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AppleDogs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2017
28
2
I have a Late 2008 Aluminum Macbook with 4GB RAM running OS X 10.5.8.

What is the latest OS I can safely install and what is the best way to do it? I know some upgrades were free and some had to be purchased. Does Apple have a tool that will scan my Mac and tell me what I can buy/install?
 

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
Max supported OS on yours is El Capitan (10.11). She'll run fine on that OS if you throw in an SSD.
 

SamVilde

macrumors regular
Oct 18, 2008
169
80
New York City
This is my computer. It runs great with El Capitan. I did put in an SSD 2 years ago. It felt like getting a new computer, and was absolutely worth the time and money. I know that wasn't your question, but that was $85 very well spent.
 

AppleDogs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2017
28
2
Did you do a clean install of El Capitan? Or upgrade from an earlier OS? I'm still running Leopard 10.5.8. To upgrade, I've read I have to buy Snow Leopard from Apple for $20 and then upgrade through the App Store to El Capitan.

Is there an option to buy El Capitan? And install fresh on a new SSD?
 

SamVilde

macrumors regular
Oct 18, 2008
169
80
New York City
I had Yosemite running when I swapped out the drive. I don't know whether that was a clean install or not, but I put Yosemite on a completely blank SSD and then restored from a Time Machine back up. When El Capitan was released I installed that.

So in other words ... I can not answer your questions, because I was never installing something that was old and hard to find. But someone here can.
 

stevef18

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2017
2
0
New Jersey
I upgraded my late 2008 Aluminum Macbook from 4GB RAM to 8GB and also upgraded the HD to 500GB SSD (Samsung 850). Running El Capitain with no issues.
Very pleased with performance.
 

McPaul

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2006
97
6
Vancouver
I have this same late 2008 unibody MacBook I found in a closet bit with 2gb ram.

I'm assuming it's worth nothing. Correct?

Also have a MacBook pro from 2006. I'm guessing the same?

Thanks.
 

stevef18

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2017
2
0
New Jersey
I have a Late 2008 Aluminum Macbook with 4GB RAM running OS X 10.5.8.

What is the latest OS I can safely install and what is the best way to do it? I know some upgrades were free and some had to be purchased. Does Apple have a tool that will scan my Mac and tell me what I can buy/install?
[doublepost=1494197953][/doublepost]You can run the El Capitain release of OSX.
I upgraded my late 2008 Aluminum MacBook from 4GB to 8GB of RAM, and replaced the hard drive with SSD Samsung 850. This has made an unusable machine useful as a second laptop. Not as fast as a new laptop, but very useful for Web browsing, Office, Minecraft and other apps as well. Balance the upgrade cost with buying a new machine and make your decision.
 

ApolloBoy

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2015
778
305
San Jose, CA
I have this same late 2008 unibody MacBook I found in a closet bit with 2gb ram. I'm assuming it's worth nothing. Correct?
Once you put in an SSD and upgrade the RAM I think you've got something that'll work well as a basic computer. The aluminum MacBooks have aged pretty well design-wise too IMO.

Also have a MacBook pro from 2006. I'm guessing the same?
That one's tougher. If you've got a Core Duo machine you can only bump up the RAM to 2 GB and officially you're limited to Snow Leopard. If it's got a Core 2 Duo you can officially only go up to Lion and you can only go up to 4 GB of RAM. The Core Duos are pretty sluggish, but if it's a Core 2 Duo you might be able to get a little something out of it.
 
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