If you buy a new Mac, can you somehow get an older OS X version?

[omega3]

Personally i liked older versions of OS X like Mavericks or Yosemite better then El Capitan or the new one. Jus wondering but when you buy a new MacBook Pro, is it somehow possible to download an older variant of the OS X and how?

Also, after Mavericks it seems the Dock became 2-dimensional.. can you still make it look in newer OS X versions like the 3D one in Mavericks and before?

 

[TheStu]

Mac. Not MAC.

And no. You can only go as old as what shipped on the model when it was first released. So, if you buy a new rMBP (and you shouldn't rumors are strong that there will be a substantially re-worked model in the next few months) and it shipped originally with 10.10.2, then that's as old as you can go.

 

[Commodus]

Personally i liked older versions of OS X like Mavericks or Yosemite better then El Capitan or the new one. Jus wondering but when you buy a new MacBook Pro, is it somehow possible to download an older variant of the OS X and how?

Also, after Mavericks it seems the Dock became 2-dimensional.. can you still make it look in newer OS X versions like the 3D one in Mavericks and before?

Like it or not, no. The big reason is usually hardware support: those earlier versions typically don't recognize some of the hardware, and Apple's not about to post drivers just in case.

As for the 3D look? I imagine you can use unofficial code, but Apple won't offer that. My view has been to simply embrace the 2D Dock and newer software features.

 

[wilds]

It is possible. The best way is to download the current OS X installer app from the Mac App Store and store it on a bootable USB. If you are too late to download it, it is possible to request Apple send an 8GB USB with whatever version of OS X as well. Alternatively, OS X variants are hosted online or as a torrent.

My 2012 MPB can go as low as 10.7 Lion without much problem. I even got Apple to send me a 10.8 USB when Yosemite was out; because of my Recovery Partition. The big problems with new Macs are the Retina Display, CPU, and GPU. If the older OS X cannot support them, then installing an older version is not recommended.

Mavericks and especially Yosemite should work fine for the most part. If you don't wanna find the Installer on the Internet, Apple can and will send you a free 8GB bootable USB with the requested version of OS X. The only catch is that the bootable USB must have a version of OS X that is supported on that specific model. I suppose you could lie or something, but I have never tried. Just say you are having problems entering recover mode (Command + R on boot) and that an offline installer is needed.

edit: If you try to install Snow Leopard on a 2016 Macbook Pro w/ Retina for example, you will probably have a bad time. It is possible to get it working though. If it screws up, CMD+R will allow Internet Recovery to restore your Mac to a current version. Pretty easy to roll it all back in case things don't work.

 

[Eug]

It is possible.

My 2012 MPB can go as low as 10.7 Lion without much problem.

The reason the 2012 MBP can go as low as 10.7 Lion is because it originally shipped with Lion.

ie. Even if you bought it later when 10.8 was out and it shipped with 10.8, the initial version shipped with 10.7 Lion so you can install Lion on it.

 

[wilds]

The reason the 2012 MBP can go as low as 10.7 Lion is because it originally shipped with Lion.

ie. Even if you bought it later when 10.8 was out and it shipped with 10.8, the initial version shipped with 10.7 Lion so you can install Lion on it.

Right, but I have also installed Snow Leopard on it and got most of the functionality (but that is because my Macbook Pro shares many of the same components as the 2010 version). I'm just saying that Apple can and will send you a USB drive of whatever version of OS X you specify, as long as it was officially supported at some point. Most Retina devices can run on even older, unsupported versions of OS X. At that point, it will feel like a Hackintosh.

It is too bad Apple's Mac App Store removes older versions of OS X, as it would make downgrading convenient. I haven't tried downgrading a 2015+ Retina Macbook to Snow Leopard yet, but I have the feeling getting full functionality would be a nightmare. Nothing is impossible, just incredibly inconvenient.

 

[Eug]

Yes, you can sometimes hack the OS to install an older version that is not supported. However, it's a pain, because you're getting into hackintosh-like functionality.

It's similar to hacking a newer version of the OS to work on an older unsupported Mac. However, most of the time, it makes more sense to do this, to get the latest features and the latest security updates. OTOH, usually it makes no sense to run an older unsupported version of the OS, because it's missing features and security updates. IMO the only time it makes sense to do this is if there is a must-use piece of software of functionality that isn't supported on newer machines. However, companies who are in this situation end up often just buying older hardware when possible. It should be noted that Apple sometimes keeps very old models around, probably partially for entry level price reasons and probably partially to appease corporate customers.

 

[wilds]

Agreed. Though it is nice to have a small partition for Snow Leopard just for Rosetta. OS X's rapid release cycle means a lot of mainstream software has dropped support for anything older than 10.8. When Lion was first released, many saw it as an optional upgrade since Snow Leopard was supported by everything. Not upgrading OS X is becoming a worse idea every year.

My Lenovo Hackintosh running on 10.7 is already entirely obsolete. The Mac App Store might as well be non-existent for it. Google Chrome officially no longer supports Lion. If there wasn't the mountain of Snow Leopard compatible software that existed (and Firefox), I probably wouldn't use it. The security features of El Capitan vs Lion are immense. I haven't downloaded/installed malicious software on OS X before, but it will most likely happen on 10.7 or older.

As long as Apple doesn't muck about with changing OS X too much (like pulling a Windows 8), I don't mind upgrading every year. The only update that left a bad taste in my mouth was Lion; but it wasn't so bad in hindsight. I love the fact that Apple supports its OS X products for so long. My old Dell and Lenovo's support lasted less than a year. Look at how El Capitan supports ~2007 Macs. I never bought a computer in my life expecting it to last 10 years, but that is what Apple is offering.