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I need legacy apps

After a recent loss i have found myself dirt poor, so I'm learning coding and some other things to start a new career. A friend gave me a Mac mini from 2011 that I have upgraded to High Sierra. None of the apps on the App Store will install on it. Where can I download earlier versions of, say, Garage Band or, well, anything? I saw one answer on here that advised buying a newer Mac. That is not an option for a while.

Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on Oct 7, 2024 2:31 PM

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1 reply

Oct 7, 2024 8:34 PM in response to RZScottSFCA

Unfortunately there is no way to get those apps unless you had previously purchased them on the App Store (even if they were free at the time). Apple doesn't keep old versions of any Apple apps on the App Store after a new OS has been released except through previous purchases made with your AppleID. It is very frustrating.


FYI, if you are going to do any programming, then it is possible to download older versions of XCode or the XCode command line tools (available outside of the App Store):

Resources - Xcode - Apple Developer


https://developer.apple.com/download/all/



If you are looking to program with Python, then it appears the most recent version of Python 3 v13.0 is compatible with High Sierra...see chart at the bottom of the following article:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3130/


Keep in mind that macOS has introduced a lot of changes since High Sierra which can cause problems with any apps you may develop on High Sierra, but wish to release on a newer version of macOS (some may work fine, but others will not....it depends on what APIs and aspects of macOS you may be utilizing in your app). macOS has undergone a lot of under the hood changes and introduced a lot of privacy & security features as well. Plus if you want to release anything through the App Store, you will likely need to be using a more recent Mac running a more recent version of macOS.


You can certainly learn the basics of programming on an older system here, but realize some types of coding may require a more recent system. I won't be able to provide much assistance in this regard since I am not an active developer, but if you would create a new thread asking for assistance with a particular type of programming/development, then other more knowledgeable contributors may be able to offer suggestions or advice in that regard.


I need legacy apps

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