For the first time since Apple released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in July 2012, Apple has dropped support for a number of older Macs that had supported OS X 10.8 through 10.11 El Capitan. No MacBook and iMac models prior to Late 2009 and no MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models prior to 2010 are officially supported by macOS Sierra, although workarounds have been developed for most unsupported 2008 and 2009 Macs.

• Mac Os Sierra Compatibility

Mac OS X is no longer being called OS X, and Apple is not promoting Sierra with a version number either (however, it is internally identified as OS X 10.12). Now it’s simply macOS Sierra – in keeping with iOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

macOS Sierra was released on Sept. 20, 2016 and officially requires a supported Mac with at least 2 GB of system memory and 8.8 GB of available storage space. (We recommend at least 4 GB of RAM.)

Officially Supported Macs

Hi, just to tell you that the clean installation and update on an iMac 11.2Mid 2010 of 21.5 'with x2 SSD Kingston on RAID 0 16GB Ram has worked perfectly with the MacOS High Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs, without APFS, only Mac OS Plus registered.

• MacOS Mojave Patcher is an application that lets you run macOS 10.14 on unsupported hardware. It is developed by developer Dosdude who also developed similar patches for Sierra and High Sierra firmware.
• I see there is a patch tool, called 'macOS Sierra Patcher Tool for Unsupported Macs' at Dosdude1.com. My only concern is that the MBP is used by my wife, who is non techie, and just wants the.

All Late 2009 and later MacBook and iMac models are supported in macOS Sierra, as are all 2010 and newer MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro computers.

Hacking macOS Sierra for Unsupported Macs

Hardware requirements for macOS Sierre include a CPU with SSE4.1, so it cannot be run on any Mac with a CPU prior to the Penryn Core 2 Duo. In theory, it should be possible to get Sierra running on any Penryn or later Mac. It may be possible to swap out the Merom CPU in some Macs for a Penryn, which would then allow Sierra to run.

Sierra can run with 4 GB of system memory, but as with all recent versions of OS X, more memory will allow it to run even better.

Colin Mistr has published a macOS Sierra Patch Tool, which currently allows you to install and run macOS Sierra on the following officially unsupported hardware:

• Early 2008 iMac or later
• Mid 2009 MacBook (white) or later
• Late 2008 MacBook Air or later
• Early 2008 MacBook Pro or later
• Late 2009 Mac mini or later
• Early 2008 Mac Pro or later

Note: If you have the Early 2009 Mac Pro and have installed the firmware update patch so it identifies itself as MacPro5,1, you can run the standard installer. You do not need the patch tool.

You will need a USB drive 8 GB or larger and Mistr’s patch tool, which is linked on his page. WiFi does not function on these unsupported systems if they have the Broadcom BCM4321 WiFi module:

• Late 2008 and Mid 2009 MacBook Air
• Early 2008 and Mid 2008 MacBook Pro

New Features

Siri comes to the Mac with macOS Sierra.

macOS Sierra can automatically sync all files on your Desktop and in your Documents folder with other Macs running Sierra. You can also access these files in your iPhone or iPad using iCloud Drive.

The new Universal Clipboard lets you copy on one device and paste on another – whether it’s a Mac with Sierra or an iPhone or iPad with iOS 10.

Tabs are almost everywhere in Sierra, and they work much as they do in your browser. Third party apps will also be able to use tabs.

Apple Pay is now part of macOS, not just iOS.

If you have an Apple Watch, Auto Unlock will authenticate you and log you in automatically when you approach your Mac.

Optimized Storage can store infrequently used files in iCloud while keeping them immediately available any time you are online.

Availability

Apple developers can download an early pre-release version of macOS Sierra today, and a beta version will be available to users in July. The full release is scheduled for Fall 2016.

Keywords: #macossierra

Short link: http://goo.gl/MkIekT

searchword: macossierra

Apple released macOS Sierra as a public beta in July 2016. The operating system went golden and had its full release on September 20, 2016. Along with giving the operating system a new name, Apple added a lot of new features to macOS Sierra. It is more than a simple update or a bunch of security and bug fixes.

Instead, macOS Sierra adds new features to the operating system, including the incorporation of Siri, expansion of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-based connectivity features, and a whole new file system that replaces the venerable but outdated HFS+ system that Macs have used for the last 30 years.

The Downside

When an operating system encompasses such a wide range of new features and capabilities, there's bound to be a few gotchas. In this case, the list of Macs that can support macOS Sierra was trimmed substantially. For the first time in five years, Apple removed Mac models from the list of supported devices for a Mac OS.

The last time Apple dropped Mac models from the supported list was when OS X Lion was introduced. It required Macs to have a 64-bit processor, which left the original Intel Macs off the list.

Mac Support List

The following Macs are capable of running macOS Sierra:

Aside from two late 2009 Mac models (MacBook and iMac), all Macs older than 2010 aren't able to run macOS Sierra. What isn't clear is why some models made the cut and others didn't. As an example, a 2009 Mac Pro that is not supported has much better specs than the 2009 Mac mini that is supported.

Some have speculated that the cutoff is based on the GPU used, yet the late 2009 Mac mini and MacBook only had an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU that was basic even for 2009, so it's not likely that the limitation is the GPU. Likewise, the processors in the two late 2009 Mac models (Intel Core 2 Duo) are basic when compared to a 2009 Mac Pro’s Xeon 3500 or 5500 series processors.

So, while people speculate that the issue is with CPUs or GPUs, it’s probably the presence of a peripheral control on the Mac motherboard that is being used by macOS Sierra for some basic function. Perhaps it's needed to support the new file system or one of the other new features of Sierra that Apple didn't want to go without. Apple’s not saying why the older Macs didn't make the support list.

Update: A macOS Sierra patch tool was created that allows some previously unsupported Macs to work with macOS Sierra. The process is a bit long-winded, and, frankly, not something most people will want to bother with on their old Macs.

Be sure and have a recent backup before proceeding with the patch and install process.

Beyond the Basics

Apple didn't issue specific minimum requirements beyond the list of supported Macs. However, going through the support list and looking at what a base install of the macOS Sierra preview needs gives a good idea of the macOS Sierra minimum requirements, as well as a list of preferred requirements.

*Drive space size is an indication of the amount of free space needed just for the OS install and does not represent the total amount of free space that should be present for effective operation of your Mac.

Mac Os Sierra Compatibility

If your Mac meets the minimum requirements for installing macOS Sierra, you're ready to undertake the installation process.