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Created January 4, 2019 01:45
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Upgrading a Mid-2007 Mac to run macOS Sierra
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macsierraupgrade.md

If you are running a mid-2007 iMac, you have probably only been able to upgrade up to OS X El Capitan. This can cause problems such as:

  • No longer receiving security updates
  • No longer being able to download hardly anything from the app store
  • Not being able to use essential apps like Pages, Numbers, or Keynote

As a developer, I've also run into a couple of other problems:

  • El Capitan only supports Xcode versions up to 8.2 - this keeps you from using most pods and some newer Swift syntax.
  • Google's Flutter platform will not run (as of 1/3/19)

Clearly, it's a good idea to upgrade to Sierra. The problem is, it isn't supported for your Mac's hardware.

It turns out, for some slightly newer apps (around 2008), you can use the macOS Sierra patcher tool by dosdude1.

But, at least in my case, the 2007 mac wasn't supported.

This means the only way I could upgrade was by upgrading the hardware - a scary sounding process at first, although I had already broken into the Mac to switch out the hard drive when I first got it working.

But what things did I have to upgrade? It turns out, all you have to upgrade is the CPU and the Airport card. According to this iFixit thread, these parts should work:

  • CPU: Intel T9300
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