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Abdulhaq

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 23, 2013
210
13
I have a refurbished 13.3" Macbook Mid-2010, Unibody, with 2GB ram and 128 GB SSD. Kindly let me know with this limited configuration as to which operating system should i use e.g. Yosemite, El Kapitan, Sierra etc. Will the latest High Sierra run properly on this machine or should I settle for an older MacOS.
 

frou

macrumors 65816
Mar 14, 2009
1,358
1,910
I would highly recommend seeking out 8GB RAM (2x 4GB sticks) cheaply on eBay or something. That will take the machine from being compromised to running High Sierra just fine.
 
Last edited:

kohlson

macrumors 68020
Apr 23, 2010
2,425
737
For security purposes, always best to run an up-to-date version of macOS. 10.13.6 is pretty good now. I have installed it on my brother's 2011 MacBook Air, which came with 4GB RAM (not upgradeable), and came with a 256GB SSD. For general purpose use - web browsing, email, office apps - it works great.
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,338
12,112
High Sierra but you need to upgrade the RAM for the best experience.
 

BODYBUILDERPAUL

Suspended
Feb 9, 2009
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I have a April 2010 white MacBook that still works as a standby. I upgraded the RAM to 4GB in 2013 and Mavericks absolutely ruined it. It went from speedy to snail pace and sadly never ever recovered. It was a terrible user experience.

The most modern OS that worked far far better on it was YOSEMITE - it seemed to speed things up again - or a little :) Sadly Ei Capitan and Sierra made it snail pace. I haven't dared updating to High Sierra.

Sad that a MacBook can be truly ruined at only 3 years old. Hopefully my newer MacBook will be ok at 3 years.
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,338
12,112
I have a April 2010 white MacBook that still works as a standby. I upgraded the RAM to 4GB in 2013 and Mavericks absolutely ruined it. It went from speedy to snail pace and sadly never ever recovered. It was a terrible user experience.

The most modern OS that worked far far better on it was YOSEMITE - it seemed to speed things up again - or a little :) Sadly Ei Capitan and Sierra made it snail pace. I haven't dared updating to High Sierra.

Sad that a MacBook can be truly ruined at only 3 years old. Hopefully my newer MacBook will be ok at 3 years.
Do you have an SSD in it? If so, is it a fast SSD?

I run a 2008 MacBook5,1 with SSD and 8 GB RAM, and it runs OK. Not fast, but reasonable for a decade old machine.
 

BODYBUILDERPAUL

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Do you have an SSD in it? If so, is it a fast SSD?

I run a 2008 MacBook5,1 with SSD and 8 GB RAM, and it runs OK. Not fast, but reasonable for a decade old machine.

WOW 10 years old! Buddy that's incredible - I know of no other computer brand whose computers would still be working at 10 years! Pretty great huh!
No, still using the trusty 250GB Hitachi harddrive which is very full (241GB) bless it!
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,338
12,112
WOW 10 years old! Buddy that's incredible - I know of no other computer brand whose computers would still be working at 10 years! Pretty great huh!
No, still using the trusty 250GB Hitachi harddrive which is very full (241GB) bless it!
Actually, my primary Windows desktop is 8-9 years old. Last year I upgraded it from a Athlon II X3 435 triple-core to a Phenom II X6 1055T hex-core, and it runs just fine.
 
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BODYBUILDERPAUL

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Actually, my primary Windows desktop is 8-9 years old. Last year I upgraded it from a Athlon II X3 435 triple-core to a Phenom II X6 1055T hex-core, and it runs just fine.
Incredible EugW!
Well last night, I installed High Sierra on the older MacBook (now matches my MacBook i5) and I'm keen on having the latest OS plus I needed High Sierra for several things that Sierra can't do now. AND... it's actually breathed new life into it! It feels faster than Sierra when using Safari and I havn't noticed any beachballs yet! And I guess it's cleared out a load of caches as it's gone from 11 GB free to 28GB free now :)
Very pleased as this is the MacBook that I use in places and travels when I'm not happy to take my i5 with me :)
 

CooperBox

macrumors 68000
I have a April 2010 white MacBook that still works as a standby. I upgraded the RAM to 4GB in 2013 and Mavericks absolutely ruined it. It went from speedy to snail pace and sadly never ever recovered. It was a terrible user experience.

The most modern OS that worked far far better on it was YOSEMITE - it seemed to speed things up again - or a little :) Sadly Ei Capitan and Sierra made it snail pace. I haven't dared updating to High Sierra.

Sad that a MacBook can be truly ruined at only 3 years old. Hopefully my newer MacBook will be ok at 3 years.
Post #1 and this one interested me.
As a Mac collector (vintage & contemporary up to 2012), the 2010 white 2.4GHz unibody MacBook7,1 is one of my top favorites. Not without faults I hesitate to add, but if one can be found which has seen little use, devoid of cracks around the top cover rear hinges, if the price is right these are great machines. In fact for general use I use mine far more frequently than a quad-core i7 MacBookProRetina - that's how pleasing these earlier MacBoks can be to use!

