Looking to buy a used mac, how is upgradability determined?

[acro34]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get a mac as a new personal computer, as I'm tired of windows 8 and might even want to look towards apple products for software development. I do find mac's a bit expensive however, especially for my own needs. I have considered going on ebay and buying a used mac ( probably a mac Pro tower ) and upgrading it to today's standards if necessary. On the software end, will I be able to get the most recent version of mac OS X? I'm relatively new to apple products and don't know if upgrades are determined by computer specs or simply what model computer I have. Thank you!

 

[Weaselboy]

The latest OS version is 10.9 Mavericks and here are the requirements. If you are looking at a Mac Pro you would want one of the early 2008 models or newer to use Mavericks.

 

[filmbuff]

The best way is to get Mactracker. If you're looking at a used one just check the specs on Mactracker, it will telly you the highest possible operating system, max ram, and what all of the interfaces are.

 

[Fishrrman]

[[ I have considered going on ebay and buying a used mac ( probably a mac Pro tower ) and upgrading it to today's standards if necessary. ]]

The "newest" Mac Pro's (before the recent release of the "new" Mac Pro) are all going to be at least 2+ years old.

You may be able to get one close to "todays standards", but you're probably not going to get "all the way there".

If you want "today's standards", you may have to consider something else that's newer...