A simple, but powerful UI patcher for macOS Big Sur designed for everyone.

Overview

Patched Sur

What is Patched Sur?

Patched Sur is a UI patcher for macOS Big Sur, designed to make it easy to run macOS 11 on unsupported Macs. This patcher hopes to allow any user of any knowledge to patch their Mac, while still giving you freedom on how you want to use your Mac.

Compatibility

To see if your Mac is supported click here.

(Basically it says if you have anything older than a 2012/2013 Mac it'll be terrible).

Credits

Patched Sur isn't just by me (Ben), I mostly put it all together and made it easier for people to use it, several other people have contributed to the patcher and the patches making this what it is today!

  • barrykn: Made the micropatcher that introduced me to the patching process and restored my faith in my really old computer. He also helped pull together a lot of the patches used in this patcher.
  • ASentientBot: Made the Hax patches for the installer and brought GeForce Tesla (9400M/320M) framebuffer to Big Sur.
  • jackluke: Figured out how to bypass compatibility checks on the installer USB.
  • highvoltage12v: Made the first WiFi kexts used with Big Sur
  • ParrotGeek: developed the LegacyUSBInjector kext to get USB ports working on some older Macs and figuring out a way to skip the terminal commands when opening the installer app on the USB.
  • testheit: Helped with the kmutil command in the micropatcher (that is used in Patched Sur too)
  • Ausdauersportler: Integrated patches for iMac Metal GPU support.
  • StarPlayrX: Pointed out startosinstall which was later used in the patcher to allow macOS updating support without a USB.
  • ASentientHedgehog: Helped randomly along the way
  • dosdude1: OpenGL/GPUSupport swap and of course his patchers which have helped with unsupported Macs patching even in Big Sur.
  • Bweesh, Bruno Rocha, NickP0is0n, Noah Fetz, duke4e, riiveraluis, Dead_K1ller, and manthos03 for translating the app.
  • John_val, fromeister2009, Mr. Macintosh, Emperor Epitaph, Finder352, Monkiey and 8itCat for testing some of the new features before release, and pointing out the bugs with them.
  • and several others who helped with making Big Sur run as great as it does on unsupported Macs.

Patched Sur also uses two Open Source frameworks, Files and ShellOut by JohnSundell (MIT License), to help handle certain tasks.

FileVault Warning

You must Turn FileVault Off before using Patched Sur

The patcher shouldn't let you upgrade anyway, but it's good to make sure it's off.

Also, know that turning it on after the upgrade isn't a smart idea. By doing that, you're preventing yourself from recovering your patched Mac in a lot of cases.

How do I use Patched Sur?

1. Download Patched Sur, (.dmg not .zip), from the GitHub releases page.

2. Open the dmg file, right click on the app, and click open.

3. The first three prompts are just information explaining the following:

  • A quick intro into Patched Sur
  • How much functionality you will get out of macOS once the patching process is complete
  • How the patcher works, and what it does to your Mac

4. Next, you can choose what update track you would like to update with. Release is the default, but you can also choose Beta if you want one of the beta tracks. (Note: Apple does not always release InstallAssistant.pkgs for the beta tracks, this means you might be unable to get certain betas.)

5. Then, you can select whether you want to update macOS from Catalina to Big Sur (or Big Sur to Big Sur if you are switching from a different patcher) or do a clean install of Big Sur (currently unavailable).

6. After that, your Mac will start downloading @barrykn's micropatcher for kexts and a couple other resources.

7. Now, you will be able to choose what version of macOS to download. By default it will show the latest version based on your selected release track, but if you click View Other Versions, you can choose a different one or your own.

8. Once the download is finished, you need to enter your password, so Patched Sur can install the package. Then, after you select the USB drive you want to use to install macOS, the patcher can copy the installer onto the USB.

9. Finally, the USB gets patched and you are ready to start installation!

10. Reboot your computer, but immediately start holding down the Option/Alt key as soon as your Mac turns on.

11. Select the purple EFI Boot drive, (if there are multiple unplug and replug in your drive and select the EFI Boot that disappeared and reappeared). Then, your Mac will quickly turn off, so turn it back on while, again, holding down Option/Alt. Then, select Install macOS Big Sur.

12. Once the installer boots, select reinstall macOS and agree to the Terms and Conditions. Then, select the drive you want to install Big Sur onto, (it should be the same drive you ran the patcher on).

13. After the installer is done, (it will take a while and appear to get stuck), log in to your Mac and open Patched Sur from your Applications folder or LaunchPad.

14. Open the Patch Kexts section and enter your password. Then, you should be able to reboot and enjoy Big Sur!

How do I choose a my own installer?

