macOS Tahoe 26 on Unsupported Macs Discussion

[deeveedee]

I realize that my experience will be different from others since each macOS installation will vary depending on the Mac Model, so I'm sharing this in case it helps others or gives any ideas...

I have been updating macOS Tahoe since the first Tahoe pre-release. During that time, I experimented with changes that broke features (like the new Apps menu). I just performed a clean installation of macOS Tahoe 26.2 Beta 3 by doing the following:

• Boot macOS Tahoe 26.2 Beta 3 installer with Open Core EFI
• Erase destination APFS volume
• Start macOS Tahoe install on the destination volume
• On my seriously underpowered laptop, install progress was P-A-I-N-F-U-L-L-Y S-L-O-W. If you're not a masochistic glutton for punishment, this experience may be unbearable.
• Later in the macOS install, uncheck "Reset password using Apple Account"
• Skip the step to login to Apple Account
• When the installer finally arrives at the Tahoe desktop, the desktop was visible with the mouse cursor and without any icons. I let the laptop sit idle for a half hour with no progress, so I reset by pressing <Ctrl> <Command> <Power Button>
• When macOS Tahoe restarted, I logged in and changed the following System Settings for performance:
  • System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Reduce Transparency
  • System Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Reduce Motion
  • System Settings > Wallpaper > Color

After the clean install of macOS Tahoe, the Apps menu is working for me again.

Note that I'm still not testing much until OCLP 3.0.0 post-install patches are available.

 

[TOM1211]

Went from 15.7.2 no patches using a standalone installer to go to 26.2 beta 25C5048a using OCLP 3.0 nightly . did install on my mid 2014 MacBook Pro after rebooting after running installer left it for around half an hour then hard powered it off , switch back on left for another half hour hard powered off and rebooted and went to log in screen again only done on a spare partition , all apps open for me. Might have not needed to hard powered off but impatient . Bluetooth works that’s about it lol without being able to patch.

 

[rehkram]

Some insight into OCLP development status for Tahoe here:

 

[Sh3ldon]

It would be nice, though quite unlikely, for version 3 of oclp to be released before Christmas, a sort of gift for those who want to upgrade to Tahoe. It's much more likely we'll see the release in January or February, and if we have to wait for good compatibility, we'll wait.

 

[deeveedee]

No offense, but I have never been a fan of these YouTube videos. I get that the creators need click bait and extended duration to monetize, but I feel like they all went to YouTube school to learn how to take 10 seconds of content and turn it into a 28 minute video. That's 28 minutes that I'm not going to get back. That's just my opinion which I'm sure places me in the minority.

Dortania documentation here still says that the T2 issue does not affect MacBookPro15,2, MacBookPro16,2 and Macmini8,1. Has this been tested in Tahoe? I'd still like to see someone with a real MacMini8,1 attempt to install Tahoe with the required Open Core Booter Patch or boot-arg -no_compat_check (see here for comparison of the booter patch and boot-arg methods).

Spoiler

 

[OKonnel]

No offense, but I have never been a fan of these YouTube videos. I get that the creators need click bait and extended duration to monetize, but I feel like they all went to YouTube school to learn how to take 10 seconds of content and turn it into a 28 minute video. That's 28 minutes that I'm not going to get back. That's just my opinion which I'm sure places me in the minority.

Great point, @deeveedee ! You're awesome!
These people contribute to polluting the web and often use AI to create very long and completely useless videos.
Unfortunately, many elderly and naive people fall into the trap and remain glued to their smart TVs, watching junk video content, which is not good for society because it indirectly weakens us all.
Thank you for sharing your opinions with us!
🙏

 

[ronton3]

Unfortunately, many elderly and naive people fall into the trap and remain glued to their smart TVs, watching junk video content, which is not good for society because it indirectly weakens us all.
and:
Unfortunately, many young and naive people fall into the trap and remain glued to their smart phones, watching junk social media content, which is not good for society because it indirectly weakens us all.

please forgive me i couldn't resist

 

[OKonnel]

Unfortunately, many elderly and naive people fall into the trap and remain glued to their smart TVs, watching junk video content, which is not good for society because it indirectly weakens us all.
and:
Unfortunately, many young and naive people fall into the trap and remain glued to their smart phones, watching junk social media content, which is not good for society because it indirectly weakens us all.

please forgive me i couldn't resist

Thank you for completing my comment, @ronton3 ! It was indeed a bit incomplete!
I have been influenced by often seeing my peers who, unfortunately, have made YouTube their only source of news, and I have noticed that they easily become immobilised and almost hypnotised while watching long, repetitive videos with no real content.
As a result, they end up not talking to their friends and peers anymore, perhaps going to the pub or playing bowls together, etc., and often lose contact with their families as well.
But I see we've gone off topic, so I'll stop here.
Have a good Sunday.

