How do I install Xcode 9 without updating macOS?

Asked 30/8, 2016 at 10:23 Answered 12/3, 2018 at 14:22

xcode8 xcode9 xcode8-beta6 xcode9.1-beta

Does anyone have any idea to install Xcode 8 OR Xcode 9 without updating macOS?

I want to update my Xcode 7.1 to Xcode 8 or Xcode 9 (or 9.1) Beta.

But it is not allowing me to update directly on OS X Yosemite 10.10.

And I don't want to update my OS to El Capitan now, so how can I install Xcode 8 on OS X Yosemite 10.10.

Clerical answered 30/8, 2016 at 10:23 Comment(7)

You'll have to decide what you like more, the old OS or the new xcode :) – Silvan 31/8, 2016 at 13:25

I'd recommend you to update to El Capitan – it's definitely worth it, Yosemite was pretty buggy and sometimes very unreliable for work; 10.11 fixed an amount of glitches I was sometimes angry about. – Ptyalism 31/8, 2016 at 13:32

Ok thanks a lot, so i need to update RAM also, because If i update EI Capitan then it slow down my mac with 4 GB RAM. – Clerical 1/9, 2016 at 4:12

@Mind_Sparkles actually no, you just need to update the version of El Capitan to the latest update. You don't need to upgrade to macOS Sierra. – Kelcy 4/10, 2016 at 14:15

Ok thanks! , let me try to update EI Capitan! – Clerical 5/10, 2016 at 12:12

If your company is on OS X 10.11.6 (As a matter of fact two companies I worked with was reluctant to go to latest MAC OS version) then you need the version tied to that OS. But Apple has not given a very easy route to install XCode on El Capitan from App Store. – Lancaster 11/5, 2017 at 0:34

Yes, @Lancaster I have updated MacOS forcefully to use the latest version of XCode. – Clerical 11/5, 2017 at 3:57

Xcode 8 will work on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) but the apps you build with won't, because the only SDK available is macOS 10.12 SDK, i.e. macOS Sierra's.

From release notes:

Compatibility

Xcode 8 requires a Mac running macOS Sierra 10.12 or OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 or later.

Xcode 8 includes SDKs for iOS 10.0, watchOS 3.0, macOS Sierra 10.12, and tvOS 10.0.

Escorial answered 15/9, 2016 at 8:36 Comment(8)

I came across this same issue, but find it incredulous: Apple is now saying if we want to write apps that work on El Capitan, we must remain using XCode 7.3 indefinitely? – Foolproof 23/9, 2016 at 15:25

I can confirm that I am able to install and use XCode 8 on El Capitan, but cannot run any programs I build. – Foolproof 23/9, 2016 at 15:25

I also confirm this, and confirm my astonishment. It was an extreme inconvenience to discover as I did. Shortly after updating, but before testing the software, received a short deadline at work. I'm currently waiting for Sierra to install. Boned. – Aligarh 3/10, 2016 at 18:41

What? Is this real? So now that I've updated XCode to 8.1. it's impossible to write code which will work in El Capitan? How does Apple expect devs to support their customers who haven't upgraded to Sierra? – Knopp 6/11, 2016 at 0:37

I installed Xcode 8.1 on El Capitan (10.11.5) and have no trouble building and running OSX and iOS projects. Maybe something changed since the previous commenters tried it? At this point I don't think there are any reasons I need to upgrade to Sierra. – Achlamydeous 11/11, 2016 at 2:14

I downloaded Xcode 8.1 and tried to install it on my mac with version 10.11.6 (15G31). Initially, downloaded file was verified and later it asked for License agreement. After agreeing, it is not moving ahead. Installation is stuck there. Please help. – Albrecht 23/11, 2016 at 7:46

they haven't waited for major version upgrades of xcode to change some of its requirements and compatibility. for example, v8.3 i think drops support for swift 2.x. i believe it requires sierra to launch also. – Influential 9/4, 2017 at 5:40

naup, user2, plamen, daniel.. relax and look for the deployment target option in the build settings. since before apple developer tools started explicitly versioning their SDKs you've always been able to build software that supported older versions of the OS. at some point xcode added an explicit option for selecting which older OS you wanted to support, "deployment target", and this set flags during builds that control API availability & library versions linked. didn't spot the definitive answer online, but i think with latest Xcode you can select a targets back to 10.8. – Influential 9/4, 2017 at 6:3

To install Xcode 9 without updating macOS you can change the minimum required version in the Xcode bundle's plist. To do that simply control-click Xcode app, click Open Package Contents, then go inside Contents folder, there you'll see info.plist. Open it with Xcode you have already installed, and there you can edit value of Minimum system version field to whatever version you have currently installed.

Also there would be some other "*.app" like "Instruments.app" and etc. They also requires the same operations.

If after all you get the same error, try to Restart your macOS.

I have used that way to install Xcode 9.2 on macOS 10.12.5 and it works.

Paragraph answered 8/2, 2018 at 19:0 Comment(1)

yes, Xcode runs if Minimum system version got modified. But how about command-line-tools ? I've no luck to get it work, any idea ? – Loaf 2/4, 2018 at 7:28

From the Xcode 8 Beta 6 Release Notes:

Xcode 8 beta 6 requires a Mac running macOS Sierra beta 3 or later, or OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 or later.

macOS 10.10 is an unsupported configuration and is not supported by Xcode 8. Your only solution is to update to 10.11.

Outdated answered 31/8, 2016 at 13:24 Comment(4)

Ok thanks a lot JAL, so now i need to update my Mac RAM also, because If i update EI Capitan then i think it will slow down my mac with 4 GB RAM.Is it right? – Clerical 1/9, 2016 at 4:13

there is any way to patch for example executable file to use in old MacOS. Why apple always is killing old os supporting for everything. i want for examle study swift & frameworks but i have old computer, why i need use new operating system for it ? when i will know everything good then i will buy new Mac – Laynelayney 15/11, 2016 at 20:4

No there is nothing like a patch for MacOS the only dmg works here. – Clerical 21/3, 2017 at 4:9

True enough about old Macs, I ended up installing Ubuntu (even that with many difficult steps and patches) – Tristichous 9/4, 2017 at 0:53

I have two Apps in the Mac App Store. My main development machine is still running OS X Yosemite. One App started showing some small GUI problems when used on MacOS Sierra. So I installed XCode 8 on my MacBook Pro, running MacOS Sierra. Next, I migrated the code to Swift 2.3 (3.0 was too much of a hassle for now), and archived and exported the App (without changing any build-settings). The GUI problems (mostly related to resizing images and windows) are solved now in the App, when run with MacOS Sierra. And the App still works with OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan.

Perhaps it depends on the settings you use in XCode 8, but Apps compiled/built with XCode 8 should definitely still work with OS X Yosemite and El Capitan.. Unless you use specific features/functions of the MacOS Sierra SDK, of course.

Giles answered 26/9, 2016 at 9:56 Comment(0)

from the terminal type the command:

xcode-select --install

in case if you having previous XCode to remove it type the command:

sudo rm -Rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

before installing current one

Kerbstone answered 12/3, 2018 at 14:22 Comment(0)

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