Install Macos Sierra On Unsupported Mac

For the first time since Apple released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in July 2012, Apple has dropped support for a number of older Macs that had supported OS X 10.8 through 10.11 El Capitan. No MacBook and iMac models prior to Late 2009 and no MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models prior. OS X El Capitan (10.11) on Unsupported Macs macOS Extractor and MacPostFactor are apps that guide you through patching and installing OS X El Capitan (10.11), Yosemite (10.10), Mavericks (10.9), or Mountain Lion (10.8) on your older Mac. Whilst it does lessen security somewhat, it is not the end of the world, and OS versions prior to El Capitan do not include it anyway. Related tutorial: How to disable System Integrity Protection 7) Once everything is ready, launch the macOS Sierra Patcher application. Question: I read somewhere that it is possible to install the latest version of OSX 10.10 Yosemite on my Mac, even though the official installer refuses to install. Can you give me any directions? Answer: Installing newer versions of OSX on slightly older Macs that do not meet the official system requirements. I am currently researching installing OS X 10.13 High Sierra on unsupported Macs. I did the Sierra upgrade on a couple of MacPros 4,1 and it has worked excellently, after I did a firmware update patch to get it to read as a MacPro 5,1, so I am very optimistic on doing it again.

For the first time since Apple released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in July 2012, Apple has dropped support for a number of older Macs that had supported OS X 10.8 through 10.11 El Capitan. No MacBook and iMac models prior to Late 2009 and no MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models prior to 2010 are officially supported by macOS Sierra, although workarounds have been developed for most unsupported 2008 and 2009 Macs.

Aug 12, 2021 Install Macos 10.15 Catalina On An Unsupported Mac MacOS Big Sur 11.0 and later allows management of legacy system extensions for both Intel-based Mac computers and Mac computers with Apple silicon. How to manage legacy system extensions Kernel extensions that use previously deprecated and unsupported KPIs no longer load by default. Select the drive or section you want to install macOS High Sierra on and click Erase, then select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS. When you format the entire disk, make sure you select the GUID markup. Use APFS for 2009 models and later, will work, as on macOS High Sierra. These following steps are only necessary if you do not have a copy of the Mojave installer application. Click 'Tools' and then click 'Download macOS Mojave' in the dropdown menu when it appears. Click continue, and then select where you will save the installer. I saved the installer to my desktop.

Mac OS X is no longer being called OS X, and Apple is not promoting Sierra with a version number either (however, it is internally identified as OS X 10.12). Now it’s simply macOS Sierra – in keeping with iOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

macOS Sierra was released on Sept. 20, 2016 and officially requires a supported Mac with at least 2 GB of system memory and 8.8 GB of available storage space. (We recommend at least 4 GB of RAM.)

Officially Supported Macs

All Late 2009 and later MacBook and iMac models are supported in macOS Sierra, as are all 2010 and newer MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro computers.

Hacking macOS Sierra for Unsupported Macs

Hardware requirements for macOS Sierre include a CPU with SSE4.1, so it cannot be run on any Mac with a CPU prior to the Penryn Core 2 Duo. In theory, it should be possible to get Sierra running on any Penryn or later Mac. It may be possible to swap out the Merom CPU in some Macs for a Penryn, which would then allow Sierra to run.

Sierra can run with 4 GB of system memory, but as with all recent versions of OS X, more memory will allow it to run even better.

Colin Mistr has published a macOS Sierra Patch Tool, which currently allows you to install and run macOS Sierra on the following officially unsupported hardware:

  • Early 2008 iMac or later
  • Mid 2009 MacBook (white) or later
  • Late 2008 MacBook Air or later
  • Early 2008 MacBook Pro or later
  • Late 2009 Mac mini or later
  • Early 2008 Mac Pro or later

Note: If you have the Early 2009 Mac Pro and have installed the firmware update patch so it identifies itself as MacPro5,1, you can run the standard installer. You do not need the patch tool.

You will need a USB drive 8 GB or larger and Mistr’s patch tool, which is linked on his page. WiFi does not function on these unsupported systems if they have the Broadcom BCM4321 WiFi module:

  • Late 2008 and Mid 2009 MacBook Air
  • Early 2008 and Mid 2008 MacBook Pro

New Features

Siri comes to the Mac with macOS Sierra.

macOS Sierra can automatically sync all files on your Desktop and in your Documents folder with other Macs running Sierra. You can also access these files in your iPhone or iPad using iCloud Drive.

The new Universal Clipboard lets you copy on one device and paste on another – whether it’s a Mac with Sierra or an iPhone or iPad with iOS 10.

Tabs are almost everywhere in Sierra, and they work much as they do in your browser. Third party apps will also be able to use tabs.

