Install Big Sur on Unsupported Mac with Patched Sur - Full Walkthrough! [THE EASY WAY!!!] 2012-2013

[Historical Video! Please check out my updated OCLP Big Sur Video!] Do you want to install macOS Big Sur on your 2012 or 2013 Mac? I will show you the easiest way to do it! This video is a step-by-step tutorial on how to use Patched Sur a macOS Big Sur patcher to create a USB Patched Installer and use it to upgrade macOS Catalina to Big Sur.

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UPDATE!!!! - How to update your unsupported patched Mac to the latest version of macOS Big Sur with Patched Sur 1.0 with one click!

DISCLAIMER: Please understand that installing macOS Big Sur on your unsupported Mac is a best effort by the community. A ton of work went into getting the patcher to work! Some things might not work exactly right but it's really really close. I would not recommend installing on a system that you count on for work or school. ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR FILES FIRST BEFORE YOU UPGRADE! Also note that certain features like sealed OS Snapshots are disabled. This is the only way to make the patcher work right now. The good news is that you are getting the latest security fixes from Apple. Some might argue that upgrading to Patched Big Sur makes your Mac safer since Apple is no longer fixing security issues on macOS High Sierra and below. Thank you!

Supported Macs with Metal Graphics Acceleration
* 2012 MacBook Air
* 2012 MacBook Pro
* 2013 Early MacBook Pro
* 2012 Mac Mini
* 2012 iMac
* 2013 iMac

Part 1 - Everything you need to know before Installing Patched Big Sur on your Unsupported Mac
COMING SOON!
Part 2 - How to Install macOS Big Sur on an Unsupported Mac with Big Sur Patcher
Part 3 - How to Install macOS Big Sur on an Unsupported Mac with Big-Sur-micropatcher
Part 4 - How to Install Updates on your Big Sur Patched Mac - Everything you need to know!
Part 5 - How to update your unsupported patched Mac to the latest version of macOS Big Sur with Patched Sur 1.0 with one click!

A big hat tip goes out to Ben Sova (Patched Sur), Barry K. Nathan (Big Sur Micropatcher) and everyone who worked on all the Big Sur Patcher projects!

Patched Sur - a macOS Big Sur patcher for unsupported Macs.

Patched Sur - Downloads Page

macOS Big Sur 11.5.1 Update Article

Big Sur MicroPatcher - A macOS Big Sur Patcher

BigMac - Big Sur macOS 11 Mac Pro patcher for Mac Pro Towers

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How to boot your Apple Silicon Mac into DFU mode + Restore macOS with Apple Configurator 2.

macOS ISPW Firmware Database - Download Full macOS ISPW Files!

MacOS Big Sur Index of need to know changes! (UPDATED)

macOS System Status (Issues) – OS, Xprotect & App Version Database

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[angb.]

Installed Big Sur on my 2012 Mac Mini ( Catalina, intel core i7 2.3 GHZ Quad Core, 16 GB DDR3, EVO860) . Thanks for your step by step installation guide. Big Sur was loaded up with no complications and with no performance issues. What is old is new again. :) Thanks again Mr. Mac!

[PoconoPCDoctor]

When I first looked at upgrading my system to Big Sur, I was hesitant since there was a ton of very techie stuff. I was using this 2012 Mac Mini as my work computer while working from home, and so did not want to do it at all. I recently retired and took another look. Your tutorial and recommendation was super easy to follow. Success! Thanks for the time you took to make this. Big Sur is now running like a champ! B-)

[EukaryMo]

The installation was successful on my 2012 MacBook Pro! I give kudos for this guide's creation. My appreciation also goes out to the people working on the patchers. Their efforts can save me some money by not having to obtain new hardware for a while. I just have to remember to select the volume of my partitioned hard drive that corresponds to Catalina while starting my computer in order to use Big Sur. Thanks! 🙏

[athchoumgaming]

Installed and runs perfectly on Mid 2012 Macbook Pro. I honestly didn't think this would work but yeah, big big thanks man!

[frankhenderson]

Thanks for the video. Got the update / install to work, and now my system is running faster and smoother than before. Also a lot of the bugs that plagued my system when I was running Catalina seemed to have been fixed. I installed Big Sur on a Mac mini late 2012.

