macOS Catalina is the most advanced version of the macOS which came in our hands on October 7, 2019. The introduction of Catalina happened in WWDC 2019. The public beta of macOS Catalina was out later on in July 2019. Apple introduced Catalina with fantastic features and amazing wallpapers by describing macOS Catalina, is a fantastic listener and she can understand you better than anyone. Catalina also has a Time-Shifting desktop which turns light into dark or dark into light according to your time zone. Here's how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.
- Detailed hands on review of Mac OS 10.15 Catalina beta build featuring a new automatic dark mode, screen time, sidecar, Project Catalyst, the removal of iTunes and more! Which was your favorite.
- Slow Mac Startup. After installing macOS Catalina, you may notice your Mac is a bit sluggish when starting up. Be aware that the first time you start up your Mac after upgrading to Catalina or any new version of the Mac OS, your Mac may indeed experience a slow startup.
The profile picture of macOS Catalina is a lovely picture of Santa Catalina Island which changes depending on the time. The night time wallpaper is a picture of a navy blue ocean and dark blue sand mountain and the day time wallpaper is a beautiful picture of light yellow sand mountain which we can't explain in words. The name of Catalina is taken from the Santa Catalina Island of Los Angeles. But according to some sources, it is taken from a girl's name in Spanish and which means 'Pure'.
Launch System Preferences from the Dock or by clicking the Apple icon and System Preferences on the top left of your screen. Click on General. Check the box to the left of Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices. To disable Handoff, repeat the same steps but set the uncheck the box.
macOS Catalina
Catalina's complete version was down on October 7th, 2019. After Catalina was completely out, there were many new things and as well as many problems. I personally use macOS Catalina and I like it very much and have no problem with it except a little difficult to find things. However, there are lots of features and updates I haven't still touched off.
With the help of Catalyst, you can use macOS and iPadOS simultaneously. Apple has made so many new updates and features which let us edit my photos and videos like a pro editor. Catalina is loved by so many people and people like to use macOS Catalina not only by Mac users but also by Windows and other operating system users. In this article, I'll show how to Install macOS Catalina on unsupported Mac.
The latest updates happened in macOS Catalina march 24 2020. Due to this update changes came into Screen Time Communication Limits, a feature first brought to the iPhone in the iOS 13.3 update, it adds iCloud Folder Sharing, and it brings a new Head Pointer Accessibility option that allows the cursor to be controlled with head movements using Mac's camera. We'll see how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.
Check If Your Mac is in The Unsupported List
macOS Catalina is excellent but if users can't use it, then it makes no sense to know it. From while ago, Apple has been cutting and making the compatible Macs list larger for their new versions and this list is also applied to Catalina. As Apple is rolling more versions they are cutting more old Macs from the list. The list of unsupported Mac is getting larger and is already too large. Maybe that's because Apple wants more users to buy their new products instead of using their old ones.
Since the list of unsupported Macs has increased now some users who run Mojave also can't install macOS Catalina. According to Apple, they said, we are decreasing the number of Mac supports because old Macs don't have enough capacity and Metal graphics processors. According to Apple, they said, we are sorry for all the old mac users who can't experience MacOS Catalina in their Mac. Not everyone can afford to get a new Mac every year and Macs aren't cheap too. Don't worry, we are going to show you how to install macOS Catalina on unsupported Macs.
Before heading towards installing macOS Catalina on your Mac, check out the unsupported list of Macs and if your Mac is from the unsupported list. Here are the list of unsupported Mac.
- Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro:
- MacPro3,1
- MacPro4,1
- MacPro5,1
- iMac8,1
- iMac9,1
- iMac10,x
- iMac11,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Catalina.)
- iMac12,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Catalina.)
- MacBookPro4,1
- MacBookPro5,x
- MacBookPro6,x
- MacBookPro7,x
- MacBookPro8,x
- Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook:
- MacBookAir2,1
- MacBookAir3,x
- MacBookAir4,x
- MacBook5,1
- Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or white MacBook:
- Macmini3,1
- Macmini4,1
- Macmini5,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Catalina.)
- MacBook5,2
- MacBook6,1
- MacBook7,1
- Early-2008 or newer Xserve:
- Xserve2,1
- Xserve3,1
If you've checked and found out your Mac is in the unsupported list, step to the next step which is how to install macOS Catalina on unsupported Mac.
What You'll Need
Before you step ahead, here are what you'll need for this procedure.
- A 16GB USB Drive
- Backup Mac
Once that's with you, now dive into how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.
Backup Your Mac
Before installing any operating system, its important to take backup of your computer completely. We recommend backing up your device. Because if anything goes wrong and you hadn't backed up your device everything will be deleted but if you had backed up your device you can simply restore that. Here are the steps.
First if you want to backup, Time Machine Backup will help you do it without deleting any of your folders.
Connect an external hard disk or a USB with some space.
On the upper left corner of your screen, click on the Apple icon. Go to the dropdown menu and select System Preference.
By clicking on Time Machine you can make a machine which will back up your device.
Choose your backup and click on Backup.
With that done, we'll start the process and how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.