 

[educovas]

It would be nice, though quite unlikely, for version 3 of oclp to be released before Christmas, a sort of gift for those who want to upgrade to Tahoe. It's much more likely we'll see the release in January or February, and if we have to wait for good compatibility, we'll wait.

The 3.0.0 release is definitely not happening this year but maybe, just maybe, macs from 2012-2017 could get root patches as nightly but most likely next year.

This is just my opinion but if people are expecting Tahoe to run well on most unsupported macs, they'll be very disappointed. In my experience, it feels considerably slower than Sequoia.

 

[olad]

No offense, but I have never been a fan of these YouTube videos. I get that the creators need click bait and extended duration to monetize, but I feel like they all went to YouTube school to learn how to take 10 seconds of content and turn it into a 28 minute video. That's 28 minutes that I'm not going to get back. That's just my opinion which I'm sure places me in the minority.

Don't be too sure about the minority bit. No poll taken, but I think quite a lot of folks here would agree with you

 

[chevyboy60013]

So basically I should not attempt Tahoe yet on my mid 2013 MacBook Air or Late 2013 iMac yet and just use 15.7

 

[Sh3ldon]

But at the end of the day, even if we had to wait a year from now for the developers to perfect version 3 of OCLP, will we be able to use an unsupported Mac with a Tahoe?

That would mean having the latest Intel Mac version, as well as two more years of official security patches. After that, as far as I'm concerned, I'll reluctantly swap Safari, which I love, for Firefox ESR, which I hope will guarantee safe browsing for years to come.

I don't want to resign myself to no longer being able to use a late 2015 iMac that still works perfectly for my needs.

 

[Sh3ldon]

Oh, I forgot: Sequoia is currently running great and without any slowdowns, so there's no immediate need to install Tahoe.

 

[OKonnel]

Oh, I forgot: Sequoia is currently running great and without any slowdowns, so there's no immediate need to install Tahoe.

Well done, friend! I would add that I have returned to Sonoma, which is even more stable with OCLP and does not have the various bugs that my iMac had with Sequoia.
In addition, my hardware is perfect and I have everything I need for my purposes, from Pages to Photoshop, Final Cut, etc.

Ultimately, friends, I wonder: do we use Macs to obsess over the transparencies and new features of the graphical interface, or do we need Macs to run programs? (Or games, for some?)
In that case, I'm happy to have a Mac that works perfectly and stably, as if it were new, rather than following the latest trends...
And Sonoma is much faster and more stable than Sequoia because in Sequoia Apple started introducing various restrictions and weighing down the system to prepare it for the new Tahoe features and AI, and - we can see - it's all still very immature. Siri is still in the Pleistocene era, and the new Tahoe Spotlight is neither fish nor fowl, and many people find it complicated to figure out what to do with it...

Every year, a new model of the same car is released; sometimes they improve something, but often they worsen performance under the pretext of reducing fuel consumption or for other reasons related to savings, or to seek new solutions or try new materials.
However, NO sane person would think of changing models every year, even if car manufacturers tell us that they have increased safety or that the new model brakes automatically and controls its position on the road, etc.
Those who have a car that they TRAVEL well with, therefore, treasure it because that is the only purpose of a car: to travel.
Just as the purpose of a computer is to run programs.
And if Safari is no longer suitable for online security, we have Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, etc. and now totally new browsers based on AI are coming out.

 

[rehkram]

I'd still like to see someone with a real MacMini8,1 attempt to install Tahoe with the required Open Core Booter Patch or boot-arg -no_compat_check (see here for comparison of the booter patch and boot-arg methods).

I have an MM8,1, and I'm sorry to inform you I have neither the time, inclination or intention of testing this for you just to satisfy your curiosity.

From where I'm sitting, after reading the MacRumors Tahoe forum and several other sources, Tahoe at present is clearly a "must skip" release on both supported and unsupported macs. But thank you for your concern, and good luck getting it running successfully. 🙄

 

[Sh3ldon]

The 3.0.0 release is definitely not happening this year but maybe, just maybe, macs from 2012-2017 could get root patches as nightly but most likely next year.

