Today I will tell you how to install macOS Mojave or other fresh macOS on an unsupported Mac using the Mojave Patcher Tool. This utility is available for free. You can see more information and patcher updates here on a dosdude site.
Aug 28, 2021 The Mojave 10.14.1 update does NOT install properly on unsupported machines, and could result in an unbootable OS. If you want to install the 10.14.1 update (and are not currently running 10.14.1), perform the following steps. Download the latest version of Mojave Patcher. Download the installer using the Tools menu of Mojave Patcher. Feb 21, 2020 Hi, I recently installed macOS Mojave on my mid 2010 Macbook using the patcher from dosdue1 which was worked perfectly until i found out when trying to enter recovery mode, the screen came up with the blocked symbol not letting me enter recovery mode which is a big risk for the future if. Note: “File not found” or a “system cannot find the file specified” message appears while installing VMware Workstation Player when the patch file is saved in a location different to the default folder. Once the patch runs completely, open VMware and start creating macOS Mojave Virtual Machine. Steps to create macOS Mojave Virtual.
- . Fixed a GUI glitch in the main patcher window. Added dark mode support to Patch Updater application. Fixed an issue where the tool would fail to create a patched installer volume when running under Mojave. Added the Legacy iSight Patch to the post-install tool 1.0.2 - 7/29/2018.
- . If selected in the macOS Post Install tool, your Mojave install will have a program named 'Patch Updater' located in your /Applications/Utilities folder. This program will alert you when new updates to patches are available for your machine, and will prompt you to install them.
Attention! Do not forget! You carry out all actions with the computer and the program at your own peril and risk! No one is responsible for damage to your computer or loss of data except you! If you have crooked hands, do not grab it!
Read more: How to Install Boot Camp and Install Windows 10 on Mac?
Devices Supported
Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro:
- MacPro3,1
- MacPro 4.1
- iMac8.1
- iMac9.1
- iMac10, x
- iMac11, x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Mojave. More details are located in the Known Issues section below.)
- iMac12, x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Mojave. More details are located in the Known Issues section below.)
- MacBookPro 4.1
- MacBookPro5, x
- MacBookPro6, x
- MacBookPro 7.1
- MacBookPro8, x
Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook:
- MacBookAir2.1
- MacBookAir3, x
- MacBookAir4, x
- MacBook 5.1
Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or white MacBook:
- Macmini 3.1
- Macmini 4.1
- Macmini5, x
- MacBook 5.2
- MacBook 6.1
- MacBook 7.1
Early-2008 or newer Xserve:
- Xserve2.1
- Xserve3.1
Devices that ARE NOT Supported
2006-2007 Mac Pros, iMacs, MacBook Pros, and Mac Minis:
- MacPro1,1
- MacPro2,1
- iMac4.1
- iMac5, x
- iMac 6.1
- iMac7.1
- MacBookPro1,1
- MacBookPro2, x
- MacBookPro3.1
- Macmini1,1
- Macmini 2.1
- The 2007 iMac 7.1 is compatible if the CPU is upgraded to a Penryn-based Core 2 Duo, such as a T9300
2006-2008 MacBooks:
- MacBook1.1
- MacBook 2.1
- MacBook 3.1
- MacBook 4.1
- 2008 MacBook Air (MacBookAir 1.1)
What Do you Need?
A copy of the macOS Mojave Installer App. This can be obtained from the Mac App Store using a machine that supports Mojave, or by using the built-in downloading feature of the tool. In the Menu Bar, simply select “Tools -> Download macOS Mojave …“
Read more: How to Resize Partition on a Mac?
How to Install macOS Mojave with Mojave Patcher Tool?
