Some questions over buying a Feb2011 refurb, running Snow Leopard

[zee28]

Hi, Long time MacRumors lurker here. I searched for this online but couldn't find an answer so I was hoping I could find help here.

I currently own a 13" running OSX Snow Leopard, Some software I am required to use is not compatible with Lion. Also, to be completely honest I must prefer Snow Leopard over Lion, having used it on a friends machine.

Anyway, I was looking at the Apple refurbished store and am undecided between these two:

http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC721LL/A#overview
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FD318LL/A#overview

hardware wise, it makes sense to spend the extra $120 for the improved graphics and .2ghz processor speed.

however, My concern is if I go for the October 2011 model, I realize you must got through many hoops to run Snow Leopard. So my question is, If I go for the February 2011 model, would the fact that it originally shipped with SL make it easier to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard? Would it be as simple as restoring from the included install/restore discs (if they still include those) Or would I be able to simply swap hard drives from my existing 13" to the 15"

I read there was a firmware update which blocked users from downgrading from Lion to Snow Leopard, Would a February 2011 refurb include that firmware update?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Spink10]

Wait for someone to verify this - I owned a 13 MBP awhile back and it initial had snow leopard - i upgraded to lion - then downgraded back to snow leopard - no problems.

 

[zee28]

Wait for someone to verify this - I owned a 13 MBP awhile back and it initial had snow leopard - i upgraded to lion - then downgraded back to snow leopard - no problems.

When did you do that? From what I understand that was easy until Apple issued a firmware update that blocks you from downgrading. Wondering if a Feb2011 Refurb would include that update.

 

[minifridge1138]

I don't know about the firmware issue.

If you have 2 macs (i'm counting the new one) then I don't think you'll have much trouble.

Boot the new one into target disk mode.
Connect them with a firewire cable.
Use carbon copy cloner or super duper to clone your current 13" to the new one's hard drive.

You'll get Snow Leopard and all of your applications.

Anyone have a reason to say that won't work?

 

[zee28]

I don't know about the firmware issue.

If you have 2 macs (i'm counting the new one) then I don't think you'll have much trouble.

Boot the new one into target disk mode.
Connect them with a firewire cable.
Use carbon copy cloner or super duper to clone your current 13" to the new one's hard drive.

You'll get Snow Leopard and all of your applications.

Anyone have a reason to say that won't work?

That sounds easy, Anyone have experience with that? Would it work with both the February 2011 and October 2011 models?

 

[Spink10]

Have you called Apple?

 

[hakuin]

You should just be able to swap the hard drives. I moved from a white MB to a late (October) 2011 15" MBP about 6 months ago. Used SuperDuper to clone my system to an external hard drive and put that in the new MBP. This is effectively the same as swapping hard drives. Worked fine from the off.

 

[zee28]

You should just be able to swap the hard drives. I moved from a white MB to a late (October) 2011 15" MBP about 6 months ago. Used SuperDuper to clone my system to an external hard drive and put that in the new MBP. This is effectively the same as swapping hard drives. Worked fine from the off.

Running Snow Leopard, correct? Does anyone know if this still works after the firmware update? I would likely just swap in the 320gb from the 13" and put the 500gb in the 13" when I sell it. I plan on upgrading to a SSD in the future.

 

[ixodes]

Since their seems to be a question about firmware, the fastest and best answer is to call Apple.

 

[hakuin]

Running Snow Leopard, correct? Does anyone know if this still works after the firmware update? I would likely just swap in the 320gb from the 13" and put the 500gb in the 13" when I sell it. I plan on upgrading to a SSD in the future.

Sorry. Yes, running Snow Leopard. I have been running Snow Leopard on it for the last 6 months, updating from software update as normal, and everything has been fine so far.

 

[zee28]

Thank you for the replies. On a related note, Anyone have an idea what a good asking price for a Feb2011 MacBook Pro 13" Corei5 2.3ghz, 8Gb ram, 320gb hdd?