Lion to Snow Leopard MBP 13 Early 2011

GDay guys,
ive bought an used mbp 13 early 2011 and on the recovery hdd is only osx 10.7.5 but ive seen on the apple site that the mbp 13 early 2011 was deliveried with osx 10.6.
is it possible to downgrade or reinstall to snow leopard?
can i download snow leopard anywhere for free or do i have to buy it?

Depends on what version of Snow Leopard came with the computer. Snow Leopard is only available as 10.6.3 on the retail discs. Newer models cannot boot from that version. You would need the original discs which you can purchase from Apple Customer Service.
Apple Store Customer Service at 1-800-676-2775 or visit online Help for more information.
To contact product and tech support: Apple - Support - Contact Apple Support.
For Mac App Store: Apple - Support - Mac App Store.
For iTunes: Apple - Support - iTunes.
There is no "downgrading." You will have to erase the drive and install Snow Leopard from scratch or create a separate, new partition on the drive on which to install Snow Leopard.

Similar Messages

Can i install OS X Snow Leopard on my Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13' ?

Hi guys , just wondering can i install on my Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13'' OS X Snow Leopard ? i dont like Lion at all . Many Thanks .

You may be able to install SL 10.6.8 (assuming there was no firmware update) if you follow these directions. Check with MacTracker http://mactracker.ca/ and download their free app detailing more info you ever thought you needed to know about Apple products.
- you can re partition partition the mac drive so that you can retain the pre-installed lion install
- or use an external drive
- attach your computer via firewire 800 to a Mac computer (capable of running 10.6.8 )
- boot the your computer holding down the T key to get it into target disk mode, it will appear on desktop as an external drive.
- install SLS v 10.6.3 Retail version from the DVD onto the new partition or external drive where you want Sl installed.
- install the 10.6.8 combo update.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
- Install Thunderbolt Software Update (Snow Leopard) v1.0
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1452

How to downgrade from OSX 10.8.5 to Snow Leopard, on an Early 2011 MacBook Pro, without the original installer disk?

Hello! So here are the specs.
I have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro, which came with OSX 10.6.6 by default.
I've lost my installer disk so I though I'd buy a retail one from the online Apple Store, and version 10.6.3 is what they sent me.
Simply running the install OSX app won't work, I get a msg saying:
-- You can't use this version of the application "Install Mac OS X" with this version of OS X. You have "Install Mac OS X" 23.1.1. --
So, I've tried booting from the new disk hoping to erase my current drive and install Snow Leopard, but no can do, I get 3 beeps and have to force shutdown (not RAM related, see below). Laptop works fine when I spare it this maneuver.
After some research I understand 2 things:
1. Only the original installer disk will let me restore factory settings (and I don't have it).
2. I can only install the default OSX (10.6.6) or a later version (that 10.6.3 DVD may not have the correct drivers for my system).
Are these conclusions right? If so, would the Apple Store replace my disk for an updated 10.6.6. one? If not, then what are my options?
Thank you!
References:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1172/en_US/Snow_Leopard_Installatio n_Instructions.pdf
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2186
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19444837#19444837
https://discussions.apple.com/message/18085179#18085179
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1163160

Phone AppleCare and order the computer's original disks.
(92307)

OS X Lion Screen Sharing Slow on MBP 13" (Early 2011)

Hello All,
I've been cruising forums and various posts, but have not seen anything directly relating to the issue I'm having. I just upgraded all my Macs to Lion and when I screen share(SS) from my lion macs at work to my lion macs at home there has been a notable drop in performance.
Here's where it get's stupid though. I can screen share to my Mini with very little to no lag at all from my MacBook Air at work. The Mini is directly hooked to my time capsule (2008,1TB). However, when I SS into my MBP 13" early 2011(wireless connection) the MBP becomes almost completely unresponsive or delayed to any change by 5+min.
I tried ss'ing into my mini and then from my mini to my MBP 13" and that was at least responsive, but obviously laggy. So what the frick man. Why can't I SS into my MBP from work? This was never an issue when all these macs were running 10.6.8.
I guess I should also mention that the Mini hasn't been able to update ARD 3.5 yet, because of a separate issue that I haven't gotten around to. Is it perhaps the ARD update that is screwing up my MBP13"?
Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I have the same problem. I think it has to do with the 'server' computer. When I remotely control my other snow leopard computers, it is snappy. When I connect to my iMac running Lion, it is slow. The whole page blinks like it is rendering all text/images/backgrounds all the time. So it seems to be loading the entire frame. On the contrary, when remoted into a Snow Leopard machine, only the word or area that you are typing is blurry, then crisp as it renders. It doesn't try to reload the whole screen since you are only modifying a small portion of it.

