Started receiving "unsupported browser" message when accessing Gmail

[poncho167]

I recently started receiving "unsupported browser" messages when accessing my Gmail email account.

I have all the updates that are available for my Catalina OS 2012 model.

Currently, I am running Safari version 15.6.1. I am not looking to purchase another computer at this time even though I have a 10 + year old unit. Will Gmail stop working one day?

I have no intention of installing Google Chrome or any Microsoft product, or any other browser for that matter. I have been totally satisfied with Safari other than this incident. I think Google just wants me to join their family so they can follow me more closely.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Yeah, Catalina is old. Safari for Catalina is old. I despise that "the web" is absolutely requiring "newer better faster" for no real reason, but it is the case. Yes, websites will simply stop working at some point.

If you want to stay with a browser based on the same rendering engine as Safari, try Midori. It's also meant to be faster on older systems. I use Chromium Legacy on my older systems, it still works fine on Google products, without having any "Google data leakage" (although if you're using Gmail, you're already dealing with Google data leakage.)

 

[dmccloud]

I recently started receiving "unsupported browser" messages when accessing my Gmail email account.

I have all the updates that are available for my Catalina OS 2012 model.

Currently, I am running Safari version 15.6.1. I am not looking to purchase another computer at this time even though I have a 10 + year old unit. Will Gmail stop working one day?

I have no intention of installing Google Chrome or any Microsoft product, or any other browser for that matter. I have been totally satisfied with Safari other than this incident. I think Google just wants me to join their family so they can follow me more closely.

I wouldn't be so quick to single out and blame Google. You are running an older MacBook that can no longer receive OS updates. Many of the apps on your machine will also not be able to install the latest updates because they also require newer versions of Mac OS than your machine supports. No consumer computer was designed to last forever, and your current machine is on the back end of its usable life span.

 

[russell_314]

I recently started receiving "unsupported browser" messages when accessing my Gmail email account.

I have all the updates that are available for my Catalina OS 2012 model.

Currently, I am running Safari version 15.6.1. I am not looking to purchase another computer at this time even though I have a 10 + year old unit. Will Gmail stop working one day?

I have no intention of installing Google Chrome or any Microsoft product, or any other browser for that matter. I have been totally satisfied with Safari other than this incident. I think Google just wants me to join their family so they can follow me more closely.

Your computer is 13 years old. Computer years are like dog years so your computer is beyond obsolete. If you’re on a really tight budget, try to find an M1 MacBook Air. That will run the current version of macOS and Safari.

 

[Audit13]

I have a 2012 15" MacBook Pro and lots of the included apps are out of date. An outdated/unpatched browser is one thing I would not use because of its lack of security updates.

Installed OCLP, updated to Ventura, and everything is working again.

Edit: correct error by changing OLCP to OCLP.

 

[poncho167]

I have a 2012 15" MacBook Pro and lots of the included apps are out of date. An outdated/unpatched browser is one thing I would not use because of its lack of security updates.

Installed OLCP, updated to Ventura, and everything is working again.

Catalina is as far as I can go with the current motherboard. What is OLCP?

 

[sgtaylor5]

It’s Open Core Legacy Patcher. it is a set of patches to make newer versions of macOS run on older unsupported computers.

One thing I will say, don’t go hog wild with the upgraded version you use. Any computer is going to have an absolute limit on how much performance it has. macOS is pretty decent about not slowing down as major upgrades happen.

However…

I would try Monterey as the highest version for a computer for where Catalina is the latest version. Later versions are going to have less support for Intel, which will make OCLP a little more of a stretch to make it work.

If you do decide to use OCLP, I would:

1) backup your system multiple ways first!!
2) be very careful how you install it.

Simply read all the instructions two or three times before you even begin to attempt it. I’m not saying it’s difficult but higher attention to detail for installing something that is unusual is always warranted.

 

[Audit13]

Catalina is as far as I can go with the current motherboard. What is OLCP?

I made a mistake in my post and incorrectly spelled "OCLP" (Open-Core Legacy Patcher) as OLCP.

It's a great way to allow a Mac to run an OS version that is above the last supported version.

I will say that Ventura runs well on a mid-2012 15" MacBook Pro. I chose Ventura because Monterey is no longer a supported OS. The MacBook has 8 GB of ram and a 512 GB SSD. It works well and I found OCLP easy to use. I also use macOS 15.3.1 on a mid-2014 13" MacBook Pro as well. Even though these are Intel machines, all of the included hardware (WiFi, Bluetooth, graphics, etc.) works on Ventura the way they did on a supported OS.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macos-13-ventura-on-unsupported-macs-thread.2346881/

 

[PPC_505]

OCLP is your best overall bet. That'll allow you to update to current MacOS. You could also install Linux (a lighter distro could "get back" some performance on older hardware like that), or, if you really want to, you could install Windows 10, although that's losing support towards the end of the year as well.

 

[poncho167]

OCLP is your best overall bet. That'll allow you to update to current MacOS. You could also install Linux (a lighter distro could "get back" some performance on older hardware like that), or, if you really want to, you could install Windows 10, although that's losing support towards the end of the year as well.

Never, ever, a Windows product. Only use for work.