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macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread

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foxlet

foxlet

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Original poster
Aug 5, 2016
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macOS High Sierra on Unsupported Macs


4lxKiPF.png

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 many older (but still perfectly capable) Macs behind. Now macOS High Sierra (10.13) brings a new set of updates, and older Macs that can possibly run them.

  • MacBook (late 2009 or later)
  • iMac (late 2009 or later)
  • MacBook Air (2010 or later)
  • MacBook Pro (2010 or later)
  • Mac mini (2010 or later)
  • Mac Pro (2010 or later)

Note this space!

Preliminary Tested Models List:

MacBookPro5,5 (13-inch Mid 2009) - No issues
MacBookPro5,4 (15-inch Mid 2009) - No issues
MacBookPro5,3 (15-inch Mid 2009) - No issues
MacBookPro5,1 (15-inch Late 2008) - No issues
MacBook5,1 (13-inch Unibody Aluminum Late 2008) - No issues

MacPro3,1 (Early 2008) - No issues

iMac7,1 (Mid 2007 W/BCM94360CAX and SSE4 supported T9300) - Screen brightness is controllable (NightShift works with modified CoreBrightness.frameworks)

iMac9,1 (Early 2009) - Missing Screen Brightness Controls (buttons don't work either)

MacBook5,2 (Early [Mid] 2009 MacBook) - Screen brightness not controllable (buttons don't work either), volume buttons do not work, same trackpad detected as USB mouse issue

Xserve2,1 (Early 2008) - graphics are unaccelerated with the original ATI X1300 unless an upgraded graphics card e.g. Nvidia GT 120 (from a Mac Pro) is installed

Known Patching Methods:
Automatic tools that can be used to install macOS High Sierra onto an unsupported Mac.

Using @dosdude1's Patcher Tool:
Main Page/Instructions: macOS High Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs
Download: [Direct Download]

Security And OS Standalone Updates

Thanks to AsentientBot for this newer more streamlined method.

Modifying the Security Updates or macOS Updates for Sierra or High Sierra.

Download the update.
Open the update.
Move the update.pkg to Desktop.

Open Terminal.

Enter pkgutil --expand now drag and drop the .pkg from the Desktop into the Terminal window and type after a space ~/Desktop/Expanded hit Return and wait, this takes a little while.

Open Expanded folder and then open Distribution file in Text Edit

Scroll down to the line

function InstallationCheck(prefix) {

enter the text return true; so it looks like this

function InstallationCheck(prefix) {return true;
now save the changes

Go back to Terminal pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/Expanded ~/Desktop/Modified.pkg
Using the .pkg extension is crucial.

macOS Catalina (10.15)
macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs - @0403979

macOS Mojave (10.14)
macOS 1014 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread - @dosdude1

macOS High Sierra (10.13)
macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread - @foxlet

macOS Sierra (10.12)
MacOS 10.12 Sierra Unsupported Macs Thread - @redheeler
2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and macOS Sierra - @Mr. Zarniwoop

OS X El Capitan (10.11):
OS X El Capitan on Unsupported Macs - @TMRJIJ
2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and El Capitan - @Mr. Zarniwoop

OS X Yosemite (10.10):
OS X Yosemite on Unsupported Macs - @TMRJIJ
2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and OS X Yosemite - @Mr. Zarniwoop

OS X Mavericks (10.9):
[Guide] Installing 10.9 Mavericks on older Macs. - @Wayne_819
Mac Pro 2,1 and OS X Mavericks - @5050

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8):
Success! Install 10.8 on old unsupported Mac - @Wayne_819
 
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Y

yesjam

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Jun 6, 2014
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Hoping my mid-2010 27" iMac will be able to run High Sierra. I'm thinking that this release will likely be the last one that supports my older hardware.

EDIT: posted before the system requirements were readily available. Very happy that I'll be running High Sierra on my iMac this fall.
 
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dosdude1

dosdude1

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Feb 16, 2012
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The way downloading the OS is handled appears to have changed for 10.13. Instead of downloading the entire ~5GB app from the App Store, now, the app downloaded is only ~7MB, and when launched, downloads the entirety of the OS. I'm assuming (and hoping) that this is done just to verify that you are actually a registered developer in order to install it. If this is the case, then the public beta (and final release) versions should revert to the traditional download method.
 