How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac
After checking your Mac, if your Mac is in the unsupported list, you can install macOS Catalina slightly without this tool and steps. If your Mac is unsupported follow the steps below.
Once the tool is there, open it. Click on Continue.
That done, if you've the macOS Catalina copy, select Browse for a copy. If you don't select Download a copy.
macOS Installer App
On this window, click on Start Download.
After it's completed, insert the USB and click on 'Create a Bootable Installer'.
Installation Method
Let the process finish and once it's done, take out the USB. After a few moments, insert the USB again then reboot the Mac.
When powering on hold the Option key for a while until the startup manager appears. After the Startup Manager opens click on the USB Drive with the help of arrow keys.
In this point, select Disk Utility and click on Continue.
If you have done the previous steps correctly, you are now in the Disk Utility window. To format your internal drive with APFS format, select the drive and click on Erase. When you're done, close the window.
Erase Disk
Wait for the window and select Reinstall macOS to start the installation. Ommwriter 1 613.
Click Continue with the simple installation wizard and on the install window, select the appropriate disk and click on Install. It might take some while. And you will see many commands going up and down.
Click on the Force Cache Rebuild option and click Restart.
Welcome
By this step, you will see macOS Catalina Setup running on your Mac.
After the installation process is done you need to shut down your Mac and insert the USB drive for booting your computer. we are doing this step to verify patches.
Now you are completely done with the settings and everything, we have installed the latest version of macOS booted on an unsupported device.
The installation process might be difficult but it is not impossible and even if others say it is impossible we will make possible for you.
macOS Catalina made accessibility worse for users that utilize their voice to type. This is a multi-faceted issue, and I will walk you through my daily hell.
(if you want to know why this matters to me <–)
I'm still 3 music-based articles behind, so I spent portions of this weekend putting together this article while I revisit Prolog. Not much I can do when the software I'm reviewing is broken or suddenly has a major updating looming.
I really should write more how-tos I suppose. Anyway, on to the rant.
- Dictation
- Voice Control
The best voice to text option on macOS was Nuance Dragon for Mac. In 2018 they canned it.
Dragon for Mac barely worked, but it did work. Updates to macOS, frameworks and Dragon's authorization server's spottiness quickly made the software unusable by early 2019.
Approximately 1 year later, macOS Catalina was released with the new Voice Control feature which promised…the exact same features of Dragon for Mac.
The connection isn't difficult to make, given that 'Voice Control' is powered by the Siri engine which itself is powered by technology from Nuance Communications (the maker of Dragon).
This doesn't sound like a sad story on the surface, but you've yet to be exposed to Apple's ineptitude.
Privatus 5 0 4. Macs have had the dictation feature since OS X Jaguar. It's a server-side interpretation of speech which appears to simulate typing in some manner on the client.
Dictation works on nearly every text input widget. If it accepts text, then you can utilize the dictation feature.
BUT IT IS TERRIBLE
I speak relatively accent neutral. I am able to utilize Dragon with minimal effort, and friends are amazed when Siri understands every single word I say.
macOS Dictation has no clue. Around 50% of the output looks like some transliterated mess, with me speaking an alien language. Over time I've learned what it can and can't do well, but that's insufficient for daily work.
It WAS better
Dictation at least used to have options. The option of note was the ability to activate it by voice input. Obviously you don't want random speech interfering with your computer's operation, but you also don't want that pop-up microphone on your screen at all times (you'll see why this matters later).
After months (since mid 2019) of messing with the dictation feature, I did learn which words I could accurately get across. I would switch between dictation and typing to reduce the load on my hands.
That is gone in Catalina.
It's replaced by….
One of Catalina's headline features: Voice Control.
It has the basic features that you could want from Speech-to-Text:
- Commands - A variety of commands to control your computer, edit text and the ability to add scripted commands to recognized vocalizations.
- Mouse Control - Selection of items by number, a grid overlay to click portions of the screen.
- Dictionary - Add new words to the recognition database, so I can say 'Cubase' and not get 'QBase'.
- Accurate - Voice Control types what I say with few errors.
Four things that change the world for people like me.
It works fantastic…
When it works.
Raw Input
- Any Electron-based application
- Jetbrains products.
- Serif Products - Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer
- Basically any audio software. Some Logic textboxes work, some don't.
How do I know this? Because that's a list of the software I use nearly every day.
I can't use Catalina's Speech-to-Text with any of these applications!
Cmon Apple!
I use System Preferences->Accessibility->Display->Increase Contrast on my computer.
Look what it does to the ALWAYS ON TOP Voice Control icon (the black thing center right). It's a mess!
We can peer further into the depths of Apple's development by looking at the Dictation icon while using the same settings:
Oh.
OH. That looks fine.
Subtract the fact that the body of the microphone is supposed to be an input level meter. The level indicator works with neither overlay if you have 'Increase Contrast' turned on.
I sometimes wonder if anyone actually uses this stuff.
Bug Fixes
Catalina 10.15.2 allowed me to use Voice Control with Emacs. It was an odd exception.
