How to Install Mountain Lion on an Unsupported Mac. With the release of OS X Mountain Lion (and now Mavericks), Apple dropped support for a number of Macs that are fully capable of running the OS. Thankfully, kernel patches and the like have been created so that Mountain Lion can be installed on these Macs. For this, you will need to get the Mac OS X Mountain Lion Installer App, and MLPostFactor, which you can download from here. Installing Mountain Lion on an unsupported Mac involves defeating these issues. Where there is a challenge, it is a safe bet that hardworking hackers will rise to the occasion. Perhaps you should have an Apple tech check out your system instead of complaining about the problem here. Apr 20, 2013 Many older Macs lost out on the ability to run OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3!), but some hard working fellows have created a free third party tool called MLPostFactor that allows for the newest version of OS X to be installed on older, officially unsupported Macs. The process used to be quite complicated, but with MLPostFactor it’s easier than.
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.
According to Dosdude1 who's the patcher tool guru for unsupported Macs, from what I'm reading it would appear that the MacBook4,1 is not supported. I'm not astute enough to tell you why its worded that way, especially as I note that in his Install Mac OS X 10.8 on an unsupported Mac video, the MacBook4,1 is listed. Install OS X Mountain Lion. STEP 1: Purchase OS X Mountain Lion. The operating system is not free. Purchase and download the Application from the Mac App Store using an Apple ID on any Mac or functional computer running OS X 10.6.6 or later. STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive Using UniBeast.
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.
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.)
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.
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:
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:
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.
Optimized Storage can store infrequently used files in iCloud while keeping them immediately available any time you are online.
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
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.
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.
Thanks to Dollar Shave Club for sponsoring this video! Go to to get your first starter set for $5.Save 10% and Free Worldwid. Here we are going to explore top 5 best MacBook Hacks which are very vital to know for every Mac user. In the last year, Apple just refreshed their MacBook range, and the new MacBook Pro is seriously something lavishing and jaw-dropping. The features, the design and the operation of MacBook Pro will excite you for sure.
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How can I upgrade or 'hack' an incompatible Intel Mac to run OS X 10.8 'Mountain Lion'? Is it even possible?
As noted elsewhere within EveryMac.com's Mountain Lion Q&A, Mountain Lion entirely drops support for many 'older' Macs, some of which were sold as new only a little over three years ago.
Some users may view this increasingly short support timeline unimportant, as they wish to purchase a new computer or a newer computer every couple of years and have little need for 'legacy' software or document support. Itunes mac app store app. Others may be quite happy with the computer they have -- even if it is a few years old -- and are not interested in upgrading to Mountain Lion, regardless.
However, for those who would like to run the latest operating system and have a Mac officially capable of running Lion, but not Mountain Lion, there are obstacles to overcome.
Mountain Lion Installation Obstacles
There are three issues that keep these unsupported Macs from running Mountain Lion:
Installing Mountain Lion on an unsupported Mac involves defeating these issues. Where there is a challenge, it is a safe bet that hardworking hackers will rise to the occasion.
However, please note that any attempt to install or use an unsupported operating system could wipe out all of your data and/or cause other software or hardware problems.
Do not attempt to install Mountain Lion on an unsupported Mac if it is 'mission critical' or data is important. Any hacks are performed at your own risk. Be absolutely sure to backup everything before proceeding with any experimental hacks (or before proceeding with any official operating system upgrades, for that matter).
Upgrades & Hack Options for the Original Mac Pro
Most of the attention has focused on the original Mac Pro -- the Mac Pro 'Quad Core' 2.0 (Original), 'Quad Core' 2.66 (Original), 'Quad Core' 3.0 (Original), and 'Eight Core' 3.0 (2,1) -- as these models are quite powerful and can be substantially upgraded.
Although the process of installing Mountain Lion on these Macs is complex, and involves a hardware upgrade of the graphics card, a second hard drive, and an assortment of 'Hackintosh' tactics, the diligent hacker 'Jabbawok' prepared a straightforward tutorial (archive copy, original no longer online).
Software Hack Options for Other Intel Macs
The equally diligent hacker 'hackerwayne' has provided a detailed tutorial to install Mountain Lion on other unsupported Macs, including custom kexts (drivers) from hackers 'kylegray' and 'trunkz' for partial support of GMA 950 and X3100 graphics.
Should you be interested in installing Mountain Lion on any of the other unsupported Macs, be absolutely sure to pay close attention to the 'What works, what doesn't' section in the tutorial.
In particular, note that some systems have significant RAM capacity limitations that are not an issue running an earlier version of the operating system or have issues with sound and graphics, as is common for Hackintosh systems. It is very important to understand these limitations.
Mountain Lion Hacks Summary
Ultimately, it is quite possible to install OS X Mountain Lion on many Macs that Apple no longer supports, although as is often the case for 'hacks,' these systems may not be fully functional and many users with these older Macs likely would be better off sticking with Snow Leopard or Lion or alternately switching to Windows.
At least some of the Macs that are not supported running Mountain Lion likely could run the operating system without difficulty had Apple simply not removed support for 32-bit EFIs as well as written graphics drivers to support the hardware. In an odd twist of fate, Microsoft provides everything needed to natively run Windows 8 on these Macs.
It's certainly a strange world where Microsoft provides better support for older Macs than Apple does.
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Don't let anyone use your computer including your friend. It's easy enough to change a password in single-user mode. Just put a master password - firmware password - on your computer to prevent that kind of access. Better yet change friends.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
When the menubar appears select Firmware Password from the Utilities menu.
and follow instructions.
Nov 10, 2013 7:03 PM