+ + What to Do if Your Mac Can’t Run macOS Sierra Posted on December 15th, 2016 by Note: Although this article was written for macOS Sierra (10.12), much of it still applies to macOS High Sierra (10.13) which was released in September 2017. High Sierra's system requirements are the same, except that High Sierra now requires 14.3 GB of available disk space, and a minimum of OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) to do a direct-upgrade installation. Apple recently released a new version of its Mac operating system, macOS Sierra (version 10.12). With the release of Sierra, Apple decided to drop support for some Mac models that were supported by several previous releases of the Mac operating system. In other words, just because your Mac was compatible with El Capitan (OS X 10.11), Yosemite (10.10), Mavericks (10.9), or Mountain Lion (10.8) may not necessarily mean that you'll be able to upgrade to Sierra. Some Mac models, such as 2007 and 2008 iMacs, are being left behind with El Capitan as their maximum OS version.
The Late 2011 MacBook Pros ship with OS X 10.7 Lion, but because this is a relatively minor revision, they should still be able to run Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. This is the second MacBook Pro generation with Thunderbolt, a 10 Gbps data connection that uses the same connector as Mini DisplayPort.
Certain older Mac models are still limited to Lion (10.7), which has not been getting security patches since Yosemite was released two years ago. Some early Intel Macs released in 2006 are stuck with Snow Leopard (10.6), which hasn't received security updates since the release of Mavericks three years ago. Old Operating System = A Bad Thing Being stuck on an old version of macOS is not something you can safely ignore. For one thing, running an old operating system means you won't receive critical security updates from Apple.
Moreover, many third parties have stopped releasing software updates compatible with older operating systems. For example, the latest versions of Chrome and Firefox won't run on anything older than Mavericks. For now, Flash and Java also officially support Mavericks and later. Browsers and plugins are commonly exploited as a means of infecting computers, so it's critical that these programs—along with the operating systems that run them—stay up to date. The only security-related update that Apple is continuing to release for Snow Leopard through Mavericks is the 'unSafe Downloads List,' which blocks a handful of malicious downloads (although signatures are often added too late to be of much use) and prevents Flash and Java content from running in your browser—if your plug-ins are too outdated and likely to be exploited.
It's important to note that XProtect updates, while better than nothing, are by themselves insufficient to adequately protect your Mac. Keeping up with the latest macOS updates and using third-party antivirus and security software are important factors in keeping your Mac protected.
Apple does not make any public statements concerning how long it will continue to release XProtect updates, let alone security patches, for any particular Apple software or operating system. While Microsoft publicly announces its support timetables for Windows and other software, and the Ubuntu Linux company Canonical does likewise, Apple has never given any official notice regarding how long each version of macOS or iOS will continue to receive security updates.
Apple has not previously responded to press inquiries about this subject. 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 run Sierra, the current and best-supported version of macOS. If your Mac is older than the ones listed directly below, read on for suggestions about what you can do to upgrade to an operating system that's still getting security patches. Sierra Capable Macs macOS Sierra requires one of the following Macs with at least 2 GB of RAM, 8.8 GB of available storage space, and at least OS X Lion:. iMac (Late 2009 or newer). MacBook (Late 2009 or newer). MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer). MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer).
Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer). Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) Those who are unsure which Mac model they own may find and to be useful sites. If you have a compatible Mac with a version of OS X that predates Lion (for example, Snow Leopard), you will need to download Sierra on another compatible Mac with Lion or later, create a bootable Sierra flash drive or external hard drive (using or the third-party tool ), and do a clean install overwriting the hard drive on your Mac—so be sure to carefully first. An alternative solution for upgrading a compatible Mac from Snow Leopard to Sierra is to first upgrade to your choice of Lion through El Capitan (if you happen to have a bootable installer from one of those versions of macOS handy, or if you're able to download one from the Purchased section of the App Store and use DiskMaker X to create a bootable installer), and then do a second upgrade from that macOS version to Sierra. Taking this upgrade path will allow you to preserve your hard drive's contents. Before you upgrade, be sure to read our article for additional advice. El Capitan Capable Macs If your Mac can't run Sierra, there's still a decent chance that it can run the previous version of macOS, El Capitan, which may continue to receive security updates from Apple for another year or two.My estimate of roughly 20 to 30 million Macs constituting 1/7th of the current installed base (which I'm estimating at roughly 150 to 200 million) is based on Paul Thurrott's of Apple's claim of 1 billion active devices in January 2016.
