El Cap on an old Macbook Pro

[Bbqthis]

Lots of 'problem' threads here, so I just thought I'd switch it up and offer my ray of sunshine.

I'm a user of the iMac/ iPad workflow, but recently enrolled in a supplemental ed class that required the use of photoshop on an laptop. Not wanting to spend much on a machine I'd only need for 3 months, I bought a mid 2010 Macbook Pro 15" with 8gb of ram and a 256g SSD for $350. Being a 5 year old laptop, the battery had over 1000 cycles and only held a charge for about an hour. Thanks to its SSD, it booted up in about 5 seconds.

After putting the El Cap public beta on it, it boots up instantly and the battery lasts for almost 3 hours.

Color me impressed.

 

[saudor]

difference between 1hour and 3 hours is pretty substantial.. i reckon something was pegging the CPU in the old OS in some way...

 

[Bbqthis]

difference between 1hour and 3 hours is pretty substantial.. i reckon something was pegging the CPU in the old OS in some way...

Definitely was something that El Cap brought (or took away), it was a completely clean install of Yosemite with nothing else installed.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I have 10.11 running on a Mid-2007 MacBook Pro, the oldest machine that it supports. 2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 240GB SSD, and this thing runs like a dream! Around three hours on the battery that coconut battery says is at 77% health at 750 cycles.

 

[Bbqthis]

I have 10.11 running on a Mid-2007 MacBook Pro, the oldest machine that it supports. 2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 240GB SSD, and this thing runs like a dream! Around three hours on the battery that coconut battery says is at 77% health at 750 cycles.

I'm definitely a believer in El Cap's ability to give an aging macbook some more life.

 

[bbfc]

I need an SSD! El Capitan runs well on my machine but would be better with an SSD.

 

[Godyrsam0625]

I've installed (I think ... as I haven't seen it run yet) El Capitan on a 2008 MacBook Pro. I can't get the machine to boot-up / restart. I've restarted in various ways and the screens and sounds of a start-up act ass usual, but within 2-3 minutes the computer powers-off on its own. I can't even gain access to any trouble / repair features. Any suggestions?

 

[Max(IT)]

El Capitan running on my Late 11 MBP runs just great