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No more updates for older MBPs?

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MBPDiva

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2008
173
0
on Orion's Belt
Hi guys, I purchased my very first Macbook Pro in 2008 and it is still running perfectly. It's never been in for repairs, etc. But lately I've noticed my weather widget has stopped updating, and there are no new software updates other than the new Garageband. My MBP is still running on the old Mac OS X 10.5.8. But my newer machine, a MAC Air that I purchased this year, receives all the latest updates, including Mac OS X 10.6. Both of my machines run on the same router. I read here that Apple has stopped updating older machines with security patches. Are we being forced to scrap the older MBPs for newer ones? :confused:
 
C

Ccrew

macrumors 68020
Feb 28, 2011
2,035
3
MBPDiva said:
When I click on software update, all I get is the new garageband. Is there somewhere else I can go to get the 10.6? :confused:
Click to expand...


Buy a Snow Leopard (10.6) upgrade disc. Lion is a download but Snow Leopard was a DVD
 
S

snaky69

macrumors 603
Mar 14, 2008
5,908
488
MBPDiva said:
When I click on software update, all I get is the new garageband. Is there somewhere else I can go to get the 10.6? :confused:
Click to expand...
10.6 Is Snow Leopard, a whole other OS, it's not an update. You have to buy the Snow Leopard disc to get Snow Leopard. Same goes for Lion (10.7).
 
xxBURT0Nxx

xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
you don't get a free upgrade in software updates, like others have said you need to purchase those upgrades.

At this point you might as well get Lion, no sense in paying for SL anymore.
 
T

thundersteele

macrumors 68030
Oct 19, 2011
2,984
9
Switzerland
You should be able to download SL on the Air. You own a legal copy of SL on the Air, so I think you are allowed to install it on the MBP too. This is not windows with their one license per machine crap (or is it?).
 
Y

yawns

macrumors member
Oct 12, 2011
89
12
Lion officially won't upgrade on anything that isn't running the latest SL. If the OP wanted to go straight to Lion, they'd have buy or create a bootable Lion install, format the hardddrive, and do a clean install.

However, there is a hack to bypass the restriction:

http://www.macworld.com/article/161087/2011/07/install_lion_over_leopard.html

(Check the bottom of the article, "The Tech Way," or whatever.)

OP would still need to use their SL computer to get Lion from the app store.

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old-wiz said:
I think not.
Click to expand...

The Lion EULA states that you can buy Lion once and put it on all of your Mac's, "that you own or control." It does specifically state that you can only upgrade from SL, but nothing is going to check for that. They don't really care.
 
M

MBPDiva

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2008
173
0
on Orion's Belt
Thanks for all of your suggestions, guys. I worked all day today so I'm just now reading your replies. My original question had to do with my older Macbook not updating. Is there a reason for that? I'm not really interested in Snow Leopard. I just want to get my MBP to start updating again. It would be nice if my weather widget would start working again as well. :)
 
C

Ccrew

macrumors 68020
Feb 28, 2011
2,035
3
MBPDiva said:
Thanks for all of your suggestions, guys. I worked all day today so I'm just now reading your replies. My original question had to do with my older Macbook not updating. Is there a reason for that? I'm not really interested in Snow Leopard. I just want to get my MBP to start updating again. It would be nice if my weather widget would start working again as well. :)
Click to expand...

You might want to make it clearer what you're looking for for updates.

Typically Apple supports two concurrent versions of it's OS as far as updates go, which now is pretty much 10.6 and 10.7. That's not to say that you may not see the occasional security fix, but seing a version increment on an older OS prolly isn't going to happen. Application updates, yes probably as you're seeing.

Planned obsolescence baby... the driving $ behind the tech business!
 
M

MBPDiva

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2008
173
0
on Orion's Belt
Ccrew said:
You might want to make it clearer what you're looking for for updates.

Typically Apple supports two concurrent versions of it's OS as far as updates go, which now is pretty much 10.6 and 10.7.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ccrew! That's the answer I was looking for! I was going bonkers trying to figure out why my MBP wouldn't update. So I guess my weather widget is dead then? :confused:
 
W

warvanov

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2011
504
12
I don't know why the weather widget would stop working even if the OS was no longer supported by updates, etc. I think there might be something else going on with the weather widget and that this problem may be unrelated to the OS update issue.
 
thekev

thekev

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2010
7,005
3,343
There are a lot of opinions listed here on what to buy. If you do upgrade your OS as Leopard is an older one at this point, you will want to ensure you have compatible software versions available. A few things do break under Snow Leopard. Anything run via Rosetta is gone with Lion. I hate how people offer one line upgrade suggestions without mentioning any of this as it is important.
 
Heebeejeebies

Heebeejeebies

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2011
244
11
New Jersey
You can buy a USB stick with Lion for $70 or buy a SL DVD for $40 and then upgrade to Lion for $30. You cannot upgrade from Leopard to Lion, but you can do a clean install using the USB stick.

So essentially, buy two things, upgrade twice... or buy one thing, backup your data, and then clean install and then restore.

And yes, if you buy the USB stick, you can use it on up to three Macs. I'm not sure how the download works...
 
M

MBPDiva

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2008
173
0
on Orion's Belt
Thanks thekev and Heebeejeebies. I'm not really interested in upgrading the OS. I like it the way it is. I just wish I could get the weather widget to work. :confused:
 
W

warvanov

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2011
504
12
Yes, but this isn't a thread about "How can I pay $70 to upgrade my operating system."
 
M

MBPDiva

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2008
173
0
on Orion's Belt
warvanov said:
I don't know why the weather widget would stop working even if the OS was no longer supported by updates, etc. I think there might be something else going on with the weather widget and that this problem may be unrelated to the OS update issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks warvanov. It's a mystery. I searched the forums for answers. I even deleted the widget. Most users who had this problem with the weather widget say it resolved itself. I didn't tweak anything. It just stopped working 2 weeks ago. :confused:

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warvanov said:
Yes, but this isn't a thread about "How can I pay $70 to upgrade my operating system."
Click to expand...

No... this is a thread about why my older machine wasn't receiving updates and why my weather widget suddenly stopped updating. The first question was answered. :)
 
W

warvanov

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2011
504
12
Do they work? Lame widget with weather info is better than good widget with no info, right? ;-)
 
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