MacBook Pro 2016 (Monterey) now tier 3: what are my options?

[ogerardin]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.4.29-59-g7b34fcc
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 7b34fcc330801f31e204959d8e6371fb28957016
Last commit: 20 hours ago
Branch: master
Core tap HEAD: 1f3b28b7eefbedbb1a0fa6281c28972b95159f7c
Core tap last commit: 12 months ago
Core tap JSON: 12 Apr 12:07 UTC
Core cask tap HEAD: 1df2015b8c057ed4d22fcb31d0d45ef0a7bc2eab
Core cask tap last commit: 12 months ago
Core cask tap JSON: 12 Apr 12:07 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /usr/local
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DISPLAY: /private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.1Ic5FNDuVv/org.xquartz:0
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 4
HOMEBREW_SORBET_RUNTIME: set
Homebrew Ruby: 3.3.7 => /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.3.7/bin/ruby
CPU: quad-core 64-bit skylake
Clang: 14.0.0 build 1400
Git: 2.49.0 => /usr/local/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 12.7.6-x86_64
CLT: 14.2.0.0.1.1668646533
Xcode: N/A

Output of brew doctor

Warning: Some installed formulae are deprecated or disabled.
You should find replacements for the following formulae:
  icu4c@76

Warning: You are using macOS 12.
We (and Apple) do not provide support for this old version.

This is a Tier 3 configuration:
  https://docs.brew.sh/Support-Tiers#tier-3
Do not report any issues to Homebrew/* repositories!
Read the above document instead before opening any issues or PRs.


Warning: Homebrew's "sbin" was not found in your PATH but you have installed
formulae that put executables in /usr/local/sbin.
Consider setting your PATH for example like so:
  echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/sbin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

Description of issue

My good old MacBook Pro 2016 is officially stuck at Monterey and is now considered "tier 3" by Homebrew. Many formulae don't install or update anymore. Some that should compile don't. Overall the experience is quite miserable now.

What are my options to improve the Homebrew experience? Short of buying a new MacBook of course.
If I upgrade to a more recent macOS version using OpenCore Legacy Patcher will I land in tier 2? Is it worth it? If so, what version should I aim for?

Any other suggestions for my situation?

Thanks.

[p-linnane]

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do at this point to have a good experience with Homebrew on 9-year old hardware. We specifically call out OCLP as unsupported, since it introduces many issues that are difficult to debug.

[ogerardin]

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do at this point to have a good experience with Homebrew on 9-year old hardware. We specifically call out OCLP as unsupported, since it introduces many issues that are difficult to debug.

It says here that OCLP is explicitly excluded from Tier 1 support, but it's not clear if using it to install a supported version of macOS would take me to Tier 2?

I might be willing to make the effort if it does.

[p-linnane]

I have a PR open to clarify this: Homebrew/brew#19748

[ogerardin]

I have a PR open to clarify this: Homebrew/brew#19748

Thanks I will monitor that.