Or two if you have a dual-processor model. You will also be able to replace the 4-core processor with a 6-core processor. 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra and 10.14 Mojave will all install natively without further patching or other trickery. Having your 4,1 Mac Pro think it’s a 5,1 Mac Pro, allows you to upgrade the OS past 10.11 El Capitan. So, giving the logic board of the 4,1 the firmware of the 5,1 allows you to do everything a real 5,1 Mac Pro can do. The only major difference being the kind of processors they take in a dual-processor setup.

The 4,1 and 5,1 Mac Pro are 99.9% identical. If your 4,1 Mac Pro has the GPU that came with the machine, you can be sure it is not Metal capable.

It replaced the older and slower OpenGL framework you may have heard of or be familiar with. Not every GPU can support this new Metal framework. Metal – A new to macOS graphics framework that is required to install and run macOS Mojave and newer. This can be an Apple GPU that came with your Mac Pro, or an aftermarket GPU that had Mac firmware flashed to it. Mac Flashed GPU – A graphics card that allows you to see the startup/boot screen on a Mac. GPU – Short for Graphics Processing Unit, also known as the Graphics Card A feature introduced in Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan that protects certain system components such as the firmware from being edited or tampered withĬPU – Short for Central Processing Unit, also known as the Processor Terminology (simplified):Ĥ,1 Mac Pro – 4,1 refers to the Model Identifier of the 2009 Mac Pro, MacPro4,1ĥ,1 Mac Pro – 5,1 refers to the Model Identifier of the 20 Mac Pro, MacPro5,1įirmware – Code on a chip that gives the machine the basics of how it needs to operate So you’ll have everything you need in one place. Therefore I’ve decided to write a clear, to the point, 2021 version with links to pieces of this puzzle still available from their original source, and pieces no longer available that are now hosted on this website. This topic has been covered in the past but all those guides appear outdated, have broken links, needlessly complicated processes, or a combination of all those. If you are one of those people or know one of those people that have a 2009 4,1 Mac Pro and want to squeeze another decade of life out of it, this page is for you! I took this knowledge for granted, forgetting there’s a whole world of people out there that have no idea this knowledge exists. They don’t see this kind of information on a daily basis like this geek. But there are many Mac Pro users that are not aware of those communities or of the upgrade potential and possibilities for their Macs. Hanging out in the various Facebook groups and other communities, I rarely run into anyone anymore that has a 2009 4,1 Mac Pro that still runs the stock firmware.

Metal gpu mac pro 5 1