina 10.15.2 | |
| Xcode 11.4 | macOS Catalina 10.15.2 | |
| Xcode 11.3.1 | macOS Mojave 10.14.4 | |
| Xcode 11.3 | macOS Mojave 10.14.4 | |
| Xcode 11.2.1 | macOS Mojave 10.14.4 | |
| Xcode 11.2 | macOS Mojave 10.14.4 | |
| Xcode 11.1 | macOS Mojave 10.14.4 | |
| Xcode 11 | macOS Mojave 10.14.4 | |
| Xcode 10 | Xcode 10.3 | macOS Mojave 10.14.3 |
| Xcode 10.2.1 | macOS Mojave 10.14.3 | |
| Xcode 10.2 | macOS Mojave 10.14.3 | |
| Xcode 10.1 | macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 | |
| Xcode 10 | macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 |
Apple supports multiple Xcode installations. You can use the information on the compatibility table above to install multiple versions of Xcode. As an example, you can install both Xcode 26 and Xcode 16 on a MacBook running macOS Tahoe 26.2. This is since the minimum macOS version of Xcode 16 is macOS Sonoma 14.5 while the minimum macOS version of Xcode 26 is macOS Tahoe 26.2, and therefore macOS Tahoe 26.2 satisfies the requirements for Xcode 16 and Xcode 26 installations.
You can download the package installer from xcodereleases website. After downloading and completing the installation, you can switch to the Xcode version that you want to choose by using the xcode-select command line tool.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 26?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 26 is macOS Sequoia 15.6. However, XCode 26.4 requires macOS Tahoe 26.2 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 16?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 16 is macOS Sonoma 14.5. However, XCode 16.3 or higher requires macOS Sequoia 15.2 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 15?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 15 is macOS Ventura 13.5. However, XCode 15.3 or higher requires macOS Sonoma 14 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 14?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 14 is macOS Monterey 12.5. However, XCode 14.3 or higher requires macOS Ventura 13 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 13?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 13 is macOS Big Sur 11.3. However, XCode 13.3 or higher requires macOS Monterey 12 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 12?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 12 is macOS Catalina 10.15.4. However, XCode 12.5 or higher requires macOS Big Sur 11 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 11?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 11 is macOS Mojave 10.14.4. However, XCode 11.4 or higher requires macOS Catalina 10.15.2 as the minimum macOS version.
Q: What is the minimum macOS version to install and run Xcode 10?
A: The minimum macOS version to run Xcode 10 is macOS High Sierra 10.13.6. However, XCode 10.2 or higher requires macOS Mojave 10.14.3 as the minimum macOS version.