Upcoming Roon Minimum System Requirements

[Marcus_Weiler (Marcus)]

With the April 20 update, Roon Core will require macOS 12 or later. Does this also affect using an older Mac with macOS 11 as a Roon endpoint only? Or will endpoints still be supported on macOS 11?

Thanks!

[Geoff_Coupe]

I assume you are thinking: “Can I install Roon Bridge version 2.60 on a Mac running MacOS 11?”

Good question. Let’s see what Roon Labs say…

[TPF]

For many people not so deep technically it would certainly be interesting to understand whether certain common items like e.g. an Innuos Zen Mini will stay ok or not.

[Marcus_Weiler (Marcus)]

@Geoff_Coupe

I assume you are thinking: “Can I install Roon Bridge version 2.60 on a Mac running MacOS 11?”

Good question. Let’s see what Roon Labs say…

Yes, exactly! It would be a shame if I could no longer use the optical output of my old MacBook Pro for that purpose. Looking forward to hearing what Roon Labs say!

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@TPF

whether certain common items like e.g. an Innuos Zen Mini will stay ok or not.

A valid question that Roon Labs perhaps should address publicly, but I suppose it should be directed to Innuos and similar companies who distribute Roon Server by themselves in a manner that may be unsupported by Roon Labs:

About the Innuos category

Discussion for Innuos’ products resides in this category. Note, that while many Innuos products have the option to run as a Roon Audio Endpoint or a Roon Server, there are some caveats that you should consider: As an audio endpoint, these products are not Roon Ready or Roon Tested. We do not have any of these devices in-house and are unable to provide support for them. As a Roon Server these products do not meet our minimum requirements, which means that you may encounter performance prob…

[Neil_Bulk (Neil S. Bulk)]

This is what I would like to know. I use a SonicTransporter i5 as my roon server, but I use roon on my laptop to listen. Will I be able to keep doing that?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Neil_Bulk

SonicTransporter i5 as my roon server, but I use roon on my laptop to listen. Will I be able to keep doing that?

For the SonicTransporter, it depends on their OS, SonicOrbiter. That’s a question for SGC, @agillis ?

For your laptop, well, which OS are you using?

[vova]

@Marcus_Weiler

With the April 20 update, Roon Core will require macOS 12 or later.

Does this also affect using an older Mac with macOS 11 as a Roon endpoint only?

Yes, it affects the entire package. You will not be able to use Roon as endpoint only on macOS10 or macOS 11.

[vova]

Innuos runs linux, so Linux rules are applicable to them as well. I would encourage to reach out to Innuos directly and get an answer from them.

[Frederick_Davidson (Fred Davidson)]

What are the enhancements and improvements in this update, and do they apply across all OS platforms?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Frederick_Davidson

What are the enhancements and improvements in this update

From the official announcement:

@vova

On April 20, 2026, we’ll release a new version of Roon that brings performance improvements and significantly reduced memory usage.

Some bits and pieces from Early Access

@Stephen_Shaw1

We migrated several Roon pieces over to net10.0 which should bring a handful of immediate performance improvements as well as opening up opportunities for good future improvements.

@vova

We’re also rolling out the first round of memory optimizations for RoonServer. This update aims to reduce the amount of RAM Roon consumes, continuing our efforts to enhance performance and responsiveness.

@vova

This early access build focuses on optimizing RoonServer’s memory usage, a step forward in enhancing your system’s performance and responsiveness.

@Frederick_Davidson

do they apply across all OS platforms?

Yes:

@vova

How can I check I am impacted?

(Windows isn’t impacted because the required .NET 10 is available on all supported versions)

[agillis (Andrew Gillis)]

Sonicorbiter OS 2.9 used on all Small Green Computer products is far above the standards required by Roon. Even our older OS Sonicorbiter OS 2.8 (EOL 3 years ago) meets Roon’s standards.

If you have an older version then that please go to the sonicorbiter.com FAQ and follow the directions to update your Small Green Computer product.

For question about Small Green Computer products please go to smallgreencomputer.com and click on the contact us button.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

Perfect, thanks, one headache less for us volunteers

[Neil_Bulk (Neil S. Bulk)]

Now the question is, with my Roon Server [SonicTransporter i5] upgraded will the version of Roon I currently have on my os11 Macs still work if I leave them alone?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

From the announcement:

@vova

Can I stay on an older Roon version?

