Apple Makes OS X Lion and Mountain Lion Free to Download

[HiVolt]

Agreed for those with an older Mac. I actually have flash drives with every version of macOS since Snow Leopard.

I’m not sure if the install will work due to the certificate having expired but did recreate some of the newer versions in case I need to use it.

Yeah they will not work, unless you boot into the installer, go into terminal and change the date to something within the certificate range, then it will install just fine. I've had to deal with that a number of times in recent years in recovering older macs for work or friends that I had made installer DVD's or USB images for.

 

[Rocko99991]

No security updates I suppose?

 

[danielsutton]

Apple recently dropped the $19.99 fee for OS X Lion and Mountain Lion, making the older Mac updates free to download, reports Macworld.

Apple has kept OS X 10.7 Lion and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion available for customers who have machines limited to the older software, but until recently, Apple was charging $19.99 to get download codes for the updates.

As of last week, these updates no longer require a fee, and can be downloaded from the OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion support documents on Apple's website.

Mac OS X Lion is compatible with Macs that have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor, a minimum of 2GB RAM, and 7GB storage space.

Mac OS X Mountain Lion is compatible with the following Macs:

• iMac (Mid 2007-2020)
  
• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
  
• MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
  
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
  
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
  
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
  
• Xserve (Early 2009)

Macs that shipped with Mac OS X Mavericks or later are not compatible with the installer, however.

The $19.99 fee dates back to when Apple used to charge for Mac updates. Apple began making Mac updates free with the launch of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, which also marked the shift from big cat names to California landmark names.

Mavericks was free to download, and Apple has not charged for Mac software since then outside of the legacy Lion and Mountain Lion updates. Apple also used to have OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard available for a fee, but it is no longer purchasable.

Article Link: Apple Makes OS X Lion and Mountain Lion Free to Download

Now Apple needs to provide refunds to all of the people who have paid for download codes.

 

[hauntvictim]

So does this mean I can just do clean install over Yosemite for my 2009 iMac? Wish they had Mavericks.

 

[Darth-Kylie]

While it would be nice to get Snow Leopard as a free download, it’d be better if it were under a modified licence that permits virtualisation. As it stands, Snow Leopard Server is the retro sweet spot (for me) in order to also have access to Rosetta for old PowerPC apps.

 

[iHorseHead]

Good to see Apple is still supporting the older OSes.

They're not supporting Lion nor Mountain Lion.

 

[tywebb13]

"Apple also used to have OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard available for a fee, but it is no longer purchasable."

Thankfully for those of us in the UK we can still grab a copy for 20 quid from CEX...

For a long time developers could download leopard and snow leopard for free from the developer portal.

I thought they might be gone now but they are still there:

Although it says the Snow Leopard one is a preview build, actually build 10A432 was the build of the first commercial DVD.

 

[JMStearnsX2]

Agreed for those with an older Mac. I actually have flash drives with every version of macOS since Snow Leopard.

I’m not sure if the install will work due to the certificate having expired but did recreate some of the newer versions in case I need to use it.

Just change the system date in the installer with terminal.
Entering "Date 0101012015" will change the system date & time to January 1st, 2015 at 1:01am. Fixes the expired certificate.

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

Should have all OS X/macOS versions available for download.

I agree. But there’s a very small chance of that happening.

 

[antiprotest]

"Can't innovate anymore, my ass!"

 

[JMStearnsX2]

And just the other day I was lamenting the fact I didn't have a proper installer for 10.7...
OMG - Naming conventions Apple, plz!

View attachment 1800120​

And if you think opening the DMG will clarify? No.

View attachment 1800121​

Also.... they didn't bother to renew the certs on them... well... "you get what you pay for"! 😆

View attachment 1800122

Lion is the smaller one, Mountain lion is the bigger one

 

[tywebb13]

Lion is the smaller one, Mountain lion is the bigger one

Isn't it the other way around? Lion 4.72 GB, Mountain Lion 4.45 GB:

 

[MacBH928]

how about that for the "planned obsolescence" crowd ? /s

 

[Scott Baret]

I only hope they can also do this for Mac OS 9.

It goes beyond wanting to run old software through any sort of virtualization on a new computer, though some of the older programs are still better than the newer ones, especially in education. There are still a decent amount of CRT iMacs out there, all of which could make a fine little offline computer for a kid who shouldn't be using the internet unsupervised. They're impossible to recycle in most places, so why not make the OS free?

 

[loby]

Odd because they mention at the beginning, at Mountain Lion is for older systems that are not compatible with the latest version of MacOS, but an iMac from 2020, or 2019, etc., would be compatible with the latest version of macOS

Probably a typo.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

But where is Mavericks god darnnit!?

