I’ll never understand how they could fumble both 11” and 17” size 🤣
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Mm 1,1-6,2 The Best “Early” Intel Mac
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I still love the Late 2008 Unibody Macbook Pro with Dual graphics. Still have mine that I picked up the day after Steve Jobs introduced it to the world in his keynote. Now with its 3rd battery, it still works quite well, has a good screen (for the day) and does what I ask of it.
Has the early leaky (for back lighting) chicklet keyboard that I love, and the glass trackpad that still feels great to this day. I did like the early Powerbook style case for looks, but they never felt that solid to me. Already owning classic macs at that time, I was always afraid of the plastic gasket / trim failing on that design.
Has the early leaky (for back lighting) chicklet keyboard that I love, and the glass trackpad that still feels great to this day. I did like the early Powerbook style case for looks, but they never felt that solid to me. Already owning classic macs at that time, I was always afraid of the plastic gasket / trim failing on that design.
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
Sigh why does everything have to be so practical
Recently picked up a mid-2009 Macbook, dual booting El Capitan and Arch Linix/LXQt. macOS for music and iPod management, and Linux for web browsing. Like how easy it is to upgrade the RAM and change the hard drive, and despite its 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo and 4GB, it's super usuable for what I want to do with it. Will have to take it down a coffee shop 😉
Great box, but is it really an early intel mac?
That said, I am wondering if the scope in general should expand a little away from just Core solo, Core Duo, and Core 2 Duo machines now too.
May have to check with the community, but perhaps the entire section of the forum should be re-labled
Early & Unsupported Intel Macs
Ha ha ha, uh, won’t “unsupported” include every Intel mac after the next OS after Tahoe releases?
Better call it “Intel Macs” then.
😁
Maybe a better option would be “Intel Macs that can run Mojave or earlier.”
Just my 2 cents.
🤪
Well Ventura is the newest unsupported OS at this point in time. (Sonoma & Sequoia still get security updates)
The systems that can't natively run anything past Ventura are going to be from ~ 2015 - 2016, effectively 10 years old by now.
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
As I've understood it since signing up, about 3 years now, the definition of EIMs had already expanded to include 2012s and selected 2013 machines, although I'm uncertain as to the exact specs.
GalacticStag
macrumors regular
Man, what i'd do for a late 2012 27'' iMac.... my 21.5'' late 2009 is still fantastic though, somehow runs faster than my dad's 2015 27''!! and mine is still rocking an HDD! funny that
Agreed, and discussions in this sub-forum have reflected just that.
The description for this forum (on MacRumors) lists Core solo, Core Duo, and Core 2 Duo systems. Many of us are running newer systems that are not supported, and we see threads for such systems in this area.
Since Intel is 100% going to be sunset with ~ 2+ more years of software updates for Tahoe (which will mostly impact Mac Pro models), this sub-forum is poised to get a lot more action / traffic.
I thought by law it is now an early intel since I can put the model identifier in the prefix to a forum post (mine is a 6,1) 🙂
MacInTO
macrumors 65816
+1 for the i7 2012 Mini!
Funny enough, I just got one over the weekend for $75! It came with a fusion drive and 8GB RAM. I removed that, replaced it with two SSDs, 16GB RAM and renewed the thermal paste and it is like new again! I'm using it with my 30" ACD. I farmed all of the internal components from my 2012 15" i7 MBP so no extra expenses involved. My 15" MBP is slightly downgraded but I hardly use it anymore.
I've been using the new setup only a few days and I'm sold!
Funny enough, I just got one over the weekend for $75! It came with a fusion drive and 8GB RAM. I removed that, replaced it with two SSDs, 16GB RAM and renewed the thermal paste and it is like new again! I'm using it with my 30" ACD. I farmed all of the internal components from my 2012 15" i7 MBP so no extra expenses involved. My 15" MBP is slightly downgraded but I hardly use it anymore.
I've been using the new setup only a few days and I'm sold!
I know we can’t talk about it here (yet) but imho I would say the 2017 MacBook Air is the equivalent of the Mac mini 2012 in repairability. You can replace the battery (not glued) and SSD. 8GBs is still really good epically with old Mac OS. This things supposed to run one of the last versions of 10.12 at launch but it must be a special version because I can’t get it to do so.
