Lion on an old MacBook Pro?
Hi guys, I have a an old MacBook Pro and was wondering if it was worth putting Lion on there?
Here's the hardware overview:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Graphics:
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT:
Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 128 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0407
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3175
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1440 x 900
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
Memory Slots:
ECC: Disabled
BANK 0/DIMM0:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x2C00000000000000
Part Number: 0x3136485446323536363448592D3636374531
Serial Number: 0xDD454D6F
BANK 1/DIMM1:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 667 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x2C00000000000000
Part Number: 0x3136485446323536363448592D3636374531
Serial Number: 0xDD454D71
Serial-ATA:
FUJITSU MHY2120BH:
Capacity: 120.03 GB (120,034,123,776 bytes)
Model: FUJITSU MHY2120BH
Revision: 0081000D
Serial Number: K439T7B2CWH1
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Medium Type: Rotational
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
Writable: Yes
BSD Name: disk0s1
Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 119.69 GB (119,690,149,888 bytes)
Available: 31.59 GB (31,587,737,600 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /
It would be nice to have the new features of Lion but I'm worried about the performance impact it might have.
Thanks,
Ross
Your Mac meets Lion's requirements > Apple - OS X Lion - Technical specifications
Several articles to read before upgrading to Lion.
Lion upgrade questions and answers: Apple Support Communities
What applications are not compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion"? What upgrade or substitute options are available for common incompatible applications? @ EveryMac.com
AppleInsider | Inside Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: Missing Front Row, Rosetta and Java runtime
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica review
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery
Just 3GB of RAM on the Mac I have running Lion without any performance issues.
Similar Messages
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Hi, I'm wondering if I can download OS X Lion for my old Macbook Pro? I don't understand enough about the spec requirements.
I have the Intel Core Duo, not the Intel Core 2 Duo. My guess is that I can't, but just checking with people who know much better than I.
Thanks!Your Core Duo processor is only capable of running 32-bit applications. Lion requires that the processor is capable of 64-bit operations. If you're running Snow Leopard that's as far as you can go I'm afraid.
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I had a system that served me well for 2 years until I mistaking bought a new machine which runs mega-turd (Lion). Foolish me, now nothing works properly, its a daily struggle to get anything working smoothly using my NEW mac mini. All my other machines work fine, even the windows machines and my Android tablet see all the network components and can talk to each other.
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I have a 2 year old macbook pro os x 10.5.8 want to upgrade to lion
Mountain Lion Requirements:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5444
App Compatibility:
http://roaringapps.com/
Check both above first. Then call Apple Sales & have them send you a retail Snow Leopard Disk(US $29)...there is no download. Update to 10.6.8, then go to Mountain Lion or Lion if you like(US $19).
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Hi, is it possible to update my old macbook pro 2.6GHZ Core 2 Duo/2GB/256MB to mountain lion? I don't know the build/model date? Serial no.W8******02D.
<Edited By Host>Probably - this is what I 'found' in MacTracker:
...and that's what that Apple Serial Number website pulled up for that serial number. We'll have to wait for the OP to clarify!
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edit: but MacTracker also says that model can use OS X Mountain Lion... so regardless of model, the answer to the OP should be "yes."
Message was edited by: clintonfrombirmingham -
How can I upgrade the OS on my 5 year old MacBook Pro 17. It is currently running 10.4 (Tiger). I have an IMac 27 running Lion but have Snow leopard discs which came with the purchase. Can these be used to upgrade?
Buswab wrote:
How can I upgrade the OS on my 5 year old MacBook Pro 17. It is currently running 10.4 (Tiger). I have an IMac 27 running Lion but have Snow leopard discs which came with the purchase. Can these be used to upgrade?
If they are the grey discs which came with the iMac, then they will be machine specific and will not work on the MBP anyway. You will need to purchase a retail copy of Snow Leopard from the Apple Store for about $29 and upgrade from that. I presume your MBP is Intel and not G4.
Good Luck
Pete -
Hi,
I have the old MacBook Pro. Upgraded to Mountain Lion which completely wrecked the system. So downgraded to Snow Leopard.
Then updated the combo update. Now stuck on blue screen at start-up.
Need help. Greatly appreciated. Thank you.Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer
loads select your language and click on the Continue
button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the
Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the
mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status
of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then
the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART
info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on
the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions
from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS
Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the
partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on
the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files. -
Hi, having old macbook pro intending to upgrade my os from snow leopard to lion but negative reviews on lion just put me off..i have ms office and photo shop installed on my machine..my question is will upgrading to lion stop me using those application? thank you.
htfromgrantown wrote:
Hi, having old macbook pro intending to upgrade my os from snow leopard to lion but negative reviews on lion just put me off..i have ms office and photo shop installed on my machine..my question is will upgrading to lion stop me using those application? thank you.