By this you mean that having a late 2015 iMac without the T2 chip I am guaranteed that version 3.0 of OCLP will let me install Tahoe?

I hope so because Tahoe will be the last version I will be able to install on this hardware (I mean mac, I know that this imac could be converted into a linux or windows machine but I have no intention of doing so).

 

[BloxUnskilleden]

but maybe, just maybe, macs from 2012-2017 could get root patches as nightly but most likely next year.

Does this mean even the nightly root patches for 2012-2017 Macs are most likely to release early 2026 or mid 2026?

 

[ronton3]

"but maybe, just maybe, macs from 2012-2017 could get root patches as nightly but most likely next year."

If there are nightly's will we be informed about how to download them please, and I emphasize they should be used for testing, on deletable volumes.

 

[educovas]

By this you mean that having a late 2015 iMac without the T2 chip I am guaranteed that version 3.0 of OCLP will let me install Tahoe?

I hope so because Tahoe will be the last version I will be able to install on this hardware (I mean mac, I know that this imac could be converted into a linux or windows machine but I have no intention of doing so).

Can't guarantee because Apple could break things with any update but as of now, with our current internal patches, it should work well if you don't care about slower performance compared to Sequoia.

Does this mean even the nightly root patches for 2012-2017 Macs are most likely to release early 2026 or mid 2026?

Hopefully early 2026 if things go well. It obviously could get delayed if we find more bugs.

"but maybe, just maybe, macs from 2012-2017 could get root patches as nightly but most likely next year."

If there are nightly's will we be informed about how to download them please, and I emphasize they should be used for testing, on deletable volumes.

Nightlies are usually for people who knows what they're doing and we can't guarantee a proper support so i don't think anyone from the team is going to inform how to download them.

 

[sinbad21]

Nightlies need to be build with Python, there is no more package published, so it's not so dangerous to publish the sources, as they will be used by people who have a minimum of knowledge.

 

[ronton3]

Nightlies need to be build with Python, there is no more package published, so it's not so dangerous to publish the sources, as they will be used by people who have a minimum of knowledge.

Perhaps someone who knows what they are doing could create a package for the rest of us experimenters, with warnings for them to only be used for testing and not for daily use, I would hope the Devs might think that a reasonable approach.

 

[deeveedee]

I have an MM8,1, and I'm sorry to inform you I have neither the time, inclination or intention of testing this for you just to satisfy your curiosity.

From where I'm sitting, after reading the MacRumors Tahoe forum and several other sources, Tahoe at present is clearly a "must skip" release on both supported and unsupported macs. But thank you for your concern, and good luck getting it running successfully. 🙄

Clearly I've offended you. That wasn't my intention. Please accept my apology.

 

[houser]

Perhaps someone who knows what they are doing could create a package for the rest of us experimenters, with warnings for them to only be used for testing and not for daily use, I would hope the Devs might think that a reasonable approach.

I don't speak for the devs in any way shape or form, but what I can say is that they have requested we do not post direct links to any nightlies here at all, as that creates unnecessary issues with people doing stuff that is beyond them and might give the project a bit of a bad rep.

Edit: I myself do not currently use nightlies but the exact language and link as of today according to deeveedee is in the post after this one below.

 

[deeveedee]

The actual language of "do not post direct links" is

Do not share any links to these binaries in forums; please link to this document only.

Where "this document" is here. As long as access to any nightlies and source doesn't bypass the warnings, I think that should be sufficient. Just my opinion.

 

[amaze1499]

Some insight into OCLP development status for Tahoe here:

With this release, we have several models dropped, with the last T2-less Mac being dropped.

iMac19,1: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)
iMac19,2: iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
iMacPro1,1: iMac Pro (2017)
MacBookAir9,1: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
Macmini8,1: Mac mini (2018)
MacBookPro15,x: MacBook Pro (13/15-inch, 2019/2019)
MacBookPro16,3: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

macOS Tahoe 26 and OpenCore Legacy Patcher Support · Issue #1167 · dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher

Another WWDC has passed by, and this time it is bittersweet, as Apple has officially declared macOS Tahoe 26 to be the last version to support Intel Macs. Nevertheless, Apple has dropped additional...

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