[dopedan]

Bruh" I’ve tinkering around with Macs for at least 15 years, I’ve used YouTube for most of my problems (which has be absolutely amazing) but your channel has been popping up on my feed for the last couple of months and here and there I’ve been watching your uploads (well today I must tip my hat 🎩 to you) what a bloody amazing fabulous channel you’ve made ❤️ you have a non generic/ I’m not following the flow channel (which I absolutely love ❤️) the information you are handling out and the quality is real big" you’ve earned yourself a follower today that respects your ethics "keep up the amazing work big man"

[Benk]

I’ve always liked you, now I like you even more, haha. Someone on the Unsupported Macs discord said there was an in-depth tutorial on my patcher, and he was right, great job.

Just to clarify some things:

- The icon on the EFI boot kind of represents the prohibited symbol for a reason, you are supposed to boot into that one first, then Install macOS Big Sur. I choose the color red, because I thought it was a good color.
- Your USB ports worked to begin with, that’s the USB 1.0 Macs that need that patch. WiFi was the only thing that needed a fix on your computer.
- Late 2013 iMacs don’t need the kexts patches at all.
- That last hiccup with the Plug In USB Installer and Try Again is a known bug so that will be fixed sometime in the future (probably around the time I rename the usb drive to Install Patched Sur)

If anyone has any question, feel free to ask!

[Mushroompanda]

This helped me soooo much! I depend on pages for my small business and when it stopped working(due to my computer not being compatible) I don’t know how I would afford a new computer in this economy, to keep my business going. I’m so happy that I found this video I was able to make my 2012 iMac compatible and now I can continue to create and design my cross stitch charts!!!!

[hartefbrown]

All is working fine, fully installed. Thank you so much for these very clear and precise steps, this should never get a thumbs down! I looked at tons of videos "how to" and yours is truly the simplest one to do...THANKS

[goldenknight]

would like to apologize for saying my computer crashed i tried it again and today i was able to install Big Sur following your steps thank you for everything you have done and God bless

[docwatson]

Thanks for the tip on the prohibited sign- also tried it a few times and same issue . Had the same issues and it got similarly resolved with your tip to click on efi boot. And then it magically booted!

[_HMCB_]

Let me say, I can’t thank you enough for this video. And Ben Sova, thank you for this labor of love. This video helped me get Big Sur installed without **one** hitch. I’m blown away. I’ve had more hiccups installing previous versions of macOS on my Mac than I did with this patch. I have a mid 2012 MBP and the things is such a beast. I put an SSD and 16gig of RAM in it. I run my design business on it and it’s not let me down. I think Apple hardware—which I’ve been running since last ’90s—is underrated on longevity. I have a machine here which could likely run another 2-3 years. It’s plenty quick enough for 90% of my tasks.

Super Bowl Sunday is now more super thanks to the both of you! Much love.

[jzarowitz]

Worked quite well. Of note, if subsequently clearing nvram, must boot again with usb to efi else will get prohibited screen.

[InsanePickle]

Thank you so much for this. Just got Big Sur installed on my 2012 MacBook Air with no problems at all.

[amitech]

Thank you for the video.
I have tested it with a MacBook Pro early 2011 and the installation steps did work. What did not work is the post install step at minute 15:24. The Patched Sur won't open and always end up with Retry, Report, Ignore options.
I had "big-sur-micropatcher" was already downloaded and saved to a USB drive, so:

1- open a terminal windows
2- dragged patch-kexts.sh from the root of the installation USB drive into the terminal window
3- provide your password
4- reboot after the execution is complete

And the WiFi worked just fine after the reboot.

Thanks again

[crosssouth]

Thank you, it works on my mid 2012 Macbook pro 15'. Btw just a reminder, at 12:30 boot option screen, I had to click "EFI Boot" first, it went nowhere but shut down, then I powered it on back to this screen again and clicked "install macOS big Sur", it went through without a glitch!

[grahamja]

Hey there. Just followed your video. I’m a total novice when it comes to getting under the skin of doing what machines and applications are meant to do. I wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU for this. Incredibly easy to follow and I now have an early 2013 MacBook Pro flying on Big Sur. Hugely appreciated! Best wishes, J

[dannyboii]

The prohibited sign kept popping but clicked the efi and rebooted then clicked on install and it worked just as stated. Thanks. 2012 iMac 27inch. Installing now...

[geoff]

Super clear and well put together--many thanks, sir!

[atarixle]

My 2008 MacBook Pro runs thanks to you macOS Monterey now (not this video, but one of your others) so thank you so much for the highly detailed videos, otherwise I wouldn't have tried it at all.