Chrome 139 is set to ship at the end of the month, and once it does, it will spell the end of the popular browser’s support for macOS 11. As spotted by 9to5Mac, the Chrome Platform Status page on Google’s website was recently updated to state that Chrome 138 is the last release to officially support macOS Big Sur. It’s been a long run, with macOS Big Sur having launched in November 2020, but time comes for all of us — even software.
“Chrome 138 will be the last release to support macOS 11; Chrome 139+ will no longer support macOS 11, which is outside of its support window with Apple,” Google’s Chrome team explains in the updated overview. “Running on a supported operating system is essential to maintaining security. On Macs running macOS 11, Chrome will continue to work, showing a warning infobar, but will not update any further. If a user wishes to have their Chrome be updated, they need to update their computer to a support version of macOS.”
Going forward, if you want to have an updated version of Chrome, you will need a Mac running at least macOS 12, aka macOS Monterey. If you’ve been putting off upgrading for the past four years and plan to keep using Chrome, it’s time to make the move.
As the team explains, Chrome will continue to work on devices running macOS 11. The issue is that the browser won’t receive any updates, which leaves users vulnerable. By failing to update to a newer version of macOS, you’re leaving yourself open to hacks and scams that Google’s browser would otherwise do its best to protect you from.
There’s also a chance that your computer isn’t capable of upgrading to macOS 12 or beyond. A quick glance at the macOS Monterey compatibility list reveals that the software doesn’t support many devices that launched before 2015. If your Mac is still kicking after 11 years, you’re doing something right. Sadly, you’re still going to need to either upgrade to a newer machine or find a browser that actually supports your ancient hardware.
