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Mac beginner / Macbook Capabilities

SinnedNima

SinnedNima

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 9, 2017
3
0
Hi there dear members!

I was hunting at the bay and shot down a Macbook 4.1 , 2,4 GHz Core 2 Duo and 2 GB Ram. For just 30 €
It seems it's the early 2008 version

As a Windows/Ubuntu user i was waiting for such an opportunity and as a full fledged beginner in terms of Mac OS X i'm searching my bum off.

So i have e few questions to ask you experts:

1. Are there good books or sites for learning the basics of Mac OS X you recommend?

2. I managed to Install Snow Leopard and the Combo Update. Is there a way to upgrade to a newer supported version?

3. If i disconnect the LVDS cable, will the System connect automatically to the external monitor?
Even on start up?


4. What do you guys think of hackintosh computers? I read some threads where they don't help people with such systems. Whats the reason behind this?

I guess that i will have more questions later on, but thank you very much in advance for your help!;)
 
30 Euros is a good deal to get your feet wet, but I just retired my early 2008 MacBook4,1 as I find it annoying to use in 2017. This model will support up to Lion 10.7.5, which I would recommend for that machine. Unfortunately, Lion is already obsolete, and Snow Leopard is even more obsolete. Some software that runs on Lion will not run on Snow Leopard. My problem though is that recent browsers and other stuff won't run on Lion either anymore. It's annoying to use a computer that can't run the latest version of Chrome or Firefox, because you can run into serious compatibility issues with certain websites. The other problem with MacBook4,1 is that it does not support hardware h.264 video decoding, so even just watching a 1080p video can be annoying, as it heats up the computer quickly and puts the machine into vacuum cleaner fan mode, while playing with periodic stutters.

That said, as mentioned, 30 Euros is a good deal for that machine. If you want to maximize the experience, 4 GB is preferred for OS X Snow Leopard or Lion, and so is SSD. However, I'm not sure I would spend the money to upgrade a machine that old.

You can run the machine in clamshell mode meaning you don't need to keep the lid open to run the machine.

I'm not a big fan of hackintoshes. The problem with hackintoshes is that since the hardware is not fixed or supported, you don't get the same experience as you normally do with Macs. One of the big benefits of Macs and OS X is so much of the stuff works fine out of the box. With hackintoshes there is much more chance of things going wrong. About the furthest I go these days is running macOS on unsupported but real Macs. So for example, my MacBookPro5,5 and MacBook5,1 (aluminum) only officially are supported up to El Capitan 10.11, but I'm currently running High Sierra 10.13 on both, installed with a modified installer. However, with this installer, there is no real hacking to do, as it's all done automatically by the installer, and you can even update the machines through the App Store normally. This is not a surprise though, since they have almost exactly the same hardware as the white MacBook6,1, which is officially supported in High Sierra. I bought my MacBook5,1 off Kijiji for a little over 120 Euros, and then put an SSD in it, harvested from my retired MacBook4,1. Same with the 4 GB RAM, although I've since pushed it to 8 GB RAM as Amazon.ca had flash sale for 8 GB Transcend RAM for around 30 Euros.

Unfortunately, there is no such OS upgradability of your MacBook4,1 to anything past Lion 10.7.5. Realistically the latest viable form of OS X for that machine is Lion. It is technically possible to hack a later version of OS X to run on MacBook4,1, but from what I gather it's a real pain, and the experience is even worse than a (properly configured) hackintosh.
 
Thanks for your reply!

Sadly the display light is buggy and goes on and of on its own. Do i have to hack Lion on to it? Is there something similar to the patcher you mentioned?

Well this little guy with Mac is not my daily driver yet. Maybe i should aim for the 5,x series, too?

I would like to try Clip Studio Paint on that machine but it needs at least 10.10...

Well i do want to build a new case for the logicboard and the other components because it's a bit worn out. DIY Mac Mini incoming :D

Where can i find exact instructions for unsupported Upgrades?

Best regards
 
SinnedNima said:
Thanks for your reply!

