Apple does not support macOS Sierra on Mac Pro 3,1 but runs in Parallels

[ojfl]

I find it interesting that Apple does not support macOS Sierra on our old Mac Pro 3,1 and yet the virtual machines running El Capitan inside of it in Parallels can be upgraded to Sierra seemingly with no problem. Seems not too intuitive the lack of support.

 

[monkeybagel]

I find it interesting that Apple does not support macOS Sierra on our old Mac Pro 3,1 and yet the virtual machines running El Capitan inside of it in Parallels can be upgraded to Sierra seemingly with no problem. Seems not too intuitive the lack of support.

Virtual Machines can offer features that the physical hardware does not. For example, boot an EFI operating system on hardware that only supports BIOS booting. It should not be surprising that macOS can run in a VM, as the OS sees the hardware presented by the hypervisor, and not the physical hardware.

 

[ojfl]

Virtual Machines can offer features that the physical hardware does not. For example, boot an EFI operating system on hardware that only supports BIOS booting. It should not be surprising that macOS can run in a VM, as the OS sees the hardware presented by the hypervisor, and not the physical hardware.

But that does not apply to Macs as all Intel Macs support EFI. One still has to wonder what features are virtualized by Parallels that are not present on the actual Mac Pro 3,1 hardware.

 

[blindpcguy]

well with a patch you can install sierra on a 3,1 m pro so its not so far fetched.

 

[ojfl]

well with a patch you can install sierra on a 3,1 m pro so its not so far fetched.

Indeed. One more reason why the lack of support seems strange.

 

[chrfr]

I find it interesting that Apple does not support macOS Sierra on our old Mac Pro 3,1 and yet the virtual machines running El Capitan inside of it in Parallels can be upgraded to Sierra seemingly with no problem. Seems not too intuitive the lack of support.

If you delete one system file– the one which tells the OS which systems it's allowed to boot– a 3,1 runs Sierra just fine, without Wifi support.

 

[blindpcguy]

or use dosdudes patcher program

 

[ojfl]

If you delete one system file– the one which tells the OS which systems it's allowed to boot– a 3,1 runs Sierra just fine, without Wifi support.

I think that with a small upgrade from OSXWIFI it may be even possible to get WiFi working.

 

[blindpcguy]

yes it would be relatively easy actually.

 

[chrfr]

I think that with a small upgrade from OSXWIFI it may be even possible to get WiFi working.

Most likely, or just install a wifi card from a newer Mac Pro.

 

[blindpcguy]

or just use ethernet its a way better interface anyways lol. if you need wifi though defiantly consider a wifi card upgrade. its such a shame apple changed the supported macs list this year.

 

[ojfl]

or just use ethernet its a way better interface anyways lol. if you need wifi though defiantly consider a wifi card upgrade. its such a shame apple changed the supported macs list this year.

Ours is connected through ethernet already but we will consider the upgrade to get continuity/handoff working properly.

 

[monkeybagel]

But that does not apply to Macs as all Intel Macs support EFI. One still has to wonder what features are virtualized by Parallels that are not present on the actual Mac Pro 3,1 hardware.

I think the expectations of performance in OS X when it is virtualized is much lower than OS X running on actual hardware. I haven't really had a need to virtualize OS X, but I do recall when doing so, the more advanced animations perform poorly even on higher-end hardware, such as opening Launchpad.

 

[netkas]

Technical side: installer and macos checks for being run inside VM, if it's running inside vm then there is no restrictions about mac model/version.

 

[Ben888]

Most likely, or just install a wifi card from a newer Mac Pro.

Or use a Mac compatible USB WiFi stick. I do on my Mac Pro 3,1 and it works well. I would use Ethernet, but my computer is pretty far from my cable modem, and I hate tripping over cables.