Which osx for MacBook Pro 2009?

[luckycharms]

Hi folks,

I got a hand-me-down MacBook Pro, 15", 2.66GHz, from 2009. It currently has OSX 10.5.8. I need to reinstall to get everything new and clean, and wondering which is the bet OS to install? Do I have to stick with 10.5?

Thanks!

 

[AdamskiUK]

Your Mac should be able to run 10.9 Mavericks (latest) just fine. I'm not sure how compatible it will be with 10.10 Yosemite, but 10.9 should run (relatively) smoothly.

 

[T5BRICK]

My old 2009 13" 2.53/8GB/256GB SSD MBP runs OSX 10.9 just fine.

According to Apple, anything that runs OSX 10.9 will run 10.10.

 

[nexus4life]

Definitely stay up to date because of security etc.

 

[luckycharms]

So, I have to buy the install discs, right?

 

[nexus4life]

So, I have to buy the install discs, right?

That's a negative, ghost rider. Make a USB installer. I'd link instructions for you, but apparently I'm not allowed to post links.

 

[T5BRICK]

So, I have to buy the install discs, right?

OSX 10.7 and newer are only available as downloads from the Mac App Store, which requires OSX 10.6.6 or newer. You can buy that here for $20. OSX 10.9(and soon, 10.10) is a free upgrade from there.

 

[nexus4life]

OSX 10.7 and newer are only available as downloads from the Mac App Store, which requires OSX 10.6.6 or newer. You can buy that here for $20. OSX 10.9(and soon, 10.10) is a free upgrade from there.

I thought there was a way to take the drive out, install Mavericks on another computer to it, then stick it back in? Obviously this isn't possible, or at least easy with recent macbook pro models, but probably doable with a 2009 one.

Edit - Just make a mavericks bootable drive, and AFTER BACKING UP EVERYTHING SAFELY ELSEWHERE, erase your hard drive. It supposedly lets you install directly if there is no OS currently installed.

 

[mrnoglue]

If you take it into an apple store they may be able to help you install a newer operating system.

 

[Qaanol]

In order to *make* a bootable Mavericks drive, you might need a more modern OS than Leopard. Not certain though, but if you have a friend with a Mac running something newer than Snow Leopard they can make the bootable drive for you with the createinstallmedia command.

Just make a mavericks bootable drive, and AFTER BACKING UP EVERYTHING SAFELY ELSEWHERE, erase your hard drive. It supposedly lets you install directly if there is no OS currently installed.

And in order to *install* Mavericks over Leopard, you can try the options listed here. The simplest is probably to edit /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist (make a backup first!) by changing the value of the ProductVersion key to 10.6.8.

 

[nexus4life]

If you don't have another machine available with which to make a USB installer, you can try to install Mavericks in a VM and make it, or install windows on bootcamp and use the VMWare image for mavericks.