evianlover

Q: Possible to install Mavericks on new Yosemite MBPr?

Hi there, I recently got a new MBPr, which came with Yosemite. Personally, (being a designer) I like the look of Mavericks, and wouldn't mind trading off feature-wise for the old look.

 

Ive been looking around on the web, and have seen tutorials on making bootable versions of Mavericks etc.

 

My question is:
1- Is this completely impossible due to the fact that it came with Yosemite? I was hoping it could run Mavericks since I saw these models running it in the store just a few months ago.

2- Is this something I could get a genius to do for me? (Obviously I would back up my data first.)

 

Thanks, and excuse my ignorance. I'm new, and not that technical.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Jan 3, 2015 12:03 AM

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Q: Possible to install Mavericks on new Yosemite MBPr?

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  • by petermac87,

    petermac87 petermac87 Jan 4, 2015 1:49 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 5 (7,402 points)
    Jan 4, 2015 1:49 PM in response to evianlover

    evianlover wrote:

     

    Glad you share my appreciation of the 'old style' of Apple that we all fell in love with!
    I'm guessing there are versions of Mavericks online..?

    No. None at present.

     

    Mavericks is not exactly old, either. Bit over 12 months and very very similar to Yosemite.

     

    Pete

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jan 4, 2015 1:50 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 9 (53,732 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 4, 2015 1:50 PM in response to evianlover

    If you download and install one of those illegal downloads available on the web, you will be sorry. They are cramped to the gills with all kinds of malware and will only give you nothing but troubles. I suggest  you stay away from them.

     

    I also suggest that you just stay with Yosemite or sell it and buy and older one that comes with Mavericks if that is so important for you.

  • by RIFerrarr,

    RIFerrarr RIFerrarr Jan 4, 2015 2:02 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 3 (857 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 4, 2015 2:02 PM in response to evianlover

    You might be able to get your machine to install Mavericks if you erase the hard drive and then try to install from Internet Recovery. You have to erase the entire disk and not just the "Macintosh HD" partition.

     

    I currently run a Late 2011 MBP that I purchased used. The seller sold it to me with 10.6 installed on it, but it had originally come from Apple with 10.7 installed.

  • by kahjot,

    kahjot kahjot Jan 4, 2015 2:02 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 4 (1,347 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 4, 2015 2:02 PM in response to evianlover

    evianlover wrote:

     

    Glad you share my appreciation of the 'old style' of Apple that we all fell in love with!
    I'm guessing there are versions of Mavericks online..?

     

    Nothing that you should risk installing. I'd suggest that you play with a couple of options that might make Yosemite look a bit better. One thing that helps is to go into the Accessibility Pref and turn on Reduce Transparency. There is a nifty app called cDock that helps you customize the appearance of the dock. I installed that on my Yosemite test drive last night, and it does help. I also replaced the murky Yosemite HD icons with the HD icon from earlier OS versions. And I have gotten rid of the Helvetica Neue system font. There are several ways to do this:

     

    One involves an app called YosemiteRevert (it's $2). Among other things, it will let you have Lucida Grande back. That's a big improvement, to my eyes, but the app still has a few glitches. Right now, while they work out the font glitches, you can't revert back to Lucida Grande. So I'm waiting for that to get sorted out, because Lucida Grande is what I will probably end up wanting to use.

     

    A simpler approach is this one: http://www.thegraphicmac.com/change-os-x-yosemites-default-system-font. I just tried this one with my other Yosemite test drive, and it works as advertised.

     

    Another solution takes the same approach, but uses Source Sans instead of Fira Sans:

     

    https://github.com/kemie/Source-Sans-Yosemite-System-Font-Replacement

     

    And here is another: http://input.fontbureau.com/systemfont/

     

    These three options just involve placing the fonts in /Library/Fonts, then logging out and logging back in. Reverting to Helvetica Neue is a matter of removing the replacement fonts from /Library/Fonts. (Note: Library/Fonts, NOT User/Library/Fonts).

     

    Googling Replace Yosemite System Font will turn up these and at least one other solution.

     

    Fixing the dock and the drive icons and getting rid of the idiotic transparency effects  to mehas made the Yosemite desktop quite a bit more palatable. Getting a better system font in place will also help, although there may still be some bizarre blurriness.

     

    It's time for Apple to get a grip on those responsible for these wretched, legibility-reducing interface decisions.

  • by kahjot,

    kahjot kahjot Jan 4, 2015 2:04 PM in response to RIFerrarr
    Level 4 (1,347 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 4, 2015 2:04 PM in response to RIFerrarr

    RIFerrarr wrote:

     

    You might be able to get your machine to install Mavericks if you erase the hard drive and then try to install from Internet Recovery. You have to erase the entire disk and not just the "Macintosh HD" partition.

     

    I currently run a Late 2011 MBP that I purchased used. The seller sold it to me with 10.6 installed on it, but it had originally come from Apple with 10.7 installed.

    Same here: I got a 2011 MBP in order to run Snow Leopard. It came with Lion, but it works with Snow Leopard. The tricky part will be finding Mavericks somewhere. But it can be done.

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jan 4, 2015 2:16 PM in response to kahjot
    Level 9 (53,732 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 4, 2015 2:16 PM in response to kahjot

    Of course since Apple is no longer offering downloads of Mavericks that would be an illegal copy which is just choked full of malware.

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Jan 4, 2015 2:20 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 4, 2015 2:20 PM in response to evianlover

    "Glad you share my appreciation of the 'old style' of Apple that we all fell in love with!"

    Yup, hence my avatar, my IIfx, iMac Blueberry, iBook G3, G4, iMac Lampshade, G5,  uhhh.... actually not enough time to list them all.

    I only moved off Snow Leopard (Loved it!) since I also love using "gestures" and have multiple desktops open at one time.

    "I'm guessing there are versions of Mavericks online..?"

    Dunno, there seems to be a disagreement about that around here. If you can't find a legit copy like I said........

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jan 4, 2015 2:22 PM in response to spudnuty
    Level 9 (53,732 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 4, 2015 2:22 PM in response to spudnuty

    Of course since Apple is no longer offering downloads of Mavericks that would be an illegal copy which is just choked full of malware.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Jan 4, 2015 2:33 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 9 (52,516 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 4, 2015 2:33 PM in response to evianlover

    evianlover wrote:

     

    Glad you share my appreciation of the 'old style' of Apple that we all fell in love with!
    I'm guessing there are versions of Mavericks online..?

    With the advent of Lion, there have been NO installation disks for Lion, Mt. Lion, Mavericks or Yosemite.  For a brief time, Lion was available from Apple on a USB drive.  None of the the other mentioned OSX's have ever been issued on USB drives (or disks).  Unless one has made an installer for Mavericks when it was available, the there is no option of installing Mavericks at this time unless it was the original OSX of the given MBP.  Any Mavericks download that may be available on the Internet should be treated with great suspicion.

     

    Why don't you try the Internet Recovery option that I posted earlier but first erase the HDD.  (Naturally have your data backed up first)  If you still get Yosemite as the OSX option, that indicates to me that it was the OSX that came with your MBP.

     

    Ciao.

  • by RIFerrarr,

    RIFerrarr RIFerrarr Jan 4, 2015 2:54 PM in response to evianlover
    Level 3 (857 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 4, 2015 2:54 PM in response to evianlover

    If you previously purchased Mavericks, with your Apple ID, you will still be able to download it from the Mac App Store.

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