The Takeaway: With iOS 9 and El Capitan, Apple embraces hardware compatibility
But Apple's announcement on Monday of the next version of OS X and iOS 9 -- they were unveiled at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) -- will leave few Apple users out in the cold. Both OSes -- the former for desktops and laptops, the latter for iPhones and iPads -- have the same hardware requirements as their respective predecessors.
The move reflects Apple's decision to pull back on new features this year and instead work to refine the software users already have in hand. Both OSes will be available as public betas later this summer -- a first for the initial release of iOS -- and are slated to arrive fully baked, and free, this fall.
In terms of hardware requirements:
Together, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite powered 89.7% of all Macs in May, according to analytics company Net Applications. And, according to Apple, 83% of all iPhones are running iOS 8.
With reports from Gregg Keizer of Computerworld.