Can I install an older version of Mac OS on a newer machine? Help please!

[Codpeace]

Hi folks, sorry if this is an ignorant question but I really don't know the answer to it.

I want to install a version of Mac OS older than the version that my MacBook Pro came with on release. I have an MBP I purchased in August 2017, meaning it came with Sierra, I believe. Would I be able to install, for example, Yosemite on my machine assuming I had the OS installation file?

I have some software that won't run on newer versions, specifically Adobe Acrobat 9. It used to run on my old machine running Yosemite. I have the install disk and copies of all the updates for Acrobat and I have the install file for Yosemite. I'd like to install Yosemite on an external HD then boot from that disk, or perhaps run Yosemite in a VM, just to do some stuff that ONLY Acrobat will do.

But I can't figure out how to install the older OS. Could anyone please advise me on this, possible or not, and if yes perhaps on a strategy or two I could attempt to get it running? Maybe it's not possible (drivers for newer hardware, etc.), which I can live with if I at least knew that.

Thanks SO MUCH, this has been vexing me for quite a while now...

EDITED: to say I'm currently running Mojave on my machine daily.

 

[chrfr]

Hi folks, sorry if this is an ignorant question but I really don't know the answer to it.

I want to install a version of Mac OS older than the version that my MacBook Pro came with on release. I have an MBP I purchased in August 2017, meaning it came with Sierra, I believe. Would I be able to install, for example, Yosemite on my machine assuming I had the OS installation file?

You cannot install a version of the operating system earlier than what originally came with that model computer. In the case of the 2017 MacBook Pro, that'd be macOS Sierra 10.12.5.
You can create a virtual machine to run the older versions but performance is pretty poor due to a lack of graphics acceleration in the virtual machine when virtualizing macOS.

 

[ScreenSavers]

That’s correct. No older versions than what it shipped with are possible. Get an older machine (a 2009 white MacBook would work) or use a VM like mentioned above.

 

[Codpeace]

OK! My gosh, thank you very much.

Could you please advise me (or point me to a discussion) on how to install an older OS in a VM? I tried and was flummoxed (e.g. maybe I need to have the install file in the Applications folder of my Mojave installation that I'd like to install it from?).

I don't care about performance, I really only need to run Acrobat to process some old pdfs which is very straightforward and mundane.

 

[ScreenSavers]

Are you using Parallels? If so, it’s pretty easy if you have install media (free from Apple for Yosemite.)

 

[Brian33]

I've done it in Oracle's (free) Virtualbox, but it was a bit tricky. From what I remember, after getting the "Install OS X Yosemite.app" I had to make a bootable installer "ISO" file with Terminal commands, which was a disk image file that could be "loaded" into VM's virtual optical drive. Set the VM to boot from the optical drive, and it would boot right into the OS X installer program.

I imagine that Parallels or VMWare Fusion would probably be easier, and have better instructions available.