GPU Buyers Guide

# Intel GPUs

So I'll be going over the compatible iGPUs present in Intel's CPUs, the main thing to note is that you'll need to apply the FrameBuffer patch to your system to get things to work properly. Please refer to this post for more info on Framebuffer patching as it goes in depth on how to get your system running (opens new window). We will also be excluding iGPUs present in Pentiums, Celerons and Atom CPUs as these generally have never been supported natively and require quite a bit of extra work to get them working(to be more specific, GT1 based iGPUs don't work, Apple only uses GT2 and up in their macs)

DRM Issues: With Haswell and newer iGPUs, DRM is outright broken on them with macOS Catalina. This includes iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime and Netflix, the only fix is getting a supported dGPU preferably Polaris or newer that supports HEVC.

More info:

# Native Intel iGPUs

# Ivy Bridge 3XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Catalina(10.15)

# Initial Supported OS: Lion(10.7)

Regarding the HD 4000, it's completely native with Catalina(Though no longer supported with macOS 11: Big Sur). The HD 2500 on the other hand only has partial support in Mojave for quick sync features as hardware acceleration is unsupported (opens new window) so you will need a compatible dGPU for display purposes. Initial supported introduced with macOS 10.8

  • Note: As of macOS 11.3, the HD 4000 drivers are still present in Big Sur. Please keep in mind future OS updates and releases may remove these drivers.

Supported iGPUs:

  • HD 2500
  • HD 4000
  • HD P4000

Framebuffer:

  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (desktop):
    • 0x0166000A (default)
      • 0A006601 (hex swapped)
    • 0x01620005
      • 05006201 (hex swapped)
  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (laptop):
    • 0x01660004 (Recommended, 1600x900 screens or higher)
      • 04006601 (hex swapped)
    • 0x01660009 (Alternative, eDP or autodetect)
      • 09006601 (hex swapped)
    • 0x01660003 (1366x768 screens)
      • 03006601 (hex swapped)

Needed kexts:

# Haswell 4XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Current/Big Sur(11)

# Initial Supported OS: Mountain Lion(10.8)

Most iGPUs are supported here, only one to be concerned about is the HD4400 which requires either a spoofed DeviceID with WhateverGreen or a modified APCI path. Initial supported introduced with macOS 10.9

Supported iGPUs:

  • HD 4200
  • HD 4400(HD 4600 FakeID required for this iGPU)
  • HD 4600
  • HD 5000
  • HD 5100
  • HD P4600(Theoretically)
  • HD P4700(Theoretically)

Framebuffer:

  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (desktop):
    • 0x0D220003 (default)
      • 0300220D (hex swapped)
  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (laptop):
    • 0x0A160000 (default)
      • 0000160A (hex swapped)
    • 0x0A260005 (recommended)
      • 0500260A (hex swapped)

Needed kexts:

# Broadwell 5XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Current/Big Sur(11)

# Initial Supported OS: Yosemite(10.10)

All iGPUs are supported here, no issues to report. Initial supported introduced with macOS 10.10.2

Supported iGPUs:

  • HD 5300
  • HD 5500
  • HD 5600
  • HD 6000
  • HD 6100
  • HD 6200
  • HD P5700(Theoretically)
  • Iris Pro P6300

Framebuffer:

  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (desktop):
    • 0x16220007 (default)
      • 07002216 (hex swapped)
  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (laptop):
    • 0x16260006 (default)
      • 06002616 (hex swapped)

Needed kexts:

# Skylake 6XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Current/Big Sur(11)

# Initial Supported OS: El Capitan(10.11)

All iGPUs are supported here, no issues to report. Initial supported introduced with macOS 10.11.4

Supported iGPUs:

  • HD 515
  • HD 520
  • HD 530
  • HD P530
  • Iris 540
  • Iris 550
  • Iris Pro 580
  • Iris Pro P555
  • Iris Pro P580

Framebuffer:

  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (desktop):
    • 0x19120000 (default)
      • 00001219 (hex swapped)
    • 0x19120001 (Headless)
      • 01001219 (hex swapped)
  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (laptop):
    • 0x19160000 (default)
      • 00001619 (hex swapped)

Needed kexts:

# Kabylake 7XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Current/Big Sur(11)

# Initial Supported OS: Sierra(10.12)

Most iGPUs are supported here excluding the HD 610 present in the Pentium G4560, initial support was introduced with macOS 10.12.6

Supported iGPUs:

  • HD 615
  • HD 620
  • HD 630
  • Iris Plus 640
  • Iris Plus 650

Framebuffer:

  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (desktop):
    • 0x59160000 (default)
      • 00001659 (hex swapped)
    • 0x59120003 (Headless)
      • 03001259 (hex swapped)
  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (laptop):
    • 0x591B0000 (default)
      • 00001B59 (hex swapped)

Needed kexts:

# Kabylake refresh/ Coffee Lake/ Cometlake 8XXX/9XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Current/Big Sur(11)

# Initial Supported OS: High Sierra(10.13.6)

All iGPUs are supported here, though pay attention as the i3 8100 and 8350k use a different UHD 630(184 shader units vs 192) (opens new window) than the rest of the CPU family which requires spoofing for support in High Sierra(generally wanted for headless rendering on a Maxwell/Pascal GPUs). Initial supported introduced with macOS 10.13.6

Supported:

  • UHD 615
  • UHD 617
  • UHD 620
  • UHD 630
  • Iris Plus 645
  • Iris Plus 655

Framebuffer:

  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (desktop):
    • 0x3EA50000 (default)
      • 0000A53E (hex swapped)
    • 0x3E9B0007 (desktop, recommended)
      • 07009B3E (hex swapped)
    • 0x3E920003 (Headless)
      • 0300923E (hex swapped)
  • AAPL,ig-platform-id (laptop):
    • 0x3EA50009 (default)
      • 0900A53E (hex swapped)

Needed kexts:

# Icelake 10XXX

# Highest Supported OS: Current/Big Sur(11)

# Initial Supported OS: Catalina(10.15.4)

All iGPUs present here have support starting in macOS 10.15.4, note that support is still quite early so there's likely still bugs to clean up and WhateverGreen will need some time to find and adapt patches to best suit these new iGPUs

Supported:

  • Iris Plus G7
  • Iris Plus G4

Framebuffer:

  • Currently no available

Needed kexts:

# Unsupported Intel iGPUs

All GPUs listed here are GT1 based meaning no support as display out whatsoever

# Braswell

# Highest Supported OS: None

Unsupported:

  • HD 400
  • HD 405

# Skylake

# Highest Supported OS: None

Unsupported:

  • HD 510

# Apollo Lake

# Highest Supported OS: None

Unsupported:

  • HD 500
  • HD 505

# Kabylake

####Highest Supported OS: None

Unsupported:

  • HD 610

# Kabylake refresh/ Coffee Lake/ Cometlake i3/5/7-8XXX/9XXX

# Highest Supported OS: None

Unsupported:

  • UHD 610

# Gemini Lake

# Highest Supported OS: None

Unsupported:

  • UHD 600
  • UHD 605
Last Updated: 2/10/2021, 11:25:28 PM

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