Now to let you into a few secrets. I have 2 of these 2.4GHz unibody MacBook7,1. I've installed a 250Gb Samsung 850EVO SSD into both.
When I bought it, one was running OS High Sierra with 8Gb RAM - and it needed that! High Sierra gave me nothing I really needed, so did a clean install of Sierra. And with the 8Gb RAM it flies!
The other I have kept installed with 10.8.5 Mountain Lion, one of the all-time geat operating systems, if not the best ever!
Of course Apple dropped support for 10.8.5 and should be ashamed. They created an absolute winner and imho followed it up with subsequent loosers. Some readers may disagree - and that's ok.
Unfortunately web browsers fuelled by a desire to keep up with Apple's newer (totally UNupgradable) machines with later operating systems, have dropped support for 10.8.5 Mountain Lion. But don't let that stop you from using that OS. I never use Safari, much preferring Firefox, and am perfectly happy running FF 48.02 which I have highly tweaked for additional security & privacy. Am currently typing this using the same MacBook, and with just 4Gb RAM it's a wonderful machine.
Within a week or two I will be doing a full summary of the MacBook7,1 over on the **PPC** forum, and will be incuding details of tear-down, upgrading and rebuild. Unlike the pre-unibody white Macbooks, these 2.4GHz unibody's are a dream to work on.
**PPC** Although these MacBooks are Intel Core 2 Duo and of course not PPC, across on that sister forum, there are so many knowledgeable folks there who take a great interest in early Intel Macbooks, and MacBook Pros. I post there frequently, so for any PPC or early Intel queries, the chances are you'll find your answer across there.
 

MSastre

macrumors 6502a
Aug 18, 2014
614
278
WOW 10 years old! Buddy that's incredible - I know of no other computer brand whose computers would still be working at 10 years! Pretty great huh!
No, still using the trusty 250GB Hitachi harddrive which is very full (241GB) bless it!

Full hard drive will definitely slow your machine down, more so than which OS it uses. For best functioning, you need 10-20% free space on your hard drive.
 
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BODYBUILDERPAUL

Suspended
Feb 9, 2009
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Full hard drive will definitely slow your machine down, more so than which OS it uses. For best functioning, you need 10-20% free space on your hard drive.
OUCH!!! Thank you for the buddy! Very happy with High Sierra though. It takes a little longer to start up but once it's woken up properly, it's lovely! For me, so much better than Sierra. In fact no contest. It's funny how we all have different experiences with our Macs isn't it.
[doublepost=1538172035][/doublepost]
Post #1 and this one interested me.
As a Mac collector (vintage & contemporary up to 2012), the 2010 white 2.4GHz unibody MacBook7,1 is one of my top favorites. Not without faults I hesitate to add, but if one can be found which has seen little use, devoid of cracks around the top cover rear hinges, if the price is right these are great machines. In fact for general use I use mine far more frequently than a quad-core i7 MacBookProRetina - that's how pleasing these earlier MacBoks can be to use!

Now to let you into a few secrets. I have 2 of these 2.4GHz unibody MacBook7,1. I've installed a 250Gb Samsung 850EVO SSD into both.
When I bought it, one was running OS High Sierra with 8Gb RAM - and it needed that! High Sierra gave me nothing I really needed, so did a clean install of Sierra. And with the 8Gb RAM it flies!
The other I have kept installed with 10.8.5 Mountain Lion, one of the all-time geat operating systems, if not the best ever!
Of course Apple dropped support for 10.8.5 and should be ashamed. They created an absolute winner and imho followed it up with subsequent loosers. Some readers may disagree - and that's ok.
Unfortunately web browsers fuelled by a desire to keep up with Apple's newer (totally UNupgradable) machines with later operating systems, have dropped support for 10.8.5 Mountain Lion. But don't let that stop you from using that OS. I never use Safari, much preferring Firefox, and am perfectly happy running FF 48.02 which I have highly tweaked for additional security & privacy. Am currently typing this using the same MacBook, and with just 4Gb RAM it's a wonderful machine.
Within a week or two I will be doing a full summary of the MacBook7,1 over on the **PPC** forum, and will be incuding details of tear-down, upgrading and rebuild. Unlike the pre-unibody white Macbooks, these 2.4GHz unibody's are a dream to work on.
**PPC** Although these MacBooks are Intel Core 2 Duo and of course not PPC, across on that sister forum, there are so many knowledgeable folks there who take a great interest in early Intel Macbooks, and MacBook Pros. I post there frequently, so for any PPC or early Intel queries, the chances are you'll find your answer across there.
Some lovely info and thoughts. Thank you :)
 
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BODYBUILDERPAUL

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Feb 9, 2009
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One BIG problem with running High Sierra on the late 2009 MacBook seems to be a video graphics conflict.
Several trailers on iTunes, one or two videos on YouTube and several videos on websites will not display properly and appear to be all scrambled!!!
Any idea what is causing this conflict?
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,338
12,112
One BIG problem with running High Sierra on the late 2009 MacBook seems to be a video graphics conflict.
Several trailers on iTunes, one or two videos on YouTube and several videos on websites will not display properly and appear to be all scrambled!!!
Any idea what is causing this conflict?
GeForce 9400M driver issue.

I haven't really noticed this often. Only a couple of videos in the past year in the wild.
 

BODYBUILDERPAUL

Suspended
Feb 9, 2009
1,773
1,438
Barcelona
GeForce 9400M driver issue.

I haven't really noticed this often. Only a couple of videos in the past year in the wild.

Thank you EugW :) I've noticed it over the past few days on several iTunes film trailers and I came across two yesterday on YouTube.

I really appreciate your advice with this :) I'm surprised that Apple went ahead and released High Sierra for the late 2009 if there's an issue here or at least attempted to fix it.
 

BODYBUILDERPAUL

Suspended
Feb 9, 2009
1,773
1,438
Barcelona
More problems now as iTunes is not recognising my Fiance's iPhone SE (it did on Sunday evening - no luck since) even though the Photos App is seeing content etc.

Oh damn, I remember the days when Apple products simply worked!
 
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