Open Core Legacy Patcher

[BobHas]

Hi,

I am interested in how people feel about Open Core Legacy Patcher. I Recently watched a YouTube video about it. It seemed a bit convoluted to set up and I would need to study more before considering it.

I have a 27" mid 2011 8GB iMac and a MacBook Pro Retina 15 " Mid 2015 16GB that I would like to be able to update to newer OS versions. And actually this iMac Retina 27" 16GB I am on here is, I think, unable to be updated very far.

So, how do people feel about Open Core Legacy Patcher?

Bob

 

[Raz0rEdge]

You're on a 13+ and 9 year old machines and at some point in time, it might be worth it to just upgrade the older one.

You need to figure out if you are able to revert from any bad situation you end up with going through this process. If that isn't you, then you can continue to use the machine as it is and find versions of browsers and software that will continue to work.

 

[BobHas]

You're on a 13+ and 9 year old machines and at some point in time, it might be worth it to just upgrade the older one.

You need to figure out if you are able to revert from any bad situation you end up with going through this process. If that isn't you, then you can continue to use the machine as it is and find versions of browsers and software that will continue to work.

Yes thanks, I understand all that. At 84 though needing and affording new is marginal (the 2017 iMac is actually the "new" machine bought not long ago

I am really interested in knowing more about the Open Core Legacy Patcher - who has experience with it, how well does it work for them, limitation, reputation, etc.

 

[MacBiter]

Before using OCLP you must backup your current system(s) so you can revert if necessary.

I'm told that OCLP is highly regarded and reputable and their website tells you what hardware can be upgraded to which OS, and any shortfalls you will encounter. The main reason it's convoluted is that you have to do things such as create the OS you want on an external memory stick (I think you can do that via OCLP?), then you have to install OCLP and run it in order to create a bootable version of the OS for your machine, then you must quit OCLP and boot your Mac via the option key and select your bootable OS and launch it. (I've not done this myself so there may be a step or two I've omitted?).

But from the YouTube videos I've seen, some people are running Sequoia (or at least Sonoma) on a 2009 Mac! You should have a decent amount of RAM, and it will be slow doing some things, but normal Intel speeds doing other things.

 

[Rod]

BobHas, what macOS are you running on the MBP? I believe it can run macOS 12 (Monterey) which was and still is pretty good. I can understand your desire to update the iMac but personally I would be inclined to just use the iMac for what it does well like writing documents, emails, storing photos, ect and the MacBook for current applications and web sites that require more current software.

OCLP is a complex application but they do provide detailed instructions and I have looked into it myself with the objective of updating a 2010 MacBook but the tradeoffs and shortfalls were prohibitive so I never went through with it.
Have a look at this page; Supported Models | OpenCore Legacy Patcher
Scroll down to your model and you will see that it is recommended you upgrade to a "Metal" GPU. Clicking the link (in blue) will take you to a MacRumors page on the topic of swapping out your GPU for a metal one and the top link will take you here; Legacy Non-Metal GPUs and macOS Big Sur - Sequoia · Issue #108 · dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher where the issues related to having non-metal GPU for various macOS's are covered.

If you are not put off by all that then I suggest that you create a Bootable Clone of your present iMac using eg. Carbon Copy Cloner 5 or earlier which you can get for a free 30 day no obligation trial from Bombich How does the free 30-day trial work? | Bombich Software
With the above mentioned clone you can boot and restore you iMac including all data, preferences and Operating System at any time you need. Do ensure you also clone the Recovery Partition when offered. It's an easy step to miss just approve when the offere is made about half way through the cloning process.

 

[Alan_B]

BobHas, what macOS are you running on the MBP? I believe it can run macOS 12 (Monterey) which was and still is pretty good. I can understand your desire to update the iMac but personally I would be inclined to just use the iMac for what it does well like writing documents, emails, storing photos, ect and the MacBook for current applications and web sites that require more current software.

OCLP is a complex application but they do provide detailed instructions and I have looked into it myself with the objective of updating a 2010 MacBook but the tradeoffs and shortfalls were prohibitive so I never went through with it.
Have a look at this page; Supported Models | OpenCore Legacy Patcher
Scroll down to your model and you will see that it is recommended you upgrade to a "Metal" GPU. Clicking the link (in blue) will take you to a MacRumors page on the topic of swapping out your GPU for a metal one and the top link will take you here; Legacy Non-Metal GPUs and macOS Big Sur - Sequoia · Issue #108 · dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher where the issues related to having non-metal GPU for various macOS's are covered.

If you are not put off by all that then I suggest that you create a Bootable Clone of your present iMac using eg. Carbon Copy Cloner 5 or earlier which you can get for a free 30 day no obligation trial from Bombich How does the free 30-day trial work? | Bombich Software
With the above mentioned clone you can boot and restore you iMac including all data, preferences and Operating System at any time you need. Do ensure you also clone the Recovery Partition when offered. It's an easy step to miss just approve when the offere is made about half way through the cloning process.

From my limited experience using OCLP, it changes/downgrades SIP. If you want to fully restore a Mac to an officially supported macOS then it would be best to fully enable SIP. However to do this I found I had to turn it off completely before being able to fully enable it.

To fully disable System Integrity Protection
Turn off your Mac
Start up in Recovery mode, i.e. Hold down Command-R and press the Power button. ...
Wait for OS X to boot into the OS X Utilities window.
Choose Utilities > Terminal
Enter csrutil disable
Enter reboot.

To enable System Integrity Protection
As above, but enter csrutil enable

 

[Towbar]

I have a mid 2011 27" iMac that has been using OCLP for the last 15 months. I had been using High Sierra 10.13 upto about May 2023. then I moved on to Monterey with OCLP. Then I moved up to Ventura in August 2023 Finally moving up to Sonoma in August 2024.

one thing you do need to do it turn off automatic Updates. You may be able to go up to Sequoia depending on your graphics card, if you can find an early version. but you will have no problem running Ventura. Which apple still support and offer updates. I Have been able to run most apps without any real problem. only Microsoft Word had an issue when highlighting text to copy it. once hi-lighted you got a greyed out box. It still copied their tex but it's difficult to see just what you have hi-lighted till you actually paste it. I have never suffered any major crashes where I have lost important information/Data but I have always done daily backups using Time Machine.

I have a Macbook Pro 2017 with Touch Bar running Sequoia you just have to make sure that you don't delete the upper party of your system folders as this contains the drivers etc for the Touch Bar. OCLP like all software is easy to use once you understand how it works and the boys and girls the built this have made many improvement over the last 12 months.

The recommendation is a minimum of 8GB Ram and a SSD My Mid 2011 iMac has a 1TB Samsung 850 Envo SSD and 32GB RAM and yes I know the official stance is the 16GB of RAM is the MAX I have been using 32 for the last 2 years. it is a beautiful machine and has run Adobe Photoshop although it does throw up a warning about the graphics card. It had no issues running Adobe Premier Pro and there was compromise in functionality. It has run Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher. plus it has run Final Cut Pro on High Sierra No Problem

If you want to do some research of your own I would recommend this guy and his YouTube channel:

https://mrmacintosh.com/

Mr. Macintosh

Apple Macintosh & macOS how-to videos covering new and old Macs!

www.youtube.com

 

[BobHas]

Thanks all.

Rob, the MBP is on Catalina 10.15.7. I have held back from going to Monterey out of caution and to minimize volatility as I wander around all this. Likewise with the 2017 iMac - it came with Catalina and with a lot going on I have held back on any changes there too.