Hardware compatibility

Hardware compatibility

Hardware compatibility can refer to the compatibility of computer hardware components with a particular CPU architecture, bus, motherboard, peripheral or operating system. Hardware that is compatible may not always run at its highest stated performance, but it can nevertheless work with legacy components. An example is RAM chips, some of which can run at a lower (or sometimes higher) clock rate than rated. Hardware that was designed for one operating system may not work for another, if device or kernel drivers are unavailable. As an example, Android is not able to be run on a phone with iOS.