Running Mac OS Sonoma on a Trash Can Mac Pro? Easier and cheaper than you think!

I got a new (to me) Trash Can Mac Pro for what I consider to be a good deal, and I show the process of upgrading it to the unsupported Mac OS Sonoma using Open Core Legacy Patcher (OLPC).
Also threw in some G4 Cube comparisons for fun - enjoy!
(and yes I call the Mac Pro a Power Mac on several occasions - sorry!)
#apple #macpro #macossonoma #oclp #upgrade #computers

[@savagepro9060]

8:47 Apple, July 19, 2000: "You have access to every single component" Apple, 2024: "In Yur Fkin Dreams!

[@jonobst]

haha yup 100%

[@woohoo2491]

i clicked this because you kinda looked like richard stallman posing with a mac, and i thought that was funny

[@jonobst]

Congrats on winning comment of the year!

[@Taras-Nabad]

Completely agree. The problem is Richard Stallman would never use a Mac

[@RobertFixit]

Laying on the bed with your trash can mac by your side, epic :)

[@markteague8889]

Congrats on scoring one for under $200. Perhaps the most unique design Apple ever produced; at least, that attempted to combine both form and function. It's really too bad that they didn't stick with the cylinder concept as component size decreased and allowed for lower power and heat.

[@jonobst]

Between this and the cube - hard to pick my favorite.

[@DuncanDimanche-sreview]

the trashcan here in France is still going for 500$ for the base model... and 1000$ for the high end... nice video man ! Although a used macmini m1 goes for 400ish and will smoke the trashcan so not so sure that this is the right upgrade for video editing but It would be nice to see some tests results ! for 200$ I would def get one

[@jonobst]

Thanks! Hopefully the prices drop soon for you - otherwise importing from the USA is probably still cheaper!

[@anothervisionofthings]

I'm from France too, with customs fees and shipping it's not really interesting @@jonobst

[@anothervisionofthings]

I'm from France too and was lucky to find on ebay europe a fully loaded Trashcan for 500€

[@lambertlambert7076]

@@anothervisionofthings Fully Loaded ? Max de ram à 64 Go ? Et avec un SSD de 1 ou plusieurs To ? Tu en fais quoi des jeux vidéos ? De la production musicale ? Du montage vidéo ? Je me suis planté en achetant cette arnaque de Mac mini M2 modèle de base... Dites-moi si ça vaut vraiment le coup, le Mac Pro 2013 ! Vous avez quel OS dessus ?

[@stathissim]

maybe try the UK if you have someone to bring it over to you without paying import taxes

[@neverletthemtameyou]

You had me at "vintage computer channel" +1 Thanks for a great video.

[@jonobst]

Welcome and enjoy!

[@STNKbone]

I had been running Monterey with OpenCore on a 2012 MacBook Pro for the past year, but last week it after rebooting it suddenly installed Sonoma without asking! Apparently others have experienced this as well with Sonoma. Luckily though, and to my surprise, Sonoma actually runs better on my machine than Monterey!

[@jonobst]

Whoa that's a fun surprise!

[@darthkielbasa]

I have a trashcan running Ventura. The only ridiculous reason I’m running Ventura on the machine is because I can select multiple messages for deletion in the Messages app. Centura performs well, but I’ve been thinking about rolling back and crunching numbers for performance

[@CAPITANxMARVEL]

Love the video thank you

[@smile768]

Enjoy your Mac Pro. It's so cool, I can't tolerate boring PCs now. Just got mine about the same time as you and paid a little extra, but still a bargain. It has the 6 core, 64GB and is fast. It runs almost silently, which is a surprise. It's on Monterey. Windows runs great as a test. I haven't tried OpenCore yet. I'm really pleased. I even get decent VM performance. I fitted an adapter and NVME, which was fun as WD Blue wouldn't boot. WD Black is fine. Might do the 8 or 10 core Xeon upgrade, but apparently the 12 is poor for single core.

[@jonobst]

This is exactly it. I love this thing!

