App download woes on Catalina.

[CaptainMorgan]

My son and I both have mid 2012 A1286 MacBook Pros and for the last year I have been using mine mainly as a backup machine running Linux Mint only. I recently reformatted my machine to run Catalina 10.15.7 and deleted Linux. All is well apart from I have tried downloading Pages, Numbers and iMovie and am unable to install them as Pages and Numbers tell me I can't install them because I need os 10.6 or later and iMovie says I need os 12 or later. My sons machine is running all 3 quite happily on the same os and when I check the specs for these apps they all say they will run on my machine ok. I have checked on my Mac and it confirms I am running 10.15.7. I may be wrong but I thought these apps were preinstalled as default when Catalina is downloaded but they don't show in my apps. Am I missing something here?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

These apps are available in the App Store, but you have agreed to some license or something within your Apple ID to actually download them and use it.

As long as you are trying to access the applications from the App Store on Catalina, you should be getting the version of these apps that works on your machine.

I don't use these apps, so I'm not certain why the mixup, especially since the other MBP seems to be OK.

Did you follow the same process on both machines?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I may be wrong but I thought these apps were preinstalled as default when Catalina is downloaded but they don't show in my apps. Am I missing something here?

Pages, iMovie and Numbers are free, but they don't come with the Mac OS, you have to download them separately. My guess is that you downloaded versions that aren't appropriate for the version of the Mac OS you are running. You can the versions that you need from:

Pages (free)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pages/id409201541?mt=12

Numbers (free)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/numbers/id409203825

iMovie (free)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/imovie/id408981434

Want other great free Macintosh software? Check out:

Free Macintosh Software
http://macattorney.com/free.html
(The best free applications and utilities for the Macintosh.)

 

[CaptainMorgan]

These apps are available in the App Store, but you have agreed to some license or something within your Apple ID to actually download them and use it.

As long as you are trying to access the applications from the App Store on Catalina, you should be getting the version of these apps that works on your machine.

I don't use these apps, so I'm not certain why the mixup, especially since the other MBP seems to be OK.

Did you follow the same process on both machines?

Thanks for the suggestion I will check out the Apple ID issue but I would have thought all is ok as I have downloaded other apps successfully from the App Store. The versions I tried to download from App Store said they were suitable for download on my MacBook but I will keep trying.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

Pages, iMovie and Numbers are free, but they don't come with the Mac OS, you have to download them separately. My guess is that you downloaded versions that aren't appropriate for the version of the Mac OS you are running. You can the versions that you need from:

Pages (free)
‎Pages

Numbers (free)
‎Numbers

iMovie (free)
‎iMovie

Want other great free Macintosh software? Check out:

Free Macintosh Software
Free Macintosh Software!
(The best free applications and utilities for the Macintosh.)

 

[CaptainMorgan]

According to the App Store I have been trying to download the right versions but I had completely forgotten about Libre Office which I used on Linux. This is the way I will go when I get back home next week. Also I will check out some apps on your link. Many thanks,

 

[Randy B. Singer]

According to the App Store I have been trying to download the right versions but I had completely forgotten about Libre Office which I used on Linux. This is the way I will go when I get back home next week. Also I will check out some apps on your link. Many thanks,

If you are considering Libre Office, may I recommend that you first check out (or at least additionally check out):

FreeOffice (free)
https://www.freeoffice.com/en/
FreeOffice is impressive in it’s features. Not as full-featured as MS Office, but it may be all that you need. I consider it to be the best of the free Office clones. In my testing it does a better job of being compatible with MS Office file formats than any of the others.

I will be adding over a dozen additional free apps to my Free Macintosh Software Web site in the next few days!

 

[CaptainMorgan]

If you are considering Libre Office, may I recommend that you first check out (or at least additionally check out):

FreeOffice (free)
FreeOffice: The best free alternative to Microsoft Office
FreeOffice is impressive in it’s features. Not as full-featured as MS Office, but it may be all that you need. I consider it to be the best of the free Office clones. In my testing it does a better job of being compatible with MS Office file formats than any of the others.

I will be adding over a dozen additional free apps to my Free Macintosh Software Web site in the next few days!

Finally got back home and AppStore categorically says new downloads of iMovie require OS 12.6 or later and Pages requires 12.3 or later. I have searched online and can't even find older version downloads. Not the end of the world as I've now downloaded PowerDirector 365 and followed your suggestion and I am giving Free Office a go. I started using Apple over 20 yrs ago because I felt at the time that Microsoft was letting me down and I hate to say it but I am starting to feel the same way with Apple. Nothing is straightforward any more.

Thanks a lot for your help and I will be keeping my eye on your free software link.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Finally got back home and AppStore categorically says new downloads of iMovie require OS 12.6 or later and Pages requires 12.3 or later.

The download pages for iMovie and Pages recognize the version of the Mac OS you are running and automatically offer the proper version. However, you have an old computer that Apple considers to be "obsolete",
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624
and I don't know, but it may be that because Apple no longer supports obsolete Macs that they don't automatically offer a version of iMovie or Pages that will run for you.

I have searched online and can't even find older version downloads.

You can download all of the past versions of iMovie from:
https://support.apple.com/downloads/iMovie

You can download all of the past versions of Pages from:
https://support.apple.com/downloads/Pages

Not the end of the world as I've now downloaded PowerDirector 365

You might also want to have a look at:

Openshot Video Editor (free)
https://www.openshot.org

Shotcut (free)
https://shotcut.org/

Davinci Resolve (free; commercial "Studio" version has more features)
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/davinci-resolve/id571213070?mt=12
(Professional video editing, color correction, audio post and visual effects!)

and followed your suggestion and I am giving Free Office a go.

Great! Please let us know how you like it.

It would also be interesting to hear if you get an e-mail in the next week or so offering you a special deal on Softmaker Office, and how much they want to charge for it.

I started using Apple over 20 yrs ago because I felt at the time that Microsoft was letting me down and I hate to say it but I am starting to feel the same way with Apple. Nothing is straightforward any more.

I know how you feel. Technology keeps on moving forward, and it's a bit of a slog to keep up with it. But the good news is that if there is anything that you aren't caught up with, you can just ask about it here.

Thanks a lot for your help and I will be keeping my eye on your free software link.

I just added four new products to the page last night! In fact, all four were very exciting. I'll post about them elsewhere on this forum.

 

[pm-r]

Finally got back home and AppStore categorically says new downloads of iMovie require OS 12.6 or later and Pages requires 12.3 or later. I have searched online and can't even find older version downloads.

The AppStore is pretty ruthless for allowing previous compatible application versions' downloads but your mid-2012 MacBook Pro can be upgraded to a later OS version from what you are using which could make it compatible with their latest offering of the software you want to download and use:

Pre-Installed MacOS: X 10.7.3 (11D2515) Maximum MacOS: X 10.15.x*

MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.5 13" Mid-2012 Specs (Mid-2012 13", MD101LL/A*, MacBookPro9,2, A1278, 2554*): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.5 13" Mid-2012. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

So you have a few Mac OS alternative versions available to choose from if you want to keep more up-to-date and make it easier to download the software from the AppStore that is compatible.




- Patrick
=======

 

[ferrarr]

From the way I understand it is if you originally "purchased" the earlier version, the macOS App Store will offer you the earlier version. But if you just installed macOS and set up a new Apple ID, you won't get the option. I get the option to download, because I had iLife and iWork versions from Snow Leopard.

You might be able to download an earlier version of macOS, one that will work with the version of the apps you're looking for.

On that old MBP, you can go all the way back to Lion or Mountain Lion and from there you can get any version of iLife or iWork from '09.

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com