OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) - Experience macOS just like before

guest · Aug 24, 2022

Breath new life to Macs no longer supported by Apple

A Python-based project revolving around Acidanthera's OpenCorePkg and Lilu for both running and unlocking features in macOS on supported and unsupported Macs.

Our project's main goal is to breath new life to Macs no longer supported by Apple, allowing for the installation and usage of macOS Big Sur and newer on machines as old as 2007.
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Noteworthy features of OpenCore Legacy Patcher:
Code:
• Support for macOS Big Sur and Monterey
• Native Over the Air(OTA) System Updates
• Supports Penryn and newer Macs
• Full support for WPA Wifi and Personal Hotspot on BCM943224 and newer chipsets
• System Integrity Protection, FileVault 2, .im4m Secure Boot and Vaulting
• Recovery OS, Safe Mode and Single-user Mode booting on non-native OSes
• Unlocks features such as Sidecar and AirPlay to Mac even on native Macs
• Enable enhanced SATA and NVMe power management on non-stock hardware
• Zero firmware patching required (ie. APFS ROM patching)
• Graphics acceleration for both Metal and non-Metal GPUs
What is OpenCore?
OpenCore is a sophisticated boot loader used to inject and patch data in memory, instead of on disk. This means that we're able to achieve a near-native experience on many unsupported Macs.

We recommend viewing the OpenCore Patcher Terminology Page if you have questions.

For troubleshooting, join the OpenCore Patcher Paradise Discord Server (opens new window)and see our Troubleshooting Page.

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How do I get started?

The first step of ensuring whether your model is supported is by checking the Supported Models page.

Download and build macOS Installer

Run the OpenCore-Patcher.app

Reboot and boot OpenCore

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OpenCore Legacy Patcher
Website (GitHub)

guest · Aug 24, 2022

Devs are making progress getting macOS Ventura to run on unsupported, decade-old Macs
Widening gap between supported and unsupported hardware makes things tricky.
August 23, 2022

Skirting the official macOS system requirements to run new versions of the software on old, unsupported Macs has a rich history. Tools like XPostFacto and LeopardAssist could help old PowerPC Macs run newer versions of Mac OS X, a tradition kept alive in the modern era by dosdude1's patchers for Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, and Catalina.

For Big Sur and Monterey, the OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP for short) is the best way to get new macOS versions running on old Macs. It's an offshoot of the OpenCore Hackintosh bootloader, and it's updated fairly frequently with new features and fixes and compatibility for newer macOS versions. The OCLP developers have admitted that macOS Ventura support will be tough, but they've made progress in some crucial areas that should keep some older Macs kicking for a little bit longer.
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What’s different about Ventura?
In some past years, the hardware differences between "supported" and "unsupported" Macs could be so small that the only thing you'd need to do to boot new macOS versions is trick the bootloader into thinking it was running on a slightly newer Mac. But this approach has gotten more difficult as Apple removes more and more Intel Mac support from macOS.

Ventura is different. It doesn't officially support any Intel CPUs older than the 7th-generation ("Kaby Lake"), and Apple has actually done a lot of cleanup behind the scenes to remove drivers and other OS components that Macs with older processors relied on.
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Signs of progress
After many months of work, we’ve finally gotten macOS Ventura running on legacy Metal GPUs!

This includes my early 2008 Mac Pro (Nvidia Kepler and AMD GCN 1), 2012 Mac mini, 2014 Mac mini and 2014 5k iMac! pic.twitter.com/cMQ5Qk8uoo
— Mykola Grymalyuk (@khronokernel) August 22, 2022
"Best time frame would be 6 months from now when a proper build of OpenCore Legacy Patcher can be released, but even this is difficult to promise."

But progress has been made, despite that initial pessimism.
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The OCLP team still has other challenges to surmount, not least of which will involve automating all of these hacks so that users without a deep technical understanding of macOS's underpinnings can continue to set up and use the bootloader. Grymalyuk still won't speculate about a timeframe for official Ventura support in OCLP.
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guest · Jan 25, 2023

‘OpenCore’ tool that lets users run macOS Ventura on unsupported Macs is now available
By Filipe Espósito @filipeesposito - January 24, 2023

Earlier this year, a group of developers created a tool that lets users install macOS Ventura on unsupported Macs, such as the “trash can” Mac Pro. While this tool was previously a beta software, the official release of OpenCore 6.0 is now available for any user who wants to try it.
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As we previously covered here on 9to5Mac, “OpenCore Legacy Patcher” (or just OCLP) is a tool that allows older Macs to run macOS Big Sur and Monterey without official support from Apple. The tool is based on the same OpenCore bootloader used for Hackintosh, which is a well-known method for running macOS on regular PCs.

Two months after the release of the first beta of macOS Ventura, the developers behind OCLP demonstrated some old Macs running macOS Ventura thanks to this tool. However, making OCLP compatible with macOS Ventura wasn’t an easy task.
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Macs that can run macOS Ventura with OpenCore
These are the Mac models that can run macOS Ventura with OCLP:
• 2008 – 2016 MacBook
• 2009 – 2017 MacBook Air
• 2008 – 2016 MacBook Pro
• 2009 – 2017 Mac mini
• 2007 – 2017 iMac
• 2008 – 2013 Mac Pro
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Of course, some things may not work as expected since the project is an unauthorized modification by Apple and is still in “active development.” This is certainly not the ideal solution for people who still rely on their computers for work, but it’s interesting to see that people still find ways to continue using computers from a decade ago.

You can find more details about the OpenCore tool on GitHub.
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OpenCore Legacy Patcher 0.6.1 Released (January 24, 2023)
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OpenCore Legacy Patcher 0.6.0 Released (January 23, 2023)
Download (GitHub - Releases)

With the release of OpenCore Legacy Patcher 0.6.0, many long awaited features are finally landing! These include support for a number of hardware and services in macOS Ventura:

Non-Metal Graphics Acceleration

Legacy Wireless Networking

UHCI/OHCI USB 1.1 Controllers

AMD Vega Graphics on pre-Haswell Macs

Rapid Security Responses for Haswell+ Macs using Kernel Debug Kits

This release also expands the range of hardware users can run on Ventura!
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