Apple’s new macOS Mojave doesn’t support the old Macs prior to 2012. It was a shocking news for me too.
Step 12: Upon restart, complete the setup process and start using your Mac with a Mojave operating system. Happy Mojaving!! For additional information and to know more about the known issues, please visit DosDune1’s website. He is an awesome guy. Note: You will see a new “Patch Updater” app in the Applications under “Other” folder.
- Provide us with that information. But based on the A1181 model number, the maximum version of OS X it can run would be Lion (10.7.X). It may not even be able to run that which is why we need to know the exact year and model. After OS X 10.6.X (Snow Leopard) Apple operating systems are download only and not sold on disk.
- HP Printers - macOS and OS X Compatible Printers This document is for HP printers and Apple macOS or OS X operating systems. Check to see if a driver or app is available to use your HP printer with a Mac computer or laptop.
- For example you can click on 10.7 under the Mac OS X heading and then choose Safari in the browsers section and see that Safari 6 is the only version supported. However, if you select just 10.7 you can see that there is a lot more versions available for Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera.
- The history of macOS, Apple's current Mac operating system originally named Mac OS X until 2012 and then OS X until 2016, began with the company's project to replace its 'classic' Mac OS.That system, up to and including its final release Mac OS 9, was a direct descendant of the operating system Apple had used in its Macintosh computers since their introduction in 1984.
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I have an old, not for me actually, MacBook Pro which I purchased at the end of 2010. I was expecting Apple won’t drop the support of Mojave for MacBook Pro 2010 model, at least not for this time. But I was wrong. The latest Majove doesn’t support it too.
There is no need to worry. Even the oldest Windows 95 can be installed on Mac computer. There is a solution to every problem.
I don’t want to upgrade my MacBook Pro right now, especially when a new model is rumored to be released in next month.
Another choice for me was to buy a graphics card which supports Metal. In fact, it was the most feasible solution for to get installed Majove on my unsupported Mac right now.
Metal is natively supported by all Macs introduced since 2012. It means the following Nvidia, AMD and Intel family cards are compatible.
-Intel HD Graphics 400, Iris 5000 & 6000 family
-Nvidia GT 600M, 700M family
Bim software libre. -AMD R9 M family
To check which GPU (graphics processing unit) is installed on your Mac computer, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner and then click on “About This Mac”.
There are a number of third-party vendors which sell graphics cards with integrated Metal support specifically designed for Mac computers. While searching for a compatible graphics card, I found that I could install Mojave on my MacBook Pro Mid 2010 model by using a software known as macOS Mojave Patcher Tool. Kudos to DosDude1 who developed tested, and released it as a free app.
By using this software, we could install the latest macOS version on early 2008 Macs.
Here is the step by step method to run Mojave on unsupported Macs.
The whole process can be divided into four parts.
- Part 1. Getting all the required things
- Part 2. Downloading the macOS Mojave Installer App
- Part 3. Making a bootable Mojave USB drive
- Part 4. Installing and Patching Mojave OS on the unsupported computer
We will discuss each part in details in the following paragraphs.
Part 1: Requirements to Run Mojave on Old Macs
Four things are required to get macOS Mojave installed on your forgotten-by-Apple Mac.
- Your Mac computer
It could be an early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro. The following models include under this category.
– MacPro3,1
– MacPro4,1
– iMac8,1
– iMac9,1
– iMac10,x
– iMac11,x
– iMac12,x
– MacBookPro4,1
– MacBookPro5,x
– MacBookPro6,x
– MacBookPro7,1
– MacBookPro8,x
– MacPro4,1
– iMac8,1
– iMac9,1
– iMac10,x
– iMac11,x
– iMac12,x
– MacBookPro4,1
– MacBookPro5,x
– MacBookPro6,x
– MacBookPro7,1
– MacBookPro8,x
It could be late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook. The following models include under this category:
– MacBookAir2,1
– MacBookAir3,x
– MacBookAir4,x
– MacBook5,1
– MacBookAir3,x
– MacBookAir4,x
– MacBook5,1
It could be early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or white MacBook including the following models:
– Macmini3,1
– Macmini4,1
– Macmini5,x
– MacBook5,2
– MacBook6,1
– MacBook7,1
– Macmini4,1
– Macmini5,x
– MacBook5,2
– MacBook6,1
– MacBook7,1
And it could be Xserve2, 1 and Xserver3, 1.