- Insert a suitable USB flash drive, open Disk Utility and format it in OS X Extended(journal);
- Open “macOS Mojave Patcher” and specify the path to your macOS Mojave installer;
Mojave Patcher Isight Camera
- Select your flash drive in the list of devices and click “Start”;
- After the operation is complete, restart your Mac with the Option (Alt) button pressed, select your USB flash drive in the boot menu;
- Install macOS on the selected drive partition;
- When the installation process is complete, reboot the device by selecting the installer disk to boot. After that, open the macOS Post Install application;
- In the application window, select your Mac model. You will be offered the best patches based on the selected model. You can also mark other patches as desired;
- Select the partition on which macOS Mojave was installed, and click Patch. When the process is complete, click “Reboot”;
- Rebuilding the cache before rebooting the system may take some time! Note: If for some reason the system does not work correctly after rebooting, restart your Mac with the Option (Alt) button pressed, select the installer disk in the boot menu, then run the Post Install patch again and select the “Force Cache Rebuild” option. Then reboot the device;
- When the Mac reboots, it will launch a fully working version of macOS Mojave.
Conclusion
When you install the system using the macOS Post Install tool, a program called Patch Updater (Applications/Utilities folder) will appear on your Mac. This app will inform you about patch updates available for your device and offer to install them.
Attempting to download macOS Mojave from the Mac App Store I found that a small 22 MB version of the “Install macOS Mojave.app” file downloads to the “Applications” folder, rather than the complete 6 GB installer file.
The tiny 22 MB incomplete installer requires an internet connection during usage to download the rest of the Mojave update files. Additionally, it does not allow to create a macOS Mojave USB installer drive for use on multiple computers.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to download the complete “Install macOS Mojave.app” file from Apple servers using the “macOS Mojave Patcher” app instead of via the Mac App Store.
A similar mini-installer issue occurred previously with some users getting a tiny incomplete macOS High Sierra installer too and I covered a similar workaround here to download the complete installer file from Apple servers.
About the app
In this workaround, we’re going to use the macOS Mojave Patcher app from the dosdude1.com. This app is intended for those with unsupported Macs and Hackintosh users, but any Mac user can use the app to be able to download the complete macOS Mojave installer file from Apple servers. For our purposes in this particular walkthrough, we will use the app only to download the complete installer file.
Note! This method relies on a third party app from an unverified third party source. If you are not comfortable with using unvetted and unverified software, do not follow this process.
Let’s begin
Downloading the complete “Install macOS Mojave.app” file from Apple servers using the “macOS Mojave Patcher” app is a really easy process. Now, step by step guide.
Go to the official website of the “macOS Mojave Patcher” app here and download the app.
The download links are labeled as “Direct” and “Mirror” on that page.
Launch the “macOS Mojave Patcher” app.
Note! By default, macOS preventing apps from unidentified developers or sources from being launched. So you most likely will get an alert message that says: “macOS Mojave Patcher.app can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer”. To allow just one specific app to run do the following:
- Hold down the
Control
key and click the app icon. From the contextual menu chooseOpen
. - A popup will appear asking you to confirm this action. Click the
Open
button.
Ignore everything about patching, instead pull down the “Tools” menu and choose “Download macOS Mojave…”.
Confirm that you want to download the “Install macOS Mojave.app” app, and then point it to a location to save on the hard drive.
Close the “macOS Mojave Patcher” app when the download is complete and locate the “Install macOS Mojave.app” file you downloaded.
Conclusion
That’s it, you’re done. Now you have the complete “Install macOS Mojave.app” file downloaded. So simple isn’t it?
You can confirm that you have the complete “Install macOS Mojave.app” file by getting info on the file. For this simply select the file and click the Spacebar
key (or right-click on the file and choose “Get Info”). The complete installer should be around 6 GB rather than the tiny 22 MB incomplete installer that requires additional downloads.
Note! Remember, the “Install macOS Mojave.app” file deletes itself automatically after macOS Mojave has successfully installed. Therefore, you may want to make a backup by having previously copied it to external storage.
Let me know in the comments section if you know another way to download the complete “Install macOS Mojave.app” file rather than the tiny incomplete installer.
I hope this article has helped you learn how to downloaded the complete “Install macOS Mojave.app” file from Apple servers. If this article has helped you then please leave a comment
Thanks for reading!
Arthur is a designer and full stack software engineer. He is the founder of Space X-Chimp and the blog My Cyber Universe. His personal website can be found at arthurgareginyan.com.