Mac OS X updating FAQ Mac OS X updating FAQ If you need technical support for issues after reading this FAQ, please visit my page, where I offer fee based support. Before upgrading, please! Note: this FAQ does not cover 10.1.5 or earlier.
What About My Mac? The good news is that most new Macs sold within the past several years can be upgraded to Sierra. Following is the list of Macs that can Worse, when users check the App Store for updates (or on older Macs when users run Software Update), it misleadingly tells them, 'No.
For that you will need to go to. As much as possible includes the most recent security updates indicated below. This Frequently Answered Question (FAQ) page is divided into these sections. Important 10.7 and later no longer support Rosetta. and Lion and later. Leopard doesn't support Classic, but does support Mac OS 9 booting, if its capability was there already. hy should I read this FAQ?
As of the writing of this FAQ (Frequently answered question page), I've updated every Mac OS X version on an Intel Mac through 10.4.11 to 10.11 using the method of this FAQ. I have a PowerPC Mac right now standing at 10.4.8, which I could upgrade to 10.4.11, except I have some old games which won't run on 10.4.11. Just because you've seen an issue which appears on a bulletin board, or is reported to you by a friend in a Mac OS X update, it does not mean the update is itself bad. A exists to test all combinations of software and hardware compatible with Macs.
The fact the update works at all is a testament to how well tested the software is. As a result an update may appear on the surface to be bad, but in reality a contributing factor is causing your problem. If I had a complete failure with no contributing factors, I'll list it in this update page.
So before you go and blame an update on your problem, try and look for contributing factors, and always backup your data prior to updating. The steps below should help you avoid the most common mistakes in updating and avoid the most common contributing factors. Mojave Apple released Mojave on September 24, 2018. I will be updating info regarding its release on. Only one 10.6 compatible Mac is now compatible with Mojave, after updating to El Capitan first. The rest of the Macs that are compatible with it have newer operating systems.
High Sierra On September 25, 2017 Apple released 10.13 High Sierra. Its on the low end are identical to its predecessor Sierra although some new features may require newer hardware. Before making an installation.
Also, unlike Sierra, your Mac must be running a mimimum of Mountain Lion. Do not depend on older news of compatibility than the official release date, as that may pertain to prerelease beta software compatibility, which may differ from the release version. Has continued its third party updating of both iOS and Mac OS X software compatibility.
News on High Sierra will be forthcoming. Apple's 10.13 is still available for download for people with Mac OS X 10.8 or later. This will also offer compatibility with iTunes 12.8, to synchronize with iOS 12 devices. If you want quicker news, please consider donating to my. If you want support for Apple's new hardware acceleration, you will need: iMac: late 2015 27' or newer, 2017 21.5' or newer MacBook: early 2016 or newer MacBook Pro: late 2016 or newer See to help identify your Mac. 10.13.1 was noted to have a serious security hole due to root account vulnerability.
Removes this security hole. 10.13.5 was an update that had many changes over 10.13.4, and introduced an update procedure that was very different from its predecessors. During the cycle of boots, of which there are about 5, one included a firmware update on the iMac 11,3 and numerous times the screen would blank out in the middle of it showing the update progress bar being midway, and only a minute remaining. Lastly, when it was done, on a computer with a login at startup, the 'setting up your Mac' non-modal dialog that typically appears when you first install an operating system shows up, acting as if an erase and install had just been performed. The operative words here are Don't Panic! If you shut down in the middle of an update, you can lock yourself out of your computer. It may take an hour.
Lastly, if you download the combo update, it may be too big to install on its own if your space is low, and won't warn you until after it tries to configure the update. At least it will keep things unchanged if that happens and tell you to use the App Store instead. Sierra Sierra was released September 20, 2016 You may find software compatibility sites already stating what is compatible with it. Do not trust those reports, until those reports are published after the official release of Sierra. Macs must have a minimum of 10.7.5, Lion with all the security updates installed to install Sierra. Note: this only matters if you already purchased the Sierra download before High Sierra's release. On January 25, 2018 Apple released a security update.
Apple has dropped the 'X' moniker from Mac OS in the release of Sierra. Apple may elect to change features at the last second, as it has done on countless operating system improvements before.
