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Can my MacBookPro 3,1 be upgraded to Maverick?

Hi there. I'm curious as to whether or not my 15" MacBookPro 3,1 can be upgraded to the new Maverick OS?


According to Apple's "How to Upgrade" list the Mid/Late 2007 or newer are the models that can be upgraded. http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

But I'm not sure if the 15" MacBookPro 3,1 was released then. The support file http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4132 didn't help either, as no date is given as to when my model was released.


Also, if I can upgrade, will it slow down my computer drastically? I'm running 10.7.5 right now, and never did upgrade to Mountain Lion.

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2 GHz), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 4:34 PM

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Posted on Oct 22, 2013 4:41 PM

I think it can since a 3.1 is capable of running Mt. Lion. My understanding is that Mavericks has features that utilize RAM more efficiently so you may experience better results.


You do know that a 3.1 MBP can utilize 6 GB RAM. If you have less than that, consider an upgrade.


Ciao.

13 replies

Oct 22, 2013 5:39 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thanks! The "official" Apple statement is my MBP only takes 4GB but other places have told me it'll go up to 6GB.


It's on my list of things to do - that and replace my old 160GB hard drive with a solid state hard drive. I figure I can probably get another year or two out of my computer if I do those two things. Or least have it around for travel, as my next computer will probably be a desktop...


Good to know about Maverick....

Oct 29, 2013 11:40 AM in response to FightingEntropy

I just completed the upgrade with MBP 3,1 (running 10.6.8) and had some issues with the hard disk (couldn't install without recovery mode and had to wipe it re-install snow leopard and then install mavericks and re-transfer my backup from time machine, but ultimately everything worked fine. Only problem is I'm running only 2 GB ram and seems to be a little sluggish, so I'm gonna upgrade to a 2x4 memory configuration so I can run 6 GB.

Jan 1, 2014 5:58 PM in response to jackhonky

I installed mavericks on my 3,1 - and yeah, with the stock 2gb RAM it's definitely sluggish. I mainly use it to broadcast a 'net radio show - keep music on an external and run it through itunes. the Original 120GB hd is on it's way out - failed a SMART scan, so planning on upgrading the internal guts in the next few weeks. Likely going to remove the optical drive & pop in a 64 or 128GB SSD for the boot volume (Just need to find the bloody bracket to do so!) and also going to replace the original 120HDD with a 1tb Hybrid for media storage... Once that's done, I'll likely max out the 6gb ram & replace the long-dead battery. It'll be an adventure, but hopefully I can get another few years out of her before she goes into retirement!

Jan 9, 2014 6:34 PM in response to Aleers

So I have the same 3,1 and i've already upgraded to 3 GB ram. I also purchased (foolish i now realize) Lion and also Mountain Lion. I was able to upgrade to Lion 10.7.5, but it will not allow me download Mountain Lion. It says it's not supported by this computer. Any thoughts?


After reading the posts, I realzie I should probably purchase a 4 GB dimm to add to the existing 2 GB dimm.


Aside from that, any helpful hints on getting beyond 10.7.5 would be awesome....


Tim

Feb 9, 2014 9:34 AM in response to FightingEntropy

Update: My 15" Macbook Pro 3,1 is running great in 10.9.1 with 4 GB RAM. I had replaced my old failing HDD with a hybrid SSD/HDD and that could account for some of the good performance.


If you're upgrading from 10.6.8 like I was, be prepared to have Autosave/Versions shoved down your throat. I had to completely abandon Preview and TextEdit because not having "Save as..." was a dealbreaker with my workflow. So far Skim and TextWrangler are proving to be worthy substitutes though.

Can my MacBookPro 3,1 be upgraded to Maverick?

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