Logic Pro 10.7.5 on unsupported Macbook Pro (Late 2013 Model 11,3) via OpenCore Patcher

[Don J Fera]

I have an old Macbook Pro that was top of the line back in the day (16GB Ram, 1TB HD, 2.6GHZ Quad Core i7 CPU, etc.) Big Sur was the latest OS officially allowed by Apple and Logic Logic Pro 10.7.5 requires at least Monterey, and since a "free tempo recording" mode is something that I have always thought would fit my needs, I researched on how to get my machine to accept Monterey and found OpenCore Patcher. I did the process shown on the website OpenCore Patcher, after cloning my drive with SuperDuper to an external. The OpenCore Patcher app is a little confusing to use, but ultimately successful in getting the last released version of Monterey installed. First boot attempts didn't work. Turns out that my particular Macbook Pro model needed a graphics card patch which was available through the OpenCore app. I was able to patch the graphics card after successfully starting up in safe mode. Once Monterey was up and running, I went to the App store and Logic Pro just showed open Logic (which was at 10.74). I clicked on more info and finally, got the update option. It updated successfully and worked normally in a brief test, but the software instruments weren't showing up. I reinstalled the complete library, and then it appeared as usual. It has been awhile since using logic (or doing any recording at all for that matter), so I can't say everything is perfect yet, but so far so good. When I started looking into getting Logic 10.7.5 installed, I searched on various Logic forums, but found no results so maybe this might be of interest to us orphaned Macbook Pro users trying to get some more life out of these machines. Heck, I still have a 2006 Macbook Pro that works perfectly for running some legacy software like Encore (music notation).

Don

[listenhear]

hello.  i think i am having a similar problem with my 2008 Mac. I've installed the open core patch and put Monterey installer on a USB stick. but when I hold down option key and restart my computer I just get a black screen.  I'm assuming it's got something to do with my graphics card. where did you find a workaround for that

 

[Don J Fera]

Did you try starting in "Safe Mode"? I tried a couple of different ways of interpreting the step by step instructions, so it took me a couple of tries before I understood that you need to choose the USB EFI memory stick you prepared, once booted from that to you come to another boot picker screen. Once this pops up you choose the installer you downloaded from Apple via the CorePatcher app and the installation proceeds normally on the drive you have chosen. This is where I rebooted to a black screen. Restarting in safe mode, I was able to use the CorePatcher app to look for patches which it has in its database. My 2013 version Macbook pro was called out specifically in the documentation as needing a patch, but as the CorePatcher app has been updated ,many times, the instructions don't always match up perfectly with every possible mac model, but a little trial and error solved it. Just takes time with each try as the installation process can be an hour or more. My description of the process is the best of my recollection, but as I said I went through the process a few times and I might have missed a step in my description since water under the bridge flows all the faster as I approach my 7th decade on this particular planet.

Also, was you specific Mac listed on the compatibility page?

Edited November 17, 2022 by Don J Fera
Saw something I missed the first go.