Reformatting a late 2011 MBP to Yosemite? Method?

[SD-B]

Its been several years since i have reformatted a Mac.
I need to just ask 1-2 questions before I do so please?


1) Will a MBP listed below from late 2011 accept Yosemite easily OR will it bog it down, considering at this point there is still the stock hardware on it, no upgrade of ram etc?

(I'm going to be selling it so its not for my own use but don't want to show one to a buyer that is bogged down?)


2) Refresh my memory. Is there a method of cleaning my hard drive in order to get it ready for re-sale and/or either keep the OS on it now, which I believe is Maverick without having to download a USB key version or a way to clean it and just upgrade/install Yosemite?

(I last reformatted using the Snow Leopard CD I have for it--not sure how it works today)

I just want to make sure I am ready to do so when I start and don't discover I have to quickly download a OS and get it onto a USB re-bootable drive at the last minute.

I DO remember reading on this forum, when Yosemite first came out that it was bogging these models down. I think some people stayed with Maverick for that reason but I will quickly look around here today to see if that has changed, unless some leave word here as to whether it will or not, today.

Just being extra careful for i also have a late 2009 MBP and went to upgrade that 6 months ago and whatever OS I went to install on it just killed my drive...lol...Ok so i guess the drive was ready to go but right afterwards it died.
It's still sitting on my shelf waiting for me to find the time to install an extra new SSD drive i have I can't do anything with, so as to at least use that 2009 model for light browsing or a entertainment centre of sorts.
That experience kind of scared me a bit and has so far prevented me from reformatting/upgrading this one for resale.
Just want to make sure i am prepared with the right OS beforehand, etc.


As usual, thanks to all that will answer...



EDIT:

Yes just noticing below, after posting this that there have been numerous problems installing Yosemite on this MBP so I would prefer to stick with Maverick and go no futher.
My understanding is that a lot of University students buy these older Macbooks so chances are whoever does buy it might reformat it themselves, etc but i need to have all of my personal info off of it and an OS that wont bog it down, if not for show mainly + just in case someone buys it that needs to use whatever IS is on it???!!!

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/yosemite-10-10-3-final-problems-on-15-mbp-late-2011.1866522/





MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.4 13" Late 2011 2.4 GHz Core i5 (I5-2435M)

Intro. October 24, 2011
Order MD313LL/A Model A1278 (EMC 2555*)
Family Late 2011 13" ID MacBookPro8,1
RAM 4 GB VRAM 384 MB
Storage 500 GB (5400 RPM) Optical 8X DL "SuperDrive"

 

[snaky69]

1) It'll run Yosemite fine.
2) Hold Cmd-R at boot, it'll take you to the recovery partition. From there you can do an Erase and Install. It will install whatever the machine came with. Once it's done, turn it off and leave it at the setup screen, the eventual buyer will boot to the same steps you get when you buy a new machine.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201376 should you require further instructions.

 

[SD-B]

1) It'll run Yosemite fine.
2) Hold Cmd-R at boot, it'll take you to the recovery partition. From there you can do an Erase and Install. It will install whatever the machine came with. Once it's done, turn it off and leave it at the setup screen, the eventual buyer will boot to the same steps you get when you buy a new machine.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201376 should you require further instructions.

I bought it second hand so I am not sure if it has the original set up on it.......i don't want to find out half way through there isnt one to fall back on. Is that possible?
If so, then I want to just deal with it as a completely fresh install

 

[snaky69]

I bought it second hand so I am not sure if it has the original set up on it.......i don't want to find out half way through there isnt one to fall back on. Is that possible?
If so, then I want to just deal with it as a completely fresh install

If you're running any OS younger than Lion, it has everything it needs to set itself back up as a fresh install. So no, not possible.

Just follow the instructions, it isn't hard at all, just time consuming.

 

[brtate2]

If it helps take some worry away, my 2009 17" Core 2 Duo originally came with Leopard (not Snow Leopard, that came later) and has without issue run every version of OS X as they came out. It is currently running Yosemite 10.10.4.

 

[saturnotaku]

I bought it second hand so I am not sure if it has the original set up on it.......i don't want to find out half way through there isnt one to fall back on. Is that possible?
If so, then I want to just deal with it as a completely fresh install

Your system would have come with Internet recovery available. Use the method described above to enter recovery mode and be connected to the Internet while doing so. I strongly recommend using Ethernet, as Wi-Fi can take a lot longer. Once you start the process, it will download and install the version of OS X that came originally on the machine, which, if yours is like mine, was Lion 10.7.5. From there, you can either leave that version of the operating system or pop on to the app store and download Yosemite, which has been running exceptionally well for me.

 

[SD-B]

If it helps take some worry away, my 2009 17" Core 2 Duo originally came with Leopard (not Snow Leopard, that came later) and has without issue run every version of OS X as they came out. It is currently running Yosemite 10.10.4.

Admittedly that surprises me.
Ok well I guess than that is what i will do.

Keep trying to find the time /sighs



Thx all