With the help of the OpenCore Legacy Patcher, users are expected to be able to install macOS 13 Ventura on many Macs that are no longer officially supported: After several months of work, the project has now managed to get the new version of the operating system running on Macs with old graphics processors, according to one of the main developers announced at the beginning of the week. The focus when adapting the OpenCore Legacy Patcher currently seems to be on desktop systems and also includes models that were built more than a decade ago.

macOS 13 is coming in October

macOS 13 can now be run on the 2008 Mac Pro with Nvidia Kepler and AMD GCN (1st generation) graphics cards, explained developer Mykola Grymalyuk. The new system also runs on Mac minis built in 2012 and 2014 and the first large iMac with a 5K screen from 2014.

Grymalyuk did not want to give a forecast for a release date for the version of the OpenCore Legacy Patcher designed for macOS 13 Ventura. Apple is expected to release macOS 13 to the general public in October. Developers have been able to test the new operating system since June, and there is now also a public beta for interested customers.

In contrast to other patchers, OpenCore Legacy Patcher intervenes at bootloader level and thus saves itself from manipulating the operating system: macOS is pretended to run on supported hardware. At the same time, this means that the developers of the project have to deliver drivers for the old hardware that Apple no longer offers.

Less security for older Macs

OpenCore is likely to gain additional importance in the fall because Apple is sawing off support for many of the still widespread model series this year. These include the 2015 and 2016 MacBook Pro and 2015 and 2017 MacBook Air. Ventura does not officially run on Macs built before 2017. However, it is becoming increasingly important for users to update to the latest version of the operating system if they want to continue receiving all security updates from Apple.

So far, the manufacturer has also delivered security updates for the two previous operating system versions, but apparently not all vulnerabilities have been repaired for a long time. Of the two most recent vulnerabilities in macOS, which are apparently being exploited for attacks, only one in macOS 11 and 10.15 has been patched so far. The manufacturer does not give a concrete update promise.