Oct 13, 2019  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.

1. High Sierra For Older Macs

High Sierra is an update of MacOS which focuses mostly on back-end developments and a higher level of user security. As such, this operating system lays a foundation for future upgrades.

Stay safe

In essence, High Sierra took what was good with Sierra and developed it into a more comprehensive software.

High Sierra emphasizes the already-existing benefits of MacOS previous system, Sierra. There are few bells and whistles, but the changes are noticeable and positive. The Apple file system is the most significant feature it brought. It enables the storage and encryption of a large number of files. Thus, it boosts performance and helps manage device memory issues.

Apple also introduced new formats for video and photos in this version. These formats compress data - that’s a benefit as files can get huge with ever-rising resolutions. They added support for virtual reality headsets as well.

Besides that, when it comes to Safari, Mac search engine, there are some notable improvements with the update. The users can now control annoying auto-play videos, prevent tracking, and more. There are also notification controls, and you will experience a boost in performance, too.

The most noticeable changes took place in Apple’s Photo App, though. It went through a total revamp both visually in its interface and terms of tools and functions available. Many other discreet changes happened all over the system.

Where can you run this program?

If you’re running Sierra on your Mac, you will be able to run this one as well.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. Mojave, the newest version of MacOS, brought even more improved features to the table. However, if you can’t run it on your device, this is the second best.

Our take

High Sierra is not the shiniest upgrade Apple brought, but it’s one that sets the stage for new upgrades to come. Even out of that context, it’s a great operating system.

Should you download it?

Yes, if your device can support it. The new options and better security settings are worth getting.

10.13

I'm far too much of a fiddler. And in my fiddling I managed to completely FUBAR my beloved and venerable 2010 MacBook Air. I managed to successfully install GNU/Linux along side my macOS High Sierra installation; however, when I went back to reclaim the disk space used by GNU/Linux for my macOS install running APFS, I was met with a failed boot screen. Yikes!

If you have an older Mac and you perform Time Machine (or other) backups, sometimes that diligence might not be enough to get your system back up and running to an expected working state. The recovery process is more involved than simply restoring from Time Machine.

When backups aren't enough

In my previous life as a network and system administrator, I learned (the hard way) that backing up data is only part of the data protection process. In fact, backing up is the easy part. The hard part is system restoration. Just because you have your data ready on a remote disk to be restored, doesn't mean you have a computer ready for you to restore to.

Dealing with older hardware

Normally, if you have a modern Mac, an OS repair is a straight forward thing where you can reboot by pressing the Command-R keys at boot time and be presented with a series of tools to help you recover your Mac.

Following that, you can either re-install (not wiping your personal data), run disk utilities to repair a hard drive (my intention), or wipe your hard disk completely and do a fresh install. When that's done, you can restore from Time Machine as needed. So far so good.

Old begets old

What happens if you have no ability to start restoration utilities at boot time? Well, Apple has a built-in system that allows you to perform an internet-based recovery. 'That's great,' you say. And it is. Download mac os sierra iso for virtualbox. Until we realize that the recovery mode from the internet will query your system and provide a version of the recovery based on when the system was released. Therefore, since my MacBook was from late 2010, it provided me tools that would only install and repair disks that work with OS X Lion.

macOS High Sierra now runs Apple's new file system, aptly named APFS. APFS isn't supported on OS X Lion. My disk utilities to repair my drive were now useless. So I was forced to wipe and install Lion from the internet recovery utility.

Starting internet recovery mode.

The good news is that getting to internet recovery mode is as easy as starting the regular recovery mode except with some extra steps.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Power you mac back on while pressing Command-Option-R until you are prompted to connect to a network.
3. Select your Wi-Fi network and enter the password.

You'll now have to wait while your system downloads the recovery utilities from the internet.

Install OS X

You'll be happily greeted by a familiar (yet older looking) version of the repair utilities where you can restore from Time Machine, install OS X (not a typo since OS X was the default install on my 2010 Mac), or run Disk Utility (Again useless in my case since APFS was what my internal hard drive had running).

You'll be tempted to try and run a restore from Time Machine and your certainly free to try it out to see if things will automatically start working (and if your APFS volume is intact you may be able to). However, I had to do a complete OS X install.

You can follow our guide to install a fresh copy of OS X if you need help.

I strongly suggest to create an Install account rather than use your normal account name when preforming a fresh install so that when you come to the restoration process, you avoid any compatibility issues with having similar account names.

Once again, you'll need to wait a while while your Mac downloads the installation file from the internet.

Upgrade OS X

Once re-installed, you'll quickly want to upgrade to macOS High Sierra. Unfortunately, you can't. You need to first upgrade to a minimal macOS version of 10.8 and that would be macOS X Mountain Lion.

Searching for older versions of macOS in the App Store yields no results. But if you've downloaded and installed previous versions on your Mac, you can simply select it from your purchased apps list.

1. Launch App Store.
2. Select Purchased.
3. Sign In to the App Store.
4. Scroll down until you see an older macOS version such macOS X Mountain Lion.

5. Click DOWNLOAD.

The installer will automatically start and you can follow the prompts or you can look at how to upgrade your macOS install by following our guide.

Upgrade to macOS High Sierra

Now we can finally go ahead and perform the macOS High Sierra upgrade on our older Mac.

1. Launch App Store.
2. Search for macOS High Sierra.
3. Click DOWNLOAD.

Again the installer will automatically start and you simply follow the prompts or follow our macOS installation guide.

Get your data restored

Finally, we're ready to restore our backed up data. If you back up using Time Machine, here's what you do.

1. Launch Migration Assistant.
2. Click Continue.
3. Enter your Password.
4. Click OK.
5. Select to transfer From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.
6. Click Continue.
7. Select your Time Machine backup location.
8. Click Continue.
9. Enter the Time Machine Password if needed.
10. Click Connect.
11. Select your Backup File.
12. Click Continue.
13. Select your Macintosh HD to restore to.
14. Click Continue.
15. Select The information you want restored. Select all for a complete restore.
16. Click Continue.

17. Allow any upgrades to occur if prompted such as iTunes.

18. Click Continue.

Now you need to wait for the restore to complete which can take many hours depending on the amount of data to restore and how you're transferring that data whether it be via ethernet cable or Wi-Fi.

When complete, log into your restored account and delete the 'installer' or 'Setup' account if you created one earlier.

Your old mac is Restored! Any comments?

That's finally it. Your older Mac should now be restored to it's pre-FUBAR glory. Do you have any stories from the backup/restore trenches? Let us know in the comments!

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