Does anyone know how long Apple keeps system versions available in the App Store?
I’m currently on Sonoma and want to stay there as long as Apple supports it. At some point I’ll have to upgrade and ideally I’d like to just go up a single level… but I don’t know how much longer Sequoia will be available.
I know in the past it’s been a real challenge to find older systems.
There’s a good list of older MacOS installers and instructions at Mr. Macintosh:
https://mrmacintosh.com/how-to-download-macos-catalina-mojave-or-high-sierra-full-installers/
Apple links to the latest version of each release. So if you want to install the latest Sonoma, you can always go there.
If you need a specific version, then see the Mr. Mactinosh link (thanks, @Incompatible) for how to use the software-update command-line tool to request it. If it is still on Apple’s servers, that will work. But I recommend downloading such an installer ASAP and make an off-line copy (maybe also a bootable flash drive), because there’s no guarantee that old versions will be available in the future.
The Apple Support page linked above by @Shamino contains Mac App Store links for MacOS 15 Sequoia back to MacOS 10.13 High Sierra (2017). Further down that page are web links to download DMG disk images for MacOS 10.12 Sierra (2016) back to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (2011), with the curious omission of OS X 10.9 Mavericks (2013).
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was the first system available via the Mac App Store and cost $29.99. Lion was also the last system offered on physical media, in the form of a USB thumb priced at $69. Previous systems were shipped on floppy disks, then CD-ROM, and later DVD-ROM with pricing from $29.99 to $129.99. OS X 10.9 Mavericks (2013) was the second Mac App Store–only system and the beginning of the current era of free/no charge Mac OSes.
If anyone has insight into why OS X 10.9 Mavericks is not included in the list of downloadable installers I would be keen to learn the details.
Oddly, these links are not always active. Last week I was trying to download an installer for Monterey, and the App Store insisted that it was unavailable via that link. (I needed to upgrade my mother’s computer in order to prep her “new” iPhone 12 mini, and I didn’t want to jump her too far ahead of where she was at the time, Mojave. I ended up putting her on Big Sur.) So be aware that while Apple provides App Store links, they don’t always work.
Weird. I just tried the Monterey link. I got the App Store opening, then the “not available” message when I clicked on the “Get” button. But then Software Update opened and downloaded some version of Monterey. I don’t intend to install it, because I still need CS6, but I have added it to my stash of installers.
Mavericks has been MIA for a long time, with no explanation. I have that one stashed as well.
Thanks! I have tried to get a download of 12.7.6 for a year now with no success. I have some old macs and like to have all the old os installers saved.
I think the primary reason Apple keeps these installers is so you can use Internet Recovery on a dead Mac to restore either the originally-bundled version of macOS or the most recent version compatible with the hardware.
It appears that macOS 10.9 is not the maximum-supported macOS, so in theory, nobody needs it for Internet recovery.
But this theory falls apart because no Macs have a maximum version of 10.8, 10.10 or 10.12 either. But they’re all available.
And there were a few models (like 2013 and 2014 iMacs) which were bundled with 10.9 and therefore (should) be able to install it via Internet Recovery.
Curious, isn’t it‽
(btw MacOS 15 is maximum on my 2018 Mac Mini)
Thanks for the update. MacTracker hasn’t been updated since macOS 26, so it still lists the 2018 Mini as “latest version”.
I’ll fix my post.
Just a heads up to my fellow OS archivists, if your saved installer pre-dates about Fall 2019 it might not work when you go to use it. Those older installers contain a certificate that expired in 2019.
Apple reissued most of them from 10.7 Lion onward with the exception of 10.9 Mavericks, which may be the answer to my earlier question about Mavericks. I vaguely recall there being a particular OS installer that had some structural quirks that required extra jumping of hoops—could have been Mavericks and those quirks hindered Apples ability to replace the expired certificate without recompiling some portion of the code.
If you can’t find a Fall 2019 or newer version of an installer a workaround is to roll back the system clock on the target Mac before running the older installer.
Hello John (@jgold )
here is a Link to a fantastic Application:
with this tool you’re able to create Installers on the fly without having to rely on the AppStore at all. It supports Intel based downloading and Apple Silicon in form of Firmware Downloads.
It lets you even create ISO Images for Virtual Machines. And also, if you are into automation there is also a CLI for it.
Where the OS‘ses are stored for download is something I don’t know… But you should give it a try. There are plenty of Downloads available including Betas.
Greetings from Germany 
Tobias
I allways keep on an external disk the installers. And also have an external disk partitioned with each system so I can boot an older computer if neccesary. Comes handy every now and then.
You have to disconnect from Internet, and change the date in the Mac to a date at the end of the year it was issued. The you can install.
Howard Oakley mentions the date trick but also some issues that can arise:
From the article:
“A great deal of macOS depends on the accuracy of date and time stamps. For example, it’s a general rule that the creation timestamp of a file or directory should be the same as or earlier than its modification and other timestamps. Some software used to make backups may become confused with file creation times that are not only more recent than their modification timestamp, but are also more recent than the current clock time. This can also feed through into the FSEvents database used by Time Machine to determine what it should back up, and more.”
Just to second Tobias’ post re Mist—indeed, it’s a wonder!