What version of Obsidian is compatible with OSX 10.13.6?

I did search for this, and came up dry.

I have an older Macbook Pro that’s maxed out at 10.13.6.

I don’t see it specified on the Git release pages which older Obsidian versions are compatible with which OSX version.

Is there a place, or a genius on here who knows which version I could download to be compatible with my trusty machine? Or where I could find that data?

The main issue is which version of electron is supported on your platform. According to this after electron v27 macOs 10.13/10.14 are no longer supported.

Furthermore according to this obsidian v1.5.8 upgraded to electron v28, and this then enforces the previously mentioned platform support, so you can’t run that installer version on macOs 10.13/10.14.


In other words, you need to install the v1.5.3 version of Obsidian to make electron happy, and allow the install. When that is installed you can auto-update Obsidian as long as the installer version doesn’t need a change.

And there might be changes in newer installer version that might cause strange behaviour of newer versions of Obsidian.

But as long as you keep the installer version on 1.5.3, you should be able to keep running Obsidian (even with newer versions of Obsidian).

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For as long as any newer version will not force the installer to be updated as well.

I may be tiring with all the Linux-related inputs, but have you (OP) considered looking around whether you can dual-boot your Mac with Linux? Check whether your processor type is supported and you may not need to buy new hardware to enjoy the later versions of Obsidian.
You’d need at least 30-40 GB’s of free space for a lean install of Linux, mind you.

Awesome @holroy , that worked first time.

Interesting on keeping the 1.5.3 installer version, and allowing the auto-update after that. I’ll play with 1.5.3 for now, and see if it tries to auto-update in a few days.

THANK YOU. Awesome info.

I’ve got plenty of space @gino_m , and I’ve thought about dual booting Linux for a long time. My next computer will be a Frame.Work running Linux. Just don’t have the extra money floating around right now to drop on one.

Since Linux is your favorite thing, do you personally keep two OS running, or are you exclusively within Linux? I think almost every app I use either has a Linux version, or I have a substitute I can use.

The Adobe software suite is one that I’m worried about. That’s getting beyond the scope of this message I suppose, but as long as I’m talking to an enthusiast.

But in short, yes, I’d love to make the permanent switch to Linux.

More of a necessity. Installed my first distro around 15 years ago.
The latest necessity was enforced by the ever bulkier Windows updates (which you can’t seem to stop getting). The PC keeps looking for viruses and malware – which (latter) again, you cannot shut down.
So it’s a necessity. I boot up (fast) and work in 2-3 mins on Linux. It’s more like 20 on Windows (I do a lot of caretaking jobs still, I need to re-index the vault, search, etc., which you cannot do when the CPU is hogged by a system process).
But I do use Windows for some programs, so I take a shower or something and let Windows boot up and do its thing.

I don’t know a Mac so hard to say how it’ll work out for you.

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Well I so ticked at Apple’s anti repair stances, and it’ just getting worse and worse.

But I dislike Windows with such a passion! So down the road Linux it will be, and we’ll see how much I can just live in that world.

I’m sure I’ll have to dabble back into other OS’s for the various odd-off program like you mention, but hopefully not much but we’ll see.

Thanks for the input, very interesting.

And thank you all for the Obsidian version compatibility, you’re input was spot-on.

You mean my “I don’t know a Mac”…well, my typing and my aging fingers…
I don’t own a Mac.

Good luck with your endeavors.

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Oh yeah I caught that! I was just thanking the whole thread’s worth of commenters. Your Linux input, the previous posters comment on what version I could utilize (they were right), and so on.

Considering the flame-wars that can often be on online forums, it’s really nice to meet cool new people that are… You know kind like y’all are lol!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and helpful input.

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Where do I find version 1.5.3? At the website and app store, all I’m finding is 1.6.5

Scroll to the version you’d like, click on “Assets”, and download the .dmg for macOS.

Thank you!

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