Google has announced that version 138 of its Chrome browser for Mac is the last version that can run on macOS 11 Big Sur. According to a support document, Big Sur is “outside of its support window with Apple,” and that “running on a supported operating system is essential to maintaining security.”
Chrome is currently at version 138. According to Google’s Chrome roadmap, version 139 is currently in beta and is expected to be released by the end of this month. Chrome 139 requires macOS 12 Monterey or later. Users of Chrome on Big Sur will start to see a “warning infobar” to inform them of the end of support. It’s unclear whether the infobar will be persistent or a one-time warning.
Apple discontinued Safari support for Big Sur with version 16.6, released in July 2023. Safari for Mac is currently at version 18.5, but its version will jump to 26 with macOS Tahoe to match Apple’s new OS naming system. Safari 26 requires macOS Sonoma or later.
Notably, Mac OS Big Sur was the last version of macOS to support Macs with Nvidia graphics cards, specifically the 15-inch MacBook Pro models with dual graphics from late 2013 and mid-2014, so some users may be keeping them around. Users looking for a browser that has active support for Big Sur can turn to a few other options, including Brave, DuckDuckGo, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Vivaldi. However, since Apple no longer supports Big Sur, it’s just a matter of time before those browsers drop it, as well.
Apple released macOS Big Sur in 2020 as the first OS following the two-decade-long Mac OS X era. The company often ends support for its operating systems five years after their release. Macs running unsupported OSes still work, but Apple no longer provides OS updates. In some extreme instances, Apple will provide security patches for certain exploits.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.