I was about to upgrade my system from 10.6 to 10.8, but decided to wait for the new OSX announcement. I run professional applications(Pro Tools, FCP, Photoshop) that absolutely NEED to work. Currently, 10.9 isn't a stable platform for these applications from what I've heard, so I'm looking for 10.8.
If anyone can point me in the right direction or tell me that its completely unavailable, it'd be much appreciated.
Cheers,
-Sean
You can't. Mavericks is the only available version of OS X. You can only update to 10.6.8. You may be able to obtain it or Lion by the following:
Upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99.
If you sign into the App Store and try to purchase Mountain Lion but the App Store says your computer is not compatible then you may still be able to upgrade to Lion per the following information.
Upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99.
If you sign into the App Store and try to purchase Mountain Lion but the App Store says your computer is not compatible then you may still be able to upgrade to Lion per the following information.
A. Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements
Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later
2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later
3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later
5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.
Are my applications compatible?
See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.
For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.
B. Upgrading to Lion
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mountain Lion, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
Lion System Requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
or Xeon processor
2. 2GB of memory
3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
4. 7GB of available space
5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
where can I download Mountain Lion?
