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2009 and older Macbook/Macbook Pros: Mavericks experience?

I just finished installing on my 13" mid 2009 MBP. Everything is working flawlessly. Took about 1 hour 45 minutes for install and spotlight is indexing but everything is still smooth. I have the 2.26 ghz version and upgraded the RAM myself to 8 gigs. But yeah, nothing bad to report here!
 
Runs perfectly - if you've upgraded hard drive and RAM

Running a 2009 MBP with 8gb RAM and an SSD; processor Intel Core Duo 2.26, Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB.

Mavericks is extremely snappy, more so than Lion or ML. Seems a lot less buggy than the previous two iterations.
 
My experience

I have a mid 2009 15" MBP 3.06GHz Dual Core, 8G RAM, 500g 7200rpm HD, and I have no issues at all. No speed lose, no lag, all the same performance as in 10.8 if not slightly better.

PS my energy and graphics setting is set to better battery life not higher performance 😉
 
Comparison with Snow Leopard?

Seems like Mavericks runs at least as well and probably better than Lion or Mountain Lion on older hardware. But how does it compare to Snow Leopard which is very snappy on older hardware? Any comparison experiences?

I myself have a late 2008 aluminum Macbook running Snow Leopard. Held off on Lion and Mountain Lion but finding it hard to resist the free Mavericks. But snappy UI performance is my biggest priority so hoping someone will have experience here comparing the two directly on older hardware. Thanks!
 
Lion/Leopard

I agree that Leopard seemed to perform better than both of the Lions. The Lion versions brought a lot of change and the software I commonly used took a long time to get updated (Parallels). I loved the features of Lion, but I liked the performance of Leopard far better.
 
I am using the last white MacBook, the 7,1. I haven't upgraded anything, so I'm still running on 2 GB RAM. On SL I felt like things were getting slow, but after upgrading to Mavericks, I feel like I have a whole new machine. If you have an older machine, definitely upgrade! Now, I'm debating if I should upgrade to 8GB like I had planned, or stick with 4GB which is cheaper.
 
insomniac99 said:
Seems like Mavericks runs at least as well and probably better than Lion or Mountain Lion on older hardware. But how does it compare to Snow Leopard which is very snappy on older hardware? Any comparison experiences?

I myself have a late 2008 aluminum Macbook running Snow Leopard. Held off on Lion and Mountain Lion but finding it hard to resist the free Mavericks. But snappy UI performance is my biggest priority so hoping someone will have experience here comparing the two directly on older hardware. Thanks!
Click to expand...

15" MBP 2010 here with Intel HD Graphics (not 3000/4000) and nVidia GT 330M.

Comparing both ML and Mv on both GPUs, ML seems to excel better on GUI animation compared to Mv. I have not seen any improvement on battery life using Mv. Some of you may not have these problems when it comes to iGPU like the 940m, but with the sucky Intel HD Graphics on the 2010 MBPs, I've ditched Mv in favor of ML.

Snow Leopard is of course a lot better in all aspect. The only downside is the compatibility with newer software.

For now I'm inclined to using ML to prolong the lifespan of my computer. At least it gives my MBP a new lease of life when it comes to newer software.
 
6 GB Ram or 8?

benwiggy said:
I have a 2009 MacBook (last of the white plastic!) - 2Ghz C2D, 6Gb RAM.
It runs Mavx beautifully. Battery life is massively improved: I'm getting at least an hour extra for basic tasks.
Click to expand...

Hi there,
I have this same model (NOT Pro, right?), and am thinking of getting Mavericks. I currently only have 4GB RAM, so I'm sure I need to upgrade RAM. My question is, I don't think anyone sells 6Gb Ram, so I need to go up to 8Gb: Is that what you did?
 
I think Mavericks may run better on my 2008 Macbook Pro than my late 2012 Mac Mini since my Microsoft Intellimouse will wake just fine from sleep on the Macbook Pro but freezes on the Mini until I plug/unplug it (no idea why). I simply don't put the Mini to sleep for now (too bad since Wake On Network Activity actually works for the first time in Mavericks perfectly here on the Mini) Both feel similar speed to both Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard here, though.
 
Hepatical said:
2007 MBP here, Mavericks is running nice and smooth, better than ML and cooler, with less CPU usage. Graphics and animations/transitions are totally smooth. Couldn't wish for anything better.
Click to expand...

That's great!! I wish I could have keep my 2007 MBP! Oh well. :apple:
 
insomniac99 said:
Seems like Mavericks runs at least as well and probably better than Lion or Mountain Lion on older hardware. But how does it compare to Snow Leopard which is very snappy on older hardware? Any comparison experiences?

I myself have a late 2008 aluminum Macbook running Snow Leopard. Held off on Lion and Mountain Lion but finding it hard to resist the free Mavericks. But snappy UI performance is my biggest priority so hoping someone will have experience here comparing the two directly on older hardware. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have late '08 MBP, C2D 2.4gHz, Seagate hybrid drive (new with Mavericks install) and 8GB RAM. I tried to upgrade in past to Lion and ML and reverted to SL because I was not happy with performance; I've been running Mavericks since release day and, so far, I have experienced nothing with Mavericks that is likely to make me go back to SL. I am completely happy with how it performs on my machine.
 
Early 2008, 4,1

Early 2008 Penryn: 6GB RAM, 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1TB HDD.

Mavericks after a week is running incredibly smooth, best ever in fact.
Scrolling up and down in the browser it just "coasts" and it feels like a "new computer."

Someone very talented has redone the memory usage and the interface with the HDD is well integrated. I'm seeing about a GB virtual memory used in the HDD but everything is running smoother and cooler.

My regular usage would see some fan activity engaged and temps would be in the mid 60s and 70s or higher centigrade with my typical use (lots of tabs open in Safari and/or Chrome).

With about 10 tabs and some other apps open, temps are in the low 50s!

That's some really impressive work behind the scenes in the OS.

The laptop which typically couldn't be used as a laptop without some filler due to heat can now be used comfortably on your lap.

I'm extremely impressed with Mavericks. 😎
Hat tip: programmers on the Mavericks team.😉
 
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applefan97 said:
I also have the mid-2009 model and I also upgraded from Snow Leopard,Overall the Mac feels a bit laggy and there's a decrease in Battery life,not sure If I am the only one experiencing it.

And also,mines i5,so can't say about Macs with i7.
Click to expand...

Mine is the same way. I'm actually in the process of downgrading back to OSX Lion, before all this cloud integration, etc. when my Mid 2009 experienced the best battery life.
 
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