Lion will run on a C2D Mac, but whether or not one is satisfied with the speed is a personal opinion.
I wasn't particularly pleased with Lion's speed even on my early 2011 MBP 17" quad-core Core i7 2.2 gHz compared to Snow Leopard.
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core 2 duos obsolete?
- Thread starter RedCja2008
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Lion will run on a C2D Mac, but whether or not one is satisfied with the speed is a personal opinion.
I wasn't particularly pleased with Lion's speed even on my early 2011 MBP 17" quad-core Core i7 2.2 gHz compared to Snow Leopard.
Core 2 Duos, especially when paired with a decent GPU, aren't going anywhere anytime soon. They can still handle 95% of computer users needs... still handle HD Flash Video fine, can play some of the newer games with lower settings, etc.
I thought so too. At first.
I think it's a personal opinion thing, but personally, after going to a quad-core i7, there was a marked difference in performance. It wasn't just simply that Lion felt slow on the Core 2, but that Lion was significantly faster on a quad-core i7. I still have a MBP 13" 2010 and an iMac 24" 2007 to compare. Even the MBA 13" 2010 that I sold earlier wasn't as fast despite the SSD.
I also have a Mac Mini 2011 with a dual-core i5 and dedicated graphics, and Lion on it is still not comparable to my MBP 15" with the quad-core i7, so I believe it's not a problem with the Core 2 specifically, but that with Lion.
But in any case, Lion simply loves faster CPU, and the more cores the better, from what I have personally experienced. To that end, anything less than a MBP 15" Early 2011 is simply not enough for Lion to my standards. In fact, I think it may still scale up with even faster CPU, as my MBP 15" is a base Early 2011 with a Core i7 2.0GHz.
I have an Early 2008 15" 2.Ghz C2D (Penryn) MacBook Pro and a Late 2011 15" i7 2.4 and I can asure you the difference in performance is extremely different, with the i7 MBP out performing the C2D machine by several magnitudes.
I will leave my 2008 MBP on Snow Leopard, as Lion is an OS that performs best on machines with fast multicore CPU`s and more RAM (8Gb), I would try and wait to pick up a newer machine. Once Ivy Bridge is release there will no doubt be a surge in the used market. The C2D machines are still capable, however if you buy one now you will regret not waiting a little longer as the iCore machines are so much faster, and therefore more capable.
GeekBench 15" Early 2008 2.4Ghz Penryn C2D - 3167
GeekBench 15"Late 2011 2.4 i7 - 10489
I am the first to say that benchmarks are not everything, however the newer Quad Core systems are a massive step change in performance. Converting video on the C2D can be a laborious experience, the i7 MBP makes short work of it, remember it`s not just about the CPU, the whole system is far faster. Personally I would wait the C2D`s have had their day. Apart from very light use the user experience is going to be far superior on the newer systems with Lion. If you do go for a C2D machine, stick with Snow Leopard
I will leave my 2008 MBP on Snow Leopard, as Lion is an OS that performs best on machines with fast multicore CPU`s and more RAM (8Gb), I would try and wait to pick up a newer machine. Once Ivy Bridge is release there will no doubt be a surge in the used market. The C2D machines are still capable, however if you buy one now you will regret not waiting a little longer as the iCore machines are so much faster, and therefore more capable.
GeekBench 15" Early 2008 2.4Ghz Penryn C2D - 3167
GeekBench 15"Late 2011 2.4 i7 - 10489
I am the first to say that benchmarks are not everything, however the newer Quad Core systems are a massive step change in performance. Converting video on the C2D can be a laborious experience, the i7 MBP makes short work of it, remember it`s not just about the CPU, the whole system is far faster. Personally I would wait the C2D`s have had their day. Apart from very light use the user experience is going to be far superior on the newer systems with Lion. If you do go for a C2D machine, stick with Snow Leopard
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64bit is really the only thing that mattered.
There is no difference between a Core iX 2nd gen or 1st gen and a C2D that matters compatibility wise.
