Can you install Big Sur on M1 Max MBP?

[Technerd108]

I have a new 16" MBP M1 and I wanted to install Big Sur. I know it is the previous version of Mac OS but I wanted to see how well it would run. I tried to download from the App Store and there is no way.

Is this possible or should I just forget the idea?

 

[Gnattu]

I don't think it is possible. Hardware support like the kernel config, the screen resolution with notch etc only appears after Monterey.

 

[chrfr]

I have a new 16" MBP M1 and I wanted to install Big Sur. I know it is the previous version of Mac OS but I wanted to see how well it would run. I tried to download from the App Store and there is no way.

Is this possible or should I just forget the idea?

It’s not at all possible.

 

[Technerd108]

Got it! Thanks!

 

[pshufd]

You might look at running it in a virtual machine if you require it for work.

 

[jdb8167]

You might look at running it in a virtual machine if you require it for work.

Native Apple silicon macOS guest virtual machines require Monterey for both the host OS and guest. (And really don’t work well yet.)

 

[satcomer]

Yep on Mac going forward is allowed but not going back before your Mac was made is sorry impossible! Trust me this has been this way sense Steve first came back!

 

[mi7chy]

Has anyone tried to see what happens when attempting USB restore of Big Sur on Macbook M1 Max/Pro. These devices have probably been in development over a year ago when Big Sur was prevalent.

 

[chrfr]

Has anyone tried to see what happens when attempting USB restore of Big Sur on Macbook M1 Max/Pro. These devices have probably been in development over a year ago when Big Sur was prevalent.

You can't do it. It's just the same as trying to install an old version of iOS onto a newer iPhone.

 

[mi7chy]

You can't do it. It's just the same as trying to install an old version of iOS onto a newer iPhone.

Don't like assumptions. Better that someone attempt it to prove that it doesn't or somehow does work even if there are minor acceptable trade offs. Imagine if we all just blindly believe the Earth is flat.

 

[TiggrToo]

Don't like assumptions. Better that someone attempt it to prove that it doesn't or somehow does work even if there are minor acceptable trade offs. Imagine if we all just blindly believe the Earth is flat.

I’m sure you could probably find a way to do it.

However it’s an absolute “take it to the bank” guarantee that’ll it’s not a supported configuration and therefore the results could range the gamut from nothing to total system instability.

And each person would probably have different results, depending on what they have installed, peripherals etc.

 

[reedondo]

18 months after the above posts I am trying this too - long story but because of certain CAD software reverse compatability issues it would be convenient for us to have Big Sur on this M1 Max MB Pro just to overlap with a few more previous versions - so we made a bootable Big Sur install USB - got as far as the screen where one picks the destination drive but the installer will not allow the the M1 Max drive to be selected, an apparent dead end.

My sense from multiple sources that date back to the early days of the silicon chips Big Sur could at one time be installed on the M1 Max but seemingly no longer, perhaps for one of the reasons mentioned above. Still looking for a hack tho, because I don't like these kind of unexplained cul-de-sacs, or assumptions either, as per mi7chy...

View attachment 2203414

 

[chrfr]

18 months after the above posts I am trying this too - long story but because of certain CAD software reverse compatability issues it would be convenient for us to have Big Sur on this M1 Max MB Pro just to overlap with a few more previous versions - so we made a bootable Big Sur install USB - got as far as the screen where one picks the destination drive but the installer will not allow the the M1 Max drive to be selected, an apparent dead end.

My sense from multiple sources that date back to the early days of the silicon chips Big Sur could at one time be installed on the M1 Max but seemingly no longer, perhaps for one of the reasons mentioned above. Still looking for a hack tho, because I don't like these kind of unexplained cul-de-sacs, or assumptions either, as per mi7chy...

View attachment 2203414

Monterey version 12.0 is the oldest OS compatible with the 2021 14” and 16” Pros, regardless of whether they have M1 Pro or M1 Max chips in them, and there’s no hack to make Big Sur work on these.
The standard M1 Macs can run 11.0.

 

[mr_roboto]

My sense from multiple sources that date back to the early days of the silicon chips Big Sur could at one time be installed on the M1 Max but seemingly no longer, perhaps for one of the reasons mentioned above. Still looking for a hack tho, because I don't like these kind of unexplained cul-de-sacs, or assumptions either, as per mi7chy...

To expand on @chrfr 's post - the very first M1 Pro and M1 Max based computers shipped with macOS Monterey 12.0.1 preinstalled. Prior releases of macOS, including all Big Sur versions, simply don't have the drivers and other software required to work on these machines.

This isn't a new thing with Apple Silicon, either. For example, the 2019 16" Core i9 MBP had macOS Catalina 10.15.5 preinstalled. You could not downgrade it a pre-Catalina version of macOS, or even any Catalina minor version prior to 10.15.5.

If you buy a new Mac, do not count on it being able to run a version of macOS older than what it shipped with. The only time that happens is if you buy long enough after its launch date that Apple has updated which OS is preloaded, and even then, you can only go back as far as the launch date OS.

 

[anshuvorty]

No, the drivers aren't compatible with the hardware. Macs aren't like Windows PC where you can just install older versions of macOS on a newer device.