macbook high sierra download for uncompatibable macs

Click on the drive on the sidebar to the left and then click Erase.If you’ve decided to download an older version of macOS, these are the options that you’ll be able to find from the App Store:Īfter you’ve downloaded the version of macOS you want to downgrade to, you might be tempted to just click on the installer and let the installation begin, but unfortunately it’s not that simple as you will need to create a bootable USB drive.īefore you proceed, make sure that you have all your important files backed up to an external drive or to the cloud so that you don’t lose those files in case something goes wrong during the installation process.Īpple recommends that users have a USB drive that has at least 14GB of free space and that it has been formatted as Mac OS Extended.

Restoring Time Machine backups could be tricky if you’re trying to restore a backup made on a newer version on an older version of macOS (for example restoring a backup made on macOS High Sierra on OS X El Capitan).The oldest version of macOS you can downgrade to will be the version your Mac came with, so for example if you bought an iMac that came with OS X Lion, in theory that would be the earliest version you can reinstall.

If you happen to own an M1 or any M-series chipset, old versions of macOS will be incompatible as they were written for Intel’s x86 platform in mind.

Thankfully though, if you want to go back to the previous version of macOS, or an even older version of macOS, it is possible, and here’s how to do that. Or maybe there are changes made to the UI that some users just aren’t a fan of, or maybe there could be some major bugs or app incompatibility issues with the new build. Apple has typically announced a new major macOS update once a year (not counting smaller updates in between), but sometimes these updates aren’t necessarily a good thing.įor example, those on older hardware might find that while they are eligible for the update, their computer might end up feeling sluggish and slow after updating. OS updates are a good thing because it usually signifies security improvements, new features, bug fixes, and all that jazz.

Macbook high sierra download for uncompatibable macs