Many of these older Macs can run Windows 10 quite well. Microsoft should do the same and throw in a year if Office 365 for free.
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Google Wants to Turn Your Old Mac into a Chromebook With Chrome OS Flex
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple’s business model is to churn hardware sales. Getting customers to buy a new iPhone every year with their Upgrade Program, selling earphones that need to be replaced every couple of years, selling computers that make the most simplest repairs and upgrades difficult, etc. They have no interest in supporting older hardware even if the hardware itself is more than capable.
the problem with old macs is that apple stop supporting security updates on them. i often times don't care about feature updates, but quarterly security updates on old macs would be nice.
Who said anything about an old Mac running Monterey? Monterey can do all manner of fancy things that you would not necessarily want or need to do on an old computer. The sad fact is that modern Linux distributions and - so it would seem - ChromeOS can run happily and securely on an old Mac, but you won't have any luck if you want Apple to provide updates for that machine. Definitely smells of planned obsolescence. Look at this way: the shiny new MacBook that you buy in 2022 has a shelf life that is probably far less than the life that its hardware will offer. Someone tell me why that is not a bad look for Apple...
Personally, I tend to keep all my equipment up to date, no more than a few years old. But I can understand the annoyance of Mac owners who have equipment declared obsolete for the only reason that Apple say so.
With a bit of luck this will prompt Apple into action. Its a little embarrassing that someone else is supporting hardware that actually still works really well and, frankly, Apple themselves should still be supporting.
Especially now we have Apple Silicon, there is no excuse to not support their hardware for longer.
Especially now we have Apple Silicon, there is no excuse to not support their hardware for longer.
This gets more convoluted. Neverware used to list old Chromebooks that Google stopped supporting but would run CloudReady. The site no longer shows any support for Chromebooks. Google must really want its old Chromebooks to be in a landfill.CloudReady was purchased by Google
Google acquires Neverware, a firm that turns old PCs into Chromebooks
Google has acquired Neverware, a company that turns old PCs into Chromebooks, for an undisclosed sum.www.business-standard.com
You can already run Monterey on old Macs with OpenCore Legacy Patcher and the youtube guide by MrMacintosh.
Using his guides and OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP), I installed Monterey on my 2012 and 2013 MBPs running without any issues whatsoever.
MrMacintosh's tech blog is excellent: mrmacintosh.com.
I recommend using OCLP first to install the latest macOS on old Macs, then if it doesn't work, try ChromeOS.
The security issues with old macOS is the significant risk. Avoid Safari on any old macOS and using the latest Firefox or Chrome or whatever. But if the Mac is too old it can't even run the latest version of Chrome or Firefox, that's a super high security risk for any online work.
Caveat: OCLP didn't work so great on a 2010 iMac. Even after a clean install (erasing the Mac first) of Monterey using OCLP, OCLP's "post-install patches" has a crappy buggy graphics driver that caused the screen to be blotchy and almost unreadable. Removing the post-install patch worked but then the iMac lacked wifi because it needed some of the other post-install patches. But the iMac still worked with Ethernet and looked good but was a little slow. The only thing after that didn't work was highlighting in MS Word (latest edition): it would actually crash macOS and logout. MS Word has an incompatibility with that iMac model's particular graphics card with and without the post-install patches. But Pages and all apps I tried highlighted (selected) text normally with and without OPCL's post-install patches.
OpenCore Legacy Patcher is an opensource project so don't expect support, which relies on Discord. I hate Discord, which lives up to its name -- so, so chaotic, disorganized, dis-logical and dis-helpful. It's like trying to get support in the middle of a packed cattle auction. They just shouted back: clean install! but that didn't help.
For the 2010 iMac, the ChromeOS would be worth a try instead of giving it to ewaste.
Using his guides and OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP), I installed Monterey on my 2012 and 2013 MBPs running without any issues whatsoever.
MrMacintosh's tech blog is excellent: mrmacintosh.com.
I recommend using OCLP first to install the latest macOS on old Macs, then if it doesn't work, try ChromeOS.
The security issues with old macOS is the significant risk. Avoid Safari on any old macOS and using the latest Firefox or Chrome or whatever. But if the Mac is too old it can't even run the latest version of Chrome or Firefox, that's a super high security risk for any online work.
Caveat: OCLP didn't work so great on a 2010 iMac. Even after a clean install (erasing the Mac first) of Monterey using OCLP, OCLP's "post-install patches" has a crappy buggy graphics driver that caused the screen to be blotchy and almost unreadable. Removing the post-install patch worked but then the iMac lacked wifi because it needed some of the other post-install patches. But the iMac still worked with Ethernet and looked good but was a little slow. The only thing after that didn't work was highlighting in MS Word (latest edition): it would actually crash macOS and logout. MS Word has an incompatibility with that iMac model's particular graphics card with and without the post-install patches. But Pages and all apps I tried highlighted (selected) text normally with and without OPCL's post-install patches.
