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updating software for an old Mac

I have a mid 2011 21.5" Mac using High Sierra. I want to install Catalina. I have 8 GB of memory. If I upgrade to 16 GB (that's the max for this device) will that work or is there another issue preventing me? I'd prefer to keep my Mac if possible as my computer needs are pretty basic and it still looks great. I do, however, need newer software in order to use Turbotax next year.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jun 11, 2020 6:59 AM

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Posted on Jun 11, 2020 7:13 AM

No.

You can NOT run Mojave or Catalina on that machine. There is nothing you can do to change that.


I would not invest any more money into that machine. It is now stuck 2 major releases of macOS behind... presumably, it will be 3 behind sometime this fall or winter, meaning it will no longer get security updates at all.


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Jun 11, 2020 7:13 AM in response to jhnelson88

No.

You can NOT run Mojave or Catalina on that machine. There is nothing you can do to change that.


I would not invest any more money into that machine. It is now stuck 2 major releases of macOS behind... presumably, it will be 3 behind sometime this fall or winter, meaning it will no longer get security updates at all.


Jun 11, 2020 7:08 AM in response to Niel

Good to know! Can I put a metal-capable graphics card in my PC? If so, is it expensive? I spent $400 in Nov 2018 to, among other things, replace the hard drive. I assume that's different. Like an old car, I'm trying to decide when it no longer makes sense to keep investing in it. I just don't want to give up on my Mac prematurely.

updating software for an old Mac

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