Note, download times may be longer than usual on first release. (link explains how) your data before you install anything.
Apple had kept the same minimum hardware requirements for Mac OS X 10.8 through 10.11. 10.12 requirements have changed the minimum requirements. Here are the requirements with the Machine ID (x,x) as stated in the System Profiler for Mac OS 10.12 Sierra: MacBook (Late 2009 or newer) 6,1 MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) 6,1 MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer) 3,1 Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer) 4,1 iMac (Late 2009 or newer) 10,1 Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) 5,1 10.12.6 is now available. For updated downloads, visit This information is available on Safari 12 is available for Sierra or later. Notes: Same minimum system requirements exist under. Caution.
Mac Pros 1,x and 2,x upgraded to El Capitan through the unsupported hack may be rendered useless with 2018 security updates to El Capitan iPhoto has special notes under There are known Microsoft Office issues, addressed by Microsoft on their. Software tested before that date may not work with the operating system. IOS 12 will download under 10.10.5, but reports are coming in that syncing only works under 10.11.6 and later with iTunes 12.8. For more information, I will be updating as it becomes available. Some anomalous POP E-mail.
Issues have been reported on Apple Support Communities. IMAP e-mail is by default server based, and if you trust your internet provider to back it up, may be a better solution. Moving from POP to IMAP is something you have to do with care, since by default POP is based on storing everything on your Mac. Make sure to your Users - yourname - Library - Mail and Mail Downloads folders if you are using Apple Mail before upgrading.
There are also issues with signatures not working at all in Mac OS X Mail. AccountEdge has also noticed there is a bug when mailing PDFs directly from Mac OS X Mail.
They recommend using the Print window's built-in PDF - Mail PDF function when you go to print a PDF. You should really at least backup everything to two separate destinations that are not touched by the computer before upgrading or until after the upgrade is complete. Be sure to look at for compatible applications that are compatible, and ignore entries prior to September 30, 2015 stating they are El Capitan compatible. RAW updates for 10.11. Printer and scanner driver issues with Yosemite are covered with more details on my. El Capitan has scrubbed Repair Permissions from Disk Utility.
This means you'll have to rely on an Apple update that includes it to repair your permissions. Look for combo updates you can apply repeatedly. Of course 10.11.1 does not have a combo update.
10.11.2 through 10.11.6 have also been made available. There is a command line option if you really need it. Apple released a security update on January 25, 2018.
Safari 11.1.2 is the last version of Safari for 10.11. Use the (if running an older 10.11) to install iTunes 12.8 to be able to use its iOS 12 synchronization capabilities. 10.11 is the minimum operating system to install 10.14 directly from Notes: Yosemite was released. Same system requirements as 10.9. Software tested before that date may or may not work at third party download sites.
Additional Yosemite updates from 10.10 to 10.10.5 may be found on my page, and further security updates may be found on Be sure to look at for compatible applications that are compatible, and ignore entries prior to October 16, 2014 stating they are Yosemite compatible. IPhoto is dropped by Apple in favor of a new Pictures Application. For some, keeping iPhoto is important past Mac OS X 10.10.2.
If you are one who likes it, this explains how you can keep it. Apple released Mac OS X 10.10.5 is not compatible with iTunes 12.8's ability to synchronize with iOS 12 devices.
Instead it is recommended you: 1. Use Image Capture to copy your photos and movies to your Mac from the iOS device 2. Use iCloud to backup everything else except your ripped music. Your ripped music will have to become playlists on external storage that can be linked via WiFi or lightning port. If 1 or 2 are not ideal, upgrade to Mac OS X 10.11.6 or later to use iTunes 12.8's full functionality. For those with Macs with 10.6.8 you can upgrade directly to Mac OS X 10.11.6. For those with Macs running 10.8 or later, you can upgrade directly to Mac OS 10.13.
