Hi, I have a "black" Macbook running 10.6.8. I wonder if it is possible to upgrade it to the latest OS X and runs Aperture 3.4.5 or Lightroom 5. Thanks. If this has been asked before please kindly direct me to the previous discussion.
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6)
No, the black MacBooks are too old to run 10.8 Mountain Lion.
The Early 2006 model 1,1 Core Duo can only run a maximum of 10.6 Snow Leopard.
The models Late 2006 Core 2 Duos 2,1 through Early 2008 4,1 can only run a maximum of 10.7 Lion.
The Late 2008 model 5,1 Aluminum Unibody through the Mid 2010 White Unibody model 7,1 can run 10.8 Mountain Lion.
To see which model you have go to the Apple in the upper left corner and select About This Mac, then click on More Info. When System Profiler comes up check the Model Identifier and post it back here.
Dear Frederic,
Thank you very much for the great help. My System Profiler reports it is a Core 2 Duo (1 processor) (Model identifier MacBook4.1). So it means it can only run up to 10.7 as you explained above?
10.7 Lion is still available from Apple. You will have to call Apple Customer Care 1-800-692-7753 or 1-800-676-2775. to purchase it. Then within 3 days you will get an email with a code which you can use to download Lion from the App Store. The price is $19.99.
Lion will require at least 2gb of RAM but really needs 4gb to run smoothly.
As for third party programs see this list for compatibility with 10.7 http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
Also Lion doesn't run any Power PC programs. To see if you have any Power PC programs go to the Apple in the upper left corner and select About This Mac, then click on More Info. When System Profiler comes up select Applications under Software. Then look under Kind to see if any of your applications are listed as Power PC. Universal and Intel will run under Lion.
Before Mac switched to Intel processors in 2006 they used Power PC processors from 1994 to 2005. Power PC 601 through 604, G3, G4 and G5. Applications written for the Power PC processors need the application called Rosetta to run on Intel processors. This was part of the Operating System in 10.4 and 10.5 but was an optional install in 10.6. With 10.7 Lion Apple dropped all support for Power PC applications.
Latest OS X on "Black" MacBook.
