Yosemite Update information
Tips on 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard (end of PowerPC hardware), 10.6 Snow Leopard (end of PowerPC Apps), 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion,10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite, 10.11 El Capitan (same compatibility as 10.10, 10.9, and 10.8) ,10.12 Sierra (beginning of MFA), 10.13 High Sierra (beginning of APFS), 10.14 Mojave (end of 32 bit apps), 10.15 Catalina , 11.0 Big Sur. 12.0 Monterey
These tips all refer to the client version. If you are using Mac OS X server, please check: Server forumsfor more posts on Mac OS X Server.
Apple has 10.10 Yosemite for download for older Macs compatible with it, and people whose Mac came with it. 10.6.8 users can download 10.11if their hardware and software meets the requirements. 10.7.5 or higher users can upgrade to 10.12. 10.8 or higher can upgrade to 10.12 or 10.13.
10.12.4 or later is necessary for the separate multifactor authentication code field to appear on the Mac. When upgrading an older machine and logging in the App Store, be sure to put any code in the tail end of your password of the password field logging in to the App Store.
See the 10.10 update requirements below if you have software that needs it again. Some people may still have Yosemite available and can transfer their license to you if you are stuck with software that only works in. Here is an archived link to the original Yosemite system requirements:
http://web.archive.org/web/20150713183216/http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/
Apple minimum hardware requirements are the same for 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11. High Sierra is an upgrade path for some, through this tip:High Sierra upgrading tipand others may use that as a stepping stone to 10.14 Mojave.
Backup your data before installing anything.
These Macs are the oldest of each series that shipped or upgraded to Yosemite that can be upgraded to:
Catalina based on their age and machine ID (and the shipped OS if earlier than Yosemite):
iMac Late 2012 12,1 (shipped with 10.8.2)
MacBook early 2015 8,1
Mac Mini Late 2012 6,1 (10.8..1)
MacBook Pro Mid 2012 9,1 (10.7.3)
Macbook Air 2012 5,1 (10.7.4)
MacPro 2013 6,1 (10.9.1)
And the oldest that can be upgraded to Big Sur:
MacBook early 2015 8,1
Mac Mini 2014 7,1
iMac 2014 14,4 (10.9.3)
Macbook Pro Late 2013 11,1 (10.9)
Macbook Air 2013 6,1 (10.8.4)
Mac Pro 2013 6,1 (10.9.1)
The oldest which can be upgraded to Monterey. No MacBook without Air or Pro on their moniker can upgrade Monterey older than what shipped with 10.11, or iMac:
MacBook Pro early 2015 12,1
Mac Mini 2014 7,1
MacBook Air early 2015 7,1
Mac Pro 2013 6,1 (10.9.1)
Go to Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Date and Time and select the closest time server to set your time, and do so. Download based on manual time may fail, especially on older systems where the system time is not set right.
The Mac Mini 7,1 and later (based on System Profiler Machine ID) shipped with 10.10, and MacBook 8,1 shipped with 10.10.2 and later both could be upgraded to Big Sur. See the earlier tips on Mavericks and Mountain Lion for Macs which shipped with those OS that could be upgraded to Big Sur.
Note, Mac OS X 10.10.5 may be iTunes 12.8 compatible, but only in a limited way. There have been reports to the contrary, especially when syncing to iOS 12 devices. This tip below will be updated when further solutions are available:iTunes/Mac OS/iOS compatibility
Note, some downloads from Apple do not work in Safari for earlier Mac OSes, see this tip if you find you can't download them anymore, to find a browser that will work.
The 10.9 tip above covers the similar aspects of 10.10 and 10.9. Additional, uniquely Yosemite pieces of info are contained below.
Mac OS X 10.6.8 and earlier users should pay special heed to this tip:
Upgrading to 10.7 and above, don&… - Apple Community
With 10.10.2 and later, iPhoto is replaced by Pictures. Read this tip on having them coexist if needed:Apple iPhoto and Photos on the same install
As a lot of software that was compatible with those earlier systems no longer works on 10.7 or later, making the "free" update of 10.9 and 10.10 not as free as one might hope. It is also the oldest prebundled Mac OS found on all Macs compatible with Catalina after a 10.12 upgrade.
http://roaringapps.com/apps?platform=osxOffers a third party table for software compatibility. Ignore the El Capitan compatibility, as that has not been released yet.
Yosemite may only be available through AppleCare or App Store support.Generally speaking if your Mac is newer than the release date of October 25, 2014, you'll need to use AppleCare to get your Yosemite release.Newer Macs than September 30, 2015 can't get Yosemite at all.If you need to use older software and your Mac is too new, sometimes an older version of Linux or Windows will have a version of the software you can use on your Mac:
Running Windows on a Mac, and Connecting it to Mac
Backing up before updating is strongly recommended:
Backup now, or forever hold your peace - Apple Community
Note: if you update on a system retaining a 10.6.8 system on a separate partition or hard drive, you'll need to use the Startup Manager to switch between 10.6.8 and 10.10. The Startup Manager, documented here:Use the Option key, when possible instead of 'C' key to boot discs requires use of a USB Apple or Apple compatible keyboard such as MacAlly or some Logitech and/or Microsoft keyboards. The Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Startup Disk will only recognize 10.10 on 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9. 10.10's Apple menu -> System Preference -> Startup Disk will recognize all of them systems 10.6.8 to 10.10 per my recent testing on October 25, 2014.
Raw camera file formats supported in Mac OS X 10.10 are:OS X Yosemite: Supported digital camera RAW formats - Apple Support
Printing on Yosemite for the most part has been updated since October 16, 2014. Printer drivers for:Samsung (Nov 14, 2013)have not been updated on Apple's website been updated for Yosemite, however, the updates on Samsung's website are available for these printers, according to their support chat line:Sl-C1810, Sl-C1860, SL-C410, SL-M2020, Sl-M2070, SL-M2835, SL-M2875, SL-M2885
There are new drivers since 10.10's release:
And these new drivers since 10.11's release:
Brother (Oct 8, 2015),Canon Laser (Nov 3, 2015)Epson January 27, 2016Lexmark (Jan 27, 2016)Xerox/Fuji (January 27, 2016)Gestetner Printer (January 27, 2016)Infotec (Januay 27, 2016)Lanier (January 27, 2016)Savin (January 27, 2016)Ricoh (January 27, 2016)NRG (January 27, 2016)
10.10.1, 10.10.2 combo and Delta,10.10.3 Delta,Combo Update,10.10.4 Delta,Combo update, 10.10.5 Delta, 10.10.5 Combo, and Security Update 2017-003 Yosemite are all available. Delta refers to being able to upgrade only from the prior release. Combo combines all the software of all the releases up to its point for the operating system in question. Combo updates will not upgrade anything older than 10.10.(0).Other updates may come throughApple security updates - Apple Supportwhich you can search either on the App Store or an internet search engine by the name of the update followed by 10.14 Mojave is available to all Macs that shipped with 10.10 or later after upgrading to 10.11.