Apple updates its macOS (previously Mac OS X) desktop and laptop operating system once a year, like clockwork, bringing new features and improvements. That’s all very well, but Apple’s most recent version of macOS – Big Sur – won’t run on any Mac older than 2013, and in some cases 2014. Which may well mean that your Mac can’t officially be updated – unless you follow this tutorial.

Before you go ahead and follow the advice below a word of warning: there is a reason why Apple chooses not to support the new Mac operating system on older Macs. Older Macs just don’t have the necessary components or power required to cope with the demands of the more modern systems. So if you do install Big Sur, Catalina, or any recent version of macOS on an unsupported Mac don’t expect it to run smoothly.

But I would rather buy a second generation silicon mac to truly take advantage of the new OS features and remain on Catalina (or HS) for everything else. Or just bootcamp your old unsupported mac to windows 10 as the main OS and macOS as secondary to bring out some of its latent potential to 2021. I could not get it to properly install on imac 9,1. Make your old Mac support macOS Catalina. Older Mac owners don’t have to worry. It’s not the end of the world. There’s a patch that lets you install Catalina to Macs that are not officially supported. The patch is known as DosDude Catalina Patcher. DosDude Catalina Patcher is a third-party tool, meaning Apple does not develop the tool. The latest and more advanced Mac operating system was announced at the Worldwide Developer Conference by Apple. MacOS Big Sur, also known as macOS 11 is a great catch as it comes with numerous new features such as redesigned icons and menu bars, as well as a new user interface.

Is my Mac too old to update?

We have a macOS compatibility checker here, so you can see which versions of macOS your Mac should be able to run.

Here’s an overview of the Macs that will run Big Sur, according to Apple:

• MacBook models from early 2015 or later
• MacBook Air models from 2013 or later
• MacBook Pro models from 2013 or later
• Mac mini models from 2014 or later
• iMac models from 2014 or later
• iMac Pro (all models)
• Mac Pro models from 2013 or later

Apple advises that macOS Catalina will run on the following Macs:

• MacBook models from early 2015 or later
• MacBook Air models from mid-2012 or later
• MacBook Pro models from mid-2012 or later
• Mac mini models from late 2012 or later
• iMac models from late 2012 or later
• iMac Pro (all models)
• Mac Pro models from late 2013

Apple advises that macOS Mojave will run on the following Macs:

• Mac models from 2012 or later
• iMac Pro (from 2017)
• MacBook models from 2015 or later
• MacBook Pro models from 2012 or later
• MacBook Air models from 2012 or later
• Mac mini models from 2012 or later
• Mac Pro models from late 2013 (plus mid-2010 and mid-2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU)

The older macOS High Sierra had a little more scope. Apple said that would run happily on a late 2009 or later MacBook or iMac, or a 2010 or later MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini or Mac Pro.

If you Mac is supported read: How to update to Big Sur.

This means that if your Mac is older than 2012 it won’t officially be able to run Catalina or Mojave. In the case of Catalina that includes all the old-style Mac Pro models, pre-‘trash can’. If you want to run , but your Mac is older than 2013/2014, the new macOS just isn’t for you, as far as Apple is concerned anyway.

However, despite this it is possible to run newer macOS versions on older Macs thanks to a patcher.

Don’t expect things to be plain sailing though – in fact you should expect to encounter problems. Be prepared for the fact that your Mac will not function optimally and you could lose data. (For that reason we recommend doing a full backup of your Mac first).

For example, many older Macs have problems with the Wi-Fi connection after installing macOS Big Sur. If you need Wi-Fi, installing the preview version is not advisable.

Running Big Sur on another macOS on an unsupported Mac may also be considered against Apple’s terms and conditions. For information about Apple’s terms and conditions read: Should you agree to Apple’s terms and conditions.

Wondering if it’s worth updating your Mac? Read: macOS Big Sur vs Catalina.

