Macos High Sierra Unsupported Mac

• Macos High Sierra Unsupported Macbook Air
• High Sierra Patcher

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.

MacOS High Sierra on Unsupported Macs ​ For the first time since OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) in 2012, macOS Sierra (10.12) changed the official minimum requirements needed for installation, leaving. Sep 20, 2016 Apple's latest desktop software, macOS Sierra, is only officially supported on Macs from late-2009 and up. But there are some ways to install the new OS on older devices. Here's the hack you.

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.

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.

Macos High Sierra Unsupported Macbook Air

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?

This advisory describes the changes and steps administrators can take to deploy Mac Connector 1.14.

May 07, 2020 How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac; With these much problems that are for Mac users, Windows users might not even think of getting Mac or MacOS somehow. But that’s not true. With all those problems, there’s still some workaround in the underground to make it work. That is install macOS Mojave on Windows.

1. How to keep older Macs secure: a geeky approach (run Catalina on unsupported Macs) Posted on October 8th, 2019 by Jay Vrijenhoek. Note: This article was originally written for macOS Mojave, and has been adapted for macOS Catalina. From a security standpoint, using the latest version of macOS—the Mac operating system—is always preferred.
2. Allow the installation to proceed and the relevant patches will be applied to your unsupported Mac automatically. Apple could always release a future update to macOS 10.15 that prevents the.

Mac Connector version 1.14 introduces a number of changes that require user attention. Most notably, this Connector release includes changes to full disk access approvals and adds support for macOS 11 (Big Sur) System Extensions.
Since the inital 1.14 launch, compatibility issues have been discovered with 3rd party applications on macOS 10.15 Catalina when system extensions are in use. Apple will be addressing these issues in future releases of macOS 11 but will not be fixing these issues in macOS 10.15. Consequently, starting with version 1.14.1, the Mac Connector will use legacy kernel extensions instead of system extensions on all versions of macOS 10.15.
Mac Connector 1.14 is required to ensure endpoint protection on macOS 11. Older Mac Connectors will not work on this version of macOS.
It is highly recommended to deploy the Mac Connector with an MDM profile that grants the required approvals. MDM profiles must be installed before installing or upgrading the Mac Connector to ensure the needed permissions are recognized. Refer to the Known Issues section later in this document if MDM cannot be used.

High Sierra Patcher

Minimum OS Requirements

AMP for Endpoints Mac Connector 1.14.0 supports the following macOS versions:

• macOS 11, using macOS system extensions.
• macOS 10.15.5 and later, using macOS system extensions.
• macOS 10.15.0 through macOS 10.15.4, using macOS kernel extensions
• macOS 10.14, using macOS kernel extensions.

AMP for Endpoints Mac Connector 1.14.1 supports the following macOS versions:

• macOS 11, using macOS system extensions.
• macOS 10.15 using macOS kernel extensions.
• macOS 10.14, using macOS kernel extensions.

For deployments that include endpoints running older macOS versions, consult the OS Compatibility Table for compatible Mac Connector versions.

Important Changes

Mac Connector 1.14 introduces important changes in three areas:

1. Approving AMP macOS Extensions to load
2. Full Disk Access
3. New Directory Structure

Approving Mac Connector macOS Extensions

The Mac Connector uses either System Extensions or legacy Kernel Extensions to monitor system activities, depending on the macOS version. On macOS 11, System Extensions replace the legacy Kernel Extensions that are unsupported in macOS 11. User approval is required on all versions of macOS before either type of extension is allowed to run. Without approval, certain Connector functions such as on-access file scan and network access monitoring will be unavailable.

Mac Connector 1.14 introduces two new macOS system extensions:

1. An Endpoint Security extension, named AMP Security Extension, to monitor system events
2. A Network Content Filter extension, named AMP Network Extension, to monitor network access

The two legacy Kernel Extensions, ampfileop.kext and ampnetworkflow.kext, are included for backwards compatibility on older macOS versions that don't support the new macOS System Extensions.

The following approvals are required for macOS 11** and later:

• Approve AMP Security Extension to load
• Approve AMP Network Extension to load
• Allow AMP Network Extension to filter network content

** Mac Connector version 1.14.0 also required these approvals on macOS 10.15. These approvals are no longer required on macOS 10.15 when running Mac Connector 1.14.1 or later.

The following approvals are required for macOS 10.14 and macOS 10.15:

Install Macos Mojave On Unsupported Mac

• Approve AMP Kernel Extensions to load

These approvals can be granted using the macOS Security & Privacy Preferences on the endpoint, or by using Mobile Device Management (MDM) profiles.

