Q: I have OS X 10.6.8 Lion installed . What is my best option to upgrade to higher OS X?

It depends on what computer you have and whether any of the software on it is compatible with Lion or Mountain Lion but not Yosemite; click here and look your applications up.

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Here are your options:

Upgrading to Yosemite

You can upgrade to Yosemite from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Yosemite can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for FREE.

Upgrading to Yosemite

To upgrade to Yosemite you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Download Yosemite from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Yosemite is free. The file is quite large, over 5 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 Mavericks/Yosemite- System Requirements

      Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Yosemite

         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.

Upgrading to Mountain Lion

To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase a redemption code at the Online Apple Store: OS X Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. Use the code to redeem a download of Mountain Lion from the App Store. 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.

Upgrading to Lion

If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mavericks, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.

You can purchase Lion at the Online Apple Store. 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.

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