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I bought a 2019 MacBook Pro that arrived with Catalina installed. I want to create installers for older versions, but I don't know how far back I can go. Since it takes a long time to download (and you can only download one at a time), I wanted to format the space for them while they are downloading. Thus the question, What's the oldest MacOS I can put on a 2019 MacBook Pro?

Re, long time to download: Monterey took a full hour after asking "are you sure?" Big Sur didn't ask and took a few minutes. Catalina asked, and then complained there wasn't room for it (needs 12.75GB).

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    Depending on the exact model, it may be Mojave or Catalina. See everymac.com/systems/by_year/macs-released-in-2019.html
    – lhf
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 1:15
  • See also support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683
    – lhf
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 1:18
  • The resources listed by @lhf are interesting, but not entirely relevant. For example: the apple support link is a os->hardware model mapping, and what you need is a hardware model->os mapping. It's an interesting question, but I'll guess that Apple has never published the details you'd need to determine this.
    – Seamus
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 1:35
  • @Seamus is correct. The first reference tells what version each model shipped with and nothing about other versions it can run. The second tells what hardware is required for a particular version, but it is incomplete in that is says model X or later, when the correct answer is actually model X up to model Y.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 2:20
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    Apple have zero incentive to add drivers to an OS they no longer even support for Macs that can run it. It's always been the case that no Mac can run an OS older than itself, with the exception of some 'cusp' machines. The simple empirical test is to try the OS before the one your Mac shipped with. Nothing before that will ever work.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 7:44

1 Answer 1

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If it is a MacBook Pro 16" 2019, it can run 10.15.1 (or later).

If it is a MacBook Pro 15" 2019 or either of the 13" 2019, it can run 10.14.5 (or later).

For this information, I use MacTracker (from the App Store) which has much the same data as EveryMac.

Just clear a common source of confusion, no Mac can run a version of macOS dating from before that model of Mac was first released. To put it another way, macOS does not know about future Macs and doesn't have the drivers, etc. to support them.

If you do need/want to run macOS from before Mojave/Catalina, you should use a virtual machine. With VMware Fusion you could run macOS back to 10.6 (Snow Leopard), though you will find that older versions are no longer supported (but do work) by VMware Fusion and some (e.g. 10.6) will require hacks. But that is a different question.

If it is a time bottleneck, you can download more than one at once by using the Apple direct download links which are list here by Mr. Macintosh.

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  • MacTracker told me nothing unless I would download its app. EveryMac was the same thing that lhf cited (NOT the answer). So, I figured I'd just take your word for it. But then I stumbled on a page that does have the answer without having to install an app. macworld.com/article/673697/… But that page says no 2019 model can run Mojave.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 4:23
  • 10.15.x is Catalina, which is what it came with. So that's apparently the earliest it can run. Only four versions, counting the one "coming soon."
    – WGroleau
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 4:24
  • Also, I now see I missed the "hardware requirements" in support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683 Each link lists the specific models for that version of MacOS.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 5:39
  • @WGroleau The Macworld article has errors, mainly because it doesn't go into enough detail of Mac models (your MBP year being an example). I find MacTracker to be the fastest accurate way of answering these questions. Everymac is second best and Apple a distant third. But you got your answer, which is the main thing!
    – Gilby
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 6:03

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