How long will Core 2 Duo Macs be supported by new OS X releases?

This is a really interesting thread for the variety of responses. There's still a few C2D iMacs being used at work and they truck along fine for the most part, although really snappy editing work with HD files is beyond them.

After four years most computers are going to be thoroughly obsolete, but you only need to head over to the PowerPC forum to find that people can extend the useful life of their machines dramatically. The only threat with Apple dropping C2D Macs is that you'd lose your security updates after two, possible more years (assuming Apple ratchets down the yearly pace up updates.) By that point, your computer would be eight years old, a fairly long-lived and respectable life

Whether or not it makes sense to put in upgrades with diminishing returns to a machine, buy a new one every X years, or just run your spec'd machine into the sunset with whatever you built it out as from the get-go, there's no "right" way to use your Macs.

Funny, I was just browsing the website for more info on the use of Intel Core 2 Duo processors in Macbooks and came across this interesting discussion which started some years ago talking about whether old Macs will no longer support later operating systems. But even now in Oct 2015, my 2009 Macbook will still run OSX EI Capitan using an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 8gb Ram but without a flash drive. It actually seems quicker than Yosemite. Would sticking in a flash drive make a big noticeable difference to the speed of the computer? My Macbook is a 17" inch version and replacing a perfectly well looked after Macbook with a new £1.5k computer seems a lot if I can still work with what I have. I don’t edit HD videos or play big arcade style games so I’m guessing I’m still ok for little while yet. It also seems apparent to me that Apple don’t boost the processor’s speed as much as they use to in new machines. I guess the graphics card and flash hard drives is a big factor in a computer’s performance. The new 2015 retina base model iMac is still using an i5 core processor and yet these processors came out years ago. And the fastest processor they offer is the iCore 7 which again was introduced in MacBooks back in 2011. The new 2014 slim macbook has been considered slow because it uses a mobile style chip so Apple seem to want to offer smaller slimmer machines rather than boosting the power and speed further. Still, food for thought if you still want to spend lots of money having the latest machine, thinking you really need the extra power when in fact that might not be the case.

I'm still going on my late 2009 iMac with El Capitan. It's not bad at all (considering everything). Better than some of the priors even. 3.06 Core 2 Duo with 16GB of RAM and honestly it's not bad. The biggest issue I have is with graphics (ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB). I can't really view the 4k video the 6S is giving me. That's a drag but day to day it's not bad. FCPX gets a little hairy, as does anything intensive.

8 years as of this August. 9 years in August of next year. This is a base model 2007 20" iMac upgraded to 4GB RAM and an SSD. It will run everything from OS X Tiger (I have the restore disk) to El Capitan along with Windows XP to Windows 10.

It is currently still in daily use in our little home studio area of the basement where my roommates use it for Adobe CS5 work (PS, BR, AI, ID mostly), Logic Pro X, MainStage 3, Serato DJ, iTunes, Safari, Office 2016, and iMovie every once in a while.

It is surprisingly capable for it's age. Though it's apparent the 128MB video card has a hard time keeping up with El Capitan and an external 1080p monitor along with the built in one. Snow Leopard was the last release to run without dropping frames in Exposé or Mission Control as it is now. Minor, but there.



Photo from a few months back, it was on Mavericks then and the monitors/sub/mixer weren't put in yet. The iMac is clean as can be with hardly a mark on it since it's been used in a home office it's whole life.



We shall see what the next version of OS X supports. I'm really rooting to get a full decade out of this guy just because.

weavie asks above:
"Would sticking in a flash drive make a big noticeable difference to the speed of the computer?"

You won't believe the difference until you've tried it.
It will feel "like a new machine".

Same here, 2009 MB pro but with added SSD. El Capitan also manages TRIM for non Apple SSD drives, just search for how to enable it, easy enough. The main limitation you will find is the bus speed, so non need to overspend on the the latest and greatest SSD drives. I'm using a cheap PNY drive (under 100 euro) and my macbook is as snappy as recent Airs particularly as a lot of processing is now offloaded to the graphics card in applications like Photoshop and Lightroom CC.

weaviewonder said:

Funny, I was just browsing the website for more info on the use of Intel Core 2 Duo processors in Macbooks and came across this interesting discussion which started some years ago talking about whether old Macs will no longer support later operating systems. But even now in Oct 2015, my 2009 Macbook will still run OSX EI Capitan using an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 8gb Ram but without a flash drive. It actually seems quicker than Yosemite. Would sticking in a flash drive make a big noticeable difference to the speed of the computer? My Macbook is a 17" inch version and replacing a perfectly well looked after Macbook with a new £1.5k computer seems a lot if I can still work with what I have. I don’t edit HD videos or play big arcade style games so I’m guessing I’m still ok for little while yet. It also seems apparent to me that Apple don’t boost the processor’s speed as much as they use to in new machines. I guess the graphics card and flash hard drives is a big factor in a computer’s performance. The new 2015 retina base model iMac is still using an i5 core processor and yet these processors came out years ago. And the fastest processor they offer is the iCore 7 which again was introduced in MacBooks back in 2011. The new 2014 slim macbook has been considered slow because it uses a mobile style chip so Apple seem to want to offer smaller slimmer machines rather than boosting the power and speed further. Still, food for thought if you still want to spend lots of money having the latest machine, thinking you really need the extra power when in fact that might not be the case.