[@AllKinaTing]

mad cool

[@johnpenner5182]

ive been running a macPro6,1 for the past nine months using sonoma 14.1.2 and OCLP 1.3 - with a 1Tb SSD and 128Gb RAM - this machine has been absolutely rock solid. i know all the new M1 macbook AIR machines will blow it away with faster current specs - however, your comparison to the G4 cube is a good one - and Phil Schiller's 'cant innovate my ass' comment was justified - this is one beautiful solid machine. legacy, at this point, and perhaps going to have its last go with OCLP and macOS sonoma. now is the sweet time to be running the machine - its working well with Logic Pro, XCode, and Affinity Photo - no issues. yet apple is only still supporting the Intel Xeon Processors because it has to keep its very last Intel MacPros in the supported OS builds for at least one more version before cutting the cord (and all future updates) on Intel entirely and going 'pure' M1 M2 M3 (which truly are a superb value for the money, and getting a used M1 mini will fall below $500 - so people will still be able to access inexpensive hardware.

[@womplestilskin]

M2 mini is/was 500 new with the edu discount. M1 is $300-350 used

[@itstheweirdguy]

I like the idea of opencore patcher, but it's not something you can hand off to a non technical end user. It's fun to think about! Microsoft at least has a workaround and the compatability is there even if you don't use their supported workaround, third party stuff isn't needed there at least. FCP is a boss though and it's always nice to get newer versions, even if the hardware wouldn't be supporting any features that the new software needs that depend on the supported said hardware.

[@RetroPC-vy3kt]

Although Open Core Legacy Patcher is currently unmaintained, Ukraine war, hope dev is safe! It is in my experience pretty easy, there can be a few stumbling blocks during install, incorrectly choosing the wrong boot disk icon can trip you up, but I'm only slightly above a non tech end user, now running Sonoma 14.2.1 on a MacMini 2012, runs beautifully, I don't do video stuff, so mileage may vary.

[@jonobst]

@@RetroPC-vy3kt its above the average user but it definitely isn't the worst hack to get unsupported OSes on legacy Macs.

[@itstheweirdguy]

You should give yourself more credit. The fact that you typed all this shows you actually are technical@@RetroPC-vy3kt

[@Fast_Cabbage]

Love seeing Pokemon go on those favorites at the end. See ya next time mate

[@jonobst]

gotta catch 'em all!

[@DerekDavis213]

Today, the M2 cpu in the 600-dollar Mac Mini is faster than a 12-core Xeon in the Trash Can Mac Pro! And the M2 is hugely faster in single-core performance, which is what most people notice day-to-day. What did a 12-core Xeon Mac cost back in the day? 6000 or 7000 dollars maybe?

[@jonobst]

Yeah it is crazy! I have a M1 MacBook Air that runs circles around my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro.

[@DerekDavis213]

@@jonobst But your 2019 Macbook has one big advantage: it runs Windows perfectly with Boot Camp. M1/M2 cannot run Windows properly. Rosetta translation is a pore substiture for a real Intel processor.

[@FinneganMohrbacher]

The letdown with the Mac is insane! Cab I make you a remix to your intro for fun?

[@jonobst]

Do it!

[@sousaped1977]

The Trashcan and the Toaster side by side

[@savagepro9060]

with a CUBE of ice and a Cheese Grater?

[@coffeeandchocolategames]

Aw yeah, just got our own Mac Pro trashcan last week for $200, 12 core, D700, 64GB RAM, but no SSD, bought an OWC third party. Couldn't get Monterey to install for the usual reasons, so I just wiped it, installed Big Sur and called it a day. Glad you were able to make it work, but I figure they're both going to be out of date next year anyway....

[@anothervisionofthings]

With oclp those machines still have some years ahead

[@coffeeandchocolategames]

@@anothervisionofthings That's fair, but truth be told, these machines are almost exclusively audio/video capture machines for our YT channel, saving content to NAS, so they can be barred from connecting to the internet and continue to exist as if it's 2021 for a while, too. I'll only mess with OCLP if there's something mission-critical.

[@contemplativecomposer5983]

It seems they are going for so cheap in the US. Here in the UK, that spec is still around £600--800

[@markteague8889]

One of the hurdles for a CPU of the vintage in the Mac Pro 6,1 is the lack of AVX2 instructions. I would think that applications designed to make use of the AVX2 instructions might misbehave (i.e. crash) on a Xeon that only has the first generation AVX versions of those instructions. I'm not sure what applications make use of those instructions, but running such applications might make for an interesting test.

