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Guy at Apple Told Me I Couldn't Upgrade to Lion? Is this true?

S

Shockadalite

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 12, 2013
5
0
Hi Everyone!

This is my first time posting, I have been lurking for a while ;). I have a question, I bought a Mac Pro (1,1) Dual Core Intel Xeon back in 2008, not knowing that this machine would pretty much become obsolete by 2013. What sucked was I had bought this machine to replace my previous one that had become obsolete when Mac went over to Intel technology.

I have found some good information about how to upgrade my CPU and am going to attempt that in the near future. But for right now, I just want to upgrade my OS to Lion (not Mountain Lion) and was given two different answers. A guy at a local Apple dealer told me I could upgrade to Lion but when I called to order Lion from Apple, the guy told me my computer wasn't eligible. This didn't make sense because I bought this computer with Snow Leopard on it, so I have a hard time processing that I can't go up at least one more OS. I'm looking for the definitive answer. Can I upgrade to Lion? I am about to order some memory and I don't want to waste my time if my computer will only be barely relevant for another 6 months or so. Thanks!!!
 
MacPro1,1 and MacPro2,1 ARE upgradable to Lion (10.7), but NOT to Mountain Lion (10.8). The Apple guy who told you that your Mac Pro wouldn't run Lion was wrong, maybe unaware of the requirements too.
 
1) Your Mac Pro 1.1 is not obsolete. It is a capable machine that just doesn't run (officially) the most recent OS (released 6 years after the Mac Pro 1.1 was).
2) You bought in 2008 an already 2 year old system.
3) Lion is the last official Mac OS that will run on your machine, but if you really must have ML, there are ways...
 
Shockadalite said:
A guy at a local Apple dealer told me I could upgrade to Lion but when I called to order Lion from Apple, the guy told me my computer wasn't eligible. !
Click to expand...

You are calling Apple for what to order? The USB flash version? Or some kind of "update to date" upgrade (which would be Mountain Lion at this point)? "eligible" suggests the latter. For the first it shouldn't really matter which computer you have in terms of "eligibility". compatibility perhaps.
 
eawmp1 said:
1) Your Mac Pro 1.1 is not obsolete. It is a capable machine that just doesn't run (officially) the most recent OS (released 6 years after the Mac Pro 1.1 was).
2) You bought in 2008 an already 2 year old system.
3) Lion is the last official Mac OS that will run on your machine, but if you really must have ML, there are ways...
Click to expand...

Really? The only way I knew of was to upgrade my CPU, which I tackling in a couple of weeks. Are there threads on here discussing alternative ways? And thanks for the shift in perspective.

Thanks so much for the info!
 
You can install Lion, as others have said. However, it isn't "ordered from Apple". It's purchased through the Mac App Store, which you should have access to in 10.6.8.

Maybe the guy from Apple thought you were asking about an Up-to-date program?
 
scott.n said:
You can install Lion, as others have said. However, it isn't "ordered from Apple". It's purchased through the Mac App Store, which you should have access to in 10.6.8.

Maybe the guy from Apple thought you were asking about an Up-to-date program?
Click to expand...


Lion wasn't available in the App Store, which is why I called. I was very specific and he said, "Your computer isn't eligible for Lion or Mountain Lion." And he told me that Lion wasn't available in the App store and only done on calls and they would send me a key for $19.99.
 
Remember Mac OS X 10.8 has an entire 64bit architecture.

Hi Guys, just remember that the Mac OS X 10.8 it's entirely 64bit architecture, for that reason you need a Mac that can support it.

Effectively Mac Pro 1,1 Has two Intel Xeon dual core 64bit processor, but...
...the EFI has a 32bit architecture. That's why you cannot install or run Mac OS X 10.8, you will only be able to run up to Mac OS X 10.7.5.

But with 667MHz Bus I highly recommend to stay on Snow Leopard, It will be pretty much faster for you.

Still, you have a great Mac that can do things that some actual Mac's can't.
 
marquez.eduardo said:
Hi Guys, just remember that the Mac OS X 10.8 it's entirely 64bit architecture, for that reason you need a Mac that can support it.

Effectively Mac Pro 1,1 Has two Intel Xeon dual core 64bit processor, but...
...the EFI has a 32bit architecture. That's why you cannot install or run Mac OS X 10.8, you will only be able to run up to Mac OS X 10.7.5.

But with 667MHz Bus I highly recommend to stay on Snow Leopard, It will be pretty much faster for you.

Still, you have a great Mac that can do things that some actual Mac's can't.
Click to expand...


Yeah, but when Apple sold me my 1,1, they didn't say "Oh by the way, your EFI is only 32bit." They said "You are getting a 64-bit computer."

It's ok though, There isn't anything I have that needs 10.7 or 10.8.
 
^^^ And no one cared for 6-7 years until they get versioned out. Apple never supports hardware for that long. I have an ipad 1 testament to that. A 2-year old Macbook Air is faster than a 1,1 Mac Pro. A 3-year old Mac Mini is faster. Big box, big numbers, actually quite slow by today's standards.
 
derbothaus said:
^^^ And no one cared for 6-7 years until they get versioned out. Apple never supports hardware for that long. I have an ipad 1 testament to that. A 2-year old Macbook Air is faster than a 1,1 Mac Pro. A 3-year old Mac Mini is faster. Big box, big numbers, actually quite slow by today's standards.
Click to expand...

