Mac heads: best OS for old MBP?

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KKJaleKKJale Frets: 982

I know there are folk on here that know their Macs, and I don't, so….

I have an old Macbook Pro… a mid-2010 13" with the 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo. Mostly just for browsing, casual photo tweaking and so on. I'm planning to perk it up with an SDD and 8gb RAM. Should be whizzy. Whoopee!

Until now it's been on Snow Leopard, never had any trouble with it, but browsers are no longer unsupported. So... an update. I can get a clean install of any OS I fancy. This MBP will handle up to High Sierra (which will lose my old version of photoshop, but I s'pose I could switch to Gimp or similar). 

Should I go for it? Or hold back to say Sierra, or even El Cap? 

Am I over-thinking this? 

D 

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Comments

  • earwighoneyearwighoney Frets: 3489
    KKJale said:

    I know there are folk on here that know their Macs, and I don't, so….

    I have an old Macbook Pro… a mid-2010 13" with the 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo. Mostly just for browsing, casual photo tweaking and so on. I'm planning to perk it up with an SDD and 8gb RAM. Should be whizzy. Whoopee!

    Until now it's been on Snow Leopard, never had any trouble with it, but browsers are no longer unsupported. So... an update. I can get a clean install of any OS I fancy. This MBP will handle up to High Sierra (which will lose my old version of photoshop, but I s'pose I could switch to Gimp or similar). 

    Should I go for it? Or hold back to say Sierra, or even El Cap? 

    Am I over-thinking this? 

    D 

    I had a similar thing and I found using the last supported browser to be the best way to address the situation. 

    Installing High Sierra on my 2012 MBP was a nightmare from start to finish. 
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  • KKJaleKKJale Frets: 982
    edited July 2019
    Thanks. Did your MBP still have an HDD in it though @earwighoney ;?
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  • Simon_MSimon_M Frets: 542
    edited July 2019
    Affinity Photo as a replacement for Photoshop. I ditched adobe with the latest upgrade to Mojave and haven’t looked back. Affinity Photo is great. And cheap as chips.
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  • KKJaleKKJale Frets: 982
    Ta for the recommendation, that looks fine.

    I'm not worried about finding a photo editor TBH... more wondering if High Sierra is just too bloated, and whether an old Core 2 Duo Macbook like mine might prefer a sleeker older OS.
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18378
    Try going to El Capitan. 

    My old 2009 MBP was the same spec as yours, but I gradually took it Mountain Lion until software 'upgrades' forced my hand.

     I took out the DVD (used externally in a £3 USB housing) & fitted an SSD to boot from, plus a 1TB Toshiba hybrid drive.
    Thought about making a Fusion drive, but couldn't see any real world advantage to me.
    Installed El Cap. & everything was smooth & stable. The Core2 always ran hot, but did not run any hotter or slower than with earlier OS's. Booted in about 10 seconds.

    I always lag back an OS release or two & let the early adopters sort out the bugs  ;)
    Good luck & make backups first  :)

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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    On my old 11" Air, 2011 model, I got away with using Mavericks until Dropbox dropped support for it. Put Sierra on it but it runs quite slowly now. I think in hindsight I should have gone with Yosemite. God how I wish Apple wouldn't update the OS every year. Once every 3 years would be good. And only to improve performance and fix bugs,
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18378
    Philtre said:
    On my old 11" Air, 2011 model, I got away with using Mavericks until Dropbox dropped support for it. Put Sierra on it but it runs quite slowly now. I think in hindsight I should have gone with Yosemite. God how I wish Apple wouldn't update the OS every year. Once every 3 years would be good. And only to improve performance and fix bugs,
    Just like with iOS, Android & every other OS, turn off 'Automatic Updates" & ignore the nagging prompts.
    Manual is the best way  ;)
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  • KKJaleKKJale Frets: 982
    edited July 2019
    Thanks @Kittyfrisk ;;

    El Capitan security patches are gone though (Sierra runs out late this year, High Sierra late 2020). Should I be worried?
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  • earwighoneyearwighoney Frets: 3489
    KKJale said:
    Ta for the recommendation, that looks fine.

    I'm not worried about finding a photo editor TBH... more wondering if High Sierra is just too bloated, and whether an old Core 2 Duo Macbook like mine might prefer a sleeker older OS.
    HS is incredibly bloated.  I found for even something like copying files it takes AGES. 

    I even found the means to upgrade to it from 10.9.5 was a nightmare - the official Apple update from the Apple Store at the time was a corrupted file.  I had to find an alternative download to create a bootable USB.  
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18378
    KKJale said:
    Thanks @Kittyfrisk ;;

    El Capitan security patches are gone though (Sierra runs out late this year, High Sierra late 2020). Should I be worried?
    Depends how you use your machine & where you go on the interweb  ;)
    I use El Cap. with VPN, ad blockers, anti pop ups, script blockers etc. etc. & regularly run antivirus scans but I accept this is less than perfect & maybe a bit complex.
    If security is your main concern, then try updating regularly to the most recent supported OS & security update that your Mac will support.
    This is an interesting article  https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/how-to-keep-older-macs-secure-a-geeky-approach/
    Cheers.
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