Mid 2009 MacBook Pro

[engbren]

Hi MR,

I have a 15 inch mid 2009 MacBook Pro (4GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz). The end of the line in terms of official MacOS releases for this machine is El Capitan. Given El Capitan is now 2 releases old, I'm assuming Apple will not be updating or patching it any further and I'm considering my options for it.

I primarily use it for the kids today and think it would be a good machine for my son to learn some coding on. At their school, they use Windows and I do have a fully functioning dual boot install of Windows 10 which I installed and got working by trial and error as it is unsupported by the bootcamp drivers for this MBP. Windows 10 has even updated to the latest Creators Update.

Considering my options, I could also install Linux on it. What do you guys think about El Cap and when it will be EOL?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

You can hack the firmware to allow you to install later OS versions. Do an internet search for “dosdude1 firmware” and that should get you started down that road if you like. I wouldn’t go past Sierra if at all possible though. High Sierra will reformat your partition to APFS, killing the ability for Windows to see files on your Mac partition.

 

[Fishrrman]

If it runs El Cap without problems, I'd just keep using it.
And... not worry about [so-called] "security problems".
Really.

I've got a 2010 MBPro that still runs Snow Leopard. Runs just fine for me.

 

[0002378]

You can hack the firmware to allow you to install later OS versions. Do an internet search for “dosdude1 firmware” and that should get you started down that road if you like.

I second this. I also have a mid-2009 MacbookPro (13"), and I recently installed Sierra on it, using the above mentioned hack. There are crystal clear instructions on how to do this, online. There are also several threads (including one huge main thread) here on this forum that talk about installing Sierra on unsupported Macs.

Sierra runs great on my machine, but that is probably because I upgraded the hardware prior to installing Sierra - SSD and maxed out RAM.

Then again, as the other post mentioned, there is really no reason to upgrade past El Capitan, esp. since it sounds like this will be an educational machine for your son and doesn't need to be cutting edge.

I'm a software developer myself, and I was perfectly happy with Yosemite. El Cap will be just fine for your son.

 

[engbren]

You can hack the firmware to allow you to install later OS versions. Do an internet search for “dosdude1 firmware” and that should get you started down that road if you like. I wouldn’t go past Sierra if at all possible though. High Sierra will reformat your partition to APFS, killing the ability for Windows to see files on your Mac partition.

Thanks for the tips - Sierra will give it a bit more life.

I second this. I also have a mid-2009 MacbookPro (13"), and I recently installed Sierra on it, using the above mentioned hack. There are crystal clear instructions on how to do this, online. There are also several threads (including one huge main thread) here on this forum that talk about installing Sierra on unsupported Macs.

I already upgraded to SSD, so should be good. You're right that it doesn't need to be the latest OS for this machine as this will be for educational purposes. With the SSD, El Cap and Windows 10 are running fine.

 

[0002378]

With the SSD, El Cap and Windows 10 are running fine.

Cool. If you do, someday, decide to upgrade to Sierra, here's the relevant forum thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macos-10-12-sierra-unsupported-macs-thread.1977128/

And here's the actual patcher tool:
http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html

 

[BrianBaughn]

I did the patch on my 2008 MacBook and, for reasons I don’t remember, didn’t like the way it was running so I went back to El Capitan.

As of today, the last El Capitan security update was December 6 so they haven’t abandoned it yet.