How to install Big Sur on an unsupported Mac

If your Mac is more than a few years old and you try to install Big Sur on it you will hit a few hurdles – the first being the fact that Software Update simply won’t let you install the new version of macOS.

However, this doesn’t mean that installing Big Sur on an older Mac isn’t possible. It is – you just need a patch. Luckily there’s a patcher for installing macOS Big Sur on older Macs available – the big-sur-micropatcher can be downloaded from GitHub.

Note that macOS patchers cannot perform magic and not all Macs will be compatible. Before installing Big Sur on an older Mac, make sure that your Mac is compatible with the patcher. On the patch page (linked above) you will find some notes indicating the various years of manufacture. Before you upgrade to macOS Big Sur review the compatibility notes.

The procedure for updating to a new version of macOS on incompatible Macs is as follows:

1. First you will need to obtain the installation files for the operating system. You’ll have to obtain these using a compatible Mac. If they don’t show up in Software Update you can get the installation files from the Mac App Store.
2. Now you need to load these installation files onto a USB stick and prepare the USB stick for installing macOS Big Sur. We explain how to create a bootable installer of macOS in a separate article.
3. Next you need to obtain software that is able to trick the installation files of the version of macOS you want to install into believing that the Mac is compatible. You can download that patcher we mentioned above from GitHub. Click on the Code and Download Zip buttons.
4. After extracting the archive from your download you will find the file “micropatcher.sh”.
5. Open a terminal window and drag and drop the file into the terminal. Then run the command.
6. Now install macOS from your bootable installer.
7. In some cases, there are still tasks to be performed after the installation. These can be found in the instructions for big-sur-micropatcher. After preparing the Mac with the USB stick, start a terminal and enter “/ Volumes / Image Volume / set-vars.sh”. The script is part of the patch for macOS Big Sur and changes important settings for booting and system files.

The update can take several hours. In our case it sometimes looked like the installer had crashed during the update. In this case you should wait, as the installation is usually still in progress. Over time, better ways to update a machine may be found. Currently, the safest approach is to update using a bootable USB stick.

How to install Big Sur updates on an unsupported Mac

Once you have installed macOS Big Sur, updates will appear in Software Updates as soon as they are available. However, you should not install these, but ideally again create a USB stick with the current installation files and install the update in this way.

These steps were translated from an article by our colleagues at Macwelt.

How to run Catalina on an older Mac

You can download a macOS Catalina Patcher from a developer known as DOSDude1. The patch will enable you to install Catalina on an older Mac.

The Catalina hack doesn’t work with every Mac, but many are covered. You can see if your Mac is supported here.

DODDude1 offers a video tutorial on his website, here. We’ve simplified the steps below, but we recommend that you follow his tutorial.

1. Download the latest version of the Catalina patch here. (You can make a donation).
2. Open the Catalina Patcher app.
3. Click Continue.
4. Choose Download a Copy.
5. The download (of Catalina) will start – since it’s almost 8GB it is likely to take a while.
6. Plug in a flash drive.
7. Choose ‘Create a bootable installer’ from the options.
8. Plug the bootable installer into the Mac you wish to update.
9. Restart the Mac while holding the Option/Alt key. This will cause the Mac open in Startup Manager.
10. Choose the bootable installer drive and Enter.
11. Now your Mac should open in Recovery.
12. Choose Reinstall macOS and wait for the new version of macOS to install.
13. After the installation has completed, you should restart the Mac in Recovery mode again, choosing the drive that contains the bootable installer.
14. Now choose macOS Post Install and the required patches will be installed on your Mac so that Catalina can work.
15. When the patches have been applied choose Force Cache Rebuild.
16. Restart.
17. When it reboots, your Mac should now boot into a fully working copy of macOS Catalina.

If you are running a version of macOS that predates High Sierra or Mojave, you will need to format your hard drive to APFS.

We have more advice about installing macOS via a Bootable Installer here.

How to run Mojave on an older Mac

As with Catalina, a patch tool was written DOSDude1 that enables you to install macOS Mojave on an older Mac.

