Hi, I'm new to the forum and was brought here as I need some advice to see if I can upgrade my Macbook Pro mid 2009. It still works quite well, however I haven't been unable to upgrade the OS past El Capitan and unfortunately one of my most frequently used apps (Scrivener) won't run it's newest version on this. I've attached a screen shot of my specifications. All help and advice greatly appreciated.
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Can I upgrade my Macbook Pro Mid 2009?
- Thread starter daretodream112
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Officially? Nope, El Cap is the highest official macOS release for the 2009 13”.
Unofficially? Using DosDude’s patcher your machine will happily run up to High Sierra with no issues, and newer versions with increasing compromises. I’ve been running Big Sur using OpenCore Legacy Patcher on my 2009 13” and it’s alright, though compromised in some ways.
I would also consider maxing out the RAM at 8GB, which would make newer versions of macOS more pleasant. If you really want to supercharge that machine, a cheap SSD would do it nicely as well!
I love keeping Macs going well past their prime - if you need/want any tips or tricks, feel free to hit me up! Oh, and don’t mind the people theatre gonna come in here telling you that your machine is e-waste
Unofficially? Using DosDude’s patcher your machine will happily run up to High Sierra with no issues, and newer versions with increasing compromises. I’ve been running Big Sur using OpenCore Legacy Patcher on my 2009 13” and it’s alright, though compromised in some ways.
I would also consider maxing out the RAM at 8GB, which would make newer versions of macOS more pleasant. If you really want to supercharge that machine, a cheap SSD would do it nicely as well!
I love keeping Macs going well past their prime - if you need/want any tips or tricks, feel free to hit me up! Oh, and don’t mind the people theatre gonna come in here telling you that your machine is e-waste
Last edited:
a rule of posting "about" is to block out your serial number.
someone could report that or use the nunber, whih cis rare but still can be done.
I have a 2010 MacBook and love Mojave. the unsupportive upgrade was easy and so much better.
and personally am looking for a unibody MacBook pro from this era.
Is the frequently used apps (Scrivener) too old or new for El Cap?
i have a spare 2GB MacBook air i use for Dreamweaver,
but i might sell that because Mountain Lion can really do that much iCloud and apple wise.
yeah let us know if you need more help or advice.
and you could probably teach us a thing or 2 as well!
someone could report that or use the nunber, whih cis rare but still can be done.
I have a 2010 MacBook and love Mojave. the unsupportive upgrade was easy and so much better.
and personally am looking for a unibody MacBook pro from this era.
Is the frequently used apps (Scrivener) too old or new for El Cap?
i have a spare 2GB MacBook air i use for Dreamweaver,
but i might sell that because Mountain Lion can really do that much iCloud and apple wise.
yeah let us know if you need more help or advice.
and you could probably teach us a thing or 2 as well!
Mutifinder gives good advice in reply 2 above.
If you decide to go with the dosdue patch, I'd suggest Mojave instead of Big Sur.
Mojave is the last OS that can still run 32 bit software, so most or all of your older apps will still run on it.
I agree with adding RAM.
I would add ONE 8gb DIMM, replacing the topmost module (while you have the back off to upgrade the hard drive). That will give you 10gb of installed RAM, more than enough.
For a RAM source, I like this place:
THE MOST IMPORTANT step to get more speed is to upgrade the internal drive from a platter-based HDD to an SSD. This is easy to do, anyone can do it.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
BE SURE TO BUY AND USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (shouting intentional).
As far as buying an SSD, you just need a 2.5" SATA SSD.
DON'T BUY "FOR SPEED".
Instead, buy "for price" -- Crucial or Sandisk should be fine.
You should also get an external USB3 2.5" enclosure, something like this:
You can use this to "prepare and test" the SSD BEFORE you open the MacBook.
And you can put the old drive in it for use as a backup afterwards.
Suggestion as how to do things (quick version)
- Get the SSD and enclosure
- Put SSD into the enclosure
- Boot up
- Use disk utility to format the SSD to Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format
- Get the dosdude patch
- Use dosdude path to download Mojave (it's in the "tools" menu)
- Work through the dosdue patch to get Mojave installed onto the SSD (not sure what happens here, but if you can get access to disk utility first, use it to re-format the SSD to APFS with journaling enabled)
- Once Mojave is installed, do the setup and use the setup assistant to "migrate" your stuff from the internal drive to the SSD
- TEST BOOT the SSD from the enclosure to make sure it works, and things look as they should
- Then finally... open the MacBook and "swap drives".
- Do a boot, use startup disk pref pane to set the SSD as the new boot drive, and away you go...
If you decide to go with the dosdue patch, I'd suggest Mojave instead of Big Sur.
Mojave is the last OS that can still run 32 bit software, so most or all of your older apps will still run on it.
I agree with adding RAM.
I would add ONE 8gb DIMM, replacing the topmost module (while you have the back off to upgrade the hard drive). That will give you 10gb of installed RAM, more than enough.
For a RAM source, I like this place:
Apple Memory Upgrades for Mac Mini, MacBook & Mac Pro | Data Memory Systems
DMS specializes in 100% Compatible Apple Memory Upgrades. RAM for MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, iMac & earlier models, all offered with a lifetime warranty.
www.datamemorysystems.com
THE MOST IMPORTANT step to get more speed is to upgrade the internal drive from a platter-based HDD to an SSD. This is easy to do, anyone can do it.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
BE SURE TO BUY AND USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (shouting intentional).
As far as buying an SSD, you just need a 2.5" SATA SSD.
DON'T BUY "FOR SPEED".