OpenCore Legacy Patcher is an opensource project so don't expect support, which relies on Discord. I hate Discord, which lives up to its name -- so, so chaotic, disorganized, dis-logical and dis-helpful. It's like trying to get support in the middle of a packed cattle auction. They just shouted back: clean install! but that didn't help.
For the 2010 iMac, the ChromeOS would be worth a try instead of giving it to ewaste.
Not sure what the sarcasm is for, they can grasp Linux just fine.
I suppose there is a market for this type of thing, but I would guess that it is small. Most Mac owners are pretty committed to MacOS and the Apple ecosystem. Also, there is the switching hassle of changing cloud computing providers and learning a different OS.
To give Apple heartburn. Maybe now Apple will quit killing old Macs just for the sake of it.
I used to load linux on all of my old Macs, but that was not very news worthy.
Will I use this? Absolutely not. But I think it is great that it is being done.
Why? You can just install windows 10 on your Mac. Windows 10 is by far better than this.
Imagine a universe where once Apple stops security updates, people could just load Windows and keep getting security updates. Make the Windows version like $25/year. Man it would suck to be Apple in this universe.
Sometimes is not a question of being a good/bad idea. Some people cannot afford to buy a new mac when there are no more upgrades.
The sad part is that Macs can run newer versions of the OS without problems, it is Apple who decides when to make them obsolete.
People that this alternative isn't for jumping on to say, what's the point this isn't for me... Well DUH
Google has announced early access to Chrome OS Flex, a method of replacing the operating system on older PCs and Macs "within minutes" to essentially turn them into Chromebooks.
The company is encouraging individuals, schools, and businesses to download Chrome OS Flex so they can "easily try modern computing with cloud-based management" while extending the lifespan of older devices, thereby reducing e-waste.
The idea is that if you have an aging Mac lying around that can't run macOS 12 Monterey, then you can install Chrome OS Flex on it using a bootable USB stick and then try out what Google's cloud-first operating system has to offer. From the website:
Google says Chrome OS Flex has the same look and feel as the Chrome OS shipped with every Chromebook, as it's built on the same code base and includes Google Assistant, the Chrome browser, and Nearby Sharing. However, there's currently no Google Play Store, and Google has outlined some other, mainly system-level limitations of OS Flex that distinguish it from Chrome OS on native Google devices.
Chrome OS Flex is the result of Google's 2020 purchase of Neverware, a company that offered an app called CloudReady that allows users to convert old PCs into Chrome OS machines.
Google says it will automatically move CloudReady home, school, and enterprise users to Chrome OS Flex when the OS is stable. Use of OS Flex is free for individuals, but schools and businesses using CloudReady will continue to be charged a fee and subscription rate, respectively.
If you want to try out Chrome OS Flex, you can learn more and download it on the Chrome Enterprise website. As this is early access, expect some bugs, although the OS can be booted directly from a USB stick if you don't want to commit to installation. A stable version of the OS is expected to launch in the coming months.
Article Link: Google Wants to Turn Your Old Mac into a Chromebook With Chrome OS Flex
I'll stick with Monterey on my 2008 Mac Pro thanks
Does Monterey still get security updates?
This seems like a great move by Google. Microsoft is only supporting the last three or four generations of CPU's for Windows 11. This will get you an operating system that will receive updates into the foreseeable future.
Well, at least until Google gets tired of the project and cans it like they do everything else.
Ubuntu isn’t hard at all to learn. My kids figured it out when then were still in grade school (the one was in 4th grade). Heck, my 73 year old mom was using my System 76/Pop_OS (basically Ubuntu) with out issues when she wasn’t with her Mac for a while.
This would be really useful if they'd let you have the Playstore and the Linux environment [assuming they don't allow the Linux environment]. Otherwise, just load Ubuntu on your old hardware.
Yes, but you haven't used Lion after 2015. Now it's completely unusable. My point is if I was officially able to upgrade my oldest MacBook I would've done so and there's no reason to use your Mac on the OS it came with till the end of the days.
For example mine came with Leopard and App Store was released in Snow Leopard. I would've missed out a lot.
I now use MacBook Air 2020 and I'm glad I'm on the latest release of macOS.
My iMac is a 2007 20 inch Core 2 Duo with just 2 Gigs of RAM.
I've not been able to install software from a USB port, only the optical drive.
Might not work, but would turn my old iMac into a useful machine again.
I've not been able to install software from a USB port, only the optical drive.
Might not work, but would turn my old iMac into a useful machine again.