Big Hedge is an easy-to-use tool that allows anyone to install macOS 11 Big Sur on unsupported Macs.
Big Hedge, originally known as MicropatcherAutomator, is a project that I co-created with AsentientHedgehog to provide a user-friendly UI for his automation script back in late 2020.
We later renamed the tool to Big Hedge and introduced numerous new features, including the ability to create ISO/DMG images of the patched macOS 11 Installer and upgrade to macOS 11 directly without a bootable USB. However, it never reached a formal release, so I decided to publish the unreleased source code of Big Hedge to my GitHub for archival purpose.
Also, I would recommend using OpenCore Legacy Patcher for installing macOS 11 or later on unsupported Macs, as both Big Hedge and MicropatcherAutomator are no longer maintained.
To check your hardware model, open System Information and look for the Model Identifier key.
2012 and Early 2013 MacBook Pro
- MacBookPro9,x
- MacBookPro10,x
2012 MacBook Air
- MacBookAir5,x
2012 and 2013 iMac
- iMac13,x
- iMac14,x
2012 Mac mini
- Macmini6,x
Warning
If your Mac is not listed here, it is either unsupported by Big Hedge or lacks graphics acceleration on macOS Big Sur.
Running macOS Big Sur without graphics acceleration will result in extremely poor performance.
Important
Remember to backup your Mac before upgrading.
Also, you must turn FireVault OFF before using Big Hedge. Detailed instructions can be found here.
To begin, download the latest version of Big Hedge from the following link: Big_Hedge.zip.
Once the download is complete, open the application.
Continue to proceed to the macOS Big Sur Installer App page.
On this page, you can choose to either browse for an existing installer or download a new copy of the macOS Big Sur Installer.
| Browse for the Installer App | Download Installer App |
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To use a pre-downloaded macOS Big Sur Installer, select the installer app and click Open. 
After selecting the installer, click Continue to proceed to the next step. 
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Click Continue and enter your user password to start the download. 
The download may take some time to complete. Once done, click Yes to use the downloaded installer. 
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On the next page, you will see three different methods to install macOS Big Sur on your unsupported Mac.
Note
This option is only available if you're running Big Hedge on macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later.
Obtain a USB drive with at least 16GB of storage. Use Disk Utility to format the USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with the GUID Partition Map scheme using the instructions found here.
Caution
The entire USB drive will be formatted. Remember to back up your files.
Choose your USB drive from the dropdown menu in Big Hedge. If your USB drive is not listed, the Refresh icon.
Continue to proceed to the Create Bootable Installer page.
Continue with the process and enter your user password when prompted.
This process will take several minutes to complete. If successful, you should see the following screen:
You will need to restart your Mac and boot while holding the Option key. You should see the startup screen:
First, select EFI Boot. Once you do this, your Mac will immediately power off.
If you skip this step, you will see a forbidden sign at boot.
Hold the Option key while powering on your Mac again. This time, select Install macOS Big Sur to boot from the USB Installer.
Once booted into the Installer, select Install macOS Big Sur and follow the on-screen instructions to install macOS Big Sur.
You may want to reformat your internal drive using Disk Utility beforehand, or continue with the installation if you just want to upgrade macOS.
After the installation is completed, follow the on-screen instructions to set up macOS Big Sur.
You will need to restart your Mac and boot while holding the Option key. Then select Install macOS Big Sur to boot from the USB Drive.
In the Recovery menu, select Post-Install Automator and click Continue.
Select the drive where you installed macOS Big Sur from the dropdown menu. Then click Continue to install patches to the macOS Big Sur installation.
When complete, restart your Mac to finalize the installation.
Big Hedge will first check your machine for issues.
Continue with the process and enter your user password when prompted.
Once done, click Launch Installer to open the macOS Big Sur Installer. Follow the on-screen instructions to install macOS Big Sur.
After the installation is completed, reopen Big Hedge. On the menubar, select Post Installation > Apply Post-Install Patches to launch the PostAutomator app.
Select the drive where you installed macOS Big Sur from the dropdown menu. Then click Continue to install patches to the macOS Big Sur installation.
When complete, restart your Mac to complete the installation.
Note
This option is only available if you're running Big Hedge on macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later.
You will need to choose the format of the disk image, either ISO or DMG.
Click Continue and browse for the location to save the output disk image.
Continue with the process and enter your user password when prompted.
Once done, you can use the disk image to restore to a USB/CD/DVD drive using Disk Utility (macOS), TransMac (Windows), or BackToMac (Linux).
Big Hedge is based on the big-sur-micropatcher, so none of this would be possible without BarryKN and his amazing work.
Also, special thanks to ASentientHedgehog for inviting me to this great project, as well as BenSova, ASentientBot, jackluke, and many others for their help in developing this tool.
This project is licensed under the GPL-3.0 License.