Negative reviews are common place here as it is a trouble shooting forum. If you want to read the advantages, improvements and new features then go to the Apple site. If you are running Word 2004, Early Adobe suite, etc which are PPC programs, then don't update. Go to Apple logo in upper left menu bar, open About this mac > More Info > Software >Applications and sort by 'Kind' and look what PPC programs you have installed. If you are not prepared to upgrade these programs, then do not update to Lion.
There are plenty of threads to read up on about this here. But remember that 99.9% of comments will be negative, even though the forums represent only a tiny fraction of the Millions of Lion Downloads purchased and installed with no issues at all. So basically it's your call.
Good Luck -
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The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico my first language is Spanish. I do not speak English, however I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
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I recently bought a new MacBook Pro, and wanted to transfer all the data from my old MacBook Pro, but I get the message saying I need to update time machine on my old one in order to use time machine. However, my old one is too old to update. So I decided to use the cable to transfer, because I heard I can do it that way even though it could take time. But I have no idea what to do...
Can someone help me?A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs
The Knowledgebase article Intel-based Mac: Some migrated applications may need to be updated refers to methods of dealing with migrating from PowerPC chips to Intel with the Migration Assistant safely. The authors of this tip have not had a chance to verify this works in all instances, or that it avoids the 10.6.1 and earlier Guest Account bug that caused account information to get deleted upon use of the Migration/Setup Assistant. However, a well backed up source that includes at least two backups of all the data that are not connected to your machine will help you avoid potential issues, should they arise. In event it does not work, follow the steps below.
If you are migrating a PowerPC system (G3, G4, or G5) to an Intel-Mac be careful what you migrate. Keep in mind that some items that may get transferred will not work on Intel machines and may end up causing your computer's operating system to malfunction.
Rosetta supports "software that runs on the PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor that are built for Mac OS X". This excludes the items that are not universal binaries or simply will not work in Rosetta:
Classic Environment, and subsequently any Mac OS 9 or earlier applications
Screensavers written for the PowerPC System Preference add-ons
All Unsanity Haxies Browser and other plug-ins
Contextual Menu Items
Applications which specifically require the PowerPC G5 Kernel extensions
Java applications with JNI (PowerPC) libraries
See also What Can Be Translated by Rosetta.
In addition to the above you could also have problems with migrated cache files and/or cache files containing code that is incompatible.
If you migrate a user folder that contains any of these items, you may find that your Intel-Mac is malfunctioning. It would be wise to take care when migrating your systems from a PowerPC platform to an Intel-Mac platform to assure that you do not migrate these incompatible items.
If you have problems with applications not working, then completely uninstall said application and reinstall it from scratch. Take great care with Java applications and Java-based Peer-to-Peer applications. Many Java apps will not work on Intel-Macs as they are currently compiled. As of this time Limewire, Cabos, and Acquisition are available as universal binaries. Do not install browser plug-ins such as Flash or Shockwave from downloaded installers unless they are universal binaries. The version of OS X installed on your Intel-Mac comes with special compatible versions of Flash and Shockwave plug-ins for use with your browser.
The same problem will exist for any hardware drivers such as mouse software unless the drivers have been compiled as universal binaries. For third-party mice the current choices are USB Overdrive or SteerMouse. Contact the developer or manufacturer of your third-party mouse software to find out when a universal binary version will be available.
Also be careful with some backup utilities and third-party disk repair utilities. Disk Warrior, TechTool Pro , SuperDuper , and Drive Genius work properly on Intel-Macs with Leopard. The same caution may apply to the many "maintenance" utilities that have not yet been converted to universal binaries. Leopard Cache Cleaner, Onyx, TinkerTool System, and Cocktail are now compatible with Leopard.
Before migrating or installing software on your Intel-Mac check MacFixit's Rosetta Compatibility Index.
Additional links that will be helpful to new Intel-Mac users:
Intel In Macs
Apple Guide to Universal Applications
MacInTouch List of Compatible Universal Binaries
MacInTouch List of Rosetta Compatible Applications
MacUpdate List of Intel-Compatible Software
Transferring data with Setup Assistant - Migration Assistant FAQ
OS X Lion: How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac
Because Migration Assistant isn't the ideal way to migrate from PowerPC to Intel Macs, using Target Disk Mode, copying the critical contents to CD and DVD, an external hard drive, or networking will work better when moving from PowerPC to Intel Macs. The initial section below discusses Target Disk Mode. It is then followed by a section which discusses networking with Macs that lack Firewire.
If both computers support the use of Firewire then you can use the following instructions:
Repair the hard drive and permissions using Disk Utility.
Backup your data. This is vitally important in case you make a mistake or there's some other problem.
Connect a Firewire cable between your old Mac and your new Intel Mac.
Startup your old Mac in Transferring files between two computers using FireWire.
Startup your new Mac for the first time, go through the setup and registration screens, but do NOT migrate data over. Get to your desktop on the new Mac without migrating any new data over.
If you are not able to use a Firewire connection (for example you have a Late 2008 MacBook that only supports USB:)
1. Set up a local home network: Creating a small Ethernet Network.
2. If you have a MacBook Air or Late 2008 MacBook see the following:
MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)- What to do if migration is unsuccessful;
MacBook Air- Migration Tips and Tricks;
MacBook Air- Remote Disc, Migration, or Remote Install Mac OS X and wireless 802.11n networks.