For those who downloaded Mac OS X 10.11.6 and it still appears in your App Store purchase section who are running 10.7 or later, you can install 10.11.6 from there. Notes: On February 25, 2014, a critical security flaw was corrected in all versions of 10.9 with the 10.9.2 update (earlier versions of Mac OS X are unaffected):. A similar flaw was corrected on iPhones, iPad, iPod Touch with the iOS updates below (iOS 5.x and earlier are unaffected). Users of iOS 6 or later should upgrade to Users of iOS 7 or later should upgrade to On October 22nd, 2013, Apple released 10.9 Mavericks for a free download for anyone with Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later and the same hardware requirements as 10.9. Compatibility though may vary from 10.8.
Like 10.8 and 10.7 before it, there is no Rosetta (PowerPC Mac, pre-2006) application compatibility except through a. Epson and Canon drivers were released immediately after 10.9's release. Your data prior to installation, should be done as always. Links for the drivers, and other bugs are currently noted on this Be sure to look at for compatible applications that are compatible, and ignore entries prior to October 22, 2013 stating they are Mavericks compatible. Notes: 10.8.5 is now available. Before you upgrade, be sure to read the tips below for upgrading. This I wrote on Apple's board covers the scope of my knowledge about Mountain Lion.
Be sure to look at for compatible applications that are compatible, and ignore entries that predate Mountain Lion's release July 25, 2012. 10.8 is the minimum operating system to install 10.13 from.
Special Notes: From my user tip on Apple Support Communities, that is currently being considered, I'm mirroring the info on my website. Note, there is now a which should be applied after. These are the most common Lion Q and As that are able to be answered as of this time. Additional answers will come as soon as we've had a chance to upgrade.
Q:?: What are the system requirements of the Lion upgrade? A: Core2Duo, Core i3, i5, i7, and Xeon Intel CPUs with 2 GB of RAM in a Macintosh computer with 2 GB of RAM, and 4 GB (7 GB after installed) for downloading from the Mac App Store (Available in 10.6.6 and later). Unofficially, past upgrades have arbitrarily also required an additional 15% of the hard drive to be free for data. As no software written for PowerPC Macs will run on 10.7 or later.: What applications are compatible with Lion? A: provides a nice third party editable listing for people to include the compatible applications.
Many of these compatibility entries came from before Lion's release. Please verify they are correct now that it has been released, and help edit it for more accurate data. Be sure to include any update version of Lion post release that you have found is or is not compatible with it, for the help of others who may be upgrading to Lion the first time. Additionally, as it was released, there is no Rosetta. This means any application that is stated to be PowerPC in the System Profiler, will not work with Lion, and needs a comparable application or upgrade to be compatible.
The System Profiler is in Apple menu - About This Mac - More Info. Intel and Universal applications are on the whole supported, though may still need some tweaking before every feature is compatible.: Are there any pitfalls to watch out for? A: With all upgrades, your data at least twice has been a given. Hardware can fail independently of downloads and upgrades, though may happen simultaneously.
Software may be found to be incompatible that has not been tested with the new upgrade, or combination of other software that might be installed with the upgrade. It is also strongly recommended once your backup is complete, to shut down your computer, remove all but Apple wired keyboard and mouse (notebooks remove all input devices). Then once done, reboot, and go directly to the upgrade distribution system available. Third party system tools, modification, and 'maintenance' applications should be verified as compatible, or removed until known to be compatible. Check with developers how to remove if it is essential to use Lion before those applications become compatible. Most 'maintenance' tools that deal with system cache, prebinding, are not really maintenance tools. Ask on forum when are the appropriate times to use them before assuming they should be used for upgrades or otherwise.
10.7.4 introduces some new pitfalls, which hopefully will be resolved soon, as both home sharing and internet sharing don't work as well as expected.: How can I get from 10.4 or 10.5 to 10.6.6? A: Purchase a 10.6 retail installer from an Apple retail or third party reseller. It has a picture of a Snow Leopard on the DVD, and does not say Upgrade, Dropin, or OEM. Install it, and then install the 10.6.6 combo update from:: Is it true that I can only get it from the Mac App Store? Apple offered a. Some may not like the security a thumb drive offers a DVD.