Luckily 10.15.3 'fixed' that issue. Now I can't use it with any text editor that I use. Glad they squashed that terrible bug.
Thanks Apple.
There are no functional alternatives. The alternative products that do work, rely on Dragon for mac. The rest require extensive configuration (or developing your own application from a framework) to end up with a mediocre solution.
I'd love to be wrong. If you use something or find something (and try it) that works, please let me know!
I'm stuck on a platform I generally like, but with limited ability to utilize my computer. I work in cycles of 15 minutes on, 5-10 minutes off. I've become adept at utilizing spelling-correction to fix frequent errors.
If I switched to Windows then I could utilize Dragon Professional, which is a more advanced solution than has ever been available on macOS.
I'm still 3 music-based articles behind, so I spent portions of this weekend putting together this article while I revisit Prolog. Not much I can do when the software I'm reviewing is broken or suddenly has a major updating looming.
I really should write more how-tos I suppose. Anyway, on to the rant.
- Dictation
- Voice Control
The best voice to text option on macOS was Nuance Dragon for Mac. In 2018 they canned it.
Dragon for Mac barely worked, but it did work. Updates to macOS, frameworks and Dragon's authorization server's spottiness quickly made the software unusable by early 2019.
Approximately 1 year later, macOS Catalina was released with the new Voice Control feature which promised…the exact same features of Dragon for Mac.
The connection isn't difficult to make, given that 'Voice Control' is powered by the Siri engine which itself is powered by technology from Nuance Communications (the maker of Dragon).
This doesn't sound like a sad story on the surface, but you've yet to be exposed to Apple's ineptitude.
Privatus 5 0 4. Macs have had the dictation feature since OS X Jaguar. It's a server-side interpretation of speech which appears to simulate typing in some manner on the client.
Dictation works on nearly every text input widget. If it accepts text, then you can utilize the dictation feature.
BUT IT IS TERRIBLE
I speak relatively accent neutral. I am able to utilize Dragon with minimal effort, and friends are amazed when Siri understands every single word I say.
macOS Dictation has no clue. Around 50% of the output looks like some transliterated mess, with me speaking an alien language. Over time I've learned what it can and can't do well, but that's insufficient for daily work.
It WAS better
Dictation at least used to have options. The option of note was the ability to activate it by voice input. Obviously you don't want random speech interfering with your computer's operation, but you also don't want that pop-up microphone on your screen at all times (you'll see why this matters later).
After months (since mid 2019) of messing with the dictation feature, I did learn which words I could accurately get across. I would switch between dictation and typing to reduce the load on my hands.
That is gone in Catalina.
It's replaced by….
One of Catalina's headline features: Voice Control.
It has the basic features that you could want from Speech-to-Text:
- Commands - A variety of commands to control your computer, edit text and the ability to add scripted commands to recognized vocalizations.
- Mouse Control - Selection of items by number, a grid overlay to click portions of the screen.
- Dictionary - Add new words to the recognition database, so I can say 'Cubase' and not get 'QBase'.
- Accurate - Voice Control types what I say with few errors.
Four things that change the world for people like me.
It works fantastic…
When it works.
Raw Input
- Any Electron-based application
- Jetbrains products.
- Serif Products - Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer
- Basically any audio software. Some Logic textboxes work, some don't.
How do I know this? Because that's a list of the software I use nearly every day.
I can't use Catalina's Speech-to-Text with any of these applications!
Cmon Apple!
I use System Preferences->Accessibility->Display->Increase Contrast on my computer.
Look what it does to the ALWAYS ON TOP Voice Control icon (the black thing center right). It's a mess!
We can peer further into the depths of Apple's development by looking at the Dictation icon while using the same settings:
Oh.
OH. That looks fine.
Subtract the fact that the body of the microphone is supposed to be an input level meter. The level indicator works with neither overlay if you have 'Increase Contrast' turned on.
I sometimes wonder if anyone actually uses this stuff.
Bug Fixes
Catalina 10.15.2 allowed me to use Voice Control with Emacs. It was an odd exception.
Luckily 10.15.3 'fixed' that issue. Now I can't use it with any text editor that I use. Glad they squashed that terrible bug.
Thanks Apple.
There are no functional alternatives. The alternative products that do work, rely on Dragon for mac. The rest require extensive configuration (or developing your own application from a framework) to end up with a mediocre solution.
I'd love to be wrong. If you use something or find something (and try it) that works, please let me know!
I'm stuck on a platform I generally like, but with limited ability to utilize my computer. I work in cycles of 15 minutes on, 5-10 minutes off. I've become adept at utilizing spelling-correction to fix frequent errors.
If I switched to Windows then I could utilize Dragon Professional, which is a more advanced solution than has ever been available on macOS.
There is the option of writing in a VM, but that's quite a complex workaround when you consider synchronizing softwares, file systems and handling build environments.
Mac Os Catalina Requirements
Right now… it just sucks. The work I could get done in 8 hours 3 years ago takes me 12-16 hours now, while still being only 8 billable hours.
Hands Off Macos Catalina
This post took 9 hours to research, write and edit.
