What are my options for upgrading my mid 2007 MacBook with OS X Tiger on it?

What are my options for upgrading my mid 2007 MacBook with OS X Tiger on it? Am I stuck with a perfectly well functioning piece of hardware that is now a hazard to use due to not being able to update after recent security issues? I know it's 7 years old, but it's still 100% good.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Bought in 2007, still working fine.

Posted on Apr 25, 2014 10:53 AM

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14 replies

Apr 26, 2014 2:49 AM in response to Niel

Thanks, that helps.

Additional question: Once I've installed Snow Leopard and then Lion, will my Mac still be vulnerable from the recently discovered security flaws, or will Lion also be patched when these things are discovered? From various news sources I was under the impression that only updating to the latest Mavericks would fix the problem.

May 1, 2014 2:27 PM in response to Niel

I got as far as installing Snow Leopard and running all the updates. But... to upgrade to Lion, I need a minimum of 2GB RAM. My mid 2007 Macbook came with only 1GB, divided over two slots, 512MB each.


I figured I could just buy new, but I ran into two problems:


1: I can't for the life of me figure out whether mine is a 2nd, 3rd or other 'generation', while in the apple store, when selecting the right macbook, they only tell the generations, and not the year or model identifier or boot ROM version. Googling didn't get me an answer either.


2: if I do gamble and choose any of the early generations, it comes up empty - seems no RAM is being sold anymore for this old macbook.


So.. I wonder: is upgrading to Lion essential for security? And also, which generation is my macbook (boot ROM version MB21.00A5.B07, from mid 2007 (bought in June) ? Are there any other official channels to buy RAM outside the apple store online?

May 1, 2014 2:34 PM in response to LM-Els

Where are you from and what is the model ID number (ex. MacBook 2,1, MacBook 3,1, etc.)

Forget Apple. They charge waaay tooo much for RAM.

Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).

RAM is much cheaper from these sources.

BTW, your MacBook model maybe able to take a total of 6 GBs of RAM.

My advise to you is to purchase and install the full 6 GBs of RAM into your MacBook

May 1, 2014 3:09 PM in response to MichelPM

It's a 2,1. So 3G max then.

Although visiting OWC just now, I find this:


MacBook2,1 (All) - Install up to 4.0GB total memory, uses up to 3.0GB.

Note: Although limited to physically utilizing a maximum of 3GB, there is a performance

benefit due to 128 Bit addressing when 4GB( 2GB x 2 Matched set) is installed.


Looks like I'll be going for the 4GB option then.

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What are my options for upgrading my mid 2007 MacBook with OS X Tiger on it?

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