You can install on it on a DVD or Thumb drive presently, which I'll explain later how to do, as long as you honor to the. The Thumb Drive still requires 10.6.6 minimum be installed for an upgrade and install, however, an erase and install can be done without purchasing 10.6 or 10.5 for Intel Macs that have older operating systems. Of course this means losing all the data on the machine unless it is backed up. If you feel Apple should still offer a DVD, you can post feedback here:: If you do not create a thumb drive or DVD of Mac App Store version, or wait for the Thumb drive, what limitations can I expect? A: First off the 7 GB space limitation on the hard disc after it is installed. Secondly, the size of the download file requires significant time, unless you have a high speed broadband connection. Times expected are below - 4 GB at: 5Mbps is 2 hours.
At 1 Mbps is 10 hours. At 384 kbps is 27 hours. At 56k kbps is 184 hours (nearly 8 days). If you include the 10.6.6 combo update of 1.06 GB add 29 minutes for 5 Mbps 145 minutes (2 and 25 minutes) for 1 Mbps 6 and a half hours for 384kbps A 24 hour day and 15 hours (for a total of a minimum of 39 hours) for 56kbps Remember the retail 10.6 currently does not include the App Store, and those upgrading from 10.5.8 or earlier will need to both buy the retail 10.6, and download the combo 10.6.6 update, not to mention ensure they have the correct processor and 2 GB of RAM. Finally once it is available, you'll have find out how long approximately it takes to install after the download is complete. These times do not include installation time, which on a MacBook Pro 3,1 15' installing on a Firewire 800 Newertech Voyager with WD10ACS-322J80 drive, 10.6.7, took 1 hour and a half to complete the installation from double clicking the install command to the registration screen. These times may vary by connection speeds from a non-dedicated connection, or background application usage of the internet.
Any applications running when the installation process begins might interfere with the installation itself, and they should be quit first.: How do I create a Flash Drive or DVD installer from the Mac App Store version within? A: First off, note, Apple has announced a $69 version on a Flash drive will become available for those without high speed internet. If waiting that long for Lion compatibility is not desirable, the installer just before it starts has in its package contents an InstallESD.dmg file a DVD burnable image to install on additional computers in the home without downloading over again. So if you desire to reinstall without an extra internet download, extract that file, by selecting the installer in the dock, and control-clicking it, and revealing it in the Finder.
Next Control-mouse click it, and select show package contents. Inside that folder is a Shared Support folder. That's where you find the called InstallESD.DMG.
Disk Utility can then be used to restore that DMG to either Flash drive or burn a DVD as long as you keep within the number of copies and location of copies the license agreement gives you license to use.: If I purchased a Mac recently, can I get it cheaper? A: Yes, visit for details.: When did Lion become available? A: It became available July 20, 2011 at the Mac App Store. Later in August a version is expected to come to stores.: Which Macs can run Lion?
A: Look at Apple menu - About This Mac - More Info, and see if you meet the Machine ID and RAM requires under the hardware. 2 GB is required for all These Machine IDs will run Lion: Mac Mini 2,1 and later MacBook 2,1 and later. IMac 5,1 and later. All MacBook Air. MacBook Pro 2,1 and later All MacPros. The Macs with the Machine IDs below will not run Lion (x can be any number): Mac Mini 1,x or PowerMac x,x MacBook 1,x MacBook Pro 1,x iMac 4,x, 3,x, 2,x, 1,x version 1.1 is now available through the original download link and Software update.
The bug affected Rosetta (programs that used PowerPC CPU from pre-2006 Macs) drivers and applications. If this doesn't solve the problem, please report to Apple and A user reports that Hands off 1.2.4 can cause a kernel panic, and upgrading to version 1.3.1 fixes the issue in Mac OS X 10.6.8. The user report on, and the software in question can be downloaded from.
Apple released a patch to address issues with fonts for 10.6.7 on April 26, 2011. Account WARNING: If you use Guest accounts in Snow Leopard, a bug has been that wipes the guest account contents entirely. 10.6.2 is supposed to fix this bug.
