So I'm currently running my MBP from mid-2009 with OS X Lion (10.6.8) and the original equipment. I'm thinking about doing a massive upgrade, including putting 8GB of RAM and upgrading to OS X Maverick. Is it possible to upgrade directly from OS X Lion to Maverick without buying Snow Leopard? Also, do you guys suggest buying an SSD drive?
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Upgrading mid 2009 MBP
- Thread starter dilbaggins
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Well since Lion comes after Maverick, then no, you won't need a copy of Snow Leopard (you'll be able to upgrade direct). As for a SSD, it will greatly improve read/write speeds on your Mac, but they're pretty expensive, so it depends on how much data you'll be storing on your Mac as to whether or not it will be worth buying one. For example, if you only want 120GB of storage then a SSD would be cheap and well worth it - however if you want 500GB of storage... then you'd have to pay a lot, so it might not be worth it.
Is it a 15" model? Before you do any upgrades, I'd recommend trying to sell it and getting a refurbished MacBook Air. Overall the upgrade cost should be comparable, but you will get a huge performance boost + warranty.
Now to the rest of your questions: why would you need to buy Snow Leopard to upgrade to 10.9? Any OS X with App Store (Snow Leopard and higher) can be used to buy 10.9. And yes, I definitely recommend an SSD, unless you do something which requires insane amounts of storage. But again, I'd look whether its feasible to upgrade the whole computer instead just a few components.
Now to the rest of your questions: why would you need to buy Snow Leopard to upgrade to 10.9? Any OS X with App Store (Snow Leopard and higher) can be used to buy 10.9. And yes, I definitely recommend an SSD, unless you do something which requires insane amounts of storage. But again, I'd look whether its feasible to upgrade the whole computer instead just a few components.
10.6.8 is not Lion which is 10.7. If you have 10.6.8 you have Snow Leopard which you can use to upgrade to the newest OS X in the App Store. I have the same model that originally came with Leopard 10.5 when I got it in June that year. I think they started shipping with Snow Leopard later, and if you ever have a hard drive replaced by Apple they give you Snow Leopard. Definitely check which version you have. If you only have Leopard 10.5 you'll need to get Snow Leopard before you can upgrade further.
Personally I won't be upgrading my 2009 MBP any further. I installed 8gb of RAM which had improved some things, but I have other issues that no one seems to be able to fix. SSDs are too expensive for me, and I just had my drive replaced a few months ago with a 500gb drive. Plus the 2009 models are SATA 2, so they don't get much of a speed increase. I'm saving up for the rMBP refresh hopefully with help from family and the education discount.
Personally I won't be upgrading my 2009 MBP any further. I installed 8gb of RAM which had improved some things, but I have other issues that no one seems to be able to fix. SSDs are too expensive for me, and I just had my drive replaced a few months ago with a 500gb drive. Plus the 2009 models are SATA 2, so they don't get much of a speed increase. I'm saving up for the rMBP refresh hopefully with help from family and the education discount.