Mavericks is the odd one out. Apple has had special download links for 10.10+ available for years, and even before today 10.7 and 10.8 were available for purchase if you really needed them.

Mavericks—while "out there"—is completely unavailable from Apple officially, unless it's already in your Apple ID's download history. Which is a shame because it's a very good release, which is still compatible with a lot of modern software.

So does this mean I can just do clean install over Yosemite for my 2009 iMac? Wish they had Mavericks.

I can help with Mavericks if you shoot me a PM. (I can also provide software recommendations; Mavericks is my daily driver so I have lots of experience.)

 

[johnediii]

I only hope they can also do this for Mac OS 9.

It goes beyond wanting to run old software through any sort of virtualization on a new computer, though some of the older programs are still better than the newer ones, especially in education. There are still a decent amount of CRT iMacs out there, all of which could make a fine little offline computer for a kid who shouldn't be using the internet unsupervised. They're impossible to recycle in most places, so why not make the OS free?

I have a G4 iMac that still has 9.2.2 on it. Still use it for some old games and things. Exactly right that my kids could use it offline when they're old enough.

 

[icerabbit]

The fun has been taken out of restoring and running antique macs, because installers stopped working, apps store does not serve old enough app versions, old safari and other browsers from that time are obsolete and won’t go anywhere, not even apple’s homepage …

 

[return2sendai]

This thread is chock full of "gimme for free!" thinking.

Current OSs are not "free". You get them "for free" with a device purchase, so that revenue is what helps to finance the current and future OS development.

There is no revenue supporting older OS's. Why should Apple have to pay for staff, support and bandwidth without getting a single dollar? Apple is a business, not a charity.

I have purchased a device. 10 years ago.

 

[Shirasaki]

This thread is chock full of "gimme for free!" thinking.

Current OSs are not "free". You get them "for free" with a device purchase, so that revenue is what helps to finance the current and future OS development.

There is no revenue supporting older OS's. Why should Apple have to pay for staff, support and bandwidth without getting a single dollar? Apple is a business, not a charity.

Oh ok by that logic, apple should’ve prohibited anyone using macOS to ever downgrade at all, so they were always at the latest OS. No need to support even the immediate last version of the system.

 

[hot-gril]

I'd install Snow Leopard instead on an old machine. When Lion came out, everyone was panicking because it was slow and unstable. Glad macOS has recovered from the mistakes introduced in that OS, except for the irritatingly different way of saving that basically only Preview and TextEdit adopted.

 

[donguevas]

Good call, I totally didn't even think about the security update aspect. I was somehow assuming that would be up to date.



Yeah pretty sure its a 21" model. I was suggesting she just sell the iMac for a few hundred, then just pick up the new M1 mac mini and a screen and she would be solid.

Apple employee here.

Take it to someone who knows Macs, not an AASP or an Apple store, because when they do a replacement on a failing part, it has to be the same part that came in a machine.

That Mac, like a previous poster said, more than likely has a 5400 rpm drive in it. A slow drive that is also 6 years old and probably going to die. Put an ssd in it.

I have a ton of Mac gear, work for the company, and can afford a new Mac, but I am typing this on a 2013 21.5 inch Imac, with 16 gigs of ram and an ssd. Boots in about 10 seconds. I spent 90 on the drive and paid a dude 80 bucks to install it. I plan to use it for another 2 years.

 

[MacDownunder]

Agreed for those with an older Mac. I actually have flash drives with every version of macOS since Snow Leopard.

I’m not sure if the install will work due to the certificate having expired but did recreate some of the newer versions in case I need to use it.

the easiest way around this is back date the computer's clock to "around" the time of OS release, no certificate error then. Once installed reconnect to network if you dare (remember these havent had any security patches in a long time) and do updates as needed

 

[maverick28]

Agreed for those with an older Mac. I actually have flash drives with every version of macOS since Snow Leopard.

I’m not sure if the install will work due to the certificate having expired but did recreate some of the newer versions in case I need to use it.

It will work: either make it trustable by responding to the installer prompt affirmatively or wind the date back 5-7 years, install and revert to the current date afterwards.

 

[MacDownunder]

Still have my Snow Leopard install discs that came with this iMac (yes I still use my mid 2010, ports galore in the back still connect to old DV camcorder, other outputs to media)

I loved that OS!

View attachment 1800138 View attachment 1800139

Just remember these supplied installers were often tied to the specific machine so may not install on any other mac apart from what these were shipped with