Updating OS on an older Mac Pro (mid 2010)

if you go this route, running 10.13 first is REQUIRED, as den-thed's article mentions, but does not quite club you over the head with.

Installing Mojave from there includes a required firmware upgrade, and will not install without first installing a metal-compatible graphics card..

Try the using High Sierra 10.13 link @ How to download macOS - Apple Support

You may be thinking of the Macbook Pro. The OP has a Mac Pro 2010, which is a different Mac altogether. As it's been mentioned before, the Mac Pro (or cMP as it's referred to dearly) can be upgraded as follows:

• Up to High Sierra (10.13.6) without a Metal-compatible GPU card
• Up to Mojave (10.14.6) with a Metal-compatible GPU card, or
• Up to Monterey and beyond if using OCLP. Caveat Emptor: using Ventura or Sonoma for video applications can result in machine crashing since no cMP CPU supports AVX2 instructions.

MacOS 10.13 High Sierra is the highest that Mac can be upgraded, and it does NOT depend on whether an SSD drive is installed.

That said, users report that after upgrading to an SSD drive "it's like getting a whole new computer!"

The least troublesome way to do this is to obtain an external enclosure, 'toaster', or cable adapter for the new drive, install MacOS on it Externally and get it PERFECT -- all before you attempt any surgery.

That way any problems that occur are caused by the transplant, not the complexities of a new MacOS installation combined with switch over.

you can not proceed beyond Mojave unless/until you have the firmware upgrades included in Mojave, so you may as well install Mojave as a waypoint. And to install Mojave on these Macs, 10.13 High Sierra is required.

Apple specifically recommends that for downloads that go anywhere near the Mac App Store, Safari is the browser of choice.

Chrome is NOT the solution to ANY problem on a Mac except this one:

"I can't use up all the extra RAM, graphics power, and all the extra compute power in my Mac. Please help me find an incredible resource hog that is less capable and slower than other Mac browsers."

caitie97 wrote:

what i said before yes you can download chrome. this has to do with old macbook 2010. you 100% can download chrome because you will run into issues of downloading anything from apples site. once you update to sierra and to sierra high you CAN proceed to catalina… how do u know this?? cuz I did it!!!

This thread is not about 2010 MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro notebook computers. (For which, by the way, High Sierra is the end of the line.) It is about the mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop mini-tower computer.

The Mid 2010 Mac Pro can be upgraded from Sierra 10.12 to High Sierra 10.13.

However, it requires an upgraded Metal-capable GPU to run Mojave.

• Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid-2010 and mid-2012 models with

recommended Metal-capable GPU)

see > Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012) - Apple Support

Hi Jeff

If you go the more difficult route {i.e. replacing the "supadrive:} you'll need something like "2nd HDD SSD Hard Disk Drive Caddy Tray SATA 9.5mm For Macbook Pro 13" 15" 17""

However, initially you could do the job with your main drive (very much simpler) & less prone to an exceptionally difficult issue I'm dealing with at the minute.

[1] Decide the SSD size you want e.g. 1TB, if you want to partition.

[2] Purchase a good quality USB flash drive, at least 16GB will be ample (up until Sonoma, at any rate)

[3] Download an early operating system for starters (e.g. El Capitan or perhaps better "High Sierra") this could be dictated by your present OS

[4] Place your download OS within the applications folder {keep the original in your downloads folder, if you like}

[5]Next you'll need to create the bootable flash drive for when you replace your original HDD with the SSD: here's how; Create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support (UK)

[6] Next swop out your original main drive with the replacement SSD

[7] Boot from the flash drive holding down the option key & install

Any queries/issues repost/reply

Jeff Geisel appears to have a MacPro 42 lb silver tower with FOUR SATA drive bays that can easily accept a 2.5in SATA SSD drive in any of the four 3.5-in drive bays without removing anything.

OWC MountPro adapter/sled recommended:

...

I have a mid 2010 MBP and many years ago put in a 1Tb SSD (Samsung) - very easy to swap it out in these old ones, and also maxed out the RAM (aftermarket RAM works well) which made the computer to work instantaneously with El Capitan at the time... How is your Sierra running on the HDD?

Jeff Geisel wrote:

If it does not require an SSD drive why will my computer not update to High Sierra now. When I run Software Update it does not find any compatible updates.

It's not an UPDATE, it's an UPGRADE, and requires solutions such as downloading using the link den.thed provided.

Ahh, the MacPro 4,1 and 5,1 - models close to my heart. I loved these machines (I still have 2).

[edit - my link was deleted for reasons I cannot discern - I suggest doing a google search for "Definitive Classic Mac Pro Upgrade"]

In general a SSD upgrade with breath new life into a machine. I did this myself, although I have to think about how I migrated data...... IIRC, you want the boot drive and programs on the SSD, while bulk data is on the the older spinners. I think I did a split Migration Assistant from the original drives, although the details escape me.

For the later OS you need a specific type of video card ("Metal"). I ended up getting a 8 GB/RX580 which fit within the power requirements and was usable (although it didnt have a boot screen).

Go with SSD first. More RAM second. If you feel brave, I recommend doing a CPU upgrade as you can get top of the line CPUs for that machine for cheap (I did this twice), but you will get your hands dirty (I used a micro blowtorch for my rev. 4,1, and spend some tooth grinding moment getting the heatsinks properly centered.

Ultimately you can take these machines pretty far if you want to look behind the curtain (Open Core).

Tom

[Edited by Moderator] 

nope not correct this will update to a catalina. download chrome go to apple support download the catalina update and update to the computer. you can do this without an SSD drive. if you are going to big sur or beyond.. yes you need an SSD drive aka flash drive. it’s **** updating these cuz it takes hours… tons of patience of not wanting to throw your computer out the window