As an aside, 1 in 7 Macs is a slight percentage decrease as compared with January 2015 when; at that time 1 in 5 Macs were no longer getting security updates. The decreased percentage of unpatched or unpatchable Macs since then is likely due in part to fewer old Macs still being in use almost two years later, and many new Macs being sold in the mean time.
About Joshua Long Joshua Long , Intego's Chief Security Analyst, is a renowned security researcher and writer. Josh has a master's degree in IT concentrating in Internet Security and has taken doctorate-level coursework in Business Administration and Computer and Information Security. His research has been featured by many fine publications such as CNET, CBS News, ZDNet UK, Lifehacker, CIO, Macworld, The Register, and MacTech Magazine. Look for more of Josh's security articles at and follow him on. This entry was posted in, and tagged,.
Bookmark the. Wow, Kudos to you Joshua for a long and informative piece. This kind of useful information is so rare these days online Just FYI, I am successfully running Sierra on my 2008 MacBook pro, having upgraded the Wifi card via Quickertech, There is a lovely free installer that helps. “MacOS Sierra Patch tool”. This even explains a special update feature that allows you to continue using the Sierra updater without fear.
Super smooth, and it works fine. I would recommend 4G of RAM as a minimum though. Great write-up by Joshua!! Sierra won’t install on my 2009 mac mini, leaving me with el capitan & unpatched security vulnerabilities. My options to compensate are compensate.
1) installing sophos (done) 2) using el capitan firewall (never did b4) 3) using external firewall from router or another pc/fone (dunno if possible) 4) requiring a password to navigate the system — especially the external backup drive (used to do w/ passportExternalHdd — dunno if possible w/ internal drive used externally). I prefer one of the above to buying a new MAC. Ideas in previous post about co-running windows or linux sounds interesting, too.
Or I could use my linux or windows machine, but they have other issues. Any ideas which of all these options is the most effective (or easy to implement for a relative newbie)?
Or which combination of them? Any help much appreciated. What a superb article. It has given me a totally different outlook on things now.
Being of the ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ brigade; I have been reluctant to upgrade above Mountain Lion. My 7 year old Air and something similar Mini going is still going strong and in immaculate condition. Like you say though, less and less Browsers are being supported. I am down to using Epic which while good for stopping ‘trackers’, can often be slow and a system hog. Even Tor says my system is out of date. Just one slight problem now for a new Mac: money!
Not sure exactly what changed. But it seems something did with the custom build of 10.6.6 that comes with the new 2011 MacBook Pros.
VZAccess Manager now will not load at all. 'VZAccess Manager Failed to launch the Wireless Device Manager. This process is required in order for VZAccess Manager to run properly.' Is the error that comes up. Reinstalling does no good. Nothing seems to matter.
Only thing different is the underlying hardware. Can't be 10.6.6 because the previous MacBook Pro had the same version with no issues. I'm guessing something more changed in the custom 10.6.6 build. It's really mind boggling how sensitive VZAccess Manager is to OS X builds.
Unfortunately (and quite frustratingly), the version of Snow Leopard that shipps with the new MacBook Pros runs off the 64-bit kernel, not the 32 like most other MacBooks up to this point (including my old Black MacBook, which ran VZAM just fine under its native 32-bit mode). The issue seems to stem from the fact that Verizon's VZAccessManager software does not support 64-bit on OS X (unlike Windows, where 64-bit is supported). I continue to look for a workaround until Verizon gets their rears in gear on this one.
Frankly, I'm quite.bleep. (as a long time customer) that Verizon didn't see this coming.
Snow Leopard shipped with both 32- and 64-bit modes when it first came out on August 28, 2009. COME ON, VERIZON!
THIS OS HAS BEEN OUT FOR OVER 2 YEARS ALREADY!!! Also, in case you were wondering, NONE of the VZAM versions for any device currently supports 64-bit OS X, making only the older 3G MiFi devices an option for anyone making the sizeable investment in the new Apple hardware. Marcus, While Snow Leopard has always supported 64bit, most MacBooks didn't have chipsets that were capable of running a 64bit OS before now. My BlackBook is the perfect example: despite having a 64bit Core2Duo 2.4GHz processor, OS X 10.6 always ran in 32bit mode because the chipset on the mobo didn't support anything higher.