We will make a pre-update Roon software packages available for users who need more time to plan their transition. A few things to keep in mind if you choose this path:

• You’ll need to disable automatic updates to remain on older software
• This software will not receive updates, which includes security fixes
• Over time, it will drift further from the current version, which may make it incompatible with software deployed on phones and tablets.

[Neil_Bulk (Neil S. Bulk)]

So does that mean I can update my sonicTransporter and run this version on my Macs to make everything play nicely?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

I still don’t know for sure where you are running the control apps. Your Macs, I guess, but are they all limited to macOS 12 edit: 11, and nothing higher?

Within the stated limitations, the answer will be yes. Over time, I doubt you will be happy if new features are implemented in the server and you can’t use them because they are not represented in the control app without updates for it.

I suppose macOS users can install a more modern macOS version like Tahoe on macOS within a Parallels or VMware virtual machine, and run Roon this way: KB Parallels: Install a MacOS 26 (Tahoe) virtual machine on an Intel Mac in Parallels Desktop. (There are also options for ARM Macs in case any are affected).
Though maybe not super cheap because at least Parallels isn’t, not sure about VMware. I don’t know for sure if the free UTM would be an option but it most likely is.

Also be aware that many Intel Macs can be updated far beyond macOS 12 with

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Edit: On Intel Macs that are only used as Roon Servers, installing a Linux distribution for Mac would be another option

Edit: And as another option for Mac servers it should be possible to run Roon‘s official Docker image in Docker Desktop for Mac: April Release macOS requirements represents significant change - #5 by DDPS

[Stephen_Shaw1 (Stephen Shaw)]

I’m curious about the current macOS situation for Intel Macs. A fair number of them can still be upgraded to something newer than macOS 11 (Big Sur). If my list is correct, almost all Macs released in the last 10 years should at least be eligible for an upgrade to Monterey (12) or newer.

Here’s the compatibility list for macOS Monterey and later (official Apple support):

• iMac: Late 2015 and later

• iMac Pro: 2017 (all models)

• MacBook Air: Early 2015 and later

• MacBook Pro: Early 2015 and later

• Mac mini: Late 2014 and later

• Mac Pro: Late 2013 and later

• MacBook (12-inch Retina model): Early 2016 and later

I’m also a bit concerned about future releases. Apple announced at WWDC 2025 that macOS 26 Tahoe (released September 2025) is the last major version to support any Intel-based Macs. Starting with macOS 27, it will be Apple silicon only.

The M1 (first Apple silicon chip) launched in late 2020. With Tahoe being the final Intel-supported release, I’m guessing security updates for macOS 26 on Intel Macs will continue until around late 2028. That seems to match Apple’s usual pattern of ~3 years of security support after the last major version.

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts…

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Stephen_Shaw1

If my list is correct, almost all Macs released in the last 10 years should at least be eligible for an upgrade to Monterey (12) or newer.

I think the problem is just that some are not (cf. April Release macOS requirements represents significant change). If the users of these are still happy with their performance (as in the linked thread), they will be unhappy for being cut off.

On the other hand, this will always happen - at some point around 2031, M1/M2 won’t get updates anymore, and they may well be just fine as Roon Servers otherwise. On the other hand, I’m not sure any user of commercial OSes should be very surprised by this, and it’s even more predictable with Macs. Maybe the longevity of Macs is a curse in this regard. (And Roon OS is a blessing)

Is running the official Roon Server Docker image for Linux in Docker Desktop on the Mac going to be an option? Will it be supported?

[Stephen_Shaw1 (Stephen Shaw)]

I think it is hard to say just yet whether we’ll “support” the image on mac using docker. Something to note on this too is that you’ll have to use an older and probably unsupported version of docker desktop in order to run the image on macOS. I believe the latest version of docker desktop requires macOS 14. I think if use docker desktop 4.23 or maybe 4.24 it still support macOS 11.

I haven’t had a chance, but I want to test the image out on the new Apple builtin container support in macOS 26.

Also, there shouldn’t be anything “special” about the image and you should be able to run it anywhere. The problem might be how networking works though.