To choose a different installer that you already have downloaded, click View Other Versions. Then, click Find an Installer and navigate to the InstallAssistant.pkg or Install macOS Big Sur.app file you would like to use.

How would I update macOS? (Starting in v0.1.0+)

To update macOS, follow the steps below.

1. Launch the post-install app and click Update macOS.

2. Select the version you want to update to, (the latest version should be pre-selected).

3. Once it finishes downloading the package, it will prompt you to install which will restart your computer after a little bit.

4. After the update finishes, open the post install app and patch your kexts.

5. Enjoy the latest version of macOS!

Note: Apple does not always release InstallAssistant.pkgs for the beta tracks and some minor updates, this means you might be unable to get certain upates.

Support

I am a living, breathing human, so don't expect me to respond right away to everything. However, if you need support with the patcher, feel free to open an issue or discussion here (please search the issue list before making a new one) or use one of the links below!

r/BigSurPatcher Subreddit

Ursinia Projects Discord (Originally Patched Sur, but also includes other Ben216k projects)

Unsupported Macs Discord (#bensova-patcher)

You might also like...
A Swift iOS application designed to help DMs / GMs run tabletop RPGs

Project Overview This project is a work in progress iOS app designed to help Dungeon Masters run tabletop role playing games. It is meant as an explor

OONI Probe is free and open source software designed to measure internet censorship and other forms of network interference.
OONI Probe is free and open source software designed to measure internet censorship and other forms of network interference.

OONI Probe iOS OONI Probe is free and open source software designed to measure internet censorship and other forms of network interference. Click here

"Podman for macOS" is a macOS frontend for Podman.

Podman for macOS "Podman for macOS" is a macOS frontend for Podman. It can be used to start and stop both the Podman Machine and its running container

Simple macOS app for xcodereleases.com
Simple macOS app for xcodereleases.com

XcodeReleases Simple macOS app for xcodereleases.com ✅ new Async Await API with URLSession to fetch the data ✅ Codables instead of SwiftyJson to decod

Lace - A simple NTS.live macOS application
Lace - A simple NTS.live macOS application

Marconio A simple macOS (and maybe iOS) application to listen to NTS through. NT

A simple star rating library for SwiftUI apps on macOS and iOS

DLDRating A simple star rating library for SwiftUI apps on macOS and iOS. Features Installation Usage Styling Credits DLDRating was made by Dionne Lie

A simple - no dependency Swift script that chases your mouse on MacOS (works for Monterey)
A simple - no dependency Swift script that chases your mouse on MacOS (works for Monterey)

tom A simple - no dependency Swift script that chases your mouse on MacOS (works for Monterey) What it does? Keep the display on and move your mouse u

SwiftUI MovieDB prototype app built with Xcode 11 Beta & macOS 10.15 Catalina
SwiftUI MovieDB prototype app built with Xcode 11 Beta & macOS 10.15 Catalina

SwiftUI MovieDB iOS 13 App SwiftUI MovieDB prototype app built with Xcode 11 Beta & macOS 10.15 Catalina Requirements macOS 10.15 Catalina Xcode 11 Be

Stock is a MacOS menu bar app that helps you quickly save a web link, a file link, or a text by using drag and drop
Stock is a MacOS menu bar app that helps you quickly save a web link, a file link, or a text by using drag and drop

Stock is a MacOS menu bar app that helps you quickly save a web link, a file link, or a text by using drag and drop

Releases(v1.1.0)
  • v1.1.0(Mar 16, 2022)

    I did an experiment. I wanted to try the WiFi patch from Mini Monterey on Big Sur... and it worked. The current patch works most of the time but personal hotspots and WPA2 enterprise networks don't (always) work plus WiFi is just in and out for some users. This patch might fix those problems. It did introduce personal hotspot support for me, but I can't test WPA2 Enterprise and it was always stable for me, so I can't say much about the other problems. So... it's cool. (Info on switching patches at the end)

    Note: The patcher isn't currently signed. You'll have to right click on the app then press open or use System Preferences to launch it.

    All Changes

    • New WiFi Patch! Native-Plus is now the new default WiFi patch, the same one from Mini Monterey.
    • Possible fix for the big patch kexts error (1x127)
    • There was many dead links in the patcher that should have been fixed in v1.0.1, but they're fixed now.
    • Added a fix to the terrible downloading screen when making an installer. (It actually looks like it's doing something now)
    • You can no longer use the beta track, not enough people use it for me to justify keeping it (I haven't seen any recently), you can still download the beta installers on your own and tell Patched Sur to use those if you want.
    • Non-metal Macs can no longer go past the verify stage (instead of just a warning, it just stops them there), not like they were ever supported anyway.
    • Russian support was removed.

