I have a MacBook Pro 2011 model 8.1 with a battery that can still hold a bit of a charge and I got it running the newest Mac OS Catalina beta and works like a new MacBook and the only upgrade I’ve done is put a ssd inside and used dosdude1’s software to make a usb installer key of Catalina, so my question is how many of you guys are doing the same as me and running new os’s on old mac’s?
5 Likes
Great topic. Exactly the type of thing I hoped to get from this community. You have given me hope of being able to keep using my 9 year old MB Air.
6 Likes
My daily driver is a 2012 MacBook Air. This is my first Mac, and has been a great computer. @Bgeeoz what is the latest OS your 9 Year old MBA will run?
Edit: I had the battery replaced a few years ago so its doing alright with keeping a charge… mostly…
1 Like
Can only go as far as High Sierra. Kind of sad, because the thing I really enjoy doing is playing with new things, whether an OS, a device, or app. Locks me out of MacOS beta.
Tried Linux several times, but not that interested in command line functions.
1 Like
I’m using a 2012 11" i7 Macbook Air connected to a 27" Thunderbolt for web development and other professional work. Also have an 8th generation i5 Lenovo laptop that was $600 and much more budget friendly. Apple’s prices (and/or price-for-value) are slowly pushing me into making my next professional machine a PC. The only thing I feel left out on is streaming high quality with all the bells and whistles. A new MacBookPro would let me stream my Audio Hijack + Ecamm Live + Farrago + LoopBack + Skype + HD webcam like I want to, but until that makes money for me, I’m fine saving the money.
I’m also going to forego upgrading to Catalina, as I feel like too many programs are being cut off from support. I just pray that Apple will not abandon the security updates. I only upgraded to Mojave for security roll-up reasons.
1 Like
Mid-2010 with the bad GPU… I have to keep it running the Intel video with the Gfx Status menubar widget to avoid system crashes.
Late 2012 MacBook Pro 15 inch and 27 inch thunderbolt monitor. Battery lasts about 30 minutes so it needs to be replaced. It’s my first experience with any Mac or Apple other than my iPad 2nd gen I got somewhere around that time or before. Now I’m all Apple with iPhone XS Max and iPad Pro but still chugging with the same laptop and still happy with it other than battery life
This is a great topic! I’m running a mid-2009 MacBook Pro 15" with Mojave. I upgraded to an ssd and 8gb ram. It’s actually running really well. I would like to eventually upgrade to Catalina, but I’m running a few legacy programs that are not 64 bit. I can even hold a charge for about an hour with the original battery. This thing is a beast.
Just want to chime in and say while I’m not a Mac user, I really appreciate this topic. I’ve never been comfortable with this need to always be updating and buying the latest gadget even if it is just a small improvement, it seems so wasteful in terms of the material and energy costs in manufacturing, waste produced etc
Keep those Macs chugging along!
4 Likes
Noting wrong wt it, might get an SSD…
That will be able to run newest Catalina most likely just look on dosdude1 but mine is a 2011 and works great
Dosdude1 has made older macs like new machines yet get to keep the old mbp keyboards and dvd drives for those who still use them, ssd boost and new macOS I’ll be good for another couple years at this rate
Late 2012 13" MB Pro i7 2.9. 16GB Ram
Upgraded to a 1.5tb spinner
Replaced the optical with a 2tb SSD.
Replaced the 1.5tb spinner with another 2tb SSD (yes, that’s 4tb of SSD)
On my 3rd battery (when the trackpad gives me issues, I know I need a new one)
Goes with me most everywhere. Oh, and I’m a backup fiend. 2 time machine volumes at home, along with a 4tb image backup. 1 time machine volume at work, and another 4tb image backup. I use CCC for the image backups. Yes, I have lost things before. I don’t plan to again.
I usually wait most of a year to install the new OS. I’ll do Catalina around WWDC next year. I can’t afford for stuff to fail.
Probably not an issue to most, but having installed Catalina on my 2010 MBA, I find that SuperDuper will not perform the steps to make clones bootable when being run on Catalina Beta. There appears to be an update in the works, but until then, beware.
Running a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) here.
Haven’t done anything to it since purchase. However I did option the i7 and 8GB of ram. That being said a few months out of warranty the hard drive started failing, a quick trip to Apple replacing it fixed her up (did as a gesture of good will) and Apple also replaced the logic board as a part of some recall or known issue? I don’t really remember.
Just did the upgrade to Catalina last night and find it actually runs a lot better than it did running Mojave.
As for actually upgrading? I probably won’t until the old girl dies.
Yea even on my MacBook Pro 2011 once Catalina was installed and setup. It has been running the quickest I’ve seen since owning it so I’m not complaining
I’m using a 2009 MacBook Pro running Mojave
I was running a MacBook Pro 2012 until last month when I finally upgraded to a new Windows laptop. My wife now has that MacBook, and physically it’s still as good as the day I bought it (better actually, since it’s now maxed on RAM and has an SSD instead of HDD).
Did you add ram? How much is maxed out? Just wondering because I need a battery replacement and wondering if I have room for more ram while they have the hood open
Is the dosdude1 patcher secure? I have a early 2011 Macbook Pro that only goes to High Sierra.