So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.
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We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.
Cheetah 10.0 | Puma 10.1 | Jaguar 10.2 |
Panther 10.3 | Tiger 10.4 | Leopard 10.5 |
Snow Leopard 10.6 | Lion 10.7 | Mountain Lion 10.8 |
Mavericks 10.9 | Yosemite 10.10 | El Capitan 10.11 |
Sierra 10.12 | High Sierra 10.13 | Mojave 10.14 |
Catalina 10.15 |
Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.
Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:
Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)
Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.
If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:
This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.
If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.
You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.
Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8
The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.
If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:
1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.
If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.
But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.
After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.
The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.
Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.
Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.
If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina
Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).
If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.
Jul 18,2019 • Filed to: Download Music • Proven solutions
What's the best program to download music on mac? does anyone have some good suggestions?
Do you have the habit of listening to music while you are working on your Mac? Now you do not have to use any other device to download and listen to music. You can download and listen to all your favorite songs using your Mac. There are quite a few free music downloader for Mac (MacOS 10.12 Sierra and 10.13 High Sierra included) that are available in the market for free download. You can simply download and install one of these applications and you will be able to download music from just almost any websites on the Internet. If you use a suitable music downloader for Mac, you no longer will have to depend on your Internet connection to listen to the favorite music. There are numerous music downloader apps that you can use to download and store music in your Mac. You will be able to download and listen to the songs and audio files offline, without the need for any Internet connection. Search online for all the music downloaders for Mac available in the market. You will surely find the most suitable one online. Given below is a list of top 10 video downloaders for Mac that you can use to download and listen to your favorite music:
iMusic:
The iMusic is the music downloader for MacOS 10.12 Sierra that will let you download from over 3000 music sites on the web. There are also different video sites that are supported. The software supports ID3 tags and also identified information about the music or the files you are downloading. For example, the audio recorder app for Mac can gather information like artist, genre, album, and various other details about the application. This downloader can help you to download music and videos in very high quality in the MP4 or MP3 formats. You will also be able to export music and audio files from the iTunes library. This application can also help you to burn the stored music files to a CD or DVD.
Before download free music on Mac, come to iMusic's official site:https://www.aimersoft.com/imusic.html to download the free trial of iMusic.
Click “DOWNLOAD” in the “GET MUSIC” window. After then you can see a URL paste box as well as access to several popular music sites.
Open YouTube or any music streaming site, Copy the URL of the song on the site. Then paste the URL of the song to the URL paste box in iMusic, check the needed music format and click “Download”.
Option 2: Another option for downloading is to navigate to the music site from those indicated below the URL blank, then search the music you want to download. Play it , then click the 'Record' Button on the right corner. This Method suits for some music sites like spotify.
Once completed the music downloading for macs, the downloaded songs will be automatically added to your iTunes Library automatically. Click 'LIBRARY', then download icon on the left side to check out the songs.
Note: The above mentioned steps can be used to download YouTube music to MP3 format. All the downloaded songs are saved in iTunes Library directly. You need to click “LIBRARY” menu in iMusic, then the download icon on the left side of the pop-up window to check them. Whenever you need to transfer these songs to iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android phones, even to computer, just check them and click the export option to send them to the device or computer.
It is another superior music downloaders for Mac that is available in the market. It is probably the best free software you can get. You will be able to browse the albums and download those with ease. When you are searching the market for the music downloader apps, you will see that there are not many applications that can download the complete song albums and media files. However, Media Drug can. It is one of a kind music downloader for Mac that can easily download full music albums. There is an integrated music player, which can be used to listen to the music that you've already downloaded. The whole downloading experience can be done without any problem. If you want to have a whole new experience in listening to music, you must download this Media Drug downloader for Mac.
This application or the music downloader can work brilliantly with SoundCloud. It can make the whole experience of downloading videos fast and in an effective manner. There are millions of files that you can download using this music downloader application for Mac. It supports simultaneous downloads and the application features easy interface.
It is one of the best music downloader applications that you can use with Mac. This music downloader program works on Mac OS X 10.5 or higher, including El Capitan. It takes just a few seconds to download the music from the YouTube. With the help of this software, you can download YouTube music for free. With MacX, it is possible to download in different resolution and format. It is an intelligent application that can help in automatically detect and download the music from the source website. Like many other music downloaders, you do not need to copy and paste the URL of the song videos or music files anywhere to be able to download the music. With this software, downloading music is splitting fast as compared to other downloaders in the market. It maintains high quality of the videos. Now you can download and listen offline to all the music files that are there on a website like YouTube.
This is one of the best music downloader application for Mac. It can download music and can automatically tag and identify songs. It is easy, yet powerful to use to download music in your Mac. To use this software, you need to download it first. Then, you must follow the following steps:
The Jaksta is a music downloader application that can even convert a video file into an MP3 file while downloading. While downloading, the downloader maintains the perfect digital copies of the songs that you hear. The download happens at up to 10 times faster than the playback speed of the files. Even when the videos are converted to the MP3 files, highest quality is maintained. You can use the free version of the application to download music to Mac; however, there is a paid version of the application too.
It is an application that can make it easy for you to retrieve the download links from the websites that allow music downloads. It is a simple downloader that you can use with ease. To use this software, you need to install Java. Now, you can open the application and search for the desired song. After this, you need to click the Download button and wait for the download to finish. Downloading music files using this downloader is easy and convenient. With just a few clicks, you will be able to download the files of your choice. However, as this downloader uses Java, often a lot of memory is consumed by the application.
This application is specially designed for the Mac users. With the help of this application you can download music from a site like YouTube. You will be able to save all the downloaded music in your Mac and enjoy those anytime you want. The latest version of Wondershare can help the users to download HTML5 music. Downloading music is faster and easier with the Wondershare application. However, one major drawback of this application is that it is not compatible with the Mac OS X 10.9. However, this app is soon to be updated with the new version of this application solving this issue for the Mac users.
This is an application that can help the Mac users to download music and songs from the desired locations on the Internet. It is fast and is amazingly fast as an application. You do not just able to download the desired songs and videos, but can also view and enjoy the music and the videos using the integrated player. It is another of the torrent clients and you can download torrent videos using this downloader.
This music downloader for Mac is free and is considered to be one of the most user-friendly applications with the Mac users. Not just music, this application can also help the Mac users to download videos and various types of audio files from the web. Thus, you can use this software to download almost any video by browsing through an infinite collection of songs. The audio files and music you download will get automatically saved to the Mac folders.
If you are looking for a top quality music downloader application for Mac, Abelssoft is the name you can trust. With the help of this application, you will be able to download millions of songs from the YouTube with the best quality assurance. To use this application on Mac, you simply need to enter the artist name or your favorite song title in the search box of the application. You'll get all the results from the YouTube. Choose the one that you were looking for and the download will start automatically. You can use this application to download video files from YouTube too. There are different formats in which you can download the audio files like MP3 and OGG.
So, what are you waiting for? You must choose a software to download music directly from the Internet. We highly recommend iMusic to you ! You will be able to download the desired music files and use your portable devices to listen to those even in an area where the Internet connection is poor.