    How to switch to the new WiFi patch

    • Make sure you've made a new installer usb, you'll get errors if you neither the usb nor the pre-downloaded patches (obtained whenever you update or make a usb) isn't using the latest version.
    • If you update to 11.6.5, the new patch will be used by default.
    1. Open Patched Sur and go to the Patch Kexts section.
    2. Click Advanced Patches and enter your password.
    3. Change the mode from Patch Kexts to Unpatch Kexts
    4. Press Start Unpatch Kexts and let it go.
    5. Once it's done, go back to the Advanced Patches screen.
    6. Make sure that WiFi is set to Native-Plus and Boot Plist patching is enabled.
    7. Click Start Patch Kexts, reboot, hopefully profit!
    Source code(tar.gz)
    Source code(zip)
    Patched-Sur.dmg(19.51 MB)
    Post-Install-App.dmg(19.51 MB)
    Post-Install-Extra.zip(2.90 MB)
  • v1.0.1(Oct 9, 2021)

    Patched Sur is back up! This update will not show up in the pre-v1.0.1 post-install app, so if you're already on macOS Big Sur, then you need to download Post-Install-App.dmg. For those who aren't on Big Sur yet, download Patched-Sur.dmg as normal.

    Note: The patcher isn't currently signed. You'll have to right click on the app then press open or use System Preferences to launch it.

    • It works again
    • Fix the notification daemon so that it doesn't notify you for older macOS versions (I saw the update notification for 11.6 on Monterey)
    • Fix patched-sur://about-this-mac link
    • Add Arabic translations
    • The password prompt is slightly better.

    (Yes this is the same developer, different username, ask literally anyone)

    Source code(tar.gz)
    Source code(zip)
    Patched-Sur.dmg(5.88 MB)
    Post-Install-App.dmg(3.46 MB)
    Post-Install-Extra.zip(2.94 MB)
Owner
Ben
macOS developer who devs things.
Ben
A macOS Monterey Patcher that will be coming soon.

A macOS Monterey UI patcher. It uses my MontereyPatcher-CLI patcher as its base, and it will hopefully build upon that. Resources: MontereyPatcher-CLI

Solomon Wood 11 Aug 18, 2021
This app has always been open source! It began with the Big Brain Hackathon and now during Hacktoberfest

Brain Marks This app has always been open source! It began with the Big Brain Hackathon and now during Hacktoberfest. It is available for free on the

Mikaela Caron 79 Jan 4, 2023
🦙This repository keeps alive the famous skin of Winamp 5, Big Bento!

Latest Version: 1.2.8 (Changelog) Winamp Big Bento Redux This repository keeps alive the famous skin of Winamp 5, Big Bento by updating some componets

null 5 Aug 21, 2022
An IOS app that shows big 6 different animals from different National Parks from Africa, App available for mactosh

An IOS app that shows big 6 different animals from different National Parks from Africa, App available for mactosh. Africa was developed using SwiftUI

wykee2 2 Apr 2, 2022
A small macOS menubar app designed to hide the dock on selected spaces.

HideMyDock A small macOS menubar app designed to hide the dock on selected spaces. Installation Manually You can download the latest version of .dmg f

Alexander Ushaev 42 Jan 2, 2023
SwiftUI-Card - Simple card ui designed using SwiftUI

SwiftUI - Card Simple card ui designed using SwiftUI Preview

bahri hırfanoğlu 0 Feb 5, 2022
Your SwiftUI custom slider is crap. Here's mine, which is also crap, but it's my crap

Fuck your custom slider It doesn't work. Sure, it looks great, with gradients, and multiple thumbs, but really, it's useless. No more paying for a sub

Rob Bishop 0 Nov 29, 2021
WeatherApp - this is weather app based on AppBrewery code from bootcamp (but upgraded)

WeatherApp What was created Based on App Brewery code I've made a beautiful, dark-mode enabled weather app. It's possible to check the weather for the

Ewelina Mijal 0 Dec 30, 2021
This mobile application built in SwiftUI is designed to help you medicate your cat faster.

MediKitty This mobile application built in SwiftUI is designed to help you medicate your cat faster. If you medicate your kitty it will be happy Add w

Elijah J Grealish 0 Nov 2, 2021
A mobile application project designed for everybody which provides the easiest way to make searchs for public services

A mobile application project designed for everybody which provides the easiest way to make searchs for public services

null 0 Nov 23, 2021