Hi guys!.
I'm currently under the latest version of Lion and now some of my software will not run on my current OS. I need to upgrade.
I have an intel core 2 duo 2ghz mac mini and i was wondering how well Mavericks, Yosemite or El Capitan will run on my Mac Mini.
I have 4gb of ram and 120gb hd (not SSD).
I know i need to upgrade to an SSD for obvious reason 🙂
What do you think?
Thanks so much!
Francisco.
Mac OS X (10.7.4)
To upgrade you need to be sure your model meets the requirements:
Upgrading to El Capitan
You can upgrade to El Capitan from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. El Capitan can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for FREE.
To upgrade to El Capitan you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Download El Capitan from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. El Capitan 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.
Macs that can be upgraded to OS X El Capitan
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 Information in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right. See the following User Tip: Basic Steps for Upgrading OS X.
Are my applications compatible?
Hi!.,..
I'm pretty sure that El Capitan can be installed on my mac but i need to know how well will it run 🙂
The older the computer the slower it will be relative to Snow Leopard. But you have not provided the exact model you have, so I can't comment further.
You will need a large disk drive. An SSD of at least 250 GBs would help performance overall. 4 GBs of memory is the bare minimum for useful work, but more is needed if you hope to do a lot of concurrent processing. Depending on the age you the computer, you might want to consider something newer in the i5 or i7 family of models.
It will be OK with 4 GB of memory, not fast but OK.
Your Mini does accept 8 GB (2x4 GB).
Going to an SSD helps speed and may help more than increasing RAM but that depends upon the aps you are using.
You have an early 2009 Mini.
I had a late 2009 and noted big in speed but just a little when I increased RAM from 4 to 8.
Depending on how you use your Mac Mini and what programs your run, you may actually find that El Capitan does a better job at memory management than Lion and Mountain Lion did.
In short, it actually might run better if your only web browsing and running one or two other light weight app's. While on the other hand, if your running a heavy weight app or two, then you will definitely want to also upgrade the RAM.
So sorry 🙂
I have an early 2009 mac mini 🙂
Yesterday i've got to play with a Macbook Pro with similar specs and El Capitan works fine.
The macbook pro has the sama amount of ram and a 2.4ghz intel core 2 duo processor.
I don't know if that could make a difference
Yes the early 2009 MacBook Pro and Mini are very similar. As you said the CPU of the MacBook Pro runs at 2.4 GHz which means a little faster performance than the Min with only a 2 GHz CPU.
Also the GPU in The MacBook Pro can have either 256 or 512 MB of RAM while that I the Mini is 128 or 256. This would only effect apps that use the GPU.
As I said before, the Mini should be fine with 4 GB RAM with El Capitan.
Your stock 5400 rpm hard drive will be the weak point.
Thanks so much guys.
Appreciated 🙂
Upgrading to El Capitan on intel core 2 duo 2ghz