Apple Pay is now part of macOS, not just iOS.

If you have an Apple Watch, Auto Unlock will authenticate you and log you in automatically when you approach your Mac.

Mac Os El Capitan Patcher Tool For Unsupported Mac Store

Dosdude1 High Sierra Patcher

Optimized Storage can store infrequently used files in iCloud while keeping them immediately available any time you are online.

Availability

Apple developers can download an early pre-release version of macOS Sierra today, and a beta version will be available to users in July. The full release is scheduled for Fall 2016.

Keywords: #macossierra

Mac Os El Capitan Patcher

Short link: http://goo.gl/MkIekT

searchword: macossierra

Apple's OS X El Capitan in October got off to the fastest-ever one-month start for a Mac operating system.

El Capitan, also tagged by Apple as OS X 10.11, was released on the last day of September: 31 days later it had been installed on another 25% of all Macs, bumping its total to 27%, according to U.S. analytics firm Net Applications.

The October increase was the largest one-month user share gain by an edition of OS X in the six years that Computerworld has recorded Net Applications' data, beating Mavericks and Yosemite, the two previous upgrades Apple handed out free of charge.

Net Applications estimates operating system shares by tallying unique visitors to its clients' websites. In the absence of definitive data from Apple, user share is one of the few proxies for real-world OS X adoption.

When the release dates of each edition were taken into account, however, El Capitan's average daily adoption rate only edged Yosemite's and turned out to be lower than Mavericks'. Those forerunners launched in the second half of October in 2014 and 2013, respectively, and so spread their biggest gains over a longer stretch than El Capitan: 41 days for Mavericks and 47 days for Yosemite.

Not surprisingly, the majority of those who migrated to El Capitan came from its immediate predecessor, Yosemite. Last month, Yosemite shed more than a third of its user share as its users upgraded.

But other, even older versions of OS X also lost user share last month. Each of those tracked by Computerworld -- from 2007's Leopard on -- fell at rates larger than their average decline over the previous 12 months. Mavericks, for instance, fell to 14% of all editions of OS X, a two-point slide that was double its earlier average.

Mac Os El Capitan Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs

Approximately 90% of all Macs were eligible to upgrade to El Capitan when the operating system launched on Sept. 30. El Capitan will run on the same Macs that have run Yosemite, Mavericks, 2012's Mountain Lion and 2011's Lion.

On the flip side, a sizable number of Macs continued to run outdated editions of OS X last month. By Net Applications' data, about 16%, representing one in six Macs, was powered by a version that Apple no longer supports with security updates. Apple distributed the final security update for the three-year-old Mountain Lion in August. It continues to patch Mavericks and Yosemite, however.

The one-in-six who run unsupported operating systems seems to be the natural order. Not only has that same percentage of OS X users been on the retired list in earlier years -- even as new editions rolled out annually -- but in the Windows world, a double-digit fraction still run Windows XP, which left support more than a year and a half ago.

The free El Capitan upgrade can be obtained from Apple's Mac App Store, and supports iMacs as old as mid-2007, MacBook Pro notebooks from late 2007 on, and MacBook Air laptops from late 2008 going forward.

With macOS Sierra, Apple has once again raised the bar on which Macs can install and run the newest version of the Mac OS. But as sometimes has happened in the past, there are workarounds that make it possible to install Sierra on some unsupported Macs.

A huge thank you to Collin Mistr for developing and sharing his macOS Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs. Mistr is a member of our Low End Mac group on Facebook, and he’s been sharing this tool ever since he figured out how to install the first public beta of Sierra. Several members of our group have used the tool and shared their results.

Apple Requirements for macOS Sierra

Your Mac must have at least 2 GB of memory and 8.8 GB of available storage space. You must also be running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or later. (For those still on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, you can upgrade to OS X 10.11 El Capitan for free and then install macOS Sierra.)

  • Late 2009 iMac or newer
  • Late 2009 MacBook or newer
  • Mid 2010 MacBook Pro or newer
  • Mid 2010 Mac Pro or newer
  • Mid 2010 Mac mini or newer
  • Late 2010 MacBook Air or newer

All Macs introduced in the past six years are supported, as well as the consumer MacBooks and iMacs from late 2009, which are almost 7 years old. The official macOS Sierra installer will refuse to install on anything older.