You can download the Mojave Patch Tool here.

How to run High Sierra and older on an older Mac

DOSDude1 wrote a similar patch for High Sierra and prior to that Sierra. With the patch installed you can go back as far as early 2008 models. It’s unlikely to run like a dream, which is why Apple advises against this course of action. But you should be able to achieve tolerable performance.

Why you shouldn’t install new macOS on an old Mac

We’d advise tech beginners against attempting this workaround: it calls for a moderate degree of tech expertise.

Remember that we’re going against Apple’s official advice on this one, which means that if something goes wrong – and that’s always a possibility with an OS install, even if you’re using official software – your warranty is unlikely to save you. Of course, it’s unlikely that your 2008 Mac would be under any warranty so that may not worry you too much.

Back up your Mac before going any further. And bear in mind two more caveats.

At some point Apple may patch this hack and prevent it working in future. So if you’re keen, and happy that the risks and difficulties are worth it for you, then jump in while you still can.

Otherwise, you might want to read How to sell an old Mac.

We’ve had a look at what’s coming in Big Sur – here’s our verdict: macOS Big Sur: should you update your Mac?

In this post, we will learn How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac. macOS Catalina is the most innovative variant of the macOS that came within our palms on October 7, 2019. The debut of Catalina occurred in WWDC 2019. The general public beta of macOS Catalina was outside afterward in July 2019. Apple introduced Catalina with amazing features and amazing wallpapers by describing macOS Catalina is a great listener, and she can know you better than anyone. Catalina additionally has a Time-Shifting desktop, which turns light into dark or dark to light based on your time zone.

Here is how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Some helpful links:
How to Speed Up macOS Catalina? 7 Easy Methods
How To Download Macos Catalina Vmware & Virtualbox Image – Latest Version
Download macOS Big Sur VMware & VirtualBox Image – Latest Version
How to share folders on VirtualBox & Vmware? (Windows-MAC) Step by Step Guide

macOS Catalina

Catalina’s complete variant was down to October 7th, 2019. Once Catalina was totally out, there were lots of new things and also as many problems. I personally utilize macOS Catalina, and I enjoy it very much and don’t have any issue with it, except it is difficult to locate things. But, there are lots of features and updates I haven’t still touched off.

With the support of Catalyst, you can use macOS and iPadOS simultaneously. Apple has made so many new updates and features that let us edit our photos and videos like a pro editor. Many people adore Catalina, and people like to utilize macOS Catalina not merely by Mac consumers but also by Windows and other operating platform users. Within the following guide, I will demonstrate how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

The most recent upgrades happened in macOS Catalina on March 24, 2020. Because of this upgrade, changes came into Screen Time Communication Limits, a characteristic brought to the iPhone in the iOS 13.3 upgrade, it includes iCloud Folder Sharing, and it brings a fresh Head Pointer Access option that enables the cursor to be controlled together with head movements using Mac’s camera. We’ll find out how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

How To Install macOS Big Sur On VMware On Windows?
How To Install macOS Big Sur On VirtualBox On Windows?
How to Speed Up macOS Catalina? 7 Easy Methods

Is your mac in Your Unsupported List?

macOS Catalina is amazing, but when users can not utilize it, then it makes no sense to know it. From a while ago, Apple was cutting and creating the harmonious Macs list bigger for their new variants, and this list can be applied to Catalina. As Apple is rolling more versions, they are cutting more old Macs from the list. The list of jobless Mac is getting larger and is already too large. Maybe that is because Apple needs more users to buy their brand new products rather than using their older ones.

Macos 11 On Unsupported Macs

Considering that the list of unsupported Macs has increased now, some run Mojave users can not set up macOS Catalina. Based on Apple, they said, we’re decreasing the amount of Mac supports because old Macs don’t have enough capacity and metallic graphics processors. Based on Apple, they stated, we are accountable for all of the older mac users that can’t encounter MacOS Catalina within their Mac. Not everyone can afford to have a new Mac every year, and Macs aren’t cheap also. Don’t worry. We’re likely to show you how you can install macOS Catalina on unsupported Mac.

