Why wont my Macbook Pro upgrade to El Capitan?

Where are you downloading El Capitan from with 10.6.3?

Before you can access the correct upgrade path, the computer should be running

the last version step Snow Leopard 10.6.8, the update to SL 10.6.3 is required for

an upgrade via the App Store to later OS X system downloads.

The combo update can be downloaded by itself from here:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1

There may also be a need for hardware upgrade, more RAM, larger capacity hard

disk drive, and external backup storage for use with Time Machine; also consider

a backup regimen that would allow you to return to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 should

the upgrade to El Capitan be unlikely. Could be you may have to order Mountain
Lion from the Apple Store online, they'll send you a download code for App Store;

and then the computer could run Mountain Lion 10.8(.5)

Anyway, if the computer is not running 10.6.8 first, it can't get or install newer OS X.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

K Shaffer wrote:

There may also be a need for hardware upgrade, more RAM, larger capacity hard

disk drive, and external backup storage for use with Time Machine;

In what way does storage capacity have any correlation with a given OSX?

Ciao.

Working capacity is certainly enhanced, and in older Macs where virtual memory relied on the

availability of unused hard disk drive free-space; helped when there was a lack of physical RAM.

However with rotational HDDs, the lag of read-write to-from the drive is a penalty; compared to

a newer more memory efficient OS X that may also sport a modern Mac with SSD or flash HD.

Even though the newest hardware and software has its strength, the weakness is in energies.

The industrial complex of generating new products and obsoleting others, outstrips capacities

of the planet; so the answers outrun the questions on a larger scope of reality.

I usually try to ignore 'your kind' of questions; they question an answer. You don't know this?

After hands on use of most every MacOS & many OS X versions, associated with hardware

repair and system troubleshooting over 350 Macs (plus restore, donate, etc) I've been around.

The general thrust of the questioned sentence is about performance,

backup of the system, & additional for ease of recovery... to upgrade

the hardware when possible and also buy additional storage options.

Also, if the computer really is running Snow Leopard, 10.6.x it may need a firmware update to

be able to upgrade past a lesser system than El Capitan or before proceeding to 10.11.x.

I'd have let it go, but some aspect of ASC 'subscriptions' kept showing unread older replies.

So I went through all of them. And at 1AM, this one needed the OP to say "What?!" 😝

K Shaffer wrote:

Working capacity is certainly enhanced, and in older Macs where virtual memory relied on the

availability of unused hard disk drive free-space; helped when there was a lack of physical RAM.

Yes, the issue is how much space may be available on a HDD, not the the overall capacity of a HDD. This applies to newer as well as older Macs. That also can be remedied by deleting data.

Ciao.