MacOS – How to download old version of Mac OS X that I own and App Store lists, but App Store refuses on newer Mac

installmac-appstoremacos

I own old versions of Mac OS X, Mountain Lion in particular. The old versions are listed in the "Purchases" list within App Store app on my Mac.

But when I hit the "Download" button a message appears refusing to start the download because my MacBook Pro is too new and does not support that OS.

Other Questions are similar to this but not quite the same.

  • Others say to use the App Store to download, but no mention of the App Store refusal that I encounter.
  • Others suggest using developer.apple.com, but even with a paid membership that download page no longer offers old versions. The Download page offers only 2 versions: the current version (Yosemite) and the future beta (El Capitan).

My goal is to install Mac OS X on a virtual machine, Parallels.

enter image description here

Best Answer

If you need it for an older Mac, download it on that one.

No Mac OS will install on any machine newer than the OS, as the drivers for the hardware simply didn't exist at the time.

If you fake it by installing on an older machine then swapping drives, it will just fail to start up.

Related Question