Currently being researched by some people on Apple Discussions as to the cause. It may related to an earlier 10.4 bug that I indicated below, about using the Migration Assistant between PowerPC and Intel Macs. Instead if you have done so, be sure to at least twice and if necessary, rename the Guest account something else and give it admin access until the issue has been resolved. You can also migrate from PowerPC to Intel Macs using the user tip on: 10.6.4 Vidia and OpenGL bug This bug may affect ATI and Intel GPU chipsets as well, though nVidia is the first to attempt to write updated driver updates to address it. 10.6.4 appears to not ask the GPU for enough power to access OpenGL based software, including many games that need it for performance. Note, you may have to backtrack, so be sure to without this patch, so if Apple releases an update to address it, you can be sure to apply the update as Apple had originally intended it to be updated.
Adding nVidia's patch may be too different from what Apple was expecting to patch. If you have a GTX 285 card, here are their drivers.
Snow Leopard update requirements August 28, 2009, Apple introduces Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6. The first operating system totally divorced from PowerPC Macs. However, it is the last. Apple has made a direct download from 10.6.8 to 10.11 if this software compatibility is not of concern, and that will enable those compatible Macs to link to iOS 12 with the iTunes 12.8. This also means if you have one of these machines:.
Mac Mini with only 2 USB ports on the rear (as opposed to 4 or 5). (link helps you identify iMac G5s from Intels). A PowerMac G5 or less (The Mac Pro looks like, whereas the PowerMac G5 looks like ). Powerbook or an iBook You won't be able to upgrade to Snow Leopard, until you buy a newer Mac, introduced 2006 or later.
Those Macs are the Mac Pro, the Intel iMacs, The MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and 4 and 5 USB port Mac Mini with a minimum of 1 GB of RAM (You can find this in Apple menu - About This Mac. 512 MB, 540 MB, 640 MB, or 768 MB of RAM won't cut it). Furthermore, there are, websites now for Snow Leopard compatibility. If you find an error, please edit the Wiki and e-mail Macintouch. Apple now has a document about what it does when it finds during the installation process.
Snow Leopard gets rid of third party Contextual Menu Items. Thus if any application you have relies on them, you'll have to find an alternative application. At the very minimum before installing Snow Leopard, and dismount and disconnect all third party peripherals. Apple has now added to its Some peripherals that run through System Preferences will only run if the Get Info box for System Preferences is set to 32 bit mode.
When System Preferences is not open, Go to Hard drive - Applications, and click ONCE on System Preferences, and select Get Info from the File menu to find the checkbox to toggle 32 bit and 64 bit mode. For 10.5 and above. In spite of the fact that Leopard comes on a dual-layer DVD, all DVD drives built-in to Macs with 867 Mhz or faster processors could read dual-layer DVD discs.
Only the older DVD drives couldn't write to them. This distinction has left many confused. You do NOT need to get another DVD drive even if your machine can't write to dual-layer Discs just to install or use Leopard. Dual-Layer DVDs allow writing of up to 8.4 GB, on drives that support them for writing. All DVD drives regardless of age can read from them.
Leopard does not support 802.11n. This may cause problems for people directly connecting to routers whose firmware or network has been upgraded to no longer support 802.11g. Apple now has a general troubleshooting installation guide to installing Leopard in. Apple has noted an instance where an installation may result in a blue screen with Leopard on.
Check your Techtools, and Disk Warrior versions are current for Leopard. Check with the the vendor who wrote the utility before attempting to use with Leopard. Time Machine has a known bug which will will add extra space to the existing the hard drive in the form of an invisible file. Be sure to allow sufficient hard disk space before installation of Leopard, and use my article as a guide to free up enough space for Leopard to run smoothly. Leopard needs a bare minimum of 15% + 9 GB free of hard disk space (24 GB of a hard disk needs to be free on a 100 GB hard disk).
Mac OS X 10.5 has no more Classic compatibility. For more on the implications of this, visit my FAQ on.
Repair permissions is known to create an error message of. What to do if your Home folder disappears:.
Time machine's behavior is not quite what is expected, but once you understand it you can make full use of its capabilities. In this page: it says: 'Backing up to a full disk.
One day, no matter how large your backup drive is, it will run out of space. And Time Machine has an action plan. It alerts you that it will start deleting previous backups, oldest first.