Macbook Air with no OSX (Mid 2011) ... cannot install Lion nor Snow Leopard

I have a Macbook Air with no OSX (Mid 2011) ... and I cannot install Lion nor Snow Leopard.
I purchased this Macbook Air 13" and found that the OS had been wiped off. Since then I've been able to get the Recovery Disk Assistant to get me into the Recovery Partition on the MBA... but when I try the "Reinstall Mac OS X" from within Mac OS X Utilities, the download fails after 30 sec. and I get the error message, "Could not find installation information for this machine. Contact Apple Care". This MBA is still covered under Apple's Applecare, but the nearest Apple Store is 3 hrs away and from what I've read, they may not be able to help me.
I know all about Build 11A2063 but cannot figure out where or how to get that.
Also, I've tried making a bootable Lion Drive from my Mac Mini onto a flashdrive, but this too did not work on the MBA (I assume because it isn't Build 11A2063).
I have a huge expensive paper weight with no idea of where to go from here. Any help would be much appreciated.

Where did you buy an MBA without an operating system? Was this from another individual who took the liberty to remove the Mac OS X before selling it to you?
You might try calling Apple customer support and have them walk you through the process, as they can figure out just what version of the OS should be on that machine.
http://www.apple.com/contact

How do I downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard without losing iWork 09? I upgraded my MBP from 10.5 (originally 10.4) to 10.6, then again to 10.7. Should I go back to 10.4, 10.5 or just to 10.6?

How do I downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard without losing iWork 09? I upgraded my MBP from 10.5 (originally 10.4) to 10.6, then again to 10.7. Should I go back to 10.4, 10.5 or just to 10.6? I don't remember which system included iWork 09 and don't want to lose it. Thanks for any help.

Thanks for the information! My sister gave me the MBP for my daughter with Leopard installed. I purchased Snow Leopard and installed it, then my daughter purchased Lion. So I do have all the installers. If iWork wasn't included with any of those, I guess my sister purchased it while running Leopard. I'll have to contact her. Thanks again.

IMac 2011 Lion to Snow Leopard if needed?

Hi all.
I've posted in another discussion about my gradual move over from PC to Mac and the possibility of dual booting but this thought occurred to me. I'm now looking at getting an iMac after using a borrowed mini for a few weeks but finding that multiple monitors/keyboards etc are getting in the way. Plus I need the floorspace the PC is taking up so KVMs and the like aren't really an option.
Anyway, I don't know where Apple are up to at the minute with their hardware/software combinations but if I were to buy a new 27" iMac tomorrow (I'm not: not THAT soon anyway) would it come with Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard installation discs? Would it have Lion preinstalled? If it DID would it come with any discs at all? I believe the recovery partition would handle that part of things (dead HDD notwithstanding) so my suspicion is that no recovery media would be included.
Now, what if I REALLY didn't like Lion or found it had too many problems with my other hardware (I currently have a Lacie NAS drive for example!!) is there any way I could replace Lion with Snow Leopard? Would a retail boxed version, which I think is 10.6.3 have the necessary drivers or at least adequate ones to boot and run Software Update? Would the install disc that came with the MacMini work? My first thought is no it wouldn't. Am I right in thinking the installation discs that ship with a machine are model specific? Would an iMac preinstalled with Lion even be capable of downgrading (we can discuss whether Snow Leopard is a downgrade or not another time)
Anyway, all suggestions welcome as long as they are clean.
Edit before posting: Having said all that if the rotten AppleTV/iTunes keeps losing Home Share connection and kicking me out after 10 minutes of watching a movie then I might just stay a PC user and sell the Apple stuff that isn't working to some unsuspecting numpty. Might just go over to THAT discussion in a minute and add my voice to the ones having issues.......

I suspect the person buying your equipment would be no more a numpty than the original purchaser. Ive been using Lion for some time now and it has frankly no more problems than any other newly introduced software/operating system.
I went through the Windows/PC to Apple a few years ago after much deliberation (and time wasting) I am glad I did it and would not go back. Hving said that I still have a Dell XPS Laptop that is purely used to run Quicken (Windows 7) and nothing else. I could do this with Paralells or bootcamp, but at the moment I see no point. Make the jump to Apple you will probably not regret it. Your wallet might.
My Apple TV works perfectly unless my wireless network is playing up and I suspect Apple cannot do much about that.

