"Your connection is not private" errors for both Safari & Chrome browsers, Mac OS El Capitan (can't upgrade)

Keep getting "Your connection is not private" errors using both Safari & Chrome browsers when I try to visit even known, reputable sites like CNET (see screenshot for error message.) My iPhone's home button broke yesterday so I need to browse to research options -- Apple Store is booked until Thursday.

Googled issue. My Mac's date and time settings are correct. Chrome browser is up to date at Version 94.0.4606.71. Safari is old at 11.1.2. Free version of Malware Bytes and Sophos Antivirus say my system is fine, not infected.

I'm at Mac OS 10.11.6. Can't upgrade OS right away in middle of project using Adobe Creative Suite 6 and it will not run on higher OSs and I will lose other valuable apps.

I chatted with Apple who said to clear browsing history. I did that for both browsers but problem persists. Then Apple Chat suddenly disconnected and they said to come back later.

Any idea what could possibly be wrong besides telling me to upgrade to latest OS????

iMac 27″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Oct 4, 2021 2:11 PM

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Oak415

Level 1

12 points

Posted on Nov 28, 2021 12:35 PM

No Terminal involved at all. It's just a matter of downloading that certificate , double-clicking on it, double clicking on the ISRG certificate again in your Keychain to open up more options, and Expanding the little carat arrow thing then choosing Alway Trust. Should work immediately by opening up another tab or restarting your browsers. But yeah it was a little involved. Thanks alot Apple

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18 replies

Oct 18, 2021 1:54 PM in response to ottnott

MacBook Pro early 2013 can upgrade to Mojave, while the late 2013 models can get to Big Sur.

Y’all are headed for other connectivity issues as far back as y’all are apparently running, too…

Oak415

Level 1

12 points

Nov 28, 2021 12:40 PM in response to MrHoffman

Yes, MrHoffman .. your fix worked! I should have read your post before venting. Thanks a million. Now I just gotta reinstall everything

Oct 10, 2021 1:45 PM in response to TurksCap

It’s the 2014 part that matters. That iMac will run the current Big Sur, but likely won’t be supported with the upcoming Monterey; it’s not supported by the Monterey beta.

Upgrading to Catalina or Big Sur means all your apps must be 64-bit, which means upgrading Office 2011 or earlier to 2016, Office 2019, Office 2021 (current), or Office 365 subscription, or switching to LibreOffice, or using iWork Pages, Numbers, and Keynote which can read and write many Office documents. To find 32-bit apps, you can use the Go64 tool.

If you upgrade as far as Mojave, you’ll have 32- and 64-bit support for your older apps, and your Safari connections here will work. But Mojave is about to fall off of the fairly-typical most-recent-three-versions app support, with the impending release of Monterey.

Since you seemingly only upgrade infrequently, it’s probably best to upgrade to Big Sur, too.

Get Time Machine going if your data has any value to you, and get a complete backup prior to upgrading.

Mojave: How to get old versions of macOS - Apple Support

Big Sur: How to upgrade to macOS Big Sur - Apple Support

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"Your connection is not private" errors for both Safari & Chrome browsers, Mac OS El Capitan (can't upgrade)