[@jonobst]

Hmm yes - could be a problem! I am unsure if any Mac OS APIs make use of these instructions, or if they have a failover if they are not present...

[@RobertLipe]

Anything using Apple's Accelerate API for compression, image manipulation, heavy math, and so on should, in theory, use the max of {SSE, AVX, AVX2, AVX512} that's actually present. Is it easy to imagine some developer specifying something more ambitious than Ivy Bridge in the -m arch= flags to GCC and getting AVX512 or something else splashed into .text and "enforcing" this requirement in the sales literature, thus leaving you holding a big fat corefile? You bet. I could imagine video transcoding, for example, to be a problem. If you're building your own code, that's probably not a problem. Installing binary apps that require > IB would be a gamble, IMO. Math-centric thing or anything relying upon vector computations may not fall back gracefully. If I could find one of these for $200, it would sit headlessly in a closet and be a parallel GCC cross compilation beast for embedded development. Xeons, even of that age, will throw down when compiling code Thread count and cache size dominates and the presence of vector ops are irrelevant. I'm still flirting with the idea of OpenCore on my 2012 iMac: I really just need a current OS and not commercial apps.

[@d33pmind]

Hey there, thanks for the vid!!! I'm really into going to do the same purchase, but I don't know if you tried or are you going to, do you think would be a decent machine to run ComfyUI?

[@jonobst]

This machine seems more than capable of keeping. I haven't personally used ComfyUI but I would think it would work, depending on the graphics cards in the machine.

[@joshj88]

The Mac mini g4 is so nice, but the power supply is almost more sealed then the G4 Cube’s. Thankfully they were made all the way to 2010 so they aren’t as prone to failure… yet.

[@jonobst]

I bought a new G4 mini the day they were made available - still running like a champ! I am not surprised to hear that about the PS, but without looking I would imagine it doesn't use some strange voltage and would be easier to replace with a non-apple power supply.

[@jonobst]

Input Voltage 100 - 240V 50 / 60 Hz Output 18.5V @ 4.6A

[@laurencejohnson4106]

I have just found your channel and I like the neat design of that Mac pro, but the 4,1 and 5,1 are classics, is it possible to upgrade the processors in your classic Mac Pro and I have heard that NVME SSDs., improve the performance. Linux OS., give older computers a new lease of life, I usually install Linux Mint or Zorin OS., but for creative purposes Ubuntu Studio may be the one to choose.

[@jonobst]

Thanks for watching! Upgrading the processor is on the list of future things to do!

[@laurencejohnson4106]

@@jonobst A few upgrades should keep it going for several more years. Sometimes I'm given computers because folk think that they are to old to use, but most can be revived and the others are useful for spares.

[@jonobst]

@@laurencejohnson4106 my entire life is making computers usable past when others would give up on them :)

[@laurencejohnson4106]

@@jonobst Yes, it's good to have interests. Recently, I installed the 32 bit version of LMDE6., on my over 18 years old Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop, it's the only computer that I currently have which has an IDE., interface, 2 gig., of ddr2 ram., is it's maximum and it has a single 1.73GHz., processor, so it's a humble computer but so far it handles basic tasks well, I have considered obtaining an adaptor case and an msata drive for it, but the ide., hd., is currently working okay and I have a few others in storage.

[@dominicus9891]

10:32 that is such a cute vizio TV, it matches the aesthetic of my kitchen could you post the model number?

[@jonobst]

Vizio VO22L FHDTV10A (Part # 10211030022) - I found this one at Goodwill for $10

[@MDBenson]

I have a 6-core Trashcan running Sonoma the same way and it's a really solid performer. At some point I need to build up the courage to swap the CPU. Soooo maaannnyyy screws...

[@jonobst]

Hmm this sounds right up my alley...I should look into this upgrade!

[@figu26]

Love my trash can Mac Pro. CPU upgrade is pretty easy. Just have to take your time.

[@MDBenson]

@@jonobst Google "The Definitive Trashcan Mac Pro Guide" and look for Greg Gant's blog article, it's a very comprehensive guide to everything you need to know.

[@RetroPC-vy3kt]

But how many screws left over at the end is too many 🙂

[@jonobst]

@@RetroPC-vy3kt the question is, if you *don't* have left over screws did you actually repair anything?

