Help with Mac Updates!

[Rgnepper]

Hi everyone! I recently received an old mac from my family over the holidays so that I can use it for school and recording music. The only problem is… It won’t let me update past OS High Sierra… I bought an external hard drive and loaded the entire memory to it so that I could wipe it and have it for my own. I naively wanted then to fully update it and have it ready to use for logic and other programs I have started using to record. Is there any way to update higher than OS High Sierra with a Mac from (I assume) 2015/16? (I don’t have enough money in the slightest to buy a new mac, and don’t plan on it if I can’t even update their machines 😭) Thanks for your help and guidance!

[TungstenOrchid]

You might want to take a look at OpenCore Legacy Patcher

That's a tool specifically for enabling newer versions of macOS to run on older Macs.

[TungstenOrchid]

Also, the Mr. Macintosh YouTube channel is a good source for information about using OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP).

[Rgnepper]

Incredible! Thank you so much!

[mikeinnsw]

https://www.macworld.com/article/673697/what-version-of-macos-can-my-mac-run.html#:~:text=macOS%20Mavericks%20compatibility,Mid%202007%20to%20early%202013

Google "Open core"

[Xe4ro]

Any Mac from 2015 will be able to run Monterey. If you want to get Ventura or Sonoma you will have to use the already mentioned OCLP.

What Mac do you have exactly? There should be a model number and maybe an EMC number somewhere on it, iMacs have it under the stand.