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So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.

• The maximum version of Mac OS X, OS X, or macOS supported by each G3 and later Mac follows. For complete specs on a particular system, click the name of the Mac. For all Macs that are compatible with a specifc maximum supported version of Mac OS X - courtesy of EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Sort - click the OS of interest.
• Upgrade your Mac from OS X Yosemite to macOS Sierra. All University Mac users are strongly advised to upgrade from OS X Yosemite operating system to macOS Sierra (v10.12.6), as soon as possible, as Yosemite is no longer supported by Apple.
• Make sure you’re ready to upgrade. Before you upgrade, we recommend that you back up your Mac. Then, if your Mac is running OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later, you can upgrade directly to macOS Catalina.
• OS X Yosemite remains available for Mac computers that can't upgrade to later versions of the Mac operating system.

A list of all Mac OS X versions

We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.

STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation

Download the latest version of Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Lion for Mac - For OS X 10.7 users migrating to OS X 10.9. Read 0 user reviews of Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Lion on MacUpdate.

Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:

• Uninstall large unused apps
• Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
• Locate the biggest files on your computer:

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.

How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store

If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:

1. Click the App Store icon.
2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
3. Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
4. Click Download.

This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.

Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8

The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:

1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.

“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”

If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.

After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.

STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive

The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.

1. Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
2. Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
3. Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
4. Select external drive as a source.
5. Enter your Apple ID.

Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.

1. Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
2. Connect the external drive.
3. Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.

Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version

If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.

These might also interest you:

Upgrading from one operating system to the another OS is the way of installing Windows or Mac operating system. In this article, you are going to learn that how to upgrade Mac OS X El Capitan to macOS Sierra 10.12. macOS Sierra 10.12 is the latest released version of Mac operating system right now. Also, you will learn that what is an upgrade and how you can do upgrade from on OS to the another version of OS.

Upgrading is the process of replacing a product with a newer version of the same product. In computing and consumer electronics an upgrade is generally a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the system up to date or to improve its characteristics. You have two kinds of upgrading;

1. Hardware upgrading
2. Software upgrading

1. Hardware Upgrade

Hardware upgrading is the replacement of new hardware with the old versions. Or an upgrade is a term that describes adding new hardware in a computer that improves its performance. For example, with a hardware upgrade you could replace your hard drive with an SSD and get a huge boost in performance or upgrade the RAM so the computer runs more smoothly. Like this, you can upgrade various components of the computer.

#2. Software Upgrade

To replace (a softwareprogram)with a morerecentlyreleased,enhancedversion. For example, you may be running version 10.11 of Mac OS, version 10.12 is an upgrade, and version 10.11.x is an update. Another good example of a software upgrade is upgrading your version of Windows. For example, if you had Microsoft Windows 8.1 and were upgrade to Windows 10, it would be considered a software upgrade.

Now that you have understood the meaning of upgrading and let’s get started with “How to upgrade Mac OS X El Capitan to macOS Sierra 10.12”.

Upgrade Mac OS X El Capitan to macOS Sierra 10.12

To upgrade Mac OS X El Capitan to macOS Sierra 10.12, the latest updates from Apple.Inc, Download the macOS Sierra 10.12.1 latest version from Apple App Store.

#1.Open Apple App Store then navigate to Featured tab. Find macOS Sierra from right sidebar on app store then click on. Finally, you’ll see the snapshot below and click Download. Type your apple ID with the password. It will automatically download macOS Sierra 10.12.1 in the Applicationfolder on your Mac device.

#2. Once the download process is completed navigate to the Applicationfolder or just launch the launchpad then click on macOS Sierra setup. macOS Sierra Welcome window will appear. Click Continue.

#3. Agree to the software license agreement and then hit the Agreebutton.

Agree to the License agreement

#4. If you’ve multiple disks on your device, select one of them and hit the Installbutton and click Continue

#5. It will take a minute or less than a minute. Right after that, your computer will restart.

Installing macOS Sierra on MacBook Pro

#6. Click the “Restart” button. Keep in mind that your computer may restart more than once during installation.

Restarting macOS Sierra 10.12

Right after clicking on Restart button, your device will automatically restart and you have to wait for some minutes to complete the installation.

#7. This may take up to 30 or 40 minutes to finish the upgrading process so just relax and set back. The duration of installation is depending on your device processor, SSD, and RAM.

#8. Now, enter your Apple ID with the password. If you were already signed in. The below screen shot may appear. Enter your Apple ID’s password or choose “Set up Later“.

Free Upgrades For Mac Os X

Enter your Apple ID with Password

#9. In the “Diagnostics & Usage” window click “Continue“.

Diagnostics & Usage

#10. Enable “Siri” if you wish then hit the “Continue” button.

Mac Os X Update

Conclusion

Mac Os X Latest

Here we go. It’s finished now enjoy using new Apple desktop operating system “macOS Sierra 10.12”. If you have any question regarding this or our other posts, feel free to let us know. Thanks for being with dear friends.

Upgrade Mac Os X 10.5.8

macOS Sierra Final