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MisterBiro

macrumors member
Jun 27, 2015
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Orange, CA
dosdude1 said:
The way downloading the OS is handled appears to have changed for 10.13. Instead of downloading the entire ~5GB app from the App Store, now, the app downloaded is only ~7MB, and when launched, downloads the entirety of the OS. I'm assuming (and hoping) that this is done just to verify that you are actually a registered developer in order to install it. If this is the case, then the public beta (and final release) versions should revert to the traditional download method.
Click to expand...
Interesting... Neither my MBP (2014) or MBA (2010) downloaded a 7MB file... Instead, they are both plowing their way through a 5.26GB downed.
 
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dosdude1

dosdude1

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MisterBiro said:
Interesting... Neither my MBP (2014) or MBA (2010) downloaded a 7MB file... Instead, they are both plowing their way through a 5.26GB downed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, some with somebody else I know... I tried two different machines, and got the 7MB download both times... I'll just get somebody to upload it, and it should be fine.
 
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redheeler

redheeler

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Oct 17, 2014
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Colorado, USA
dosdude1 said:
Yeah, some with somebody else I know... I tried two different machines, and got the 7MB download both times... I'll just get somebody to upload it, and it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Perhaps it detects how much drive space you have free and downloads one or the other. My iMac downloaded only the 7.8 MB installer, but the Retina MacBook Pro has more space free and it's currently downloading the full 5.26 GB.
[doublepost=1496702769][/doublepost]
dosdude1 said:
Update: High Sierra is booted and running on a Late-2008 MacBook Pro 5,1! It works just fine by bypassing the system check and @parrotgeek1 's LegacyUSBInjector kext!
Click to expand...
That's great news, as expected not much has changed. Should be very easy to get it working on unsupported Macs capable of running Sierra.
 
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fabiojuniorr

macrumors member
Mar 21, 2017
51
41
Sao Paulo, Brazil
hrutkaymods said:
Hi from my 2008 Mac Pro guys! @dosdude1 your old patcher still is king!
S8jzeGx.png
Click to expand...

How did you do it? Do you have a developer account? And if so, did you just check for updates as usual? And at the actual updating process, it just ran normally or did you perform any kind of different thing from the usual process stated in the macOS sierra patcher tool? I have a mbp pro 5,5 mid 2009 running macOS 10.12.5 and I really want to update to 10.13. Thanks in advance!
 
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hrutkaymods

hrutkaymods

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May 7, 2014
75
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fabiojuniorr said:
How did you do it? Do you have a developer account? And if so, did you just check for updates as usual? And at the actual updating process, it just ran normally or did you perform any kind of different thing from the usual process stated in the macOS sierra patcher tool? I have a mbp pro 5,5 mid 2009 running macOS 10.12.5 and I really want to update to 10.13. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
I'm a dev... I downloaded the installer on my supported Mid 2010 MacBook, installed it to an external drive and then... Made a Sierra USB installer Patch stick. plugged the external drive in, booted from the USB Patcher, patched the High Sierra drive with the Sierra install patch tool and rebooted... can't wait until @dosdude1's new patcher comes out because that was a pain... but it works 100%, all sound and controls (and my Osxwifi,com airport card) i'm going to see if the night shift patch still works too
 
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dosdude1

dosdude1

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I've done a preliminary update to macOS Sierra Patcher, just to add compatibility with the High Sierra installer. Keep in mind nothing else has changed, so I'm not sure if some of the post-install patches still work in High Sierra. Also, for those of you who cannot download a copy of High Sierra, I have a copy available for download here (if this is not allowed, let me know and I'll remove this link). Download "macOS High Sierra Patcher" here.
 
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hrutkaymods

hrutkaymods

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May 7, 2014
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dosdude1 said:
I've done a preliminary update to macOS Sierra Patcher, just to add compatibility with the High Sierra installer. Keep in mind nothing else has changed, so I'm not sure if some of the post-install patches still work in High Sierra. Also, for those of you who cannot download a copy of High Sierra, I have a copy available for (if this is not allowed, let me know and I'll remove this link). Download "macOS High Sierra Patcher"
Click to expand...
I'm still testing it all... all patches for the Pro seem to work, can't say for the others yet and who knows if the updates patch will work but so far so good
 
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hrutkaymods

hrutkaymods

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