Hello all. I’ve been recently looking into getting more older macs, but I want to purchase one that is the best for running 10.6 SL or older. Preferably looking into computers that have easy-to-access Memory Slots, and easily upgradable in terms of Hardware. Also looking for a model with USB slots, Headphone I/O Jacks (ports), and a CD/DVD Drive. Also one that is of good value and not too harsh on my wallet.
Folks here have been providing you with excellent pointers and advice. Hopefully the following won’t complicate the decision-making
too much.
I’m thinking about priority given to Snow Leopard (which is sort of my thing around here) when figuring out hardware to pick, coupled with
the latitude of picking another OS to use — in the event you either tire of Snow Leopard or wish to set up the laptop with two or more OSes on different partitions.
That said, focus on 2008–09 models — namely, the unibody MacBook (there was only one, late 2008); the late 2008 15-inch MacBook Pro; and pretty much any of the 2009 MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and/or MacBooks, as all of these run Snow Leopard flawlessly, as designed by Apple,
and they can run (or be coaxed to run) Leopard at the one end, while also able to run much higher versions of OS X (and even macOS) at the other. MacBook Airs aside, all have easy-to-access RAM slots and easy-to-fairly-easy-to-access hard drives.
These are all going to be fully 64-bit systems, and as
@Amethyst1 noted already, 2009-era Macs have tended to experience fewer, long-term chronic issues (like bad GPUs and/or logic boards). All of these were, as well, late-era Penryn Core 2 Duo systems. These have been shown, with non-Apple hacks, to continue running macOS smoothly all the way into the post-Mojave era.
I owned an early 2009 13-inch MBP from new. I’d likely still have it now were it not for my accidentally killing it with a can of coconut water in 2011 (its 2011 replacement, an early 2011 13-inch MBP, is still in use and it still runs the same build of Snow Leopard — originally installed on that 2009 MBP — to this day). It also took on blunt-force trauma shortly after I bought it from Apple, but the worst the impact did was it bent the solid, unibody case; the system itself, which was in sleep mode when struck, woke from sleep mode as if it was any other time, and the screen didn’t crack or fail.
A second-stream pick: any 2010 or 2011 13-inch MacBook/MacBook Pro or 2010 MacBook Air.
Pre-2008 Intel Mac laptops were a bit of a dog’s breakfast, with their own in-designed limitations (like 32-bit processors or hybrid, 64-bit processors but 32-bit EFI firmware), or widely faulty GPUs; post-2009 models I didn’t mention either have more of those faulty GPUs (again, as other folks have noted) and/or require clever workarounds to run 10.6.8 (but will run nothing — absolutely nothing — earlier).
I’ve heard that the 17” Macbook Pro is the best in terms of performance and screen quality, but it’s too expensive where I live, and most Macs from that era are already most likely beat up and worn out. The white Macbooks are not a good choice either, since they are practically the same as the Macbook Pros of the era, but have a plastic exterior, which makes it less durable. Desktop iMacs and eMacs take up too much space in my house, and are quite expensive and heavy to bring around.
Although you nix the idea of polycarbonate MacBooks, the same general idea around the problems with that (i.e., visible wear, ageing components) applies to aluminium models.
In the end, the Mac you want — and have budgeted for — may take some patience and persistence with searching to find an exemplary example in your area which got very little use
and whose seller just wants to get rid of it to free up more room in their home (not to make a tonne of money). They might even still be in the original box.
This does mean having to keep a keen eye for tiny details in a sale listing and having the good timing of finding a good example very soon after it’s put up for sale, but they
do turn up. And when they do, you’ll not only be getting a pristine example, but it’s one you can continue to keep in excellent condition for many years to come. Pretty much
any Mac laptop from that era, were I to find one in pristine shape around here
and could buy it for a good price, is a Mac I’d buy in a heartbeat,
even if I personally don’t need another Mac in this home.
Good luck!
