Why is my OpenGL version always 2.1 on Mac OS X?

Question

I'm using GLFW 3.0 on Mac OS X 10.8, graphic card is Intel HD Graphics 5000

And my OpenGL API version is 2.1, aquired by

glfwGetWindowAttrib(window, GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MAJOR);
glfwGetWindowAttrib(window, GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR);

Compiling options:

g++ ... -framework OpenGL -framework Cocoa -framework IOKit ...

Headers:

#include <GLFW/glfw3.h>
#include <GL/glu.h>

The version is always 2.1, unlike the reported 3.2. My OS has been upgraded to 10.9, and OpenGL version is still 2.1.

It still cannot compile GLSL 3.3, while Apple says it supports 4.1. How do I access higher versions of the library?

Convivial

glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MAJOR, 3); glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 3); glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_PROFILE, GLFW_OPENGL_CORE_PROFILE); To write before creating your window. – Dinosaurian

@PierreEmmanuelLallemant : I tried this, and it leads to a failure in glfwCreateWindow. – Convivial

Try glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 2); // opengl 3.2 or glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 1); // opengl 3.1 .It would crash only when the opengl version is not supported by OS X. – Dinosaurian

@PierreEmmanuelLallemant : The same result... – Convivial

Just because you upgraded your operating system does not mean you can use OpenGL 4.1... you need the appropriate version of the MacOS X Platform SDK. More than likely what you really need to do is upgrade Xcode as well. There is a setting in the Xcode IDE that allows you to choose the default SDK that the commandline toolchain uses, I cannot remember where it is off the top of my head unfortunately. – Ronironica

@AndonM.Coleman : I did upgrade XCode, otherwise it could not even compile&link the code. – Convivial

To @PierreEmmanuelLallemant : I finally figured it out, I answered myself. And you were close to it. – Convivial

Answer 1

You need to add both "forward_compat" and "core_profile" hints before creating the window.

glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MAJOR, 3);
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 3);
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_PROFILE, GLFW_OPENGL_CORE_PROFILE);
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_FORWARD_COMPAT, GL_TRUE);
glfwCreateWindow(640, 480, "Hello World", NULL, NULL );

Convivial

Saved my life (was not going to eat before I solved this issue). – Letsou