Mac Newbie Lookin For Some Insight

[Daniels2386]

I was recently given a Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 | Identifier: MacBookPro5, 4 | Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo

Ive only ever really dabbled with Windows, so I understand about system requirements and all of that. My question is, Which OS is the most current that Im capable of? I know I cant get Sierra or whichever OS is the most current, but at the same time I realize there are like 7 OS between Snow Leopard and the most current one.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[AZhappyjack]

According to MacTracker, you can run El Capitan (macOS 10.11.6) on that machine.

 

[DeltaMac]

Your MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009) can be upgraded to OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), and that is the maximum that is natively supported.

(dwfaust beat me to post. I type too slow, I guess)

If you decide to upgrade to El Capitan, you should also consider other upgrades. Memory can max with 8 GB, and also consider replacing the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD), for much improved response compared to the old spinning hard drive. This would be a particularly good upgrade, as El Capitan is better optimized with an SSD.

 

[Daniels2386]

According to MacTracker, you can run El Capitan (macOS 10.11.6) on that machine.
View attachment 760812 View attachment 760811

Your MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009) can be upgraded to OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), and that is the maximum that is natively supported.

(dwfaust beat me to post. I type too slow, I guess)

If you decide to upgrade to El Capitan, you should also consider other upgrades. Memory can max with 8 GB, and also consider replacing the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD), for much improved response compared to the old spinning hard drive. This would be a particularly good upgrade, as El Capitan is better optimized with an SSD.

Appreciate the quick help guys!

Next question for me would be, do I go straight to El Capitan, or do I have to download them in order?

 

[AZhappyjack]

Appreciate the quick help guys!

Next question for me would be, do I go straight to El Capitan, or do I have to download them in order?

You can go straight to El Capitan... but as @DeltaMac stated, you may want to add some RAM before going there. Since you're on 10.6.8 you have the Mac App Store - 10.6.8 was the first version of OS X (now macOS) to support the App Store.

This may also be useful:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

 

[Daniels2386]

You can go straight to El Capitan... but as @DeltaMac stated, you may want to add some RAM before going there. Since you're on 10.6.8 you have the Mac App Store - 10.6.8 was the first version of OS X (now macOS) to support the App Store.

This may also be useful:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

So, I cant use YouTube TV or Netflix because my browsers out of date and I cant update the browsers because my OS is too old. If/when I get El Capitan OS, would I then be able to download the most current version of Google Chrome?

If even El Capitan would still have me too far away from current mac OS, then I dont think it would benefit me much to upgrade from Snow Leopard?

How do I go about seeing which older versions of mac OS the most current version of Google Chrome is compatible with?

Is my Macbook Pro essentially useless in the ways I want to use it? Which is basically to browse and watch stuff online at work.

Thanks for you help!

 

[Suzatlarge]

Google Chrome is currently supported on Yosemite 10.10 and later Mac OS versions, according to this download/info page.

Firefox is supported on OS 10.9 (Mavericks) and later versions.

So you're good to go.

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes, you can use the most current Chrome with El Capitan (if you must )
You can check on the Google Chrome download page, which shows the system requirements for a variety of OSes.
The oldest OS X version that will run the current Chrome browser is OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), one generation older than El Capitan.

 

[wbynum]

Install Linux on it and have support for years instead of being cut off by Apple with El Capitan this fall (based on my Googling).

 

[Daniels2386]

Thanks for the info guys!

Install Linux on it and have support for years instead of being cut off by Apple with El Capitan this fall (based on my Googling).

Ive never really used Linux before, so I figured thats something I shouldnt just jump into. I will look into it though

 

[Fishrrman]

OP -

That 2009 MBP still has life in it yet.

I realize that 10.6.8 is getting to be "too old" for internet browsing these days. Safari just won't load some pages.

You might try these "alternate" browsers:
- Firefox
- iCab
- Opera
The download pages for these should have older versions that will still run on 10.6.8.

I -WOULD NOT- recommend Chrome. It's a memory hog.

As others have suggested an upgrade to El Capitan would help.
BUT...
You will need to upgrade your hardware as well for decent performance.

You DON'T have to spend much money.
In fact, I would suggest that you spend as little as possible.

Get a small, cheap SSD. ANY one will do, again, don't buy anything expensive.
128gb or 250gb is all you need.

Get ONE 8gb RAM dimm. One is all you need.

Finding El Cap can be problematic.
I would try to get ahold of (or create) a "USB flash drive installer", and install from that.
You can even buy these "ready-made" on ebay for about $20 or so.