It is only additional features that help speedup some stuff.
There is nothing they can drop support for in an upcoming OS that would exclude Dore 2 Duo without excluding the Core iXs too.
You may only be concerned about speed. If Photoshop matters or similarly demanding stuff I think buying a used Mac is a stupid idea and a used Businnes class PC serves you much better.
There is no difference between a Core iX 2nd gen or 1st gen and a C2D that matters compatibility wise.
It is only additional features that help speedup some stuff.
There is nothing they can drop support for in an upcoming OS that would exclude Dore 2 Duo without excluding the Core iXs too.
You may only be concerned about speed. If Photoshop matters or similarly demanding stuff I think buying a used Mac is a stupid idea and a used Businnes class PC serves you much better.
This is more valid than it sounds, as Apple will only replace logic boards that have failed due to NVIDIA GPU failure up to four years of age, after that you are on your own. My own 2008 MBP shows no indication of GPU issues, however many have not been so lucky. The failure mechanism is strongly related to thermal cycling, my machine is predominantly on 24/7, a system used in a more mobile role will stress the GPU significantly more. The machine has to fail a specific test, if the machine will not boot you are in the hands of Apples generosity and they can and have declined to replace logic boards.
As this is a manufacturing issue, there is no real fix, some machines will fail prematurely, some will last far longer...
"In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within four years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty."
I would well and truly avoid, as the cost of repair may equal if not exceed the value of the machine. In six months or so my own 2008 MBP will also be out of this extended warrantee...
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I have a 2.4ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM with the Nvidia 8600GT graphics, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these graphics chips, please who are advising against them have probably never used one or are scaremongering..... Mine failed way back, apple replaced the logic board (after blaming me!!! I had a big row with the "Genius")....
Anyway, now it's done it's been running games and such for about 2 years without problem, I'm sure if they have been replaced, the issue has been resolved and you will be good.
Anyway, now it's done it's been running games and such for about 2 years without problem, I'm sure if they have been replaced, the issue has been resolved and you will be good.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with these chips...
but yours failed.
How does this compute i don't even.
Yes the core 2 duo is fine and should be good for at least 5-6 more years. The "icore's" run slightly faster but the difference is not noticeable in everyday tasks. The only limitation I can see is streaming HD videos in the near future (as stuttering occurs when I stream multiple videos at once/or stream concurrently while doing other cpu intensive tasks) but I'm not sure if that is the limitation of the graphics cards equipped with core 2 duo's or the core 2 duo's themselves. Streaming HD video alone is a breeze though.
FWIW, Lion seems to run just fine on my early 2007 2.16GHz C2D MacbookPro (I have 2 x 2GB sticks of RAM, though only 3GB of it can be addressed). HOWEVER, I suffer from constant problems (system freezes/kernel panics; require hard shut-downs) when watching video of any kind (whether it be flash-based through a browser or any codec/container using QT/Perian, VLC or MPlayerX). And when I say "constant", I mean CONSTANT. Aside from watching video, Lion has been great (I can boot from SL install on external drive & watch the same videos w/ zero issues)
Comparing a mid-range dual core core processor to a top of the line quad core hyperthreaded (8 virtual cores) i7 is a bit much don't you think?
When the last of the C2D iMacs were around alongside the i5 ones, I couldn't really find much the i5 ones could do that the 3.06GHz C2D models could not do.
Anything earlier than that varies. Most of the problems with older machines are from them being older machines.
Anything earlier than that varies. Most of the problems with older machines are from them being older machines.
Next time you compare geekbench scores please use machines that are in a similar range cuz right now its like you are comparing a ford fiesta to a porsche.
For 4 years from date of purchase, wasn't forever. That means you're SOL on anything sold before todays date in 2008
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Fail
So, in other words, your fastest computer runs Lion faster than your other computers? I don't see what the complaint is... Of course Lion loves more cores, SL does too. ANY OS with multi-core support does. Of course there was a marked difference in performance going from a C2D to a quad i7. That's a huge jump in power, regardless of what OS you're using.