Lion to Snow Leopard Problems

Ever since downgrading from Lion to Snow Leopard I have started experiencing problems concerning the EFI Firmware on my Early 2011 Macbook Pro. The startup bong is uncontrollable, blue screen when switching graphics cards and a change in resolution when logging out.
So I ask... Does upgrading Snow Leopard to Lion also upgrade or change the macbook pro's firmware?

OK, this is not "downgrade", this is new installation into new partition. Downgrade would mean that you started Snow Leopard and it reverts everything from Lion to Snow Leopard leaving intact all (or majority) installed applications, settings etc.

Lion or Snow Leopard - that is the question

We have an Imac that is just over a year old. We are trying to decide whether to switch to Lion from Snow Leopard.
We have an ipod, ipad and we just got two new iphone 4s. I think my main reason for switching will be to use the new features of the iphone 4s. I have not seen too much positively written about the lion os.
Does anyone know where i can go to see reviews on lion othere than these forums?

Here's a start for you:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/07/mac-os-x-10-7.ars
To get more, just type "os x lion reviews" in google and get all you want.
I didn't bother with reviews myself. I just made a clone of my Snow Leopard startup disk and went ahead and purchased and installed Lion just after it came out. To me, the best review is how the OS works for me, not what others say about it. By cloning my main drive and going ahead with the installation, I can safely try it out for myself. I've been using it for quite some time now and personally I do like most of the new features. There are some that I don't use but that's the case with all OSs I've had for the last 25 years on Macs.
So my advice is give it a try after you've backed up your stuff. $30 is not much to risk if you don't like it compared to what the earlier systems have cost. BTW, reading these forums is very useful but remember you are reading mostly posts from people who have had problems. The majority of users probably don't have these problems. And DO notice that the loudest protests are coming from those that have NOT taken the precaution to back up their SL stuff first. Not very wise.
Rick

HT201343 My MBP is Early 2011 but dunno why cant use mirroring with apple TV, the icon cannot be found

My MBP is Early 2011 but dunno why cant use mirroring with apple TV, the icon cannot be found. So cannot use mirroring.
I have follow trouble shooting , they recommend to go system preference -> display , thus can find out the mirroring icon if no mean it doesnt support. But according to the web, Early 2011 MBP should be able to use, dunno why.

Just realise I havent updated my OS to mountain lion and this is the reason why I cannot use mirroring before ^^
Thanks all

Running Lion and Snow Leopard on the same MacBook Pro

So here's the thing .....apparently Lion won't run Photoshop and Illustrator CS2 (which I'm quite happy with and not about to shell out silly amounts of money to Adobe for even CS3) and apparently there may be (and I stress may be) problems with Word 2008 (likewise money to Microsoft for Word 2011).
I think, and probably won't know till I've installed it, that I'd like to try Lion on my Macbook Pro but keep Snow Leopard as a separate OS to run Photoshop, Illustrator and if necessary Word until I can afford to pay Adobe (& possibly Microsoft though I can't really see what improvements they can make to Word 2008) the large amounts of money they seem to think they deserve for an upgrade.
Does anybody out there know if it is possible to run both Lion and Snow Leopard on the same machine and if it is how do I do it?
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Likely a corrupted cache file
Read the
Deeper cache cleaning/resetting
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3046

Best way to migrate applications from Lion to Snow Leopard?

Hello! own a mid 2011 MacBook Pro and upgraded to Lion back when it came out. I've now realized that Lion and CIFS network drives don't get along well. I want to downgrade back to Snow Leopard. I didn't have any Time machine back ups or anything like that so I believe I have to do a fresh install, this shoudln't be a problem as I have a 6 TB FreeNAS box to back everything up to. My question is about software. Most of the software I have on my computer is free, but some of it, namely the Adobe Design Suite Standard, Quickbooks, and a few other photo/business related pieces of software have been purchased. Is there any easy way of reinstalling them? I guess what I'm asking is, how can I back up my software? Maybe a better question is how do I uninstall software in such a way so that when I reinstall it later it won't give me an error saying the serial number has already been used.

Downgrade 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 3.4.1.
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.
You will need to reinstall your third-party software.