- A USB drive in 16GB size or above
- macOS Mojave patcher tool. Download it here.
- A copy of the Mojave software.
Part 2: Download macOS Mojave Installer Software
MacOS Mojave software can be downloaded as an Installer App from Mac App Store using the computer which supports Mojave.
If you don’t have Mojave supported Mac, you can download the Mojave Installer App using patcher tool. Open the macOS Mojave patcher tool. If it doesn’t open and says it is from an unidentified developer, right click on the tool’s icon and click on “Open” from sub-menu and then enter your Mac’s Admin name and password. After the verification, you can open it with the left double-click.
If you don’t remember your macOS password, here are the solutions to reset it.
Go to Tools in the Menu bar and then hit “Download macOS Mojave”.
I recommend using the built-in downloader tool because it will download the latest and the compatible Installer app.
Mojave Installer app is about 5-6GB in size and it may take some time depending on the speed of your internet.
If the internet connection interrupts while downloading the file, don’t worry. The downloading process will resume where it left. Simply download the Mojave software again but point it to the same location where you were already downloading and saving the installer app.
Part 3: Create a Bootable Mojave USB Drive
In order to create a bootable Mojave USB Installer drive, follow these steps.
Step 1: Insert 16GB or above USB drive into your USB port of your Mac.
Step 2: Open Disk Utility and erase the USB drive in OS X Extended (Journaled) format. Give a proper name before erasing. I gave the name “macOS Mojave” to my USB drive.
If you are new to Mac, get the basic information about how to make a Partition, erase the current partition and how to make a bootable USB drive.
Step 3: After the drive is erased, open “macOS Mojave Patcher” tool.
Step 4: Point the Patcher tool to the downloaded Mojave Installer app which is downloaded in Part 2.
Step 5: Now select the target USB drive you just formatted.
Step 6: Hit the “Start Operation” button on the patcher tool and let it make the USB bootable with Mojave.
Step 7: It will show “Complete” when the process is done. Android tv macbook.
Part 4: Installing and Patching macOS Mojave
In this fourth and final part, we will install and patch the macOS Mojave on our old Mac computer. Follow the steps below to complete the remaining procedure.
Step 1. Restart your computer and hold down the “Option” key as soon as the Mac starts up.
Step 2: Select the USB drive, which was named as “macOS Mojave” as the startup disk.
Step 3: If you want to upgrade your current macOS to macOS Mojave, simply use the continue button to proceed and follow step 5. But if you want to install it on another partition or want to erase the current partition first, then follow the Step 4.
Step 4: Open Disk Utility from the bottom left panel.
Select the volume you want to erase. Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Or if you have got late-2009 and later machines with SSD drives, you can also use APFS format.
If you don’t want to install Mojave on current volume, you can also create a new partition and install it there. Mojave takes approximately 18GB space on hard drive. So at least make a 25GB partition to test the new macOS.
If you want to use it for all routine work, set the partition size according to your needs.
Step 5: Select the volume and press “Continue” to begin the installation process.
Step 6: The installation process takes about 20 minutes to complete. When it is done, reboot your Mac back into installer drive while holding down the “Option” key again.
Step 7: This time select “macOS Post Install” app from the bottom left panel.
Step 8: Select the model of your computer and the volume on which you installed Mojave and then click the “Patch” button. The tool will automatically select the required patches according to the model of your computer.
Step 9: Press the “Reboot” button when the patch is complete.
Step 10: The computer will reboot with macOS Mojave installed on it.
Step 11. If it doesn’t work properly on the restart, boot your Mac back into the installer USB drive, select macOS Post Install again, and this time also select “Force Cache Rebuild” option. Once the patch is complete and the cache is rebuilt, reboot.
Step 12: Upon restart, complete the setup process and start using your Mac with a Mojave operating system.
Happy Mojaving!!
For additional information and to know more about the known issues, please visit DosDune1’s website. He is an awesome guy.
Note: You will see a new “Patch Updater” app in the Applications under “Other” folder. It will alert you when new patches are available for your computer.
Your Mac will get the future Mojave updates as other supported computer do. If you don’t see the updates, or your computer doesn’t work properly after applying the update, use the step 11 of Part 4 to enable all patches.