Click to expand...

I have an iMac 8,1 with 2.66Ghz C2D/ 4Gb / 320 Gb.

For me, it's obvious that this machine was made for Snow Leopard period.

When I decided to upgrade to Mavericks I didn't notice any performance decrease at first. But, when I started my work, opening another apps at the same time, was clear that e upgrade was beyond the capabilities so my Mac.
Then I decided to upgrade to Yosemite and it was the worst upgrade I ever did. I went back to mavericks but I truly want to back to Snow Leopard. The only reason I stay with Mavericks is that Apple requires 10.7.5 to run the last iTunes, which is required to sync iOS 9 devices ( but, it's compatible with Windows XP!!!!!!)

I'm looking for some SSD upgrade since Apple products are getting very expensive in my country. So, for C2D users, I think that max the RAM and install an SSD is the most reasonable solution to stay working with that every-year upgrades.

It will be years and years before the modern Macs can't work with a new OS, but that won't be the major problem confronting Mac users.

Connectivity, speed, and mostly video will limit out the older Macs (2007-present) as we go forward with 4K and 5K and 8K or whatever is pushed. A modern Mac (2013 and previous) will struggle with video in 2017 and beyond.

You will be able to use older Macs for all sorts of things, but they all become trapped in time due to hardware capabilities. The world changes around them and they become word processors or limited computers. Nothing will stop that unless the computer industry gives up on improvements. I'd bet the next big change comes around 2018-2020 as the die gets tiny and computers start to double and triple up chips to blow out huge data streams with little Wattage used.

Ultimately, most people don't do high-powered gaming, nor heavy video editing, nor huge renderings or gigantic image work, etc. What 95% of the market does on computers 99% of the time is rather simple and not in need of super-duper processing speeds. Computers are catching up to the needs of the market.

Aside from insanely huge video image sizes, the computers of the 2020s will effortlessly handle all consumer functions without a hitch. Processors beyond the mid-20s will probably become focused on working as AI to control human-like robots that can take over all the human jobs where it requires simple action and mere muscle. The leading edge of computers won't be focused on enabling people, rather enabling robots.

We might be inside the penultimate generation of computer software, before consumer computers settle into a fairly stable and insignificant evolution beyond--unless consumer computers ditch their current format for AI interaction to complete tasks. Computer development will then focus on industrial applications.

weaviewonder said:

... even now in Oct 2015, my 2009 Macbook will still run OSX EI Capitan using an Intel Core 2 Duo processor
.... It also seems apparent to me that Apple don’t boost the processor’s speed as much as they use to in new machines.

Click to expand...

caioferrari said:

I have an iMac 8,1 with 2.66Ghz C2D/ 4Gb / 320 Gb.

For me, it's obvious that this machine was made for Snow Leopard period.

Click to expand...

You'll find your Mac performing better with El Capitan as it is a service release focusing on speed and other improvements (much like Snow Leopard) rather than adding features like Yosemite did. As always, wait until the .1 release or .2 for the kinks to be ironed out. This is particularly important this time around if you're an MS Office user.

donstenk said:

You'll find your Mac performing better with El Capitan as it is a service release focusing on speed and other improvements (much like Snow Leopard) rather than adding features like Yosemite did. As always, wait until the .1 release or .2 for the kinks to be ironed out. This is particularly important this time around if you're an MS Office user.

Click to expand...

Split view is a feature of El Cap. Yes? 10.11.0 is very stable so a lot of late adopters are upgrading.

"Focused on" does not necessarily exclude new features, so if you intend being picky do pay attention.

El Cap is brill - but where Office 2016 beta run well on El Cap beta it practically stopped working with the GM. As I need to do real work, my main mac is still on Yosemite.

I have 15" MBP late 2007 c2d, upgraded ram to max 6 gb and ssd and think about apple will not support next major osx releases for it (planned obsolence). Does anyone have experience to make half-hackintosh from my MBP, that is custom release of not supported version of mac osx with support from http://www.tonymacx86.com (kext etc..) ?

Hi guys,
Have a mid 2010, 13" MBP, 4 GB ram, C2D, 250 GB HDD,
Its running very slow lately(coz i upgraded to os 10.12 sierra, BIG MISTAKE??)
and the mouse-pointer has started dancing around.

SO
are these my options...
1. downgrade to another OS, which one?
2. upgrade to 8 GB RAM + 500 GB HDD...considering my machine is 7 years old, is it a worth a while investment?

