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What's the latest OS I can use on early 2009 Mac Pro?

M

msintros

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 7, 2014
75
4
Right now running 10.9.5 and I seem to remember last time I researched this that that was the furthest I could go, although I don't remember exactly what the limitation was. I believe it has to do with the fact that I am using a GTX 680 but I'm not sure.

There are some other software updates I may need to do (newer versions of Cubase, for example, aren't supported on Mavericks) and it would be helpful if I can get to Yosemite, but I might be stuck in Mavericks. Can anyone tell me exactly what considerations there are for this machine and if I am truly stuck where I am?
 
The official limit for 4,1 is El Capitan.

The main concern is your software compatibility. If they can only run in Mavericks or below, there is not much you can do about it.

GTX680 is not an issue at all. You may not able to downgrade your OS, but upgrade is not a problem with this GPU.
 
Thanks, I think everything I have is compatible with the newer OSX versions. I have a spare drive, so I guess I could try to install Yosemite or a newer version on that and see if it works. Now I just have to figure out the best way to get a Yosemite installer, since it's apparently no longer available on Apple store.
 
If you update to 5,1 firmware you can run Sierra. I've done it and there is no downgrade in performance. Cubase 9 is only certified for El Capitan and Sierra. On Twitter Steinberg told me it works equally well on either.
 
h9826790 said:
Reason?
Click to expand...
Yosemite had networking bugs that make Mavericks more useful if you

El Capitan has an incomplete Metal that makes it pointless for upcoming apps.

Sierra started to get better but it's still an incomplete transition.

High Sierra is finally the successor Mavericks needed.
 
isn't the 4.1 rather the same if you flash it to 5.1 as the 2010-2012 cMP? though different wifi and BT cards? which you can upgrade yourself rather very easily.. apple supports high sierra out of the box on 2010 plus cMP.
 
SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
Yosemite had networking bugs that make Mavericks more useful if you

El Capitan has an incomplete Metal that makes it pointless for upcoming apps.

Sierra started to get better but it's still an incomplete transition.

High Sierra is finally the successor Mavericks needed.
Click to expand...

I see, so that's a very personal reason. They may be all crap to you, but a good OS to others.
 
SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
Everything between Mavericks and High Sierra is crap.
Click to expand...
How many bans does it take for someone to be permanently struck off these forums?
This post is utterly meaningless, void of anything useful and spreading misinformation.
If you have something useful to contribute then by all means do so but the above post is most certainly of no value to anyone.
[doublepost=1498134979][/doublepost]
msintros said:
Right now running 10.9.5 and I seem to remember last time I researched this that that was the furthest I could go, although I don't remember exactly what the limitation was. I believe it has to do with the fact that I am using a GTX 680 but I'm not sure.

There are some other software updates I may need to do (newer versions of Cubase, for example, aren't supported on Mavericks) and it would be helpful if I can get to Yosemite, but I might be stuck in Mavericks. Can anyone tell me exactly what considerations there are for this machine and if I am truly stuck where I am?
Click to expand...
I'd highly recommend flashing your 4,1 to 5,1. You have literally nothing to lose.
Once done you can happily upgrade to Sierra, or High Sierra when released. They will both be great upgrades. If you're after utmost stability then Sierra will be great for you.
Here's the guide and upgrade file:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html
 
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SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
I push systems hard and don't expect things like out of date graphics APIs and SMB bugs.

That's literally crap for everyone in the industry.
Click to expand...
Re: Metal
How can something newly introduced be out of date? It may not have had as many features as competing APIs but it certainly wasn't out of date. There was also a 6 month lead time for Metal dev from it's first introduction at WWDC, did you not do your due diligence before rolling out a product? I'm curious about this because Metal is a framework part of Apple's SDKs, if you were writing something that needed it you should have been familiar with it's available APIs.
Blatantly saying it's out dated, or probably more correctly trying to infer it was incomplete is not a reasonable assessment IMO, there was nothing hidden or broken about it's public methods and contrarily it's capabilities (as well as examples) were given at WWDC.
 
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Squuiid said:
I'd highly recommend flashing your 4,1 to 5,1. You have literally nothing to lose. Once done you can happily upgrade to Sierra, or High Sierra when released. They will both be great upgrades. If you're after utmost stability then Sierra will be great for you.
Here's the guide and upgrade file:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html
Click to expand...

Seconded. Note you must join Netkas to see the upgrade file.

Also, your new "5,1" will be able to run faster CPUs that are now available dirt cheap on Ebay. See:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/

PS: Looking forward to High Sierra, but "crappy" Sierra is working great for me.
 
Squuiid said:
I'd highly recommend flashing your 4,1 to 5,1. You have literally nothing to lose.Once done you can happily upgrade to Sierra, or High Sierra when released. They will both be great upgrades. If you're after utmost stability then Sierra will be great for you.
Here's the guide and upgrade file:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html
Click to expand...

I would also, BUT you MAY have to replace your wifi card, if you use WiFi. Some of the cards used in the 4,1 cMP are not supported by Sierra and above.

Lou
 
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flowrider said:
I would also, BUT you MAY have to replace your wifi card, if you use WiFi. Some of the cards used in the 4,1 cMP are not supported by Sierra and above.

Lou
Click to expand...
Good point Lou.
Fortunately the WiFi (and Bluetooth) card is pretty easy to swap out and is a worthwhile upgrade in and of itself.

http://www.osxwifi.com/apple-broadc...-with-adapter-for-macpro-2009-and-macpro-2010

Sierra aside, it's still worth upgrading the firmware to a 5,1 as you gain hardware benefits such as better CPU upgrade options and faster RAM, in addition to the improved software compatibility of Sierra and High Sierra.
 
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This might be a stupid question but would upgrading my firmware have any possible ramifications for me using my existing Bootcamp configuration (Windows 7)?

Unfortunately I've realized that Ableton Live 8 is not supported on the more recent versions of OSX (where the cutoff is I am having a hard time finding out for certain), but this means if I upgrade at all I may have to pay for an upgrade to that, so I'm in an annoying position of wanting to upgrade Cubase but not Ableton but probably needing to upgrade both if I upgrade the former, whereas it looks like many people say you can technically run Cubase 9 on Mavericks despite it not being supported.
 
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