Hello there.
I have just tried to update my early 2011 15" MacBook Pro to macOS Mojave but it has informed me that my model is not compatible. Can anybody tell me why this is?
Thanks.
MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6)
Ok...so late to the party on this thread, but felt compelled to provide some insight to the OP's original question...
I too have an Early 2011 MBP (MacBook Pro 8,2 - Quad Core i7 w/16GB RAM) , upgraded to SSD, Bluetooth LE, and recent new battery. It runs great, and is still a seriously awesome computer running High Sierra.
Yes, I would like to be able to upgrade to Mojave...but like the OP, this machine is not supported.
The reason why is that this model MacBook Pro uses an AMD/ATI Radeon 6750 GPU. AMD/ATI Radeon 6750 does not support Metal, which is required for Mojave.
If you really want to install Mojave, you can do a search online for Mojave on Unsupported Macs. You will find a solution. However, in the case of our MacBook Pro Machines, you would need to disable the AMD Radeon GPU, and have only the Internal Intel GPU working. This would cause problems with External Monitors.
Bottom line: Unless/Until somebody comes up with AMD Radeon Drivers that can support Metal, it appears you are better off to stick with High Sierra on MacBook Pro 8,2 or 8,1. I believe similar considerations apply to other Mojave "Unsupported" Macs...
BobTheFisherman
You are one tough bird. Your responses are not helpful. Just sayin.
bguzik thank you your comments have helped me get a better idea about a making an immediate device upgrade.
I have the sane configuration, ssd, i7, and 16GB ram. It would be nice to know if the video card can be updated to netal compatible card for Mohave.
Would you mind adding the links to the post that helped you disable the Graphics card. I could really use that.
Would you mind adding the links that helped you disable the Graphics card. I could really use that. Thanks
Would you mind adding the links to the post that helped you disable the Graphics card. I could really use that.
Alright, thank you very much.
I'm running Mojave on my headless MacMini 2012. I like it. It is working great (except for the iTunes bug that requires podcasts to be deleted one at a time, or else it removes the whole podcast)...
I tried it on my my MBP 2011 (8,2), and it worked OK...but I can't live with the no-wake from sleep issue and also the issue in trying to use headless clamshell mode... I reverted back to High Sierra.
Until/Unless we see some miracle with Metal support drivers for the MBP2011 AMD GPU, I will stick with High Sierra. I expect we should see several more years of High Sierra support from Apple...
Update:
On Tuesday, 02/26/2019, my AMD discrete GPU on my MacBook Pro Early 2011 started manifesting the known, dreaded, faulty AMDRadeon GPU chip design issue: Stuck on Grey Screen on reboot. Single user mode (cmd + s) confirmed with "corduroy" screen during boot-up.
OK, so that being the case, the only way to salvage my MBP was to go back and look at disabling the AMD GPU. (There is lot's of info available on the internet about how to do this...both Software and HW solutions.) I had previously reviewed and implemented the software solution when I tried Mojave, due to the fact that in order to install Mojave on the MacBook pro 8,2, you MUST disable the AMD CPU, since it doesn't support Metal...in which case you end up using just the integrated Intel graphics.
Ok, so I ran thru the process again, and got my MBP 2011 w/High Sierra up and running. Turns out the exact same deal-breakers (no backlight, no wake from sleep, no external display) that manifested w/Mojave also manifest in High Sierra when you disable the discrete AMDRadeon GPU. So what to do?
Well, I engaged in more in-depth investigation of the software solutions (Google is your friend for this...as well as being willing to read thru a gazillion discussion threads). I finally came across a complete solution that fixed everything except for the no-internal-display issue...backlight and sleep/wake are working great.
All of that being the background, it caused me to think about Mojave again, and (since I MUST now disable the AMD GPU), why not give it a go again?
So I did a clean Mojave install and re-implemented the SW solution to disable the AMRadeon GPU.
Results: Stellar! I'm very happy, Mojave runs fabulously, and both Brightness controls and Sleep/Wake now work as expected. I will miss being able to have an external display, but there is nothing to be done about that without replacing the Logic Board. (And since this is a Faulty AMDRadeon chip/design issue, it would only be a matter of time before it would fail again anyway...I feel lucky I made it from 2011 until 2019 before it manifested!)
If you decide to install Mojave on an Unsupported MacBook Pro w/discrete GPU, just be aware that you SHOULD NOT use the GPU disabler solution "app" or you will lose backlight control and sleep/wake functions. You should rather use the manual SIP disable + tweak EFI + move (one) .kext solution. (Google this and you will find what you are looking for...)
Bottom line: I will now get several more years out of my MacBook Pro Early 2011 (8,2) and Mojave is working great! That being said, if my discrete AMD Radeon GPU had not broken, I probably would NOT have moved to Mojave, and rather just stayed on High Sierra. Since I had to disable the GPU anyway, I didn't see any reason to NOT to upgrade to Mojave. It is working great for me, and I'd now recommend doing the same if you are in the same boat.
@iamranchojr:
I believe posting links in this regard may be a violation of this forum's terms of service.
That being said, if you simply google "Mojave for unsupported Macs" (or similar) and/or "dosdude1", you will find the links you are seeking, with a ton of information... I highly recommend thoroughly reading through the forum you will find before attempting your modifications.
I have a macbook pro 15" with a ssd" as well same problem I know it's only been 2 months but please tell me you figured it out I'm still over here brainstorming
Mojave Update. MacBook Pro early 2011.
