Chosen Solution
My end of 2011 macbook pro is supposed to accept Sierra but freezes when I tried installing it. I need an operating system later than the present Lion so new iPHone SE’s can access itunes. Apple doesn’t make intervening installers available when it recognises that the machine should run Sierra. Update (03/07/2017) 15" late 2011 MacBook Pro, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor16GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAMIntel HD Graphics 3000 512 MBRunning Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
If your system can support MacOS you shouldn’t be having any problems. You might need to reformat your HD to fix the underlying problem. But without knowing your exact model you might have a hardware issue here as well. Update (03/08/2017) We have quite a few of these now running MacOS Sierra without any problems so I don’t think you need to worry about the OS version (unless you have an app that requires the older OS). Lets see if we can fix your system. I recommend you start off by replacing the HD SATA cable as often odd issues can be caused by a worn cable. First I would visit an Apple Store or authorized service center to have them replace the cable for free as there is an extended warranty program for it. If you can’t get to someone (or they claim you need to pay) here’s the IFIXIT guide you’ll need to follow: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Hard Drive/IR Sensor Cable Replacement and this is the part you want: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable this is the newer version which is better. Once you have replaced the cable you’ll need to reformat the drive and install a fresh copy of the OS. If you can still get your Mac to work download the OS installer from the App store, then setup a USB thumb drive following this: How to create a bootable macOS Sierra installer drive. Make sure you’ve made a back-up of your data and apps before you reformat your drive. That should do it! Let us know how it goes.
