With OpenCore Legacy Patcher, you can install a recent version of macOS on an old Mac, and thus extend its lifespan. A clever and miraculous solution, what’s more, completely free!
With each new version of macOS, we have the joy of discovering all the new functions (read our article on macOS 14). But also the sadness of seeing the list of officially incompatible Macs grow. And this year, with macOS 14 Sonoma, the disappointment was even a little greater than usual because, overall, the list of models capable of taking advantage of the new system is quite short: with the exception of the iMac Pro of 2017, you must have a Mac from 2018 or newer to install Sonoma. Apple had accustomed us to better, especially in an ecologically and economically responsible context where, precisely, we need to make our computers and smartphones last much longer.
Fortunately, a team of free software developers has tackled this thorny subject brilliantly for several years by developing OpenCore Legacy Patcher, a “magical” and free utility whose version 1.0.0 has just been released. Its role is as simple as it is clever: it allows you to install recent versions of macOS on old Macs, officially “discarded” by Apple. And it’s a marvel! For example, we managed to install Sonoma on a 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2015 without any problem. And OCLP, as it is called, allows us to go back even further in the history of Macs, to models from 2008 ( see the list below)!
OpenCore Legacy Patcher: an almost miraculous utility
Make no mistake, OCLP does not allow you to work miracles on all these machines (even if you sometimes have the impression of performing a magic trick with this utility). It is by definition impossible to circumvent or replace hardware deficiencies in certain machines. Since macOS 13 Ventura, for example, Apple has simply removed the code that allows USB 1.1 to be managed. As a result, the keyboard and touchpad of a late 2010 MacBook Air do not work. And, yes, we are talking about the internal elements of the machine. The solution, in this case, is to plug a USB hub into one of the Mac’s USB ports and then plug in a keyboard and mouse. This is not very practical, obviously. It is then better to take advantage of OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install macOS 12 Monterey on these machines, and not go any further. But it’s already much better than version 10.13 High Sierra which is officially the limit for the MacBook Air mentioned above. That’s four generations of macOS better!
Note also that the ability to install this or that version of a system will not automatically give you access to all of the new functions. In fact, this is already the case on machines officially “supported” by Apple. Thus the new webcam management functions are reserved for Macs with Apple chips (M1 and M2) and therefore inaccessible to Intel processors. And on the 2015 MacBook Pro that we used for testing, we cannot use the famous universal command allowing you to control two Macs with the same mouse and the same keyboard.
Given the limitations described above, in a non-exhaustive manner at that, one could actually wonder if using OpenCore Legacy Patcher is worth the effort. Let’s answer yes to this question without hesitation! If only because each new version brings its share of security fixes which are unfortunately essential to ensure the confidentiality of our online data as much as possible. Let’s pay tribute to Apple, however, which does not hesitate to deploy security updates even on old systems, such as the one received by macOS 11 Big Sur (a 2020 system) in September 2023. That said, These updates only cover the biggest issues. And, above all, even if sometimes not all the functions are there, updating to a more recent system still allows you to take advantage of a large number of them, like here in Sonoma, the creation and the sharing groups of passwords, turning a website into an app in the Dock, or recognizing pets in Photos.
OpenCore Legacy Patcher: how to use the software?
Let’s naturally start by emphasizing the need to back up your Mac completely before installing a new system version, whether with OCLP or not! Once this is done, you can go to the utility site, and click on the Getting Started button. Yes, the site is only available in English, but we will soon dedicate a practical article on the subject. Please note for now that you must have a 16 GB USB key to download the installation file for the system you have chosen. The OCLP utility will take care of this, as well as making this bootable USB key so you can set off on your adventure. You will be guided step by step, although it must be admitted that certain questions are not necessarily within the reach of beginners. But it is not a tool intended for them.
And, rest assured: if ever switching to a newer system on your officially incompatible Mac doesn’t work or simply isn’t suitable, you can always go back. All Macs for many years have in fact been capable of automatically reinstalling macOS from scratch by downloading the latest officially compatible version from the Internet. So, provided you have carefully backed up your personal data beforehand, you risk nothing – not even “breaking” your Mac!
Download OpenCore Legacy Patcher
OpenCore Legacy Patcher: which Macs are compatible?
The OpenCore Legacy Patcher application itself can be launched on a Mac running macOS 10.10 Yosemite or newer. If this is not the case with your “old” Mac, you will need to find another one to create an installation USB key that you can then use on your own machine. Provided, therefore, that your Mac is part of the following list.
Macbook
- MacBook (13 inch, Late 2008)
- MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)
- MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook (13 inch, Late 2009)
- MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010)
- MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)
- MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
- MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
MacBook Air
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2008)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid-2012)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017)
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
MacBook Pro
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid-2010)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inches, Late 2013)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports)
Mac mini
- Mac mini (Early 2009)
- Mac mini (Mid 2010)
- Mac mini (Mid 2011)
- Mac mini (Late 2012)
- Mac mini (Late 2014)
- Mac mini (Late 2018)
iMac
- iMac (20-inch, Mid-2007)
- iMac (24-inch, Mid-2007)
- iMac (20 inch, Early 2008)
- iMac (24 inch, Early 2008)
- iMac (20 inch, Early 2009)
- iMac (24 inch, Early 2009)
- iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009)
- iMac (21.5 inches, Late 2009)
- iMac (27 inches, Late 2009)
- iMac (27 inches, Late 2009)
- iMac (21.5-inch, Mid-2010)
- iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)
- iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)
- iMac (21.5 inches, Late 2011)
- iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)
- iMac (21.5 inches, Late 2012)
- iMac (27 inches, Late 2012)
- iMac (21.5 inch, Early 2013)
- iMac (21.5 inches, Late 2013)
- iMac (27 inches, Late 2013)
- iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27 inches, Late 2014)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid-2015)
- iMac (21.5 inches, Late 2015)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5 inches, Late 2015)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27 inches, Late 2015)
- iMac (21.5-inch, 2017)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
- iMac Pro (2017)
Mac Pro
- Mac Pro (Early 2008)
- Mac Pro (Early 2009)
- Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
- Mac Pro (Mid 2012)
- Mac Pro (Late 2013)
- Mac Pro (2019)