Too bad neither one of those machines can do what my 1,1 can.
 
I run Lion on on my MP1,1 - it's by far the best OS for this machine compared to any previous version. People recommending older (nearly antiquated) versions of OS X either never tried Lion or didn't have it set up right (which is almost impossible). Lion installs on the MP1,1 or 1,2 directly with no hackery trix. Just put it on a DVD, thumb drive, or whatever, and start the installation - done!

Also you CAN INDEED install Mountain Lion 10.8.x on a MacPro1,1 or 1,2. But it requires a little trickery. Do a search for the steps in order to achieve that. It's about a 15min. operation once you learn the steps needed.

And finally the BS about MBA and MM being faster than a MP1,1 is farcical, absurd, and ridiculous at best. Next that person will be saying his MBA is faster than a 8-core xeon server. HA!!! -- Oh, what, that's what he just said. See? Ridiculous!
 
Last edited:
Tesselator said:
And finally the BS about MBA and MM being faster than a MP1,1 is farcical, absurd, and ridiculous at best. Next that person will be saying his MBA is faster than a 8-core xeon server. HA!!! -- Oh, what, that's what he just said. See? Ridiculous!
Click to expand...
Umm - the orignal 1,1 is only 4-core. Unless you upgrade its CPU's, more modern Mac machines on newer architecture may indeed outclass the old iron...
 
Neodym said:
Umm - the orignal 1,1 is only 4-core. Unless you upgrade its CPU's, more modern Mac machines on newer architecture may indeed outclass the old iron...
Click to expand...

That's like saying a 1964 2+2 Ford Mustang is crap and can't go fast... unless put more gas in the gas tank. Like no sh.. Sherlock... :rolleyes: It also often came with 1GB or less of RAM too. I suppose that's the next attack point? No sorry, system upkeep demands some upgrades as time goes on. And even if the (now $100) CPU upgrade isn't made it's still faster than the machines mentioned. Considerably faster! The only area in which a stock 2006 machine is "outclassed" as you put it, by the machines mentioned is in the area of GUI snappiness - and that's taken care of with a simple GPU upgrade.

Sorry, ya can't BS a BSer... I have carefully quantified these things personally.

:D
 
Tesselator said:
That's like saying a 1964 2+2 Ford Mustang is crap and can't go fast... unless put more gas in the gas tank. Like no sh.. Sherlock... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
It was YOU who babbled about the 1,1 being an 8-core Xeon machine. Better get your facts straight next time when talking down to other people!

Tesselator said:
The only area in which a stock 2006 machine is "outclassed" as you put it, by the machines mentioned is in the area of GUI snappiness
Click to expand...
Yeah - whatever you say...

Tesselator said:
Sorry, ya can't BS a BSer...
Click to expand...
Good you already have the correct self-perception... :D
 
ssgbryan said:
Too bad neither one of those machines can do what my 1,1 can.
Click to expand...


Yes they can don't be so dismissive. They just need lots of external connections. Of course they max at 16GB memory. But that isn't a life changing event.
 
Neodym said:
It was YOU who babbled about the 1,1 being an 8-core Xeon machine. Better get your facts straight next time when talking down to other people!


Yeah - whatever you say...


Good you already have the correct self-perception... :D
Click to expand...

I was talking down a notion... not to people. What you just did here is talking down to people.

But no need to get a sore ego over being wrong about something. It happens to all of us.
 
Tesselator said:
[...]And finally the BS about MBA and MM being faster than a MP1,1 is farcical, absurd, and ridiculous at best. [...]
Click to expand...

A Mac Pro 1,1 is a two processors system with double core Xeon at 2.0 GHz, 2.66 GHz or 3.00 GHz... The total is four cores, but as most applications aren't multiprocessor aware, it will often be considered a dual core system...

Any basic system will be faster than a Mac Pro 1,1. Why ? Although some are dual core, they have mostly higher CPU clocks, they have new architectures, they have faster motherboard, they have faster RAM.

Yes, it's still a powerful system, as my old quad G5 is still powerful. But, in several cases, new systems will be better. My mid-2009 MBP is faster than my G5 for several things. In fact, my G5 score at 3703 while my MBP score at 3605.
 
derbothaus said:
Yes they can don't be so dismissive. They just need lots of external connections. Of course they max at 16GB memory. But that isn't a life changing event.
Click to expand...

I am dismissive, because I have looked at both, not to mention I have a much, much better understanding of what I use my MP for than you do.

To add all the external connections to an iMac that my MP already has, I am approaching the cost of a new MP.

If I had gone iMac instead of MP, I'd be on my 3rd iMac. (And I would have spent 3 times the amount of money that I have spend on my MP (including all upgrades.)

3d rendering software needs cores & RAM. So, for me, maxing out at 16Gb is a step down - yes, I use more than that.

I have absolutely no confidence in the survivability of either an iMac or mini in my work environment.

Sir Idiot Boy has yet to understand the concept of heat dissipation. And having Apple care doesn't help when I have to cart the entire machine in when 1 component has heat failure.
 
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