2010 Macbooks

[Old Man McGuggins]

I've got 2 MacBook from 2010, a normal white plastic one and a pro model. The white one runs 10.11 and the pro 10.13. But one small problem.

On 10.11 I'm scared these will be locked out of future software. Is there any way to upgrade it to 10.13 without hurting anything on it? Using the 10.13 in the apple store.

And on the pro, I got it used, it was actually froma recycle center, and I have no idea what im doing. I got the iso for osx 10.13, but I don't know how to install it. The sudo stuff (trying to put El capitan 10.11 on it at least) tells me the installer doesn't exist. Is the 10.13 installer from the app store capable of making a usb? The recovery mode reinstall "can't contact the servers".

Can anyone solve these issues with these 2? I know powerpc enough to sorta fix those but not Intel. I really want to have both of these running the same system and I want to ideally unlock the pro within the os somehow. Also the non pro has 1 gb ram, how does this impact upgrading? Should I up the ram?

 

[Amethyst1]

Is there any way to upgrade it to 10.13 without hurting anything on it? Using the 10.13 in the apple store.

Yes, 10.13 is supported officially and upgrading from 10.11 will preserve everything.

I got the iso for osx 10.13, but I don't know how to install it. The sudo stuff (trying to put El capitan 10.11 on it at least) tells me the installer doesn't exist.

Are you including the correct path to the installer app in the command? The command given on e.g. Apple’s website assumes the installer app is in the /Applications folder. Post the command you’re trying.

Also the non pro has 1 gb ram, how does this impact upgrading? Should I up the ram?

Heck yeah. 1 GB is nothing for High Sierra. I’m not sure the installer will even run with 1 GB. The 2010 13”s can take up to 16 GB, so I’d go for 8 GB at least.

 

[GMShadow]

Just make sure you use at least one stick that’s 1066 speed in Slot 0. Those models won’t run with two sticks of faster DDR3.

 

[Old Man McGuggins]

Yes, 10.13 is supported officially and upgrading from 10.11 will preserve everything.


Are you including the correct path to the installer app in the command? The command given on e.g. Apple’s website assumes the installer app is in the /Applications folder. Post the command you’re trying.


Heck yeah. 1 GB is nothing for High Sierra. I’m not sure the installer will even run with 1 GB. The 2010 13”s can take up to 16 GB, so I’d go for 8 GB at least.

I shoved a spare 4 gb card into the second slot, so now I have 5 gb.

I bypassed the password by going into recover and resetting it with the terminal.

Is it worth upgrading it to 10.13 or should I stay on 10.11?

 

[Old Man McGuggins]

Just make sure you use at least one stick that’s 1066 speed in Slot 0. Those models won’t run with two sticks of faster DDR3.

That's odd, because at one point I had 2 identical ddr3 4 gb sticks in it, and it partitioned it all fine. On another note, will the old white plastic 2010 work with the battery disconnected? I assume it would, since the powerbooks all do and a few intels had easily removable batteries

 

[TheShortTimer]

I shoved a spare 4 gb card into the second slot, so now I have 5 gb.

I bypassed the password by going into recover and resetting it with the terminal.

Is it worth upgrading it to 10.13 or should I stay on 10.11?

It's definitely worth upgrading to 10.13. Especially now that you've got more RAM to play with but be warned, you'll need more than 5GB in the long run. @Amethyst1 advised at least 8GB - which is good advice because most web browsers devour RAM and the more you do online, the greater the amount of RAM you'll find yourself needing. I'm currently using 12GB RAM on my 2011 MacBook Pro.

 

[Amethyst1]

On 10.11 I'm scared these will be locked out of future software.

Since 10.13 has been unsupported since the release of 11 (2020): if your goal is to ensure current applications will run for some time to come, you might want to look into using a more recent version of macOS with the help of a patcher.

 

[GMShadow]

That's odd, because at one point I had 2 identical ddr3 4 gb sticks in it, and it partitioned it all fine. On another note, will the old white plastic 2010 work with the battery disconnected? I assume it would, since the powerbooks all do and a few intels had easily removable batteries

It will (I don’t have a battery in mine), but at a reduced CPU speed.


If both DDR3 sticks are 1066MHz it will run fine. It only gets cranky if you’re trying to run two 1333 or higher sticks in it.

This is why mine has 1 1GB and 1 8GB stick. 😄

At the time I was still using the machine, the 8GB stick had been a decent expenditure and I couldn’t justify buying a slower 8GB stick to bring it to 16, so it stayed with that odd mix.

 

[Amethyst1]

On another note, will the old white plastic 2010 work with the battery disconnected?

As said, the CPU will downclock heavily: to 1 GHz.

 

[Old Man McGuggins]

As said, the CPU will downclock heavily: to 1 GHz.

What? Why?

I'd think it'd be the opposite, it'd run perfect on just charger, like most laptops do

 

[Amethyst1]

What? Why?

Only Apple knows. Presumably to prevent the machine from drawing more power under load than the AC adapter alone provides.

 

[GMShadow]

Especially since the larger Pros used to easily draw more than 85W under load.