Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs

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MacOS Mojave Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs. Important Note: If you have a machine that supports High Sierra natively. Select the disk or partition you want to install on, and erase it, ensuring to use either Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or APFS as the filesystem type. If formatting an entire drive, ensure GUID is selected. Sierra Patcher will now create a macOS installer on the drive you selected, making edits on the fly so that the resulting installer can be used on unsupported machines. Once the installer is created, Sierra Patcher will say Complete! And your USB drive should now show as OS X Base System instead of its previous name. 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.

MacOS Patcher is a command line tool for running macOS Sierra, macOS High Sierra, macOS Mojave, and macOS Catalina on unsupported Macs Catalina Unus It's integrated into macOS Patcher so you if you have a Mac supported by it, you can create your patched installer using Catalina Unus, and then add macOS Patcher's patches to it by selecting the. Inside the.dmg file, you will see an application named macOS Mojave Patcher. Double click it to open the application. If you get the error message 'macOS Mojave Patcher can't be opened because it's from an unidentified developer.' , (2nd image) you can bypass this by right clicking the application and clicking open (3rd image).

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.

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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.

Sierra

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:

  1. Format a USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) via Disk Utility.
  2. Open the macOS High Sierra Patcher tool, navigate to the High Sierra Installer App, then select your pen drive and click “Start Operation”.
  3. Boot from the USB drive by holding down the option key after reboot.
  4. Install macOS normally, reboot back on the installer drive, and then open the “macOS Post Install” application.
  5. From the options, select the Mac model you own. This step is important, because it contains the optimal patch for that specific model.
  6. 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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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.

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.

Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs Windows 10

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.

Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs Free

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

Patcher Tool Download

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.
Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs

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.

Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs Os

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.

Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs

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?

Macos High Sierra Patcher Tool For Unsupported Macs Data

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