Before heading to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac, check out the unsupported collection of all Macs and if your Mac is from the unsupported list.

Here are the list of unsupported Mac.

Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro:
MacPro3,1
MacPro4,1
MacPro5,1
iMac8,1
iMac9,1
iMac10,x
iMac11,x (systems using AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will likely soon be almost unusable when conducting Catalina.)
IMac12,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will likely soon be nearly unusable when conducting Catalina.)
MacBookPro4,1
MacBookPro5,x
MacBookPro6,x
MacBookPro7,x
MacBookPro8,x
Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook:
MacBookAir2,1
MacBookAir3,x
MacBookAir4,x
MacBook5,1
Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or snowy MacBook:
Macmini3,1
Macmini4,1
Macmini5,x (systems using AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series GPUs will probably be almost unusable when running Catalina.)
MacBook5,2
MacBook6,1
MacBook7,1
Early-2008 or newer Xserve:
Xserve2,1
Xserve3,1

When you have checked and found out your Mac is on the unsupported list, measure to the next step, which is to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac: What We Need?

Before you proceed forward, here are the things you’ll need for this particular process.

16GB USB Drive
DosDude Catalina Patcher
macOS Catalina File
Backup Mac

Once that’s with you, let’s dive into the best and easiest way to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Backup Your Mac

Before installing any operating system, you must choose to backup your computer fully. We recommend backing up your apparatus. If anything else goes wrong and you hadn’t backed up your apparatus, everything will be deleted. However, if you’d backed up your device, you can restore that. Here are the measures.

First, in the event you wish to replicate, Time Machine Backup can allow you to get it done without deleting some of your folders.

Connect an external hard disk or a USB having a small space.

On the top left corner of your display, click the Apple icon. Proceed to the dropdown menu and Choose System Preference.

By clicking Time Machine, you can earn a machine that will back up your device.

Choose your copy and click Backup.

With that completed, we’ll start the procedure and how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

How To Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac

After checking your Mac, if your Mac is in the brand new list, installing macOS Catalina marginally with no tool and measures is possible. If your Mac is unsupported, follow the steps below.

Once the application is there, open it. Click Continue.

macOS Catalina Patcher

That being said, if you have the macOS Catalina copy, click Browse to get a backup. If you don’t, pick Download a copy.

macOS Installer App

With this window, click Start Download.

Download macOS

Once it’s finished, insert the USB and click on ”Create a Bootable Installer.”

Setup System

Let the process finish and once it’s done, take out the USB. After a few minutes, then insert the USB again, then reboot into the Mac.

When powering on, hold the Option key for a while until the startup manager appears. Following the Startup Manager opens, click on the USB Drive with the Aid of arrow keys.

Within this stage, choose Disk Utility and then click Continue.

macOS Utilities

If you have completed the previous steps correctly, you’re now in the Disk Utility window. To format your inner drive with APFS format, select the drive, and click Erase. When you’re done, close the window.

Erase Disk

Wait for the window and choose Reinstall macOS to initiate the setup.

macOS Utilities

Click Continue with the straightforward installation wizard and also about the install window, then choose the appropriate disk and click on Install. It might require some while. And you will observe many orders going up and down.

Click on the Force Cache Rebuild option and click on Restart.

Welcome

Hackintosh On Unsupported Mac

By this step, you will see macOS Catalina Setup running on your Mac.

After the installation process is done, you want to shut down your Mac and insert the USB drive for booting up your PC. We’re doing this step to verify patches.

Now you’re totally done with all the settings and what. We have installed the most recent version of macOS booted in an unsupported device.

How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac: Conclusion

The installation procedure may be hard, but it is painless. If you face any issues installing macOS Catalina on an Unsupported Mac. Feel free to comment down below.

Here are some- Common macOS Catalina Problems and Solutions: 11 Key Errors and their Fix

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