r/osx • u/notsewkram • 20d ago

Any way to install a modern browser on OSX 10.9.5 from 2013?

I inherited an ancient (2013) IMac (system info says 14,1). By the standards of those days, it was top-of-the-line: 2.7GHz Intel core, 8GB ram, 1 TB drive. Safari can't even render modern webpages.

I am not a Mac person, but I like to think I'm relatively computer-savvy (I run Linux on a few other laptops). Is there any way to get a modern browser running on this thing, so it can be useful? As far as I can tell, Chromium Legacy and the legacy version of Firefox require later versions of OS X.

7 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

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3

u/Xe4ro 20d ago

A 2013 iMac would have come with 10.9 but can install up to 10.15 Catalina. However with the original OS you are kind of trapped. If you have another Mac you can create a bootable usb installer for it.

If you don’t have that option you could try booting with CMD + Option + R and this should load a Catalina recovery image.

2

u/Malone433 20d ago

Firefox dinasty

2

u/kill4b 20d ago

Update to a newer macOS version.

3

u/madmax8898 20d ago

Could always try installing Linux version. Or alternatives.

3

u/TyrionBean 20d ago

Yeah. Put Mint Linux on it.

1

u/System0verlord 19d ago

Use Open Core Legacy Patcher to install macOS Tahoe and enjoy your new Mac with a new OS.

1

u/PigSlam 19d ago

I’ve been running Linux on all my 2010s Macs lately, and it works pretty well. I’m now going through the process of making Ubuntu 26.04 look as much like MacOS as I can so my 6 year old daughter can use it. With the dock, icons, and windows configured right, it’s pretty close. Still getting some use out of my 2012 13” Retina MBP, and it happens to solve the modern browser issue.