[@bitcrafter]

How's it going to date with Sonoma on this Mac? I've owned an original 2013 since day one, fully upgraded now except with D700's. Bought it with the 500s. But I'm literally going to look and possibly purchase an 8-Core, 256GB, 32GB, D700 machine, with an HP keyboard and mouse, AND a 24" Samsung monitor for $300. Considering that a set of D700 cards is selling on average for over $400, I'd say this is a steal. I'm getting the cards for $300, and everything else I mentioned is free. LOL. Anyway...I haven't used Opencore yet, and I'm curious, are there any tech downsides with Sonoma running on this CPU? I might even be fine running Ventura, it's not a machine I'll use regularly or at all since I run everything on a fully maxed out M1 Max MBP. This is just a novelty item right now, which I'll have two of...but before I try Opencore, I haven't seen if there any issues with things not working on this version of the Mac yet. Especially from a hardware side of things.

[@jonobst]

Things have been working out just fine so far! I haven't really had any problems, to speak of. And for OCLP - the first time I used it (on the 5.1 Mac Pro), I had so much trouble with it. This time, though, it couldn't have been simpler.

[@IraQNid]

At 16:34 what is smoking in the background by the desk lamp? Hopefully not one of the old PCs. So I wonder how much of the old marketing of "it just works" holds true for a 10-year-old Apple small form factor PC?

[@jonobst]

Either soldering or desoldering work I was doing on the side. I guess I would say that it does 'just work' -but only with old operating system versions and not the latest. So not ideal.

[@NeverlandSystemZor]

Nice classic MacPro. I have an early 2008 one like it with 20GB of RAM... I think it's got High Sierra on it... can't go any farther without hacking it... IDK if it's worth it.

[@jonobst]

Honestly, at this point, a used M1 mini will run circles around it.

[@MotownBatman]

Under $200! Holy Crap, People in MI are aR$e backwards on Pricing, People still trying to get $800.

[@jonobst]

This one was from ebay, free shipping even! Just had to cough up $10 in tax above the $199.99. www.ebay.com/itm/296047402753

[@korschgabor]

Hello! Have ever tried Final Cut Pro X 4K edit on this machine? Its laggy or not?

[@jonobst]

I don't run Final Cut Pro, no guess on that.

I hope it goes well y want this mac pro ... if it works.

[@jonobst]

so far so good!

[@lambertlambert7076]

Hello, would you advise to upgrade a Mac Pro 2013 at 64gb ram with 1 Tb SSD for music production or video editing today ? Would it be better or equal than a 2017 iMac with 64gb ? Or a silicon Mac mini with 16 Gb ram ( M1/2/3/Pro) ? What could be the best bang for my bucks ?

[@jonobst]

No intel based Mac is going to compete with an M1 in terms of performance - and the prices of a used M1 Mini with 16gb of RAM are ~US $600 (www.ebay.com/itm/325977352492 ). If you already have a Mac Pro it may be more cost effective to max it out now, but the support for Intel Mac software is going to crater very soon so in the long run you might end up wanting an Apple silicon based machine anyway, unless you're happy with the software you have today. Tough call - really depends on preference! The 2013 Mac Pro looks way better in my opinion and is a decently capable machine!

[@damefrikis]

Hi Jon, Does graphics accerelation work now with this machine? Im thinking on buyimg one of these for low price to use sonoma but ive seen It doesnt support graphics acceleration. Does vmwarerusion work? With ventura and mac mini late 2012 It doesnt . Thanks for your video!

[@jonobst]

I haven't yet had any problems with the gfx acceleration, but the OpenCore folks do have an known issues list here: github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/issues/1008

[@jonobst]

and here: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html#mac-pro

[@alasdairgrant9087]

Any updates on how this is working on the trashcan 4 months later? Trying to decide if I go this route.

[@jonobst]

I really don't have any problems with the apps I am running. It is definitely not as fast as my M1 Macbook Air, but also its not limited by 8GB RAM or a 256 GM hard drive.

[@radinrassouli2155]

When i download the macOS installer it says that it is needed high sierra for some reason, what can i do ?

[@jonobst]

You downloaded the installer using the OCLP tool right?

[@Taras-Nabad]

The 5,1 is infinitely better. In every possible way.

[@jonobst]

I can't play favorites with my kids here

[@bangdollarsign]

Your comment is a bit extreme but I have to say I agree.

