While the yearly major macOS update system is free to install, it is still limited to Macs that Apple deems compatible, and every year a generation of Macs essentially becomes obsolete. This is despite the fact that Apple is eager to emphasize that macOS is a widely compatible operating system.
As it happens, there are still people with close to ten-year-old Apple desktop computers still in use on a daily basis, likely performing a range of lighter tasks.
If you want to check compatibility before downloading the installer, learn about the minimum requirements for macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, or Yosemite. You can also check compatible operating systems on the product-ID page for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook, iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro.
Before you try to download the macOS Big Sur beta, make sure itsupports your Mac (my 2012 MacBook Pro has finally met an update it couldn't get). Here's the official list of supported devices from. Alternative route If you have access to another Mac running a version of MacOS currently supported by the App Store (As of Jan 2020, that would be 10.14 (Mojave) or 10.15), you could associate your AppleID with an account on that Mac, download (and thus register) the Applications you want to install on your older Mac there, and then use the.
Download CleanMyMac X from MacPaw's website and clean up to 500MB of junk data from your computer while enjoying all the features of the software without major limitations.
Which Macs Don't Support High Sierra
For some reason Apple doesn't want to allow these Macs to run one of its latest operating systems, namely macOS 10.13 High Sierra. This leaves the following Macs on macOS 10.11 El Capitan:
- MacBook Pro – late-2009 or earlier models
- MacBook – late-2008 or earlier models
- MacBook Air – 2009 or earlier models
- iMac – late-2008 or earlier models
- Mac Mini – 2009 or earlier models
- Mac Pro – 2009 or earlier models.
These machines are considered obsolete and vintage by Apple. The company defines vintage products as those that have not been manufactured for more than five years but less than seven years ago. Obsolete products are those discontinued more than seven years ago.
How To Install macOS High Sierra on Unsupported Macs
Though Apple doesn't support the above hardware officially, someone has thought about sharing the love for these older machines. A developer known as DOSDude1 has written a patch that works on Macs with the Penryn architecture. Using this still imposes certain limitations, but at least makes it possible to install macOS High Sierra on the following Macs:
- Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro (MacPro 3,1 and 4,1, iMac 8,1 and 9,1, MacBook Pro 4,1, 5,1, 5,2, 5,3, 5,4, and 5,5).
- Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook (MacBook Air 2,1, MacBook 5,1).
- Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or white MacBook (Mac Mini 3,1, MacBook 5,2)
- Early-2008 or newer Xserve (Xserve 2,1, Xserve 3,1).
If you happen to own any of the Penryn Macs mentioned above, the macOS High Sierra Patch Tool written by DOSDude1 will make running the latest software possible. But remember, with High Sierra you will also migrate to the Apple File System, and it is highly recommended that you first disable SIP because it may prevent the patch from working at all.
Installing the operating system on any of these Macs will require some technical knowledge, so it is not recommended for novice users. Also, a backup of your data is always a good idea in case anything goes wrong.
While there is a full step-by-step tutorial and video tutorial available on DOSDude1's website, it's good to get a summary of the basics, which start with downloading the macOS High Sierra Installer app from the Mac App Store:
- Format a USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) via Disk Utility.
- Open the macOS High Sierra Patcher tool, navigate to the High Sierra Installer App, then select your pen drive and click 'Start Operation'.
- Boot from the USB drive by holding down the option key after reboot.
- Install macOS normally, reboot back on the installer drive, and then open the 'macOS Post Install' application.
- From the options, select the Mac model you own. This step is important, because it contains the optimal patch for that specific model.
- Click the 'Patch' button, and after the process has finished, click 'Reboot'.
The Reason Not To Install macOS High Sierra on an Unsupported Mac
As you may have already experienced with other types of officially unsupported machines, the probability of having issues is much higher. The same applies in this case, too, since the macOS High Sierra Patcher will render your iMac 8.1 Broadcom Wi-Fi chip useless for certain models.
Macs that use the Broadcom BCM4321 Wi-Fi module will not have functional Wi-Fi when running High Sierra. Another issue that has been highlighted by the developer is that the trackpad in the MacBook 5,2 isn't fully supported in this version of OS.
These are just a few of the possible issues that could arise, and this is before even mentioning the various potential software errors that you can run into by using out-of-date hardware. Without getting the proper knowledge beforehand, you'll need to revert back to the previous state of the Mac, which won't be an easy process, especially not without a Time Machine backup.