My work is basic --> word, excel, the web.
my machine is taken care of extremely well.
the new ones are way too expensive for me right now,

any and all help is appreciated!
thank you

Add the RAM first, cheap and easy. See if that satisfies. If not then replace the hard disk with an SSD. You don't need to spend extra on a fast SSD, your MBP is SATA II anyway and pretty much any reputable SATA SSD will do. (SATA III SSD's are compatible with SATA II.) Since your machine is otherwise OK I'd say it's worth the investment, which should be under $200, or maybe another $100 if you decide to go for a 500 Gb size SSD. (SSD's don't like to be filled up completely, so if your current HDD is more than about 80% full, buy a 480-512 Gb SSD.)

I just put SSD's into a 17-inch MackBook Pro and a 24-inch iMac, and running El Capitan on both for my ten year old daughter. A lot cheaper than buying new ones. They work great for her needs, which also includes MineCraft and SIMS4 games. The SSD's brought new life to these old computers and they are working just great. I am very glad I held onto these computers over the years. They are not the fastest in the world, but she is also not editing 4K video on then either. My Mac's just keep on running and the older ones are a lot easier to fix. I also have a 2013 and 2015 27-inch iMac and I hope to never have to open them up.

I've got two iMac 8,1s 2.8 C2Ds (2008/2009) which have been used daily (including mostly left on from Mon morning to Fri evening every working week) and they both still work as new. I use them to run a legacy version of Creative Suite (CS5) and both are on 10.6 Snow Leopard still; I keep them on as there are files that I don't want to run on my newer machine using Adobe CC to stop having to mess about with backwards compatibility etc. Still daily drivers, cutting through the sort of Photoshop files I have to turn around rapidly as I go along - very hardy as it also gets moved from place to place; I think these machines are great and won't stop using them until they expire (if ever!!) - I wonder whether my late '15 5k will be as reliable 8 years down the line...

vikramnath said:

Hi guys,
Have a mid 2010, 13" MBP, 4 GB ram, C2D, 250 GB HDD

Click to expand...

Upgrade to 16 GB of RAM. Check how much memory you are using: If 250 GB is plenty, replace it with a 256GB SSD. If it's close to full, either a 512 GB SSD, or if that is too expensive, a 1TB hard drive made in 2017 will run rings around your 2010 hard drive. And of course with 16 GB of RAM, the hard drive will be used a lot less.

If money is tight, check if you can buy a single 8GB SIMM (which will give you 10GB because you keep one of the two 2GB SIMMs in your Mac) or go with two 4GB SIMMs giving you 8GB.

vikramnath said:

2. upgrade to 8 GB RAM + 500 GB HDD...considering my machine is 7 years old, is it a worth a while investment?

Click to expand...

kschendel said:

Add the RAM first, cheap and easy.

Click to expand...

Funny - I'd suggest the other way round: try the SSD first, only upgrade the RAM if necessary: if you end up getting a new machine anyway, a spare 2.5" SSD can be turned into a handy external drive, but a 2010-grade RAM chip is unlikely to be useful...

Writing this on a Mid 2010 C2D 13" with 4GB + SSD - Word, Excel, Mail, Chrome, Safari, VirtualBox (running WinXP and some drawing software) all open - Activity Monitor shows no swap usage and "memory pressure" is in the green.

Bear in mind that a SSD will also alleviate many of the symptoms of lack of RAM (swapping to disc, lack of file cache) if they do occur.

You can also get a "disc doubler"/caddy that will let you remove the optical drive and replace it with your old HD - if having two smaller drives rather than one big one suits the way you organise your files then this might be an economical alternative to paying for a large SSD: most of the SSD advantages in general use come from using it as the system drive: your media library/download folder etc. will be fine on the old HD.

I'm only on 10.9 though (there's some old software on it that isn't Sierra compatible) but, frankly, that's not such a big issue. Also, remember that a Mac will often run like a snail on valium immediately after an OS upgrade while it re-indexes the disc etc. (In my experience, a SSD also helps with the "forever indexing" issue).

Our '09 MBP 2.26 C2D still runs brilliantly for all common home user operations on El Cap with 4Gb RAM and an ssd upgrade. I took it to Apple to replace the tired battery and even they wouldn't touch it because it was "legacy" or "antique" or some such nonsense, but it runs like a top for us.

Obsolete is the 'nice' word Apple uses for anything over four years old. If you need a new battery pop over to OWC and have a look. Suggest not buying knock-offs from eBay and such.


https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple/Laptop/Batteries

nambuccaheadsau said:

Obsolete is the 'nice' word Apple uses for anything over four years old. If you need a new battery pop over to OWC and have a look. Suggest not buying knock-offs from eBay and such.


https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple/Laptop/Batteries

Click to expand...

Oops - forgot to mention that the battery was replaced at an Apple repair shop just around the corner from the Lincoln Park Apple store. But either way, we have no need to upgrade from the C2D MBP. Granted, this computer isn't used for creating TV shows or anything, but for email / surfing / Office / Photos / Youtube / Sketchup, it is plenty good, especially with the RAM / SSD / El Cap combo. So back to the OP, just keep on keepin' on, especially if your needs are similar to the above.

For the digital heavy lifting, we use a much more up to date iMac: the 2011 i5 27" also on El Cap .