How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Macs

Written By: Jonah Aragon
  • Comments: 18
How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Macs

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

3

Time Required

30 minutes - 3 hours

Introduction

Keep your aging Mac from going obsolete by installing a patched version of macOS Catalina.

Note that installing future Catalina updates from Apple on your Mac is not supported by the patching tool, and you may be required to erase your drive and start this process over after doing so.

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    • macOS Catalina Patcher can be downloaded from http://dosdude1.com/catalina/

    • Before beginning, ensure your model is compatible under the "System Compatibility" tab on the page. Most 2008 to 2011 Macs are compatible with the patching tool.

    • macOS Catalina Patcher is a third-party tool developed by dosdude1, who has developed trusted, similar tools since macOS Sierra.

    • Once the patching tool has downloaded, open the DMG file to mount it.

    • In the virtual drive, right click the "macOS Catalina Patcher", and click "Open".

    • If a warning appears saying that Apple cannot check the application for malicious software, click "Open" if it is an option, if "Close" is the only option, click it, then go into Security & Privacy in System Preferences, unlock the General tab and click "Open Anyway".

    • Continue through the prompts until you reach the "macOS Installer App" page.

    • Click "Download a Copy" to download an official macOS Catalina installer directly from Apple.

    • Click "Start Download".

    • If prompted, allow macOS Catalina Patcher access to your Downloads folder.

    • The download is an 8 GB file and may take some time to complete.

Conclusion

That’s it! You should now have macOS Catalina installed on your machine.

Author

Jonah Aragon

Member since: 05/08/18

5255 Reputation

18 comments

Hi, the Catalina install doesn’t work for me on a MBP early 2011. Have tried all of the three install alternatives.

Klas

Klas Kallin -

a mi tampoco me ha funcionado y tengo un MBP late 2011. mi correo es luisguillermopalomino@gmail.com si quieres ponerte en contacto por si descubres la solucion

Luis Guillermo Palomino Arias -

Hi there, I’m successfully running Catalina on an 8,1 iMac from 2008, so sweet! Only problem is that I can’t install some apps, like iWork/Pages or GarageBand. Is there any workaround for me to install Pages, especially? I hadn’t owned it before, so that option wouldn’t work for me.

Thanks in advance! :)

Felipe Leal -

Install newer macOS maybe?

[deleted] -

The dosdude website is no longer responding. Any other recommendations?

Frank -

Hi it's fine now I used it this weekend (Feb 2024).

Caroline Buquet -

Installed Catalina 10.15.7 (using dosdude) but MacBook no longer recognizes the battery, doesn't show battery indicator etc. I've tried all the usual tricks, but am thinking it is a software problem ???

hjmcmaster -

How can I remove the patch and restore to original os?

Kurt Emmanuel -

I would like to know too !

pascal bragantini -

You need to create a new macOS USB and format the hard drive and install it new. You can also try to start the old internet recovery. But it maybe macOS Mountain Lion or Lion.

[deleted] -

Hi, it worked perfectly with the bootable key way on a macbook pro OSX 10.9, thank you !

cJacquou -

Comment désinstaller le package et les fichiers ?

pascal bragantini -

Hi, many thanks for your work. Everything works fine for me. My old iMac is now ready for a few new years :)

Pascal -

Con su artículo publicado he logrado instalar catalina sin problema en mi macbook pro 8.2 (late 2011). Sólo queda un pequeño detalle y este está relacionado con el navegador Google Chrome. Gracias

José Matute -

Quel est la problématique avec Google Chrome ? Je souhaite installer cette mise à jour exclusivement car Chrome n'est plus compatible avec mon OS.

Mélanie C. -

Hi, thank you so much for posting this tutorial, I successfully installed Catalina on a iMac from 2009! I only use it for iTunes and to watch Netflix. However, I cannot install Chrome at all, which means it's still difficult to run some sites such as Netflix. After downloading and installing Chrome, I get the following message when opening the app 'Chrome closed inadvertently'. I successfully run Mozilla Firefox but Chrome is impossible to run. Anybody knows how to overcome this challenge :-) ? Thanks a lot!

Caroline Buquet -

Alguien sabe la clave o contraseña que se pone en la bios?

Ernesto Gonzalez -

Hello, I installed succesfully this but Chrome doesn't work. Anyone has the same problem?

Dani -