Difficulty

Easy

Steps

3

Time Required

                          30 minutes - 3 hours            

Sections

1

  • How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Macs
  • 3 steps

Flags

2

In Progress

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Introduction

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.

What you need

Step 1

              Download the Patching Tool               
  • 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.

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.

1024

Step 2

              Open the Patching Tool               
  • 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”.

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”.

Step 3

              Download macOS Catalina               
  • 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.

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.

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

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                                                                                      13 other people completed this guide.                                             

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Klas Kallin - Feb 9, 2022

Reply

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

Klas

Felipe Leal - Mar 11, 2022

Reply

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! :)

Frank - May 23, 2022

Reply

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

hjmcmaster - Jun 14, 2022

Reply

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 ???

Kurt Emmanuel - Aug 21, 2022

Reply

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