Upgrading MacOS X El Capitan to...newer...like Catalina.

[YeOldeStonecat]

(N/M, found out it's 32 bit only be the reason)

I've done a few updates for MacOS here and there, normally it seems like a "Check for updates" thing.
So, went to install M365 on the Macbook of someone at a client, by the time it downloaded and I went to install it.."requires newer OS..."

No prob, I go to About...Software Update..and nothing is found.
Go to App Store...nothing found...

...any tricks?

 

[Markverhyden]

Core 2 duo is a hardware cut off for many things in the Apple ecosystem.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

So the bit of time I spent getting it downloaded and installed on this old system, failing, he asked if I had any laptops in stock, sold 2x Lenovo Thinkpad P14S ...Ryzen 7 Pro, 16 gigs, 512 megs. Win Win!

 

[fincoder]

I'm not a Mac specialist, but what I do is look up the Mac's serial no. on https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/
That will tell you the highest OS version supported.

Then in Safari or Chrome on that mac, google for 'upgrade to catalina' or whichever is the newest OS version supported. There will be an apple web page with a link to download the install, which actually opens the upgrade on the app store. It most likely would not be available by simply searching in the app store.

 

[Markverhyden]

This particular case is M365. I'd bet he did it like most do. Log into M365 then install.

 

[overburnz]

this Mac will go to macOS El Capitan, maximum, you will need to install an older version of microsoft office or libre office

 

[sapphirescales]

...any tricks?

dossdude's patcher to install a newer version of Mac OS on old Mac hardware is your only option here. There's also OpenCore but I don't think it will work on a core 2 duo machine. I don't know. I've played around with these things on occasion and I've even installed newer versions of Mac OS on unsupported hardware for clients who have requested it on the condition that I offer no warranty on the stability of the system afterwards. I don't have much experience with this though. The last time I did this for a client was 3 months ago. They had a few stability problems but haven't called back so I assume it's fine. Just make sure you temper their expectations and let them know it will be buggy and make sure they understand that you can't guarantee anything.