I have an old 2008 iMac with a 2.4ghz Intel Core 2 and 6 GB ram currently running 10.6.8. The hard drive is clicking and is acting like it'll fail any minute. Someone at the local Mac repair store (clerk not a tech) in my area said that by putting a new SSD drive in it would make it a candidate for updating to High Sierra. However, I can't seem to find anything online that backs that up. Would adding a new SSD really make it eligible for High Sierra?
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If you add SSD drive to old 2008 Mac, can you update to Sierra/High Sierra
- Thread starter dogbird
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No. Your iMac would still be the same iMac, but with a much faster boot drive.
The SSD simply makes upgrading to a recent version of macOS more tolerable, perhaps even useful.
You would still need to use some kind of patched system, as your 2008 iMac is only supported natively up to El Capitan (OS X 10.11.6) - and the SSD will make THAT a decent choice, if you simply want a more up-to-date system.
If you really want to go to High Sierra with your new SSD, then you can download the patching tool from dosdude.com
http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/
The SSD simply makes upgrading to a recent version of macOS more tolerable, perhaps even useful.
You would still need to use some kind of patched system, as your 2008 iMac is only supported natively up to El Capitan (OS X 10.11.6) - and the SSD will make THAT a decent choice, if you simply want a more up-to-date system.
If you really want to go to High Sierra with your new SSD, then you can download the patching tool from dosdude.com
http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/
Intel Core 2? 2008? I think it is time for an upgrade. Also I believe that only late 2009 and newer iMacs can update to High Sierra. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475 I would not put my hard earned money into an SSD for a 10 year old computer. I would definitely think about getting a new one. Good Luck.
A SSD would perk that machine right up, even though it is nearly 10 years old. It'll run 10.13, but with a few limitations such as likely no WiFi and you'll have to use the utility linked by DeltaMac. If running 10.13 with a SSD, you could get another two to three years out of it.
Thanks. So Wifi wouldn't work if I update to High Sierra? What about just Sierra. This is for a computer that my wife uses for simple tasks like email, iTunes, web surfing so I feel like it's a waste to buy a new iMac, but want to have as late an OS as possible for security issues.
As Delta Mac suggests leave it at El Capitan which is the optimum performance OS for your iMac. The SSD will make a great difference.
If this were a few years ago, I'd say go ahead and get the SSD.
My SSD upgrade in 2012 perked up my 2008 Macbook Pro. Though not the speediest, is still capable. I run Windows 10 VM in VirtualBox, Photos, LibreOffice, MS Office, mail, web, iTunes, Quicken all with no issue and acceptable performance (I come from a computer age where 4MB of RAM and 40MB HDD was leading edge computing).
But since a 10yo machine, something else might give out at this point, so probably better to put the money to new hw.
My SSD upgrade in 2012 perked up my 2008 Macbook Pro. Though not the speediest, is still capable. I run Windows 10 VM in VirtualBox, Photos, LibreOffice, MS Office, mail, web, iTunes, Quicken all with no issue and acceptable performance (I come from a computer age where 4MB of RAM and 40MB HDD was leading edge computing).
But since a 10yo machine, something else might give out at this point, so probably better to put the money to new hw.
Is this iMac8,1? If so, High Sierra should work fine with the patched installer, as long as you have 4-6 GB RAM and SSD.
As mentioned, the only issue with that iMac8,1 model is whether or not the WiFi will work. If you are using Ethernet then it doesn’t matter, but if you must use WiFi you can just check the model in the System Info, under the WiFi section.
These models of the WiFi cards will NOT work:
- (0x14E4, 0x8C)
- (0x14E4, 0x9D)
- (0x14E4, 0x87)
- (0x14E4, 0x88)
- (0x14E4, 0x8B)
- (0x14E4, 0x89)
- (0x14E4, 0x90)
However, other WiFi cards will work.
BTW, Sierra has the same WiFi considerations as High Sierra. If you have an unsupported WiFi module, it won’t work in either Sierra or High Sierra. One option though is to buy a new WiFi card off eBay and install that when you install the new SSD.
As mentioned, the only issue with that iMac8,1 model is whether or not the WiFi will work. If you are using Ethernet then it doesn’t matter, but if you must use WiFi you can just check the model in the System Info, under the WiFi section.
These models of the WiFi cards will NOT work:
- (0x14E4, 0x8C)
- (0x14E4, 0x9D)
- (0x14E4, 0x87)
- (0x14E4, 0x88)
- (0x14E4, 0x8B)
- (0x14E4, 0x89)
- (0x14E4, 0x90)
However, other WiFi cards will work.
BTW, Sierra has the same WiFi considerations as High Sierra. If you have an unsupported WiFi module, it won’t work in either Sierra or High Sierra. One option though is to buy a new WiFi card off eBay and install that when you install the new SSD.
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