OpenCore Legacy Patcher project brings macOS Sonoma support to 16-year-old Macs
OpenCore Legacy Patcher project brings macOS Sonoma support to 16-year-old Macs
But there are some incompatibilities that a small indie team just can't fix.
If Apple isn't supporting a machine that's otherwise a beast.. Linux.
13I thought about putting Linux on my old MacBook before discovering OCLP, but I wouldn't have had the same syncing between my laptop, my phone and my iPad. Also, it was a pain in the ass on that machine because at the time I only knew about Bootcamp, which wouldn't work because I'd replaced the DVD drive with a second HDD.
7Username, instance and laptop checks out lol
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I bought a mid-2012 Macbook specifically for Linux (I wrecked all my prior plastic laptops and wanted something robust, durable, and maintainable).
After watching Rossmann for a few years, it was the obvious choice - with replaceable RAM, HDD, USB3, Thunderbolt, WiFi AC, and the disk caddy can be replaced to hold an additional storage drive. Not to mention the vast library of his videos instructing you on how to fix various issues if need be. Other models either had problems with screen delamination, weren't upgradeable enough, or had battery swelling problems etc.
Not a fan of apple personally, but I have to admit the 2012 design really holds up well.
Then a while after, the Framework came out 😭😭
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Yesterday, the OCLP team announced version 1.0.0 of the software, the first to formally support the recently released macOS 14 Sonoma.
Some graphics features are broken pretty much across the board on older Macs, even ones that do have Metal GPUs—playing DRM-protected video in Safari, using Live Text OCR, and enabling Continuity Camera are all listed as non- or semi-functional on the project's support page.
OCLP has only had limited success supporting Apple's T1 chip, a proto-Apple Silicon coprocessor included in Touch Bar MacBook Pros in 2016 and 2017.
The OCLP team has had limited success using older system files to get it working again, but doing this also breaks Apple ID login on those Macs, affecting an even longer list of features.
Still, compatibility issues or not, the OCLP project is an impressive undertaking that can allow more technically savvy users to squeeze a few more years out of an aging but otherwise functional Mac that Apple no longer supports.
Even installing a somewhat older macOS version like 2022's Ventura or 2021's Monterey will get you security patches and Safari updates rather than leaving your system unprotected.
The original article contains 516 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 64%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
9Great project and a shame Apple doesn't support their desktop Macs for a longer time. They never had a great track record when it comes to macOS support but I'm pretty sure that the move to Apple Silicon makes them want to get rid of every Intel Mac as fast as possible.Not even supporting the 2017 officially with their latest OS is a joke honestly (you need the 2019 model at least). I just hope they don't abandon M1 Macs as fast.
Officially supporting 16 year old Macs probably isn't necessary, but supporting your (expensive) computers for at least a decade should be a no-brainer, Apple!
7Where did you see that a 2019 model is needed? I just updated my 2018 Intel Mac Mini to Sonoma with the official release as if it was brand new.
1iMac, see the bottom of this page: https://www.apple.com/macos/sonoma/
iMac 2019 and later
Mac Pro 2019 and later
iMac Pro 2017
Mac Studio 2022 and later
MacBook Air 2018 and later
Mac mini 2018 and later
MacBook Pro 2018 and later
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This is sweet. Now I can upgrade my old Mac! How have I never heard of this before?
7I've been running Sonoma on my 2014 Mac mini for a few weeks now, and it's been pretty much rock solid. That I was using the beta OS on unsupported hardware via a beta of OCLP without any major issues blew my mind.
The only problems I'm currently having are that Shortcuts don't work at all for reasons I can't work out, and haven't delved into yet, and my Watch only occasionally unlocks it.
Other than that, it's like Apple only pulls OS support to encourage people to upgrade otherwise perfectly solid hardware...
6I updated a 2013 MBA to Ventura and the only thing that doesn’t work is continuity camera. Otherwise it’s actually less buggy and faster than the laptop’s last official release of Big Sur.
I’m hesitant to update it to Sonoma because of how many more caveats it has with the older hardware.
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