Hi,
Has anyone tried to install Mountain Lion on an older iMac or MacBook than the ones listed as compatible?
I have a Late 2006 iMac and am curious if it is definitely not able to run the new OS X or is that just the early developer preview?
Cheers.
😟
I hhad been hoping that it was just the developer preview that wasn't compatible.
I had just been googling about it and saw an older list on Apple and other sites, but this hadn't come up in the search.
If Apple does not list it as supported the installer would likely refuse to install once it identified your machine. Of course you could install it on a newer machine, clone to an external and see if it would boot your old machine, but likely even then it might do some kind of hardware check and refuse, or just sit there with a blank screen. Leopard was a case where Apple deemed that certain computers could not run it, but it ended up they could. That was more a speed issue rather than looking for particular hardware support. You could be the tester for Mountain Lion -- on your computer. 😉
You should know by now that Apple want you to upgrade to one of their new machines at least once every 5 years even if the old machine works perfectly......!
But I do think the relatively short list of compatible machines this time around is a bit worrying. My 2009 Imac probably won't be able to run the next OS after this one if this trend continues!
There is a bit of conflicting information.
It was reported that the developers preview could not be installed on older machines, but some developrs actually could install it on Late 2006 models.
I
Limnos wrote:
If Apple does not list it as supported the installer would likely refuse to install once it identified your machine. Of course you could install it on a newer machine, clone to an external and see if it would boot your old machine, but likely even then it might do some kind of hardware check and refuse, or just sit there with a blank screen. Leopard was a case where Apple deemed that certain computers could not run it, but it ended up they could. That was more a speed issue rather than looking for particular hardware support. You could be the tester for Mountain Lion -- on your computer. 😉
Sounds nearly as dangerous as being a cash strapped student at Harvard in the '80's when Walter Bishop was doing his thing 😮
I could back up my current hard drive with Time Machine, boot to that and try install ML on it?
I would upgrade my mother's MacBook, but I'm waiting to hear more about the battery life with the new OS X.
Lion is draining the battery much too quickly.
I'm not in any great rush (I haven't had Lion all that long), but Mountain Lion looks cool and I had hoped that my iMac could handle it, even if it was the last OS that it would get.
Would I even need to use a back up?
If it really isn't compatible will it just not install without removing or affecting Lion?
My wife just attempted to purchase the ML upgrade on her Early 2008 MacBook, and it wouldn't even allow her to complete the purchase because it is not compatible with the update.
Thank you.
That sorts that then.
Shame, but such is life.
My mum's MacBook is a Late 2008. I'm assuming your wife is on Lion.
How is the battery life?
NeddySeagoon. Thanks for your post. I have the same imac and was wondering / frustrated with the same issue of Mt Lion. Why our machine can run Lion but not Mt Lion is frustrating to say the least. I should be the one that says I need a new faster machine, not Apple. I don't support such a throw-a-way mentality.
But enough of my rant. My question to you is, are you happy with Lion on your late 2006 imac? I'm still on Snow Leopard, due to I'm nervous that Lion will slow my machine down. I had heard Lion like a lot of RAM and since our imac can only go up to 3 gigs, that made me nervious. The only reason for me to upgrade is the whole icloud thing. Right now, my imac isn't syncing with my icloud address book, ical, photos, etc.
Besided the normal web stuff, I edit photos with photoshop and videos with FCP 7.
I would probably stick with Snow Leopard if it wasn't due to all this sycing with icloud thing.
Thoughts?
Hi Joe,
I was annoyed at first that I missed out on Mountain Lion by such a small margin.
Now I just want the new iMac .
That isn't possible for a long time yet, and I never want to give up this iMac. It has served me well.
Lion works perfect on this for me. I can't say as I recollect any problems at all.
I have 4 gigs of RAM.
iCloud was also my main reason for updating. 😉
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your reply NeddySeagoon. I guess upgrading to Lion is my option. I'll stop dragging my feet and upgrade. At least then my imac won't be alienated from my other icloud devices. 🙂
You can use iCloud with Lion, it's just not integrated with the OS.
PhotoStream works with Lion, as do iCloud saves from Apple apps (Pages, Numbers, etc) as long as they are updated to the latest version. Other app developers have added iCloud functionality, as well.
is a Late 2006 iMac definitely not able for ML???