If you are curious, jump on a Mac that supported the 4G card, open terminal and type: 'uname -a' (without quotes). If it says 'i386' (or something similar) as my BlackBook did, it's running the OS in 32bit mode. If that command returns something like: 'x8664' as my new 2011 MacBook Pro does, it's running OS X in 64bit mode. Verizon tech confirmed with me that this is the issue, as well. While I am reluctant to trust most tech support, the evidence that the site lists that only 32bit OS X 10.6.x is supported by VZ Access Manager, plus the fact that it worked on my BlackBook (32bit) but not my new MacBook Pro, and a few other pointers lend me to believe that this tech had it right.
I can only hope that Verizon releases an updated version of VZAM very, very soon (whatever the problem is) that allows us to use our overpriced data plans with our overpriced Apple laptops or they'll have a lot of angry customers. I do see where your argument is coming from, though, Marcus.
The error does say that it can't access the the network manager (or, something to that effect), but I believe this is due to the lack of 64bit support. I ran into this issue last night with my new 15' Macbook Pro (quad core i7). The Verizon Access Manager is not compatible. Here is the kernel info, just FYI. Ignore it uname -a Darwin 215.sub-72-101-95.myvzw.com 10.7.1 Darwin Kernel Version 10.7.1: Mon Jan 31 14:55:53 PST 2011; root:xnu-1504.10.484/RELEASEX8664 x8664 i386 With Mac OS 10.6.6 there is a WWAN (wireless wide area network) option (you can find more info at support.apple.com - search for WWAN). My USB760 is now natively supported by the OS, and VZAccess is no longer required.
To get it working, I did the following: 1. Attach the USB760 device. Drag the CD icon to the trash - THIS IS REQUIRED, as it allows the WWAN to detect the device - Once you trash the cd, give it a few seconds and you should see 'New Network Device Detected' 3. Entered the phone number of the device - you can get it from VZAccess or the associated network profile - At this point the cell bars showed up on my menu bar. Click Connect Things to note: - Once the device is set up, it will add itself to the 'Network Preferences' under 'System Preferences' - You may have to drag the CD icon to the trash each time you use it. A small price to pay.
VZAccess is not longer required - Most fairly current EDVO solutions are supported by this method, there is a list of supported devices at support.apple.com Good Luck, Rob PS - I used this method and the USB760 to post this. RobW, Thanks for your post; that's really exciting news! I believe I found the post you are referring to on Apple's Support page regarding. Unfortunately, none of the Verizon 4G devices (Pantech UML290 and LG VL600) are currently supported by this tech. I'll look into it and see if I can get it to work, anyway, but I'm not hopeful at this point. Another thing to note, especially in these Bleeding Edge days of early 4G, without VZAM you will not be able to switch between 4G and 3G automatically, making the native support a limited use case at best. RobW, Again, thanks for the suggestions.
I had previously tried both the things you listed above, but, for whatever reason, I wasn't given the option to 'Open in 32-bit' for VZAM (it was an option in the CMD+I for some apps but not others). I believe that the 'Rosetta' option, which was avable for VZAM, provides compatibility for leagacy Mac products (pre-Intel architecture), so it shouldn't have any effect. I was able to get it working by forcing OS X to use the 32bit kernel instead of the default 64bit kernel. I made a post with instructions for anyone who might be interested. I really think that this is the best bet until Verizon fully supports Snow Leopard.
Something doesn't add up. I hear what you're saying and I get that it worked, but there's got to be something else going on. Any MacBook Pro of the 2010 or 2009 gen can hold 8 GB of RAM. Snow Leopard can access all of that RAM. That seems to indicate that it is indeed running in 64 bit, not 32 bit. However VZAccess Manager works fine on those machines. Additionally, other older programs such as Entourage, VMWare, and 32 bit VLC all run without a problem.
It's only VZAccess Manager that is affected. It seems to me that there is some process - an individual process or file - that is being run 64 bit that VZAccess Manager depends on to run 32 bit. Now I know VZAccess is somehow connecting without a dialup entry being active; it's just using IPv6 to communicate. I wonder if there's some type of networking file or files that VZAccess is not being allowed to get to for some reason on the newer MacBooks.
EDIT: OK, I at least know what changed.seems at a firmware level it is telling Snow Leopard to boot straight into 64 bit mode, rather than 32-with-64-support mode. Question is to what benefit?
What is it that tells them they should do that?