Can you reinstall Leopard on a mid-2009 MBP that came with Leopard?

[kylera]

A friend of mine has a mid-2009 MBP that originally came with Leopard, and he wants to get Leopard-reinstalled, but doesn't have the gray discs. Can a retail copy of Leopard work as well?

 

[GGJstudios]

A friend of mine has a mid-2009 MBP that originally came with Leopard, and he wants to get Leopard-reinstalled, but doesn't have the gray discs. Can a retail copy of Leopard work as well?

Leopard is no longer for sale, but you can order replacement discs for your model by calling Apple (800-767-2775 in the US).

You can also buy a retail copy of Snow Leopard.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The Retail DVD will not work, as it does not have the correct drivers for 2009 hardware. Your friend could contact Apple and ask fro Replacement Restore DVDs for that MacBook Pro or, if Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is an option, buy the 19 USD Upgrade DVD of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard from the Apple Online Store.

 

[kylera]

Good to know. Thanks for your answers.

 

[Inside_line]

I would expect a retail DVD to work. The only instance that might be questionable is if the mac came with say 10.5.3 and the retail DVD you had was a lower version like 10.5.1. Either way why not give it a shot?

 

[T5BRICK]

I would suggest going with 10.6 even if you had the original restore discs.