2011 iMac MC309LL/A 21.5" 12,1 - Apple says no way to run 10.6?

[ServiceTag]

Friend of mine got 2011 iMac refurb from Apple and it came with 10.8.
He was thinking about downgrading to 10.6 because of old big flatbed scanner which is too expensive to replace.
Then he called Apple and they said no way it will run 10.6 even though originally these machine were released with 10.6.6 so he returned it w/o even trying!
I am not sure if Apple is right in this case. What confuses me is the production date from the serial number - it shows April 2013!? Can't believe, but looks like they still making these discontinued models of 2011 iMacs? and maybe there is a hardware change w/o possibility to downgrade?
I wish to know the answer, can anybody help here?

 

[rkaufmann87]

Friend of mine got 2011 iMac refurb from Apple and it came with 10.8.
He was thinking about downgrading to 10.6 because of old big flatbed scanner which is too expensive to replace.
Then he called Apple and they said no way it will run 10.6 even though originally these machine were released with 10.6.6 so he returned it w/o even trying!
I am not sure if Apple is right in this case. What confuses me is production date from serial number shows April 2013!? Can't believe, but looks like they still making these discontinued models of 2011 iMacs? and maybe there is a hardware change w/o possibility to downgrade?
I wish to know answer, can anybody help here?

Apple is probably correct however your friend hasn't tried very hard to look for alternative solutions. I'd recommend he/she look into Vuescan which is designed to support outdated scanners.

 

[macthefork]

I've got a mid 2011 and I run 10.6.8 with no problem. Mine came with Mountain Lion, and I kept a 10.6.8 partition on an older drive because there;s programs I use occasionally that still require Rosetta. I cloned it to a new partition on my 2011 when I received it.

No problem booting into it and running that partition.

 

[VTECaddict]

Friend of mine got 2011 iMac refurb from Apple and it came with 10.8.

What confuses me is the production date from the serial number - it shows April 2013!?

That's when it was refurbished.

It will run 10.6.6 and later only. So you need to source a reinstallation DVD from a 2011 iMac, or you have to use target disk mode on your friend's iMac and install a retail copy of 10.6 from another Mac. Then install the 10.6.8 combo update via target disk mode before rebooting it.

 

[ServiceTag]

That's when it was refurbished.

It will run 10.6.6 and later only. So you need to source a reinstallation DVD from a 2011 iMac, or you have to use target disk mode on your friend's iMac and install a retail copy of 10.6 from another Mac. Then install the 10.6.8 combo update via target disk mode before rebooting it.

That's really good news! I believe she is still stuck with old machine so new/refurb 2011 iMac with 10.6.8 would make her happy for sure. Now, the only problem if if it's still available...