AimThe aim of this blog is to assist owners of the Apple MacBook model A1181. The content of this blog consists of my opinions, beliefs and knowledge. It also consists of portions of the knowledge entered into the public domain by Apple and other organizations and individuals. These external sources are credited and often linked to in this blog.
An A1181 MacBook. They also came in Black. (Photo Source: everymac.com)
Background
The A1181 MacBook had a long production life and continues to provide many people with reliable and affordable computing. These machines continue to age.
Many people buy used Macbooks and need to orientate to the Apple environment for the first time. It is a different environment to the Windows world. Things are different.
Everyone in the Windows world, for example, has some idea of the BIOS screen on a Windows computer. Apple computers do not have a BIOS screen. They have other, resettable facilities instead.
For example, here's an Apple forum post in which a person is asking how to 'reset the BIOS' on his Apple machine so he could boot from an external drive: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3748878?start=0&tstart=0
There are many such facilities which the new user needs to know about. Such knowledge becomes critical when the Macbook refuses to boot because it needs its 'SMC' reset. The Mac may play dead until this simple reset is performed. Apple explains the SMC reset at this support page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964 There are other critical routines to know about. It pays to explore the Apple support pages and to explore the Mac forums.
There are a number of things one can try in an attempt to revive even an apparently dead A1181 MacBook. Most of the possible routines do not involve taking the machine apart. Most of them are evidence of the intelligent design embodied within the A1181 MacBook.
I am not a tech. Just an Apple user. These are some of the things I have found and experienced. Some of the things I know, some of the things I believe. I hope it helps you.
Identifying your MacBook
Apple produced the A1181 MacBook from 2006 until October 2009. At that time the A1181 MacBook was replaced by the A1342 MacBook (The Polycarbonate “Unibody”).
(An Aluminum “Unibody” MacBook was introduced in October 2008 and discontinued in June 2009, being sold alongside the A1181 MacBook). This blog is devoted the A1181, (polycarbonate, Black or White), fitted with the Intel Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor.
Some of the opinions and knowledge contained here will apply to any MacBook, and indeed to any Mac. Some of it, however, will not.
Over the years the specifications of the A1181 changed and improved. The model identifier of each series of MacBook changed as a result. To fix a Macbook, you often need to know which A1181 MacBook a particular machine is. There are no visual clues. The A1181 MacBook model identifiers are as follows:
From May 2006: 1,1
From November 2006: 2,1
From November 2007: 3,1
From February 2008: 4,1
From October 2008: 4,2
From January 2009: 5,2
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook - this is a good page to read, particularly if you are considering buying a used Macbook of any kind.
Sometimes the specifications changed without a corresponding change being made to the model identifier.
'System Profiler' Identifies your MacBook
You can find the model identifier of your MacBook by clicking on the Apple symbol on the top left hand side of the upper task bar. From the drop down menu which appears, select “About this Mac”. From within the box which appears, select “More Info”. You have opened “System Profiler”.
The “Hardware Overview” Screen appears. The second item listed is the “Model Identifier”. While you are on this page of System Profiler, note down your machine’s serial number, which is the 12th item on the list.
Using the Model Identifier and Serial Number
Enter “MacBook” followed by your model identifier in your internet browser search box. Eg. “MacBook 4,1” (or whatever yours is.)From the search results, select the EveryMac site listing. You should now be at the EveryMac “Lookup” page. Follow the instructions and enter the portion of your serial number required into the EveryMac search box and hit return. A full description of your machine is given.
Pinning down the exact part your Macbook might need
While the cost of new parts is probably prohibitive, good second hand parts are available from excellent suppliers in many countries. Parts can also be found on eBay and other online sources. Brand new but non genuine sourced parts, mainly from China, can be good buys. (When a new battery is required, a genuine Apple battery is definitely worth the money however. The quality of non genuine batteries is very variable. Some dodgy ones can damage your MacBook. A used genuine MacBook battery is often better than a new non genuine battery. More on batteries later.)
