MacOS Compatibility with Live
- Live Versions: 10, 9
- Operating System: Mac 10.7 and later
Important: We highly recommend to wait until Live and all your third party plug-ins, hardware drivers and other programs are officially supported before updating to a new OS.
macOS 10.15 "Catalina" Compatibility
- Live 10 (version 10.1.2 and later) is fully compatible with Catalina. However we highly recommend not to update your OS until all of your third party plug-ins, hardware drivers and other programs are officially supported on Catalina. Read our dedicated article before updating: Live 10 and macOS 10.15 Compatibility.
- Live 9 is not compatible with Catalina as it contains certain components which are no longer supported on macOS 10.15. Live 9 may not even launch on Catalina. The last officially supported version of macOS with Live 9 is macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). See our dedicated article: Live 9 is not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina.
macOS 10.14 "Mojave" Compatibility
- Live 10 (version 10.1.2 and later) is fully compatible with Mojave. You may receive certain notifications the first time you launch Live which need to be approved. See "One-time notifications with 10.14" below.
- Live 9 is not fully compatible with Mojave. The last OS version that is officially supported with Live 9 is 10.13 High Sierra. Although Live 9 may work with 10.14, we cannot guarantee 100% functionality. See "One-time notifications with 10.14" below.
One-time notifications with 10.14:
This popup may appear the first time that you launch Live after upgrading to Mojave. You need to click "Ok", otherwise all inputs will be disabled (not just the microphone). In case you clicked "Don't allow" you can still grant Ableton Live the necessary permissions in System Preferences → Security/Privacy → Privacy.
- "Ableton app" is not optimised for your Mac and needs to be updated. (No longer present with Live 10.1.2 and later)
Starting with macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, apps that have not been updated to use 64-bit processes produce a one-time alert when opened. This gives users advance notice that they are running 32-bit software, which will not be compatible with macOS in the future. If you receive this notification when starting Live, just click "OK". It doesn't affect the functionality of Live in any way, nor does it pose any security or stability risks.
macOS 10.13 "High Sierra" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is fully compatible (download from your User Account).
- Live 9: Live 9.7.7 is fully compatible (download from your User Account).
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live.
- Known Issues:
- If Live prompts you to re-authorize every time its launched, follow these instructions to modify the Options.txt file here.
- If you're getting this prompt to enter your login information: ""Ableton Live 9 wants to make changes. Enter your password to allow this", follow these instructions.
- If you're getting this error message: "The selected Max application could not be loaded. A 64-bit version is probably required", follow these instructions to update Max for Live here.
- Certain users who have outdated versions of Reason installed may experience crashes on launch of Live. Follow these instructions to update Reason here.
macOS 10.12 "Sierra" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is fully compatible.
- Live 9: The latest version of Live 9 (download from your User Account).
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live (download from your User Account).
OS X 10.11 "El Capitan" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is fully compatible as of macOS 10.11.6, which is the minimum installation requirement.
- Live 9: The latest version of Live 9 (download from your User Account).
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live (download from your User Account).
OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is not supported, nor is it possible to install on any version of MacOS earlier than macOS 10.11.6.
- Live 9: The latest version of Live 9 (download from your User Account).
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live (download from your User Account).
- Known Issues: Certain 32-bit VST plug-ins that make use of outdated versions of the JUCE framework seem to have drawing problems with the plug-in GUI. The symptoms are: completely empty plug-in windows, misaligned UI elements, not being able to close the plug-in window. If you experience such issues, we recommend using the 64-bit versions of these plug-ins, if available, and contacting the plug-in developer for additional information. Users encountering errors while exporting audio/video may be using a Live zoom setting other than 100%. If you experience such errors, please reset the zoom to 100% to complete the export.
OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is not supported, nor is it possible to install on any version of MacOS earlier than macOS 10.11.6.
- Live 9: The latest version of Live 9 (download from your User Account).
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live (download from your User Account).
OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is not supported, nor is it possible to install on any version of MacOS earlier than macOS 10.11.6.
- Live 9: The latest version of Live (download from your User Account).
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live (download from your User Account).
OS X 10.7 "Lion" Compatibility
- Live 10: Live 10 is not supported, nor is it possible to install on any version of MacOS earlier than macOS 10.11.6.
- Live 9: The latest version of Live (download from your User Account)
- Max for Live: The latest version of Max for Live (download from your User Account)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Important: When updating to any new Operating System, please make sure that all of your third party plug-ins, hardware drivers and other software programs are officially supported on that OS. Make backups of any important data before upgrading your operating system. If you are working on any time-critical projects, we recommend staying with your current OS for the time being.