Before it deletes any backup, Time Machine copies files that might be needed to fully restore your disk for every remaining backup. (Moral of the story: The larger the drive, the farther back in time you can back up.)' Turns out you can turn on that warning, or turn off that warning, but it makes no difference, it will go ahead and start to delete hourly backups more than 2 days old! So you are better off making sure that you don't delete files more than once a day, and that way, you won't lose information to time machine's need to keep disk space clear on the backup. Western Digital has a new and some of their drives. Some Firewire and USB hard drives which don't mount will mount on 10.5.2 if their power is turned on after the computer's power is turned. This doesn't affect all drives.
And are unaffected. Spotlight, the search engine which lets you find files in both Tiger and Leopard may under certain updates reindex itself. Click on its menu in the upper right hand corner which looks like the picture of a circle with a diagonal line coming out of its bottom right to determine if it is still indexing.
If all you see is a search field saying Spotlight and nothing about reindexing, then it isn't indexing. When it is reindexing, file searches and content searches of Apple applications can return no results even when results exist that answer your query.
For 10.4.8 through 10.4.10 In reverse chronological order, these have been found to be issues with the particular updates: At least since 10.4.4, it has been possible for Macs to lose sound in some applications while not others. How to configure the Audio Midi Application to fix this problem has been documented with a solution on Apple's. Has also solved this problem, as long as the (also known as backup battery. Some Macs where it says n/a have a capacitor which could age as well) is less than 4 years old. 10.4.10 reportedly has a bad audio issue whereby sounds turn into pop on the speakers which now has been fixed with the,. I've not experienced this thus far, and I just installed 10.4.10.
Also there were issues reported with airport, firewire, and USB, all of which I could not reproduce upon initial tests. It goes to prove the methods below still work. If you have issues with any of these and 10.4.10, I suggest posting a new topic thread. ITunes 7.3,1, Quicktime 7.2, and: It has also been found that some people who have installed the Developer Preview version of Java 6, or Developer Preview version of the Developer Tools may incur broken Rosetta when installing iTunes 7.3.1 or Quicktime 7.2.
One problem some may find is that if they are running a Rosetta compatible application while installing these updates, they may break Rosetta. If updating from a PowerPC to Intel Mac, or migrating vice versa, do not use the. Instead use, or some form of networking, or sharing media to move only those files that are from one operating system to the next. If you have questions what can be moved, feel free to. 10.4.9 has been found to have a longer eject key response than previous Mac OS X versions, and trouble sharing with AFP in Mac OS 9 if Mac OS 9 initiates the connection to a shared Mac OS X folder.
The latter can be fixed by making Mac OS X initiate the connection following my. Adaptec 2906 drivers may no longer work with 10.4.9. As a substitute were found to be able to work on some configuration. A system administrator named Sinjin Lindbeck contacted HP technical support and discovered that repairing permissions would fix this problem they described to me: 'If running OS 10.4.9 and your HP printers, scanners, etc start losing print jobs into the ether or fail intermittently, perform a repair disk permissions to eliminate the problem. I spent about 4 hours on my own and finally called HP. They said it was a problem with their drivers and 10.4.9. Just thought I'd share.'
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Repair permissions is in Applications - Utilities - Disk Utility. 10.4.8 has been found to have an issue with WiFi (Airport) on Intel Macs, and solutions are currently still being sought for these issues. Not all Intel Macs are affected, and most likely if you follow the suggestions below when you do upgrade, you won't have trouble with the update. Given that people have noted certain issues, I've posted their solutions which have been found on. Also Apple is aware of issues with RAID volumes.
Apple also has an Knowledgebase article about troubleshooting software updates, at: which may also help you here. If dmgs don't open after an update, move these files to the desktop and restart: /System/Library/Extension.kextcache /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kernalcaches/ Special thanks to and for that solution Additional solutions are being found on this.
Nstalling full version versus partial version updates Installing a full version update (i.e. To 10.2, 10.3, 10.4) requires all the following precautions, in addition to understanding the. Full version updates are not free and are available only on CD or DVD. The partial version updates which the rest of this FAQ discusses are free for download if you have the correct full version on your system.
These partial versions will update these full version systems for free: Full version 10.0 have 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, and 10.0.4 as updates. Full version 10.1 have 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, 10.1.4, and 10.1.5 as updates.