The internal components of the A1181 MacBook changed over the years and some parts are not interchangeable between all the model series. Two sites which are very useful in giving the exact part number required for a specific MacBook model series are IFixit at http://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook and Powerbook Medic at http://www.powerbookmedic.com/
The IFixit page explains why identifying your Macbook is difficult:
Macbook A1181 Software
“The MacBook is the most difficult Apple laptop to identify. While the MacBook Air and MacBook Unibody are easy to distinguish, differentiating between the plastic MacBooks is challenging. Unfortunately, Apple printed the same model number on all machines, regardless of their internal configuration. Even if you think you know exactly which MacBook you have, a quick trip through the laptop identification system can't hurt.” – Source: IFixit.The difficulty is matched by the importance of buying the right part. Some parts are interchangeable between each A1181 model series, some are not. If you assume you know the specific MacBook model series you have without checking, you will probably be wrong.
The A1181 (Core Duo, Core 2 Duo) Macbooks are like the old VW Beetle. At least with the old Beetle, a trained eye could tell the model year by looking at the door handle type in combination the tail light size and window size. There are no such visual clues for the A1181 Macbook. They all look the same, but there are significant internal differences.
Given that top cases (the keyboard/palm rest units) are often changed as they fail, (more about that later) there is no guarantee that the model identifiers printed on the topcase underside (seen inside the battery bay when the battery is removed) actually refer to the machine they are fitted to. Go by the System Profiler information first. This reports what the machine actually is. Take that information and use it at EveryMac, IFixit or Powerbook Medic to Identify your MacBook and the parts you might need.
OSX Versions and Your Macbook
Every Mac user has a preferred version of OSX. Some people have to have the very latest. Some people still use Tiger. Some people have expensive applications in versions which run only on earlier versions of the Apple OSX operating system.
On the other hand, each series of the A1181 MacBook has a “minimum” and “maximum” (earliest, latest) version of OSX which it can handle. Knowing which versions of OSX your machine can work with is important. It is pointless buying applications software which require OSX Mountain Lion if your machine cannot not handle Mountain Lion, for example. One site which lists every Mac made and which gives the maximum and minimum OSX version for each machine is http://apple-history.com/ At this page, choose the model year of your Macbook in the “year' column. For example, let’s choose the very first Macbook, the 2006 model. The listing under “Essentials” for this early machine states: “Minimum OS: 10.4.6 Maximum OS: 10.6.8” This early machine will happily run with the given versions of Tiger (10.4), Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard. But it will not run from Lion or Mountain Lion. So, if you have this first model MacBook, the Mountain Lion compatible version of Final Cut Pro, for example, is not for you.
It is quite impressive that the early Intel Macs can run an Operating system as late as Snow Leopard. This forward compatibility is a hallmark of Apple computers.
Before you buy software, make sure the software is compatible with your machine and your version of OSX. If you want or need to upgrade your version of OSX, make sure your machine can handle it. Experimentation may reveal that a particular machine may successfully run a particular version of OSX even when the information indicates, in theory, that it won’t. Such cases are rare.
Macbook A1181 Compatible Os Versions
When you upgrade your version of OSX, make sure your existing applications software is compatible with it. Before you upgrade your version of OSX, make a bootable clone of your primary drive. Do this just in case you discover your needed applications software won’t work with the new version of OSX and you need to revert to your previous configuration. Making a bootable clone drive is very easy on a Mac. I use this: http://www.bombich.com/ - Carbon Copy Cloner. Another opinions about Carbon Copy Cloner in comparison to Apple’s Time Machine are found here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1169769If your old version of OSX does not include Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner is one answer. I use Carbon Copy Cloner out of habit even though I now have Time Machine via Snow Leopard.
You can put more than one version of OSX on your machine. Simply create multiple partitions on your hard drive and install the versions of OSX required and which are compatible with your machine.
As OSX contains security features which are updated with each later version, it pays to use the latest version of OSX that you have when using the internet. To ensure your version of OSX is as updated as possible, run “Software Update” regularly. Pick and choose the updates you want, but include all Java and Security updates. (Software Update: Click Apple Symbol, Left Hand Side top task bar > drop down menu> select “Software Update” when connected to the internet.)
Java updates for Apple are very important. Missing a Java update may mean that months later you have to hunt the Apple site for a required update in order to run a new piece of applications software.
Here is an example of an Apple Java Security Update for Lion available for free at the Apple site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5242
Next: Solutions for a dead optical drive.