Real Hardware Requirements for macOS Sierra

Again, your Mac needs at least 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of available storage, and you’ll need a USB drive (thumb drive or hard drive) at least 8 GB in size. You will also need a Mac with an Intel Penryn Core 2 Duo or later CPU, since Sierra requires SSE4.1 – and older versions of the Core 2 Duo, such as Merom, and older Xeon chips (used in the Mac Pro) don’t have it.

mac OS Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs supports the followining:

  • Early 2008 Mac Pro or newer
  • Early 2008 iMac or newer
  • Early 2008 MacBook Pro or newer
  • Late 2008 MacBook Air or newer
  • Early 2009 MacBook White or newer

Where Apple only supports some Late 2009 and Mid 2010 Macs, Mistr’s patch supports all Early 2009 Macs, some Late 2008 Macs, and even some Early 2008 Macs. We have a full list of Macs that can unofficially install Sierra using using the Unsupported Sierra tag. We will also be updating these profiles with #unsupportedsierra as time permits.

You Can Install It, But…

That’s a lot more low-end support than Apple offers, so what’s the catch?

Install Macos Sierra On Unsupported Mac

There has been an issue with some of the Apple AirPort hardware in older Macs, but other than that, it’s pretty much clear sailing. The AirPort support depends on which WiFi module your Mac uses. If it is not the Broadcaom BCM4321, you’re set.

Other issues include the trackpad in the 2009 MacBooks and loss of volume control on the Early 2008 iMac. Details below.

Unsupported Devices

  • The Broadcom BCM4321 WiFi module used in many older Macs is not supported. You will need to replace it with a compatible module or use a USB WiFi dongle. Models that may have this module include:
    • Early 2008 Mac Pro (MacPro3,1)
    • Early 2009 and Mid 2009 MacBook (MacBook5,2)
    • Early 2008 and Late 2008 MacBook Pro (MacBookPro4,1) but the 15″ Late 2008 MacBook Prois supported
    • Early 2008 iMac (iMac8,1)
    • Early 2009 and Late 2009 Mac mini (Macmini3,1)
    • Late 2008 and Mid 2009 MacBook Air (MacBookAir2,1).
  • The trackpad in the Early 2009 and Mid 2009 MacBooks is not fully supported. Sierra sees it as a standard mouse; you cannot change the trackpad orientation settings.
  • Some Early 2008 iMacs have an audio issue that will not let you adjust sound volume.

Real World macOS Sierra Requirements

Memory

Sure, you can install and run macOS Sierra on a 2 GB Mac, but you’re not likely to be happy with system performance. You have a couple browsers running or several tabs in one browser, and that amount of memory will really hobble performance.

Heck, I find 3 GB on my 2.0 GHz 2007 Mac mini with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard barely adequate. Then again, I often have 3-4 browsers running, many open tabs, and some additional apps.

My 2.0 GHz Late 2008 Aluminum MacBook has been running OS X 10.9 Mavericks and 10.11 El Capitan decently with 4 GB of memory, and that should be adequate for most users. Power users, however, will want at least 8 GB of memory.

A Fast Drive

Nothing will make your aging Mac seem fast like a Solid State Drive (SSD). Where hard drives are limited in how fast they can read data off a spinning platter, SSDs have no such limitation. Speed is almost completely limited by the speed of the SATA connection in your older Mac. Macs with 1.5 Mbps SATA will seem very fast with an SSD, those with 3.0 Mbps SATA will seem wicked fast, and those with 6.0 Mbps SATA will seem insanely fast.

SSDs have become very affordable over the past year. I have 256 GB and 480 GB SSDs in my Mac mini and MacBook respectively, and they made a world of difference.

If you need really high capacity or are on a very tight budget, look into newer 7200 rpm hard drives to replace your older hard drives. Newer drives tend to be faster and have larger data buffers, which boosts performance.

A third option if hybrid hard drives, which are part hard drive and part SSD. The drive itself manages which files are on the SSD and which remain on the hard drive platters, much like Apple’s Fusion Drive. I have tried hybrid, and while it was nicer than a straight hard drive, it doesn’t compare with a full fledged SSD. For some users in some applications, though, it might be a perfect mix of hard drive capacity and sometime SSD throughput.

Install Macos Sierra On Unsupported Mac

In Closing

Install Macos High Sierra On Unsupported Mac

We Mac geeks have had a long history of hacking Mac OS X to run on unsupported hardware – starting with OS X 10.2. The biggest success was probably the unsupported installer hack for OS X 10.5 Leopard, allowing easy installation on Macs with G4 CPUs below the official 867 MHz threshold.

Install Macos Sierra On Unsupported Machinery

Collin Mistr’s patch is the same kind of thing for macOS Sierra. If your Mac is not supported by Apple but is by Mistr’s patch, give it a try. I think you’ll like it.

Dosdude Sierra

Keywords: #macossierra #unsupportedmacs #unsupportedsierra

Short link: https://goo.gl/InL5NS

searchword: unsupportedsierra