Approving Mac Connector macOS Extensions at the Endpoint

System and Kernel extensions can be approved manually from the macOS Security & Privacy Preferences pane.

Approving Mac Connector macOS Extensions using MDM

NOTE: macOS Extensions cannot be retroactively approved via MDM. If the MDM profile is not deployed prior to installing the Connector then the approvals will not be granted and additional intervention will be required in one of the following forms:

1. Manual approval of the macOS Extensions on endpoints that had the management profile deployed retroactively.
2. Upgrading the Mac Connector to a newer version than the one currently deployed. Endpoints that had themanagement profile deployed retroactively will recognize the management profile after upgrade and gain approval once the upgrade completes.

AMP extensions can be approved using a management profile with the following payloads and properties:

Full Disk Access

MacOS 10.14 and later require approval before an application can access parts of the filesystem that contain personal user data (e.g. Contacts, Photos, Calendar, and other applications). Certain Connector functions such as on-access file scan will be unable to scan these files for threats without approval.

Previous Mac Connector versions required the user to grant Full Disk Access to the ampdaemon program. Mac Connector 1.14 requires Full Disk Access for:

• 'AMP for Endpoints Service' and
• 'AMP Security Extension'

The ampdaemon program no longer requires Full Disk Access starting with this new Mac Connector version.

Full Disk Access approvals can be granted using the macOS Security & Privacy Preferences on the endpoint, or by using Mobile Device Management (MDM) profiles.

Approving Full Disk Access at the Endpoint

Full Disk Access can be approved manually from the macOS Security & Privacy Preferences pane.

Approving Full Disk Access Using MDM

NOTE: macOS Extensions cannot be retroactively approved via MDM. If the MDM profile is not deployed prior to installing the Connector then the approvals will not be granted and additional intervention will be required in one of the following forms:

1. Manual approval of the macOS Extensions on endpoints that had the management profile deployed retroactively.
2. Upgrading the Mac Connector to a newer version than the one currently deployed. Endpoints that had the management profile deployed retroactively will recognize the management profile after upgrade and gain approval once the upgrade completes.

Full Disk Access can be approved using a management profile's Privacy Preferences Policy Control payload with a SystemPolicyAllFiles property with the following two entries, one for the AMP for Endpoints Service and one for the AMP Security Extension:

If your deployment includes computers running AMP Connector version 1.12.7 or older, the following additional entry is still required to grant full disk access to ampdaemon for those computers:

New Directory Structure

Mac Connector 1.14 introduces two changes to the directory structure:

1. The Applications directory has been renamed from Cisco AMP to Cisco AMP for Endpoints.
2. The command-line utility ampcli has been moved from /opt/cisco/amp to /Applications/Cisco AMP for Endpoints/AMP for Endpoints Connector.app/Contents/MacOS. The directory /opt/cisco/amp contains a symlink to the ampcli program at its new location.

The complete directory structure for the new AMP Connector is as follows:

Known Issues with macOS 11.0 and Mac Connector 1.14.1.

• Guidance for fault 10, 'Reboot required to load kernel module or system extension,' may be incorrect if four or more Network Content Filters are installed on the computer. Refer to the AMP For Endpoints Mac Connector Faults article for more details.

Known Issues with macOS 10.15/11.0 and Mac Connector 1.14.0.

• Some faults raised by the Mac Connector may be raised unexpectedly. Refer to the AMP For Endpoints Mac Connector Faults article for more details.
  • Fault 13, Too many Network Content Filter system extensions, may be raised after upgrading. Rebooting the computer will resolve the fault in this situation.
  • Fault 15, System Extension requires Full Disk Access, may be raised after reboot due to a bug in macOS 11.0.0. This issue is fixed in macOS 11.0.1. The fault can be resolved by re-granting full disk access in the Security & Privacy pane in macOS System Preferences.
    
• During installation, the Security & Privacy pane may display 'Placeholder Developer' as the application name when granting permission for the Mac Connector system extensions to run. This is due to a bug in macOS 10.15. Check the boxes beside 'Placeholder Developer' to allow the Mac Connector to protect the computer.
  
  • The systemextensionsctl listcommand can be used to determine which system extensions are awaiting approval. System extensions with the state [activated waiting for user]in this output are displayed as 'Placeholder Developer' in the macOS preferences page shown above. If more than two 'Placeholder Developer' entries are showin in the above preferences page, uninstall all software that uses system extensions (including the Mac Connector) so that no system extensions are awaiting approval, and then reinstall the Mac Connector.
    The Mac Connector sysem extensions are identified as follows:
    
    • The Network Extension is shown as com.cisco.endpoint.svc.networkextension.
    • The Endpoint Security extension is shown has com.cisco.endpoint.svc.securityextension.
      
