Max OS X 10.5.8. Update needed

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Max OS X 10.5.8. Update needed

Dear Apple Support,

I am new here, although I am an Apple customer since many years, first with my beloved MacBooks, then with iPhone and iPod.

I have now a problem and I hope you can help me to solve it.

I have my very old MacBook that I am used to bring it with me when I have to travel for holidays or work and I urgently need to update the software.

Actually I have the original one running (the one I got installed when I buy it many years ago, approx 2007 or 2008)

please, find below the details:

Mac OS X

Version 10.5.8

Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory: 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR2

I see that everything now is working very badly and slowly, so I really need to update everything.

Please, can you advice the best software to buy to be sure it's compatible, because I don't know what to choose: Lion? Yosemite? Mavericks?

I really don't know which one can be 100% compatible with my Mac.

Please, can you advise? I am not going to buy a new mac, because I already have a brand new at home, this old one is perfect for me to travel so I am not too worried in case of damage or theft.

One last thing: actually I am travelin, so I cannot get the physical DVD for the installation of the new software, then I kindly need to know if I can buy it and download it, otherwise for me it's impossible to get the DVD during my long travel.

many thanks for your help!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8), everything is original

Posted on Jan 24, 2015 8:54 AM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,893 points

Jan 24, 2015 8:56 AM in response to goax79

You need to buy a Snow Leopard DVD to be able to upgrade that computer's OS. No downloads of it are available to the general public.

(120909)

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Answer 2

goax79 Author

Level 1

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Jan 24, 2015 9:04 AM in response to Niel

Hi Niel

1000 thanks for your very fast reply 🙂

so you are confirming that Snow Leopard is the only software I can buy, is this correct? is the most updated I can mount on my MacBook?

and there is no way to buy it and install it except than using the DVD? is this correct?

sorry for my many questions, but at least I avoid mistakes

thanks again

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Answer 3

Niel

Level 10

726,893 points

Jan 24, 2015 9:06 AM in response to goax79

1. It, as well as having a compatible Mac, is a prerequisite for installing Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, or Yosemite. Upgrading to any OS version beyond 10.6.8 requires having the Mac App Store.

2. Correct.

(120911)

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Answer 4

my ginger

Level 5

4,904 points

Jan 24, 2015 9:33 AM in response to goax79

I would like to make note that you should have a back up of the hard drive. So you don't lose personal things you installed on the Macbook, such as pictures, music, movies, documents or third party apps you installed. If you have been using this OS since you first got the Macbook, without doing much maintenance , your hard drive gets full and fragmented. This can slow down your Macbook. And over time some apps stop working or not work as they should. If you can back up your drive , a good starting point would be to do a clean install of your OS off the disks you have. Then if you wish to update some time later you can.Just an update by itself over the top of what you have installed will not necessarily speed you Macbook up.

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Answer 5

goax79 Author

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Jan 24, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Niel

Hi Niel

thanks again!

sorry to bother you with one last question, but I am really are inexperienced in these kind of matters

you said:

"1. It, as well as having a compatible Mac, is a prerequisite for installing Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, or Yosemite. Upgrading to any OS version beyond 10.6.8 requires having the Mac App Store."

kindly, how can I verify it I have a compatible Mac?

as soon as I can verify it I buy it the DVD asking to ship it to my hotel as I stay here for some days

thank you

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Answer 6

goax79 Author

Level 1

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Jan 24, 2015 9:37 AM in response to my ginger

hello my ginger!

thanks for your kind reply and advice 🙂

actually my real problem is not mainly the speed of my Mac, but the fact that almost all apps are out of date and what is even worse is that for some apps I can't buy the brand new ones because almost nothing now is produced for such an old software like mine

that's why I was thinking to update my software ASAP, in this way I can have new apps, from the basic ones as main browser (because actually neither Safari nor Firefox, etc. are available for my MacBook!!!!) but also other important apps that I am using very old... too elderly versions)

then if I can get it faster, it's better of course, otherwise it's not a big drama how fast or slow it works 😉

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Answer 7

my ginger

Level 5

4,904 points

Jan 24, 2015 10:01 AM in response to goax79

Thats fine. My only thought was that when you do a clean install, the Macbook is working just like the day you bought it.And Itune is Itune and Iphoto is Iphoto and anything you have in them is transferable.. Also some third party apps have free updates for newer operating systems. The reason for backups is that no one can tell when or if a hard drive will fail or become corrupted.

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Answer 8

goax79 Author

Level 1

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Jan 24, 2015 10:06 AM in response to my ginger

OMG!

reading that you wrote "The reason for backups is that no one can tell when or if a hard drive will fail or become corrupted."

scared me a lot!

I didn't know that can happen 😢

when you advice to "clean install" what do you mean exactly?

is there a very good app to do that?

many many thanks for your time and help!!

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Answer 9

Niel

Level 10

726,893 points

Jan 24, 2015 10:22 AM in response to goax79

1. Choose About this Mac from the Apple menu, click on More Info, and check the model identifier against the following, which are the earliest Macs of each type that can run Mountain Lion and newer:

iMac7,1

MacBook5,1

MacBookPro3,1

MacBookAir2,1

Macmini3,1

MacPro3,1

Xserve3,1

2. Choose Utilities from the Finder's Go menu, open the Disk Utility, create a new partition on the internal drive, and install the OS onto it. This is best done after installing Snow Leopard but before upgrading past 10.6.8.

(120914)

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Answer 10

my ginger

Level 5

4,904 points

Jan 24, 2015 10:24 AM in response to goax79

When you get the Snow Leopard dvd. ,http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT3910 This explains how to do it.

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Answer 11

goax79 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 24, 2015 10:46 AM in response to Niel

oh Niel!

you are my savior!

I checked everything and my Mac is:

MacBook5,1

I understood everything and I think now I exactly know all that I have to do.

Only this, please if you can give me a last explanation, you wrote: "create a new partition on the internal drive, and install the OS onto it. This is best done after installing Snow Leopard but before upgrading past 10.6.8."

do you mean that I have to create this partition NOW still using my old 10.5.8

or do you mean that I have to create this partition once I already have installed the new Snow Leopard?

1000 thanks!!

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