Copy the following items from your old Mac to the new Mac:
In your /Home/ folder: Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites folders.
In your /Home/Library/ folder:
/Home/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder) /Home/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
Also in /Home/Library/Application Support (copy whatever else you need including folders for any third-party applications)
/Home/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder) /Home/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder) /Home/Library/Preferences/ (copy the whole folder) /Home /Library/Calendars (copy the whole folder) /Home /Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder) /Home /Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
If you want cookies:
/Home/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist /Home/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
For Entourage users:
Entourage is in /Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data Also in /Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft.
Credit goes to Macjack for this information.
If you need to transfer data for other applications please ask the vendor or ask in the Discussions where specific applications store their data.
5. Once you have transferred what you need restart the new Mac and test to make sure the contents are there for each of the applications.
Written by Kappy with additional contributions from a brody.Revised 5/21/2011 -
I gave my old MacBook Pro away and no longer have access to it. I didn't think to deauthorize it first. I DO NOT want it to have access to all music in my iCloud or any music that may have been downloaded sinceI gave away the computer. It now belongs to my teenage daughter,who has since been in my WI-FI area and knows that code. I had EVERYTHING removed from the computer before I gave it to her (long story), but since I hadn't deauthorized the Mac,I'm assuming even without the itunes password the iCloud material would had loaded onto her computer.My iCloud had somehow included personal voice mails under Unknown Artist that I did not want on there or shared. How can I deauthorize the Mac Laptop without having the machine available to do it on? Change the iTunes/iCloud password? I should now have my desktop computer, new PC (Aspire) laptop,Ipod Touch, and if possible my Evo 3D as well as my boyfriend's Samsung smartphone being able to access the iCloud account/library--whatever it is called. HELP
Thanks, I appreciate the help. I think this is one of the problems Apple is creating by changing the OS so often. I had fomer colleagues at [a major aerospace contractor] who told me that so many original files were ultimately lost because of the deadly change in the "Save As" operation that they are now afraid of every OS update. Apple has badly damaged their support base with that very prominent company (they won't update now until they've fully examined and understand changes in the pre-conditioned nature of OS computer functions), and they are a whole lot less enthaled with Mac-related equipment/software. Can't blame them, I too used orginal files that way (as easy-to-use templates), and lost some important files before I realized what was happening (to late to revert). Companies should not have to retrain employees each time an OS gets an update, it's can be very expensive several different ways. They learned a painful lesson with that one. And because I'm now retired and don't use multiple devices, I need iCloud like I need a hole in the head... but I'm told there's no way to keep Apple out of my computer. Fortunately, because of major problems when initially installing Mountain Lion, one hold-over of the hardware/software damage I experienced was that iCloud can no longer access my computer even though everything else is working fine again. That was the only "good luck" I had as a result of that expensive nightmare.
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Hey everyone, I just got the new retina display macbook pro, and here is where the problem lays is with my old macbook pro. I am wanting to give it to my girlfriend, but want to wipe the computer clean so she can have the macbook the way she wants it. I already downloaded mountain lion and was wondering what I need to do in order to keep mountain lion, but wipe everything else? I do not have any of the CDs for the old Macbook pro
To second baltwo's post:
Your license for Mountain Lion (or any OS version purchased at the app store) is not transferable - you can use it on any Mac you own and control; however, someone else getting that machine means the recipient will need to purchase ML The SLA states that you must erase the drive and reinstall the original OS. You will need to call Apple for replacement install disks.
If you leave ML on the machine, the recipient will never be able to reinstall the OS since the new Apple ID and machine ID no longer match. -
My old MacBook Pro 13" 2011 (2.4 Ghz, Intel core duo, 10Gb RAM, 250Mb HD) was running on Lion 10.7 (upgraded last Spring from the original Snow Leopard). As I got a new laptop just a week ago, I was trying to restore the old one to the original factory settings and resell it.
After unsuccessfully trying to restore Lion with the remote apple server and after going through several messages here in the community, I was finally able to re install the original Snow Leopard system from the Mac Os X install DVD that came with the computer. I did that booting the laptop from the DVD, going to disc Utility, making the partition GUID formatted Mac Os Journal extended, and then installing the system. The hard drive had been erased previously.
It all seemed to work well; I had intended to shut down and leave the option to the future owner to configure the computer and perform the additional installs. But to double check that everything was ok, I decided to go ahead instead, and install the applications that were on a separate DVD (AHT Version 3A192, Disc Version 2.0), like iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, etc. Unfortunately, as soon as the installer would begin to work, after clicking on the agreement and all the preliminary steps, it would quit with an error. I tried several times.
Does anybody have a clue of what happened and how I can fix it? I hope you can help me! Thank you!Selling old Mac
Selling old Mac (2)
Selling old Mac (3)
Selling old Mac (4) Apple support
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