Instead, buy "for price" -- Crucial or Sandisk should be fine.
You should also get an external USB3 2.5" enclosure, something like this:
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
www.amazon.com
And you can put the old drive in it for use as a backup afterwards.
Suggestion as how to do things (quick version)
- Get the SSD and enclosure
- Put SSD into the enclosure
- Boot up
- Use disk utility to format the SSD to Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format
- Get the dosdude patch
- Use dosdude path to download Mojave (it's in the "tools" menu)
- Work through the dosdue patch to get Mojave installed onto the SSD (not sure what happens here, but if you can get access to disk utility first, use it to re-format the SSD to APFS with journaling enabled)
- Once Mojave is installed, do the setup and use the setup assistant to "migrate" your stuff from the internal drive to the SSD
- TEST BOOT the SSD from the enclosure to make sure it works, and things look as they should
- Then finally... open the MacBook and "swap drives".
- Do a boot, use startup disk pref pane to set the SSD as the new boot drive, and away you go...
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Yes, I would recommend an inexpensive dram-less SSD, 8 GB RAM, and dosdude patch to High Sierra using HFS+. The hardware upgrade would cost about $80 US or less for 8 GB RAM + name brand 240 GB SSD.Officially? Nope, El Cap is the highest official macOS release for the 2009 13”.
Unofficially? Using DosDude’s patcher your machine will happily run up to High Sierra with no issues, and newer versions with increasing compromises. I’ve been running Big Sur using OpenCore Legacy Patcher on my 2009 13” and it’s alright, though compromised in some ways.
I would also consider maxing out the RAM at 8GB, which would make newer versions of macOS more pleasant. If you really want to supercharge that machine, a cheap SSD would do it nicely as well!
I love keeping Macs going well past their prime - if you need/want any tips or tricks, feel free to hit me up! Oh, and don’t mind the people theatre gonna come in here telling you that your machine is e-waste
I'm on Catalina with dosdude's patch on a 2009 13" MacBook Pro 2.26 GHz, but I don't like the compromises, and may back it down to High Sierra. However, for me it's just for fun, as it's being replaced with a recently purchased 2017 MacBook Air or 2015 MacBook Pro on Monterey. These go for about $300-400 US on the used market.
Yeah, High Sierra runs just as well as if it were a natively supported machine, which is incredibly nice. Mojave and above get increasingly compromised. I’ve found Mojave alright other than some graphical hiccups, Catalina to be pretty bleh overall due to graphical and weird issues with things like SIP and Gatekeeper, and Big Sur to actually be more pleasant than Catalina with the exception of graphical weirdness and abysmal scrolling in Catalyst apps. My 2009 13” (8GB + 240GB SSD) dual boots between High Sierra and Big Sur, with most of the time being spent in High Sierra.
THank’s, removed the screenshot. El Cap is too old for Scrivener
Great advice, thank youMutifinder gives good advice in reply 2 above.
If you decide to go with the dosdue patch, I'd suggest Mojave instead of Big Sur.
Mojave is the last OS that can still run 32 bit software, so most or all of your older apps will still run on it.
I agree with adding RAM.
I would add ONE 8gb DIMM, replacing the topmost module (while you have the back off to upgrade the hard drive). That will give you 10gb of installed RAM, more than enough.
For a RAM source, I like this place:
Apple Memory Upgrades for Mac Mini, MacBook & Mac Pro | Data Memory Systems
DMS specializes in 100% Compatible Apple Memory Upgrades. RAM for MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, iMac & earlier models, all offered with a lifetime warranty.www.datamemorysystems.com
THE MOST IMPORTANT step to get more speed is to upgrade the internal drive from a platter-based HDD to an SSD. This is easy to do, anyone can do it.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
BE SURE TO BUY AND USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (shouting intentional).
As far as buying an SSD, you just need a 2.5" SATA SSD.
DON'T BUY "FOR SPEED".
Instead, buy "for price" -- Crucial or Sandisk should be fine.
You should also get an external USB3 2.5" enclosure, something like this:
You can use this to "prepare and test" the SSD BEFORE you open the MacBook.SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)www.amazon.com
And you can put the old drive in it for use as a backup afterwards.
Suggestion as how to do things (quick version)
- Get the SSD and enclosure
- Put SSD into the enclosure
- Boot up
- Use disk utility to format the SSD to Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format
- Get the dosdude patch
- Use dosdude path to download Mojave (it's in the "tools" menu)
- Work through the dosdue patch to get Mojave installed onto the SSD (not sure what happens here, but if you can get access to disk utility first, use it to re-format the SSD to APFS with journaling enabled)
- Once Mojave is installed, do the setup and use the setup assistant to "migrate" your stuff from the internal drive to the SSD
- TEST BOOT the SSD from the enclosure to make sure it works, and things look as they should
- Then finally... open the MacBook and "swap drives".
- Do a boot, use startup disk pref pane to set the SSD as the new boot drive, and away you go...
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for the advice. Appreciate itOfficially? Nope, El Cap is the highest official macOS release for the 2009 13”.
Unofficially? Using DosDude’s patcher your machine will happily run up to High Sierra with no issues, and newer versions with increasing compromises. I’ve been running Big Sur using OpenCore Legacy Patcher on my 2009 13” and it’s alright, though compromised in some ways.
I would also consider maxing out the RAM at 8GB, which would make newer versions of macOS more pleasant. If you really want to supercharge that machine, a cheap SSD would do it nicely as well!
I love keeping Macs going well past their prime - if you need/want any tips or tricks, feel free to hit me up! Oh, and don’t mind the people theatre gonna come in here telling you that your machine is e-waste