If you play Minecraft on a 32-bit Windows 10 machine, Mojang has some bad news for you: the game will soon require a 64-bit operating system to run the latest version. The studio mentioned the upcoming end of 32-bit OS support in the release notes for the latest Minecraft Snapshot, 24w14a.
Minecraft Snapshot 24w14a is a preview version of the upcoming 1.21 update. If things do not change, those playing Minecraft on 32-bit Windows installations will be forced to upgrade their systems to a 64-bit Windows installation. The change will not affect Windows 11 users since the operating system is 64-bit only.
As for macOS, Apple dropped 32-bit app support with the release of macOS Catalina in 2019. However, its predecessor, macOS Mojave, is still listed as supported on the Minecraft website. If you play Minecraft on a 32-bit macOS Mojave, get ready to upgrade as well. There is no information on whether Mojang plans to drop 32-bit support on Android and iOS.
Besides bumping the system requirements to 64-bit operating systems, Minecraft Snapshot 24w14a now requires Java 21 or newer. Here is the full list of technical changes in the latest snapshot:
TECHNICAL CHANGES
- The Data Pack version is now 38
- The game now requires Java 21
- The game now requires a 64-bit Operating System
- The included Java distribution is now the Microsoft build of OpenJDK 21.0.2
You can find the rest of the changelog in Minecraft Snapshot 24w14a in a post on the official website.
As of right now, Minecraft Java Edition requires the following hardware and software:
- OS: macOS 10.14.5 Mojave or newer and Windows 7 or newer.
- CPU: Intel Core i3-3210 or better and AMD A8-7600 and better.
- RAM: 2GB or more.
- iGPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000 or AMD Radeon R5 or better.
You can learn more about Minecraft hardware and software requirements on the official website.