MacOS – upgrade this old MacBook Pro to mountain lion

leopardmacbook promacosupgrade

I have an "old" MacBook Pro with the following specs:

Modelname: MacBook Pro
Modell-Identification: MacBookPro5,4
Processor type: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor speed: 2.53 GHz
processer count: 1
core count: 2
L2-Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot-ROM-Version: MBP53.00AC.B03
SMC-Version (System): 1.49f2

It currently runs OS X 10.5.8 and seems a bit laggy from time to time, which might (also) be due to the loads of crapware on it.

I have a two part question now:

What would be the recommended maximum OS X version I should upgrade this machine to, so that it still runs nice and smooth? Is mountain lion safe?
How do I do a clean (full wipe) install of the system, since the latest versions of OS X do not come with a bootable disc anymore?

Best Answer

The second part is trivial, install Lion or Mountain Lion and let it upgrade everything. That will create a recovery HD where you can then reboot and erase the main volume. If you save the installer after the first download, you can avoid the download the second time.

My experience is that the performance of older computers is as good as or better than the old OS - especially when you are erasing things and migrating files over later (or by hand) as much support for older systems was dropped making Mountain Lion fairly streamlined and responsive.

Related Solutions

MacBook – Why does ‘uname -m’ says ‘i386’ even if I’m on Macbook Pro on Intel Core 2 Duo

It's because, by default, Mac OS X boots in 32-bit, excepts some recent models.

Quoted from Apple KB Mac OS X v10.6: Macs that use the 64-bit kernel :

This Mac uses the 64-bit kernel by default in Mac OS X v10.6 : 

 - Mac Pro (Mid 2010)

These Macs use the 64-bit kernel by default in Mac OS X Server 10.6 :

 - Xserve (Early 2008) and later
 - Mac Pro (Early 2008) and later
 - Mac mini (Mid 2010)

These Macs support the 64-bit kernel, but do not use it by default : 

 - iMac (Early 2008) and later
 - MacBook Pro (Early 2008) and later

Here is a little software that can help you to boot in 64-bit if your hardware supports it.

MacBook – Reviving white macbook (Early 2009)

If you really want to make your old mac happy I would say the best thing is the SSD. It will make it feel faster than it was out of the box and that is because it is. A RAM upgrade isn't really necessary and I would suggest investing that money over into a new battery. If the unit hasn't been used in a good long while chances are your battery will be dead or inches away from death.

A new battery (directly from Apple) will be guarantied for a year and will give you a notebook to take with you (using an SSD instead of a HDD also gives you a few extra minutes in battery life.

CleanMyMac is not recommended! Instead install a new OS on the SSD and then using an external enclosure transfer the data via Migration Assistant. But always make sure you have a backup of your files.

Honestly I am more of a fan of keeping things fresh and installing 3PP programs fresh too and manually dragging over your documents, pictures, music, etc.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacBook – Why does ‘uname -m’ says ‘i386’ even if I’m on Macbook Pro on Intel Core 2 Duo

MacBook – Reviving white macbook (Early 2009)

Related Question