A couple of notes on the install process: - I had to boot on Catalina Loader in order for stage 2 (OTA pre scripts) to work, and later chose the 'Install Macos' partition, otherwise I got forbidden symbol. Have to install dosdude post install patches right after stage 3 reboots, or the systems gets unbootable (boot loop) on stage 4.
- MacOS Catalina Patcher (formerly macOS Mojave Patcher, macOS High Sierra Patcher and macOS Sierra Patcher) is a small yet powerful tool that can help you create a bootable USB drive that can be used to install macOS Catalina on Mac computers older than mid 2012, basically acting as a macOS Mojave patch for unsupported Macs.
- If you want to install MacOS Big Sur, the Guide is here; UPDATED Catalina GUIDE IS HERE; https://www.youtub.
- This list will be updated as other compatible models become available. If you're using one of these computers with OS X Mavericks or later, you can install macOS Catalina. Your Mac also needs at least 4GB of memory and 12.5GB of available storage space, or up to 18.5GB of storage space when upgrading from OS X Yosemite or earlier.
Apple updates its desktop operating system, macOS, on a yearly basis, introducing new features that further enhance the high-end experience on offer. macOS Catalina introduced Sidecar, a feature that uses your iPad to provide a dual-display experience, alongside Screen Time support, an upgraded Photos app and more, but what if your Mac is too old to get the update?
While there’s no official way to install macOS Catalina on an older Mac, there are third-party workarounds – we talk you through the best right here. If you want to simply clean install macOS, we cover how to reset a Mac seperately.
Is my Mac too old for macOS Catalina?
While you might want to upgrade to macOS Catalina, you might not be able to – it all depends on the model of Mac or MacBook that you have. Much like iOS, Apple only supports recent hardware in macOS Catalina, due to likely performance issues with the power-hungry OS running on older kit.
Here’s a complete list of macOS Catalina-compatible desktops and laptops:
- MacBook: early 2015 or later
- MacBook Air: mid-2012 or later
- MacBook Pro: mid-2012 or later
- Mac mini: late 2012 or later
- iMac: late 2012 or later
- iMac Pro: all models
- Mac Pro: late 2013 or later
This means that, essentially, if your kit was released earlier than 2012, you’re out of luck – or are you? While there’s no official way to get macOS Catalina on an older Mac, there’s a techy workaround that’ll get the system running on your older kit – although whether you should or not is a different question altogether.
How to get Catalina on an older Mac
The problem is that, if you’re running an older unsupported machine, macOS Catalina simply won’t be available to download via the App Store. Even if you did manage to get a copy via third-party means, code baked into the install will stop it from running on unsupported hardware, but there is a workaround.
The macOS Catalina Patcher was created by third-party developer DOSDude1, and although you’ll likely run into some problems from time to time, it does allow you to run Catalina on unsupported hardware – even if it does go against Apple’s terms and conditions. Admittedly, the workaround doesn’t work with every Mac, but there’s a large collection listed on dosdude1.com with some going back to early 2008.
There is an in-depth video tutorial on the DOSDude1 website for those interested, but for those in a rush, we’ve simplified the steps right here:
- Download the macOS Catalina Patcher from dosdude1.com.
- Open the Catalina Patcher app.
- Click Continue.
- Click Download a Copy. The macOS Catalina download should then begin, but at around 8GB, it’ll likely take a while depending on your internet speeds.
- Plug in a USB memory stick – we’ve got a roundup of the best USB drives if you’re in need.
- Click Create a bootable installer and wait for the installer to be transferred to your USB drive.
You’ve now created a bootable macOS Catalina installer on your USB stick – next, you need to install it on your older Mac.
- Plug the USB stick into your older Mac.
- Restart your Mac while holding Option/Alt (depending on when it was made) to access Startup Manager.
- Select the bootable installer and click Enter. Your Mac should then open in Recovery mode.
- Click Reinstall macOS and wait for macOS Catalina to be installed on your machine.
- After the installation, restart the Mac in recovery mode and select the bootable drive once again.
- This time, select macOS Post Install. This will install all the third-party patches on your Mac that’ll make Catalina work.
- Once the patches have been installed, select Force Cache Rebuild.
- Restart your Mac.
When your Mac restarts, it should boot into a fully-functioning version of macOS Catalina, ready for you to enjoy.
To get more out of your Mac, take a look at how to use an iPad as a second display, how to screen record on a Mac and how to zip files on a Mac too.
Install Macos Catalina On Unsupported Mac
The era of Mac OS X is over. Kind of.
Macos Catalina For Unsupported Macs Os
For the first time in almost two decades, Apple has decided to bump up the version number of the Mac’s operating system. The change is meant to call attention to both the pending Apple Silicon transition—Big Sur will be the first macOS version to run on Apple’s own chips, even if it’s not the first to require those chips—and to an iPad-flavored redesign that significantly overhauls the look, feel, and sound of the operating system for the first time in a long while. Even the post-iOS-7 Yosemite update took pains to keep most things in the same place as it changed their look.
Macos Catalina Beta On Unsupported Macs
Install Macos 10.15 Catalina On An Unsupported Mac
The macOS Catalina runs typically on all the Macs that run Mojave. Even if it doesn’t, as well, you can definitely install macOS Catalina on your unsupported Mac. Catalina requires at least a 4GB of memory an addition 2 GB which runs Mojave. The macOS Catalina is one of the incredible operating systems. Macs compatible with macOS Big Sur (macOS 11): 2015 and later MacBook; 2013 and later MacBook Air; Late 2013 and later MacBook Pro; 2014 and later iMac; 2017 and later iMac Pro; 2014 and later Mac mini; 2013 and later Mac Pro; And Accordingly, the following models capable of running macOS Catalina will not be able to be upgraded to macOS Big Sur. Nov 14, 2020 A primitive USB patcher for installing macOS Big Sur on unsupported Macs By the way, if you have a Mac Pro, Big Mac by StarPlayrX is another patcher worth considering. For 2008 Mac Pros (MacPro3,1) in particular, Big Mac is clearly a better option than this patcher (at least for now).
But unlike the jump from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X, where Apple swept away almost every aspect of its previous operating system and built a new one from the foundation up, macOS 11 is still fundamentally macOS 10. Early betas were even labeled as macOS 10.16, and Big Sur can still identify itself as version 10.16 to some older software in order to preserve compatibility. Almost everything will still work the same way—or, at least, Big Sur doesn’t break most software any more than older macOS 10 updates did. It may even be a bit less disruptive than Catalina was. This ought to be a smooth transition, most of the time.
Macos Catalina For Unsupported Macs Windows 7
We won’t be making any major changes to how we approach this review, either. We’ll cover the operating system’s new look and new features—the things that any Big Sur Mac will be able to do, regardless of whether it’s running on an Intel or an Apple Silicon Mac. To the extent that it’s possible to do without final hardware in-hand, we’ll cover the new macOS features that will be native to Apple Silicon Macs and outline how the software side of the transition will go.