Maybe it has to do when it was made? Internet recovery put 10.14 on it. For the Mac mini in this forum post it did do 10.8, and usually it just does the lowest supported os. Maybe something to do with SSD in it (kinda like the 2015s if you upgrade them you need 10.13 minimum)
Maybe it has to do when it was made? Internet recovery put 10.14 on it. For the Mac mini in this forum post it did do 10.8, and usually it just does the lowest supported os. Maybe something to do with SSD in it (kinda like the 2015s if you upgrade them you need 10.13 minimum)
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DCBassman
macrumors 65816
I had the same issue with a 2017 iMac. High Sierra, no problem, Sierra a non-starter.
See, that’s what I was thinking. And I know sierra installer is a PIA because you have to do this but I got it working on the Mac mini late 2012. I bet it was some specific version lost to time, the 2017 air came out just a few months before high sierra. I may try high sierra installer next but Mojave has been super solid as well. Gotta love Chromium-legacy. Best browser I’ve ever used. On 10.7, 10.12, 10.14, doesn’t matter. Same download. Same thing, let’s you not worry about one of the biggest pieces of software when deciding which Mac OS to run
Hmmmm, I don’t know, I REALLY like my 2013 Mac Pro that I got for free more than my Mac Mini. Both are cool but the cylinder Pro is super cool and fast and just looks so unique on my desk. I LOVE how the ports light up when you turn it….SO COOL!!! Way easier to upgrade than a Mini also. (I assume you meant the huge Tower Mac Pros in your post)
🙂
Hello,
Quick question, is Chronium Legacy an okay browser without any “Google Crap” in it? I hate Google so I have avoided the Chrome browser up until now…
Thanks!
🙂
Only excluding because in my mind I still can’t afford it. I remember when it released you see.
Chromium legacy has things ungoogled chromium has. That’s really the best browser in existence. While chromium legacy is similar, it is the one that works on my lion 10.7 MacBook mid 2007 and older Mac OS versions so I accept any google cruft it may still retain. At a certain point you have to figure out what’s important, but I also hate google and haven’t had a google account since like 2018.
Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
At the time I couldnt stretch for the MBP but we were able to get into a 2008 aluminum unibody macbook through my wifes university which I have had since 08. I am also very fond of this mac as it was our first Apple portable (before this the household Apple ecosystem comprised of a QS Powermac G4, blueberry imac g3 & my ipod mini lol all of which were hand me downs except the ipod which I bought while we were dating) and is still in use as one of my daily drivers down stairs. I've kept it at El Capitan and primarily use it for light surfing, YT & listening to music with some BT over ear headphones that no longer work with my iphone17pm or M2 16mbp - but DO work perfectly with this mac. Years later I picked up a 09 MBP for $40 bucks which I daily drive upstairs LOL, runs MX23 and is what I am using now.
In many ways, I think this era portable are the pinacle of Apple portable design - sleek, metal unibody design with 100% user upgradable memory and SSD/HDDs & batteries. I prefer the battery/SSD enclosure of the 2008 a1278 with its easy latch system vs the 09 MBP where the entire bottom cover comes off with a bunch of stupid screws lol - very sad to see that feature go away so quicky as it was a very nice touch.
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Is there a way to "turn off" any Google crap that is embedded in Chromium Legacy or is that impossible? I wouldn't mind trying it on my 2008 MacBook running Lion but I really don't want to "feed" Google anything about me if at all possible.
Thanks for the info!
🙂
Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
If you're looking for a privacy focused non-google browser that works on legacy macos, Sealion is another option. If you're interested in a full suite of browser/mail/news/irc etc there's SLs big brother, Brass Monkey.
I am also a fan of Basilisk browser for legacy macos on Intel macs.
Good luck.
I kinda understand going with the glued in batteries, but don't understand dropping ability to upgrade RAM and easy access to (even proprietary) SSD modules. I upgraded mine to 8GB as soon as it was unlocked in the OS and firmware and have never looked back.
It being a true 64 BIT system with the RAM support, has made it quite future proof! I have 2 internal SSD units and can boot into 3 different versions of MacOS currently.
I have a 2015 that is also (just recently) on its 2nd battery, and you can upgrade storage but not RAM. Good system too, and I like the retina display but not as special to use as the older laptop.