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If your Mac is too old to install macOS Mojave, you can still upgrade to the latest version of macOS that is compatible with it, even if you can't find those versions of macOS in the Mac App Store. Apple has pages for High Sierra, Sierra and El Capitan than include links directly to the hidden Mac App Store pages with those downloads.Macbook Pro Os Download
Installing the operating system on any of these Macs will require some technical knowledge, so it is not recommended for novice users. Also, a backup of your data is always a good idea in case anything goes wrong.
While there is a full step-by-step tutorial and video tutorial available on DOSDude1's website, it's good to get a summary of the basics, which start with downloading the macOS High Sierra Installer app from the Mac App Store:
- Format a USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) via Disk Utility.
- Open the macOS High Sierra Patcher tool, navigate to the High Sierra Installer App, then select your pen drive and click 'Start Operation'.
- Boot from the USB drive by holding down the option key after reboot.
- Install macOS normally, reboot back on the installer drive, and then open the 'macOS Post Install' application.
- From the options, select the Mac model you own. This step is important, because it contains the optimal patch for that specific model.
- Click the 'Patch' button, and after the process has finished, click 'Reboot'.
The Reason Not To Install macOS High Sierra on an Unsupported Mac
As you may have already experienced with other types of officially unsupported machines, the probability of having issues is much higher. The same applies in this case, too, since the macOS High Sierra Patcher will render your iMac 8.1 Broadcom Wi-Fi chip useless for certain models.
Macs that use the Broadcom BCM4321 Wi-Fi module will not have functional Wi-Fi when running High Sierra. Another issue that has been highlighted by the developer is that the trackpad in the MacBook 5,2 isn't fully supported in this version of OS.
These are just a few of the possible issues that could arise, and this is before even mentioning the various potential software errors that you can run into by using out-of-date hardware. Without getting the proper knowledge beforehand, you'll need to revert back to the previous state of the Mac, which won't be an easy process, especially not without a Time Machine backup.
Best Mac Optimization Software of 2020
Rank | Company | Info | Visit |
| |||
| |||
|
Get the Best Deals on Mac Optimization Software
Stay up to date on the latest tech news and discounts on Mac optimization software with our monthly newsletter.
If your Mac is too old to install macOS Mojave, you can still upgrade to the latest version of macOS that is compatible with it, even if you can't find those versions of macOS in the Mac App Store. Apple has pages for High Sierra, Sierra and El Capitan than include links directly to the hidden Mac App Store pages with those downloads.Macbook Pro Os Download
Check out Upgrading Older Macs To Earlier Versions Of macOS at YouTube for closed captioning and more options.
Video Transcript: What if you have a Mac that is too old to run macOS Mojave but you're not at the latest operating system that that Mac can run. How do you update to it? If you have a recent Mac from the last few years you can probably update to Mojave and you've probably been bugged to do so. I'm a big advocate of always running the latest software. You get the latest features and you get the best security. If you want to upgrade to Mojave you can simply search for Mojave in the Mac App Store and it comes up and you can upgrade from there. But if your Mac is too old you won't be able to. As a matter of fact if you don't see it here and you can't get to it in the Mac App Store that probably means your Mac is too old.So how do you get to a newer operating system that can run on your computer but is newer than what you've got. Like, for instance, maybe you're running Sierra but your Mac can run High Sierra and for some reason you haven't gotten around to upgrading to High Sierra yet. Well, you can still get to those in the Mac App Store but you won't find them by searching. If I search for High Sierra it doesn't come up. If I search for Mac OS it doesn't come up. I just get Mojave there and some other stuff. So how do you find it.Well, Apple has you covered because they have links that go directly to these. So let's take a look here in Safari. Here is the page to upgrade to macOS High Sierra. I'll include the link here in the post at MacMost.com. You can find it pretty easily with a search. It gives you the details about how to upgrade. It even gives you a compatibility check. Now if you want to see a compatibility check for Mojave just to be sure whether or not you can upgrade to it, Apple has a page for that as well with all the requirements for upgrading to Mojave.On this upgrade page here for High Sierra it has the requirements for upgrading to High Sierra. It has some general instructions and, most importantly, it has a link right here that will open up the Mac App Store to the page for macOS High Sierra. Even though before it was hidden. So this is great! But what if your Mac is even older than that.There are other pages as well. As a matter of fact at the bottom of this page for High Sierra there is a link to the same page but for Sierra. It's got the requirements for Sierra and it has a link to go to the Sierra page. If we go back here we can see there was the link for El Capitan and you can go and click on that here and get to the El Capitan link in the Mac App Store.So there are ways to upgrade to older versions than Mojave if your system can take them and if for some reason you haven't gotten around to upgrading all the way until now. I'll include all these links in the post at MacMost.com.Older Macos Download For My Macbook Pro 2020
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