I have a 13" unibody mid 2010 Macbook. I have upgraded it to 1 TB Hybrid hard disk (SSHD) and also added 16 GB ram. Presently it is running Mountain Lion which runs very well on it. I am also using Windows 7 in the bootcamp partition. I would like to know if El Kapitan will also run fine or if it may cause problems.
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El Kapitan on upgraded mid 2010 macbook
- Thread starter Abdulhaq
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Best thing to do is to try it yourself. Everyone's experience will be different. What works for me may not work for you.
If you have an extra external drive, use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone of your internal drive to the external one. You can then upgrade your internal drive to El Capitan and try it out. If you end up having problems, you can wipe your internal drive and restore the clone you made on the external drive to your internal one. Make sure you backup any files you created on El Cap as they will be deleted if you restore the clone.
I also have a white "Mid 2010" MacBook (with 4 GB RAM and conventional hard disk), and OS X 10.11 runs as good on it as did before OS X 10.7. I would expect that this should be the same for you.
Simon's advice in post 2 above is spot-on.
If you're unsure about how the upgrade will perform, MAKE SURE that you do one of the following:
1. Create a bootable backup using CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper) first.
2. Update the internal drive.
3. If things don't go as planned, boot from the external drive and "RE-clone" it back to the internal.
By re-cloning you can "get back where you once belonged".
or do this:
1. Create a bootable backup using CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper) first.
2. Run the El Capitan installer "aimed at" the EXTERNAL drive.
3. Boot and do some "test runs" from the external drive. Do you like what you see? Be aware that the OS may run a little slower (it's USB2), but you'll still be able to see if the applications you use work, don't crash, etc.
4. If you like it, then run the installer on the internal drive. OR, re-initialize the internal drive, do a completely clean install, and then "migrate over" your apps, accounts and data from the external drive.
5. If for some reason you don't like El Capitan, you could just erase the EXTERNAL drive, leaving your internal drive untouched.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I would suggest you install a "straight SSD" instead of a hybrid for your internal boot drive.
El Capitan will run much better that way.
You'll just have to find this out for yourself...
If you're unsure about how the upgrade will perform, MAKE SURE that you do one of the following:
1. Create a bootable backup using CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper) first.
2. Update the internal drive.
3. If things don't go as planned, boot from the external drive and "RE-clone" it back to the internal.
By re-cloning you can "get back where you once belonged".
or do this:
1. Create a bootable backup using CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper) first.
2. Run the El Capitan installer "aimed at" the EXTERNAL drive.
3. Boot and do some "test runs" from the external drive. Do you like what you see? Be aware that the OS may run a little slower (it's USB2), but you'll still be able to see if the applications you use work, don't crash, etc.
4. If you like it, then run the installer on the internal drive. OR, re-initialize the internal drive, do a completely clean install, and then "migrate over" your apps, accounts and data from the external drive.
5. If for some reason you don't like El Capitan, you could just erase the EXTERNAL drive, leaving your internal drive untouched.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I would suggest you install a "straight SSD" instead of a hybrid for your internal boot drive.
El Capitan will run much better that way.
You'll just have to find this out for yourself...
Thanks. AS it is I am more than happy with Mountain Lion. Are there distinct advantages of using El Kapitan?
The first thing that comes to mind is compressed memory but since you upgraded to 16 GB, you may rarely benefit from that feature.
Some modern applications will not run on anything less than Yosemite.
Before you decide which OS will be best for you, I suggest awaiting announcements at and around the June 2016 WWDC.