Update OS X on MacBook4,1

According to MacTracker, two Macs match that model ID:

• MacBook (13-inch, Early 2008)
• MacBook (13-inch, Late 2008)

The 2.4 GHz further narrows it down to the Early 2008 model, which can go as far as Lion, but no higher.

When Lion came out, you had to buy a $20 "content code" for the Mac App Store to upgrade to it. These days, Apple's Support article provides a link to a .PKG installer file, so maybe they aren't charging for the upgrade any more. It is interesting that Apple still seems to be selling $20 "content codes" in the online Apple Store.

OS X Lion (10.7) - Apple

Note that Lion dropped support for the original Rosetta, so if you have any PowerPC-only applications that are running with the help of Rosetta, they will stop working if you upgrade to Lion.

Back up your data, check the application compatibility table, click here, and if your Mac has at least 2GB of RAM, then on the download link for Lion.

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GaryJE wrote:

Problem is that I can't establish a secure connection to the apple server. Tried on Safari, Google and Firefox. They all give me the same message.

These browsers are old and I can't update them either.

Any suggestions?

Get a USB thumb drive. Find a modern computer (Mac, PC, even a Chromebook) and download the Lion .PKG file (from the Apple Support page) onto the USB thumb drive. Take the thumb drive back to your MacBook.

This will at least get the .PKG file to your Mac. I don't know if inability to establish a secure connection to Apple's servers will create problems during the installation. I wish I could tell you, but I can't.