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Snow Leopard on iMac 5K?

N

neildexter82

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 24, 2013
3
0
Snow Leopard was the last best OS X from Apple (well I think anyway), will an iMac 5K run Snow Leopard?

I know Apple say do not put a previous OS X on your system when it comes with a newer version, but I have seen other threads where putting a previous OS X on a Mac that comes with a newer version does work. I can't find anything though about Snow Leopard on an iMac 5K.
 
Impossible.

Snow Leopard will not work with recent CPU, and there is no driver (kext) for modern iMac.
 
No. There isn't even retina scaling in it.

Leave that ugly old dated OS in the previous decade where it belongs.
 
neildexter82 said:
Snow Leopard was the last best OS X from Apple (well I think anyway), will an iMac 5K run Snow Leopard?

I know Apple say do not put a previous OS X on your system when it comes with a newer version, but I have seen other threads where putting a previous OS X on a Mac that comes with a newer version does work. I can't find anything though about Snow Leopard on an iMac 5K.
Click to expand...
No, it will not run. Generally, each Mac generation can run only current or newer versions of the OS. I don't quite remember if there were exceptions in the past, but even if they were, this is the rule.

If you absolutely need Snow Leopard, your only option is VMWare Fusion and a copy of Snow Leopard Server. VMWare Fusion can create a VM only from the server version of Snow Leopard. The problem is where to find it because it is not available anymore through the usual channels. I hear that some local Apple customer services may still be able to send you the installation DVD.
 
You can get Snow Leopard Server on Amazon (UK) but it's damn expensive.
Also I was looking into VMWare for using old OS's and from what I could see Mac Guest OS's had a maximum resolution of 800x600!
 
MarkC426 said:
You can get Snow Leopard Server on Amazon (UK) but it's damn expensive.
Click to expand...
If you make the mistake to buy SL Server from Amazon or eBay, they will "rob" you for sure! In the cases where Apple can send you today the installation DVD, it will not charge more than 20 euros. Anything more is unacceptable.

MarkC426 said:
Also I was looking into VMWare for using old OS's and from what I could see Mac Guest OS's had a maximum resolution of 800x600!
Click to expand...
I think this is solved with the installation of VMWare tools. VMWare offers good resolutions for much older operating systems like Windows 2000.
 
neildexter82 said:
Snow Leopard was the last best OS X from Apple (well I think anyway), will an iMac 5K run Snow Leopard?
Click to expand...
Only in a VM as mentioned. Apple has not and will not update SL with drivers and kexts to interact with the new CPU, GPU (and other components), so it will utterly fail. You'll need to use Vmware Fusion and install it as a guest OS. Performance won't be great but it will run.
 
PBMB said:
If you make the mistake to buy SL Server from Amazon or eBay, they will "rob" you for sure! In the cases where Apple can send you today the installation DVD, it will not charge more than 20 euros. Anything more is unacceptable.


I think this is solved with the installation of VMWare tools. VMWare offers good resolutions for much older operating systems like Windows 2000.
Click to expand...

In the latest VMWare (7) the installation guide highlights Mac OS Guests are limited to SVGA with VMWare tools.
If anyone has this running at a higher resolution, I would be interested to know, currently I've been put off buying it.
 
MarkC426 said:
In the latest VMWare (7) the installation guide highlights Mac OS Guests are limited to SVGA with VMWare tools.
If anyone has this running at a higher resolution, I would be interested to know, currently I've been put off buying it.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I would gladly test it but for the moment I don't have SL Server. I know though that it runs Windows 2000 at much higher resolution than SVGA.
 
This limitation appears to only apply to Mac Guests, Windows and Linux don't mention the limitation.
 
I don't know what version of VMWare you are working with. I don't happen to have SnowLeopard handy, but I have Mavericks working on my 5K iMac under VMWare Fusion 7.1.1. I can get it easily to 2560x1440, and have gotten it to work at 3200x1800 without issue as well.

I have Mountain Lion, but have not given that a try.

Now at my local mac store, I know they have had the 5K iMac running Maverick, as the toolbar at the bottom of the screen was not the Yosemite design. I have personally wondered if I wanted to give it a try to see about installing Maverick onto my 5K as that is what I have running on my mac mini for the family. I sort of like the graphics with that version, and it was my first mac so I don't really know any different. I got use to Yosemite so I just have not let it bother me. I am finally beginning to deprogram myself from Win7, so I figure that it's best not to rock the boat. So I just have the VM just in case.
 
I have Snow Leopard server running under VMWare fusion on a retina macbook pro - it works absolutely fine in terms of screen resolution etc.

One of the complications in getting it installed was that 10.6.0 - 10.6.3 (I think) won't run on some newer processors even under virtualisation. I can't remember the details, but my only option to get it installed from the 10.6.0 disc I had was to install it on an old laptop (2010 macbook pro) then update to 10.6.7 on the old machine before transferring the virtual machine to the newer machine. It did work in the end though!
 
neildexter82 said:
Snow Leopard was the last best OS X from Apple (well I think anyway), will an iMac 5K run Snow Leopard?

I know Apple say do not put a previous OS X on your system when it comes with a newer version, but I have seen other threads where putting a previous OS X on a Mac that comes with a newer version does work. I can't find anything though about Snow Leopard on an iMac 5K.
Click to expand...

No. Even if you could (or you install it in a VM), Snow Leopard doesn't support HiDPI for the Retina display.

It's a great OS for older Macs such as my 2008 MacBook Air, but for the 5K you're better off sticking with Yosemite (not that you even have a choice).
 
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