My iMac says I have 10.6.8 operating system now. Problem is I do not know if that is 'Lion' or 'Snow Leopard' ... and I wish to upgrade to 'Mountain Lion'

My iMac says I have 10.6.8 operating system now. Problem is I do not know if that is 'Lion' or 'Snow Leopard' ... and I wish to upgrade to 'Mountain Lion'

That is Snow Leopard.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will receive physical media - DVD - by mail.
Third-party sources for Snow Leopard are:
Snow Leopard from Amazon.com
Snow Leopard from eBay
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store.
Before upgrading check that you computer meets the minimum requirements:
Snow Leopard General requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
2. 1GB of memory
3. 5GB of available disk space
4. DVD drive for installation
5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may
apply.
6. Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
First, you need to upgrade to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 as stated above.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
Before upgrading check that you computer meets the minimum requirements:
Lion System Requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or
Xeon processor
2. 2GB of memory
3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
4. 7GB of available space
5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
Be sure your computer meets the minimum requirements:
Apple - OS X Mountain Lion - Read the technical specifications.
Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
7. Xserve (Early 2009)
Are my applications compatible?
See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps - App compatibility and feature support for OS X & iOS.
Am I eligible for the free upgrade?
See Apple - Free OS X Mountain Lion upgrade Program.
For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Apple - Upgrade your Mac to OS X Mountain Lion.

Lion or Snow Leopard?

So I have the standard operating system that already came on my macbook pro. But I am thinking of doing a software update and am torn wheter to go with Lion or Snow Leopard? Which one works better? And should I even get a software update?

Your MBP came with OS X 10.6.3 installed on it. That is Snow Leopard. According to the system info that appears below your post, you've already updated to 10.6.8, the last Snow Leopard version, so the only further step you can take is Lion. Don't do that until you've verified that all the software you use and depend upon is compatible with Lion, or can be updated or upgraded for compatibility with Lion at prices you can afford. Update your other software for Lion compatibility as needed before upgrading to Lion.
If you use any software that was written for the PowerPC processor and not updated for Intel processors, it won't run in Lion. You will need to find replacements for any such software, and install the replacements before installing Lion.
Whether it makes sense for you to upgrade to Lion now or stick with Snow Leopard for a while longer is not something anyone else can tell you. You'll need to make the decision for yourself, based on what features in Lion are attractive to you, how much of a hassle and expense it might be to get all your other software in shape for Lion first, whether there is any new software you want to buy that requires Lion, and how well your hardware matches up with Lion's hardware requirements. Lion is hungrier for hardware resources than Snow Leopard, and many users find that it's a little slower on their machines than Snow Leopard was. It's possible that in many cases that may be due to new features that Snow Leopard didn't have, so there may be an upside as well as the small performance downside, or it may be that the performance hit could be eliminated by turning off a feature or two; I don't know.
For myself, I've chosen not to upgrade to Lion yet. Snow Leopard does everything I really need, and the PowerPC email application I've used for about 15 years won't run in Lion. So until I figure out how to transfer my 225MB of archived email into a new application successfully, I won't be moving to Lion. When I get a new iPhone at my contract renewal date in April and have one that can use iCloud, that may trigger the upgrade to Lion for me. By then I imagine Lion will probably be at version 10.7.3 or 10.7.4, and some more of the little bugs in it will have been squashed. I'm no believer in rushing to adopt the latest OS version as soon as it's released, because there are always some bugs. I let others discover and wrestle with those, while I just keep working along in the mature and stable OS that I have. I feel no need to be out on the leading edge.

I have just installed Mountain Lion over Snow Leopard, I now can't open Photoshop?

Hi everyone, I have just installed Mountain Lion over Snow Leopard. The installation went smooth and woks well. Now I find that Ican't open either Photoshop CS or Microsoft Word. I upgraded in order to install Lightroom 5, obviously there is now an incompatability, is there a work around?

If that is the original Photoshop CS, and Word 2004 or earlier, then they won't open because Lion and Mountain Lion do not support PowerPC apps. They must be Intel code. Snow Leopard could run them because it included Rosetta, a PowerPC to Intel (and back) interpreter.
You have a few options.
1) Go back to Snow Leopard.
2) Update your apps to compatible versions.
3) If you have Mountain Lion because newer apps require it then:
a) Install Snow Leopard Server (currently being sold by Apple for $20) in a VM such as Parallels, and then run your PPC apps in the VM.
b) Install Snow Leopard on a separate partition and boot to that version of OS X when you need to use those older apps.

Lion to Snow Leopard MBP 13 Early 2011

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