• During install, the prompt to allow the Mac Connector's Content Filter to monitor network traffic may display '(null)' as the application name. This is caused by a bug in macOS 10.15. The user needs to select 'Allow' to to ensure protection of the computer.
  If the prompt was dismissed by clicking 'Don't Allow' it can be displayed again by clicking the AMP Agent menulet icon in the menu bar and selecting 'Allow Network Filter.'
  Once enabled, the AMP Network Extension filter will be listed in the Network Preferences page.
  
• On macOS 11, when upgrading from Mac Connector 1.12 to Mac Connector 1.14, Fault 4, System Extension Failed to Load, may be raised temporarily while the Connector is transitioning from the kernel extensions to the new system extensions.

Revision History

Dec 1, 2020

• Mac Connector 1.14.1 no longer uses system extensions on macOS 10.15.
• Additional guidance on using terminal check which 'Placeholder Developer' System Extensions are awaiting approval when using Mac Connector 1.14.0.

Nov 9, 2020

• Corrected bundle ID in full disk access CodeRequirement MDM payload.

Nov 3, 2020

• Release date for 1.14.0 Mac Connector is November 2020.
• The 1.14.0 Mac Connector will use System Extensions starting with macOS 10.15.5. Previously this was 10.15.6.
• Added Known Issues section.
• Updated directory structure outline.

Carbon Copy Cloner requires macOS. CCC will not run on Windows.

Carbon Copy Cloner 5 is the latest version available. Users running Yosemite (10.10), El Capitan (10.11), Sierra (10.12), High Sierra (10.13), Mojave (10.14), or Catalina (10.15) should use this version of CCC. If you are having trouble downloading CCC from the link above, try this alternate download location.

Upgrading from CCC 4? CCC 5 is a paid upgrade. CCC 4 Personal and Household licenses purchased prior to May 22, 2017 are eligible for upgrade pricing. When you open CCC 5, it will automatically retrieve your new license or an upgrade coupon that you can use to purchase CCC 5 at 50% off. CCC 4 licenses purchased on or after May 22, 2017 are eligible for a free CCC 5 upgrade license.

CCC 5: Support for macOS 11 Big Sur

CCC 5.1.22 (and later) is qualified for macOS 11 Big Sur. Open CCC and choose 'Check for updates..' from the Carbon Copy Cloner to get the update, or click the 'Download CCC 5' button above. Please take a moment to review the following resources prior to upgrading to macOS Big Sur:

Macos Mojave On Unsupported Mac

Carbon Copy Cloner 4.1.24 is compatible with Mountain Lion (10.8), Mavericks (10.9), Yosemite (10.10), El Capitan(10.11), Sierra (10.12) and High Sierra (10.13). Note that while this version of CCC may work on El Capitan and newer OSes, we recommend that El Capitan+ users upgrade to CCC 5. We offer technical support for CCC 4, but we are no longer actively developing it. If you are having trouble downloading CCC from the link above, try this alternate download location.

Install Macos Mojave On Unsupported Mac

CCC 4 and Mojave+: CCC 4 is qualified up to macOS High Sierra. CCC 4 license holders are welcome to continue using CCC 4 on later OSes with the understanding that this is an untested and unsupported configuration. CCC 5 is fully qualified on macOS Mojave and offers extensive support for APFS, including support for point-in-time restores via APFS filesystem snapshots.

Install Macos Mojave On Unsupported Macs

Unsupported Versions

Macos 10.14 Mojave On Unsupported Macs Thread

Download CCC 3.5.7 for use on Snow Leopard (10.6) and Lion (10.7). Download CCC 3.4.7 for use on Tiger (10.4) and Leopard (10.5). CCC 3.4.7 and 3.5.7 are provided as-is; we regret that we cannot offer any support for the installation or use of these older versions of CCC.

If you’re using macOS Mojave or later, choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Software Update. If you’re using an earlier macOS, use the App Store instead. Learn how to download and install macOS Big Sur Go to the App Store. Upgrade os x mojave. Feb 05, 2021 macOS Mojave 10.14 can upgrade High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion macOS High Sierra 10.13 can upgrade Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion Safari downloads the following older installers as a disk image named InstallOS.dmg or InstallMacOSX.dmg.