[@oscarcharliezulu]

Thought it was a box containing the shroud of turin for a second.

[@jonobst]

Who's to say it isn't?

[@jondonnelly4831]

10th gen i7t intel cpu cheap used, AMD 580, hackitosh is cheap and fast. Fractal Terra ITX and wooden keyboard and speakers. MSI 32" 1440p 144Hz.

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

that is one sexy trash can don't you think?🤣🤣🤣

[@LymanPhillips]

Ok, I'm going to say it. Jobs was kind of d-bag developing computers that broke or were hard ro fix. Or had super-sealed power supplies or whatever. That Cube was a nightmare.

[@jonobst]

The G4 cube had provisions for a fan but apparently Jobs had it removed prior to going into production as he wanted a silent machine. This kills the cube.

[@eddie275a]

You confused me when you kept calling the Mac Pro a “Power Mac” and said it had a fan. At first I thought you meant the actual Power Mac G4 (ie. Graphite tower version). 🤔

[@jonobst]

Yeah about that...sorry! I don't write scripts and just wing it, and sometimes mistakes happen. My apologies! I did catch this in editing and put a note in the description, so it didn't go unnoticed.

[@arostaky]

What do you have in the top shell ? The black thing ?!?!? Looks super suspicious… 😂

[@jonobst]

That is just an LCD monitor hooked up to a Power Computing macintosh clone. TRUST ME

[@fristysOriginal]

My wrists hurt just looking at that desk from the intro haha. Why not invest in a M1/2 Mac mini instead of an overpriced (even 2nd hand) power guzzling Mac pro?

[@jonobst]

Busted! I have the worst posture (but so far no carpal tunnel). I have an M1 MacBook Air that I do quite enjoy, but I've always wanted a trashcan Mac, and if I can use it for something productive, even better!

[@The_AndyG7]

mmmm

[@Jack-qj2pr]

You need to invest in an ergonomic setup, man. That "desk" looks awful.

[@jonobst]

Its probably fine. I'm here for a good time, not a long time!

[@noth606]

modem and optical drives as plusses? Ehm, you know it's 2024 now, right? The 2024 were I live no one has a wired phone. I mean that literally, you'd be really hard pressed to find one new, and if you manage somehow, it WILL be one with 1"x1" jumbo buttons with giant printed numbers, because only shaky handed sight impaired seniors use those things. As for optical drives.... What exactly do you plan on using it for, playing your old retro DVD collection? Museum of audio CD's? I'm trying to think of the last time buying physical media was even an option for me for software, fairly sure it was about 2005 or 2006, I bought one of the MW games as a physical disc because it was dirt cheap. I never used the disc, just the CD key, since I don't use thus have optical drives in any of my computers. I have a USB DVD drive somewhere in my ex wife's attic, unless she's thrown it out. It worked, like 6-7yrs ago when I used it last to get an old driver off a disc.

[@jonobst]

who hurt you?

[@noth606]

@@jonobst Lame way to avoid answering the question. Modems are less relevant to modern computers than built-in wasabi dispensers, ditto for optical drives excepting the DVD collection scenario.

[@jonobst]

@@noth606 I mean it is also 2024 and not 2000, the year the cube was released. You're not using a cube for anything modern...so uh, sorry?

[@outtakontroll3334]

i have a land line, i know a number of people who do. i also have a lot of CDs, so do what you want, but dont imagine your needs are the same as all the rest of us.

[@noth606]

@@outtakontroll3334 Where I live, the only way to get a landline is to have a fiber modem with a landline port on it. My old one had it, and it presumably would have worked if I had ever connected something to it. I had a landline phone hooked up like that but like 15-17yrs ago, but I don't see the point in having one extra number on top of my two cell numbers so I got rid of that phone. I have CD's, in a box in the attic of what is now my ex wifes house. Last CD's I bought was just because I could get them autographed by the band, don't recall if I ever used the actual CD's - probably not since I don't have anything to play them in unless I dig up and plug a USB CDROM into one of my PC's which doesn't make sense since I have higher quality files than CD of the album. I'm not a nostalgia fan enough to go out of my way to use lower quality media to listen to...Each to their own I guess.

[@gloween9151]

wow uder 200$... in my country people ask 400-800$