MacOS – Which macs are compatible with OS X 10.11 El Capitan

Having tried both the Xbox controller and the PS3 controller on my Mac I can say: the PS3 controller is somewhat easier to get working with the Mac. It communicates via BlueTooth and pairing it is mostly painless. It's also wireless without requiring any other devices to be purchased. You can get the PS3 controller drivers from here.

The Xbox controller requires an additional USB dongle from Microsoft to get working if you want to use a wireless controller. Otherwise, you'll have to stick to using it as a wired controller. You can get the Xbox 360 controller drivers from here or here is an alternative driver.

I thought the drivers for the PS3 controller were a little more stable and that the stick response was snappier than the 360 controller. But I much prefer the 360 controllers layout, weight and overall tactile feel. Personal preference there really.

Apple said the following Macs will run Mountain Lion:

• iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
• Xserve (Early 2009)

So the complement of this list are not supported to run Mountain Lion (as far as I can tell; edit this list to add or subtract models as appropriate; you may be able to get it running on an unsupported machine):

• Macintosh 128K

• Macintosh 512K

• Macintosh 128K (revised)

• Macintosh XL

• Macintosh Plus

• Macintosh 512Ke

• Macintosh Plus (Platinum)

• Macintosh SE

• Macintosh II

• Macintosh IIx

• Macintosh SE/30

• Macintosh IIcx

• Macintosh SE FDHD

• Macintosh IIci

• Macintosh Portable

• Macintosh IIfx

• Macintosh LC

• Macintosh Classic

• Macintosh IIsi

• Macintosh Portable (backlit screen)

• Macintosh Classic II

• Quadra 700

• Quadra 900

• PowerBook 100

• PowerBook 140

• PowerBook 170

• Macintosh LC II

• Quadra 950

• PowerBook 145

• Macintosh IIvi

• Macintosh IIvx

• PowerBook 160

• PowerBook 180

• PowerBook Duo 210

• PowerBook Duo 230

• Macintosh LC III / III+

• Macintosh Color Classic

• Centris 610

• Centris 650

• Quadra 800

• PowerBook 165c

• Workgroup Server 80

• Workgroup Server 95

• PowerBook 145b

• PowerBook 180c

• Macintosh LC 520

• Workgroup Server 60

• Centris / Quadra 660AV

• Quadra 840AV

• PowerBook 165

• Macintosh Color Classic II

• Macintosh TV

• Quadra 605

• Quadra 610

• Quadra 650

• PowerBook Duo 250

• PowerBook Duo 270c

• Macintosh LC 550

• Macintosh LC 575

• Power Macintosh 6100

• Power Macintosh 7100

• Power Macintosh 8100

• Workgroup Server 6150

• Workgroup Server 8150

• Workgroup Server 9150

• PowerBook 520/c

• PowerBook 540/c

• PowerBook 550

• PowerBook Duo 280

• PowerBook Duo 280c

• Quadra 630

• PowerBook 150

• Power Macintosh 6200 / 6300

• Macintosh LC 580

• Performa 5200

• Power Macintosh 9500

• Power Macintosh 7200

• Power Macintosh 7500

• Power Macintosh 8500

• PowerBook 190

• PowerBook 5300

• PowerBook Duo 2300c

• Workgroup Server 7250

• Workgroup Server 8550

• Performa 5260 / 5300

• Performa 5400

• Power Macintosh 7600

• Performa 6360

• Performa 6400

• Power Macintosh 4400

• PowerBook 1400

• Power Macintosh 5500

• Power Macintosh 6500

• Power Macintosh 7300

• Power Macintosh 8600

• Power Macintosh 9600

• PowerBook 3400

• Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

• Workgroup Server 7350

• Workgroup Server 9650

• PowerBook 2400c

• Power Macintosh G3 desktop

• Power Macintosh G3 minitower

• PowerBook G3

• Power Macintosh G3 AIO

• Macintosh Server G3

• PowerBook G3 series

• iMac G3

• Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White)

• Macintosh Server G3 (Blue & White)

• PowerBook G3 ("Lombard")

• iBook

• Macintosh Server G4

• iMac (slot loading)

• Power Mac G4 Graphite

• PowerBook ("Pismo")

• Power Mac G4 Cube

• iBook (FireWire)

• PowerBook G4 Titanium

• iBook (white)

• Power Mac G4 Quicksilver

• Server G4 Quicksilver

• iMac G4 15"

• iBook (14")

• eMac

• Xserve

• iMac G4 17"

• Power Mac G4 MDD

• Macintosh Server G4 MDD

• PowerBook G4 Aluminum (12")

• PowerBook G4 Aluminum (17")

• Xserve slot loading

• Xserve Cluster Node

• Power Mac G5

• PowerBook G4 Aluminum (15")

• iBook G4 (12" / 14")

• iMac G4 20"

• Xserve G5

• Xserve Cluster Node G5 Xserve

• Power Mac G5 FX

• iMac G5 17"

• iMac G5 20" iMac

• Mac mini

• Power Mac G5 dual core

• iMac Core Duo

• MacBook Pro (15")

• Mac mini Core Solo

• Mac mini Core Duo

• MacBook Pro (17")

• MacBook (Late 2008 plastic)

• Xserve (Intel) (Late 2006)

• MacBook (Late 2006)

• Mac mini Core 2 Duo

• MacBook (Late 2007)

• Xserve Harpertown

• MacBook Penryn

• 1st generation MacBook Air (early 2008)