MAC OS X update from 10.5.8 to Catalina

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Level 1

8 points

MAC OS X update from 10.5.8 to Catalina

Hello!

I have a MacBook 5.1 (Intel Core2 Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM) that is currently running MAC OS X 10.5.8.

I understand that I will need to upgrade RAM to 4GB or more in order to run newer versions of OS X. In that regard I have the following questions and greatly appreciate your guidance -

I would like to upgrade my RAM to 8GB. Is it technically feasible (MB specs, etc.)?
What is the path to upgrade the OS X to Catalina? I undestand I will need to install interim versions of OS X. I appreciate if I could receive guidance on which versions I need to install in sequence.

Thanks!

MacBook

Posted on May 21, 2020 9:22 AM

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Answer 1

axt010 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 21, 2020 10:35 AM in response to QuickPost

Thank you so much again!

I have one more question -

Since I powered up the laptop, I have realized it is **extremely** slow to connect to the internet. I have 200 MB/s Internet and I am only getting KB/s speed on the laptop (for e.g. Google Search is taking about 5 minutes to render the page).

My 2 GB RAM is sustained at about 50% utilization while I am doing the search. The bottleneck appears to be the network itself. Would you be able to share pointers on how I may root cause the bottleneck and resolve the issue? I will be happy to provide further system level details as needed.

thanks!

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Answer 2

QuickPost

Level 10

103,365 points

May 21, 2020 12:03 PM in response to axt010

Hello,

Are you using Wi-fi or ethernet to connect to the internet? RAM could still be a bottleneck for slow internet, as can the processor, as well as the web browser’s engine. Your Macintosh most likely still has a mechanical spinning hard disk which can also attribute to the web’s speed. This MacBook model is quite old and it’s processor is very slow by today’s standards. If you wanted to get the most speed out of your MacBook then I would recommend upgrading to the full 8 GB of RAM as well as replacing your Mac’s hard disk with a solid state disk. Once these hardware replacements have been completed, I would upgrade this Macintosh to macOS 10.11 which would bring a much more modern Safari engine.

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Answer 3

axt010 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 21, 2020 4:23 PM in response to QuickPost

Hello!

Thank you for your kind, prompt responses. I will answer your question here and also provide a more comprehensive update on the status on a new thread since the subject has changed.

To your question, yes I have attempted both WI-FI as well as Ethernet ports, but the slowness prevails on both.

Regards.

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