Is your point that Lion is disproportionately slow when running on a C2D vs the i7? All I'm seeing is that your quad i7 MBP (which is most certainly the fastest computer out of all the ones you listed) runs Lion faster than your other computers and you seem surprised by that...
If your wife has an i5 15" MBP, it also has a discrete GPU. What makes you think it doesn't?
No. Lion is disproportionately faster on a quad-core i7 vs anything else that is dual-core. But that's only if Lion was the only metric.
If I were to include Snow Leopard in the picture, then the iMac 24" with its 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo actually runs Snow Leopard even faster than the quad-core i7 runs Lion. The Macbook Air actually ran Snow Leopard the fastest, but it was the slowest machine when running Lion.
So it was like this:
Lion: MBP 15" 2011 > MBP 13" 2010 > iMac 24" 2007 > MBA 13" 2010
SL: MBA 13" 2010 > MBP 13" 2010 > iMac 24" 2007 > MBP 15" 2011 on Lion
So the question is... why didn't I just stay at C2D? Well, I figured the quad-core chip would help in some key applications (AutoCAD and the likes), and it did. But general UI performance of Lion is just terrible compared to Snow Leopard. General UI performance under SL maxes out at around the performance of a 1.86GHz Core 2, and then the difference was only with SSD and app launching speed, but it's not the same with Lion. A prime example is you can try to go to Launchpad and see if the animation does not stutter or hesitate.
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wait wait... there's nothing wrong with them, but yours failed? Something ain't right...
Hey bro, don't worry about the processor so much.
I have a core 2 duo and plan on keeping it till it dies. Core 2 duo will feel fast, especially that you have come from a netbook. Buy only what fits your budget. I have an older machine and plan on buying an SSD drive when it is right. See the link for real life performance videos by OWC. You'll see the older machines with an SSD beat newer machines with a traditional HDD, on most common real life tasks that you are looking at doing. Cheers.http://eshop.macsales.com/owcpages/ssd-speed-test-4way.html
It depends on your definition of obsolete, but Apple moves on and ceases to support hardware by its processor class. So Core2duo is next on the list..... it won't be long before the latest version of software you want to run will not run well or run at all on it. I'd get an i3 if you want two or three years' use out of a laptop.
It depends on your definition of obsolete, but Apple moves on and ceases to support hardware by its processor class. So Core2duo is next on the list..... it won't be long before the latest version of software you want to run will not run well or run at all on it. I'd get an i3 if you want two or three years' use out of a laptop.
Getting two or three years out of a Core 2 Duo should be no problem. No, it won't be the fastest thing around, but it will still work fine. And yes, at some point Apple will stop supporting it. But current software will continue to run fine on it. It will really only be an issue if the OP wants to update his OS and other software after Apple decides not to support the C2D anymore.
Yes and no. Mostly no.
For general usage, my MBP does perfectly fine. It's pretty quick for most tasks (though obviously not as quick as Core iX machines), and the only noticeable shortcomings are video editing or gaming. In those cases, it's either painfully slow or simply just not powerful enough.
Oh and YouTube HD files stutter, but that's not really a big deal I guess.
In terms of software though, my 2.4ghz Core 2 runs SL perfectly and updates for SL software is still coming out. I suppose when it comes down to it, it'll handle Lion too. I couldn't comment on how it would perform in comparison though, I've heard both good and bad things.
For general usage, my MBP does perfectly fine. It's pretty quick for most tasks (though obviously not as quick as Core iX machines), and the only noticeable shortcomings are video editing or gaming. In those cases, it's either painfully slow or simply just not powerful enough.
Oh and YouTube HD files stutter, but that's not really a big deal I guess.
In terms of software though, my 2.4ghz Core 2 runs SL perfectly and updates for SL software is still coming out. I suppose when it comes down to it, it'll handle Lion too. I couldn't comment on how it would perform in comparison though, I've heard both good and bad things.