Late 2009 White Unibody MacBook: High Sierra or El Capitan?

[TheShortTimer]

If you have an a1181 and not an a1342 like the tread OP had, it is officially maxed out at El Capitan. It can still be patched up to Catalina.

Ok, cheers. What's the performance like with Sierra and upwards on an A1181?

That's a shame that El Cap is being abandoned, it's a really good OS. Maybe I'll have to just run Windows and Linux on my MP 1,1. Darn SSE4 requirement.

I'm in a similar predicament myself with my MP 1,1. You could retain El Cap alongside Windows and Linux, which would cover all bases. On the subject of SSE4...

I can't believe there still isn't an SSE 4 emulator. That or I feel like someone who knows what they're doing would've patched the 1,1/2,1 firmware to accept later CPUs by now.

Technically yes. The 1,1 MP uses the same sockets as the 3,1. The firmware only supports certain CPUs.

I've seen discussions of solutions and workarounds in the Mac Pro forum and this one seemed the most promising but so far they haven't materialised into anything tangible. Hopefully someone will reach a breakthrough eventually.

 

[Amethyst1]

On the subject of Sierra and SSE4 - I've never looked at its developer previews but is it possible that an early one predates the requirement? There would be little point to running this preview today so I'm just curious.

 

[ScreenSavers]

Ok, cheers. What's the performance like with Sierra and upwards on an A1181?

With an SSD and 6GB RAM (a 4 GB DDR 2 is insanely expensive these days btw...) performance is more than suitable for basic usage on Mojave or Catalina.

 

[AL1630]

On the subject of Sierra and SSE4 - I've never looked at its developer previews but is it possible that an early one predates the requirement? There would be little point to running this preview today so I'm just curious.

That's one of those 'do it to prove it can be done' things, like Snow Leopard on PPC. It would be cool to see though.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

On the subject of Sierra and SSE4 - I've never looked at its developer previews but is it possible that an early one predates the requirement? There would be little point to running this preview today so I'm just curious.

An easier solution would be to compile XNU with emulated SSE4 instructions. I know custom AMD kernels for Hackintosh used to do that for SSE2, a long time ago, so it should be possible, at least for someone who knows how to make XNU compile...

But on a separate note, if anyone has access to Sierra developer previews (or early public betas), please get in touch. I have scoured the internet and been unable to find anything. The rumor is that several of them have native support for WebP in Preview!

 

[Amethyst1]

But on a separate note, if anyone has access to Sierra developer previews (or early public betas), please get in touch.

Chances are they are on betaarchive's ftp server. Getting access to that isn't easy though, and I deactivated my account a couple of years back (long story).

 

[Jack Neill]

High Sierra hands down. It’s faster than 10.11, and 10.12. It’s also the latest officially supported on it without patching Mojave or Catalina on it.
Most apps support it. No brainer to me.

I think the Early/Mid 09's were capped at El Cap. I seem to remember I had to patch mine to get .12/13. The Late 09 and Mid 10 could run .13 without the dude's tool. Maybe I am remembering wrong...

Completely agree with running .13 tho. Still works great!

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I think the Early/Mid 09's were capped at El Cap. I seem to remember I had to patch mine to get .12/13. The Late 09 and Mid 10 could run .13 without the dude's tool. Maybe I am remembering wrong...

Completely agree with running .13 tho. Still works great!

I should update the thread title. The MacBook I sold for $185 was a Late 2009, not early 2009. It installed High Sierra no questions asked. Definitely the right move. The buyers are happy. and so am I