Sadly the display light is buggy and goes on and of on its own. Do i have to hack Lion on to it? Is there something similar to the patcher you mentioned?

Well this little guy with Mac is not my daily driver yet. Maybe i should aim for the 5,x series, too?

I would like to try Clip Studio Paint on that machine but it needs at least 10.10...

Well i do want to build a new case for the logicboard and the other components because it's a bit worn out. DIY Mac Mini incoming :D

Where can i find exact instructions for unsupported Upgrades?

Best regards
Click to expand...
10.7.5 Lion is officially supported on MacBook4,1. No hacks needed.

Interestingly, MacBook6,1 which is officially supported by 10.13 High Sierra, is often the same price or cheaper than MacBook5,1 which is not officially supported.

Why? Probably because MacBook6,1 is plastic and MacBook5,1 is aluminum and sleeker. Apple tried to create that aluminum line, priced high, but people stayed away from it because of cost, and so Apple repackaged it a year later in plastic.

So...

MacBook4,1: Officially can run Lion 10.7.x. Don't expect to run anything past this.
MacBook5,1: Officially can run El Capitan 10.11.x. Can also unofficially run up to High Sierra 10.13.x.
MacBook6,1: Officially can run High Sierra 10.13.x.

MacBook5,1 and MacBook6,1 have very similar internal hardware, but the former is in aluminum and the latter is in plastic and bulkier, so MacBook6,1 often is quite cheap. Unfortunately, many of the cheap MacBook6,1 units are focally cracked.
 
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That was my first Mac computer. Fond memories :) It was a champ on Leopard and Snow Leopard. The light on mine gave out just a few days after the warranty ended. Was working fine on a flight. Landed, got to the room and then boom, backlight wouldn't turn on. Well it did come on when the top was slightly open but anything past a few degrees and it would shut off. Anyway it was enough to determine that everything else about the machine was working fine. Changing the inverter didn't fix it so it must have been a faulty signal from the logic board. So I converted it to a portable desktop. Removed the top cover and screen and just used the lower half with keyboard, connected to an external display. Brought it from home to work like that for a year or so and it was great. Eventually the battery wouldn't fit due to battery bulge so I stopped carrying it with me. As it was desk bound it was always plugged in to the charger anyway. Now if I'm remembering this correctly, the size of the logic board itself was no bigger than the old magic keyboard which I used (and still use) at the time. I thought how fantastic it would be to somehow have a case about the same dimensions at the magic keyboard, that could hold the logic board, MagSafe and mDP ports, and an existing magic keyboard slipped over the top. And just carry that around with me. Talk about ultra portable. It's a Mac mini Keyboard! Never got round to exploring the idea further. Hope it might give you some cool ideas though?

Before the MacBook I messed around with a hackintosh. Here's what I think about them. I was a huge PC/Windows DIY nerd and hated Macs way back then. My then girlfriend had an iMac that ran on Tiger and I hated using it. For some reason when Apple switched to Intel and MacBooks could run Windows, my interest was piqued. Leopard also seemed a lot cooler than Tiger and I started reading up on Hackintoshes. Anyway finally I built one and Leopard indeed was cool. I was won over. OSX had me by the balls now. At first, I kept Windows around on the Hackintosh, "just in case". But eventually, I spent more and more time in OSX and only booted Windows for games. That's when I knew it was time to spring for my first Mac. Maintaining the Hackintosh and missing out on features just wasn't worth the effort anymore and I decided it was time for the "full-fat" OSX experience. So I bought a refurb white Macbook and never looked back. What do I think about hackintoshes? Fond memories, wouldn't want to bother with one now. But if you're up for a project and aren't afraid of tinkering with hardware and software and are into a learning experience, go for it!
 
Thank you very much for sharing your experiences! I will upgrade my 2008 Macbook as far as i can and build a cool and slick case for it. Mr. metalsquid is guilty for my new weird ideas XD

And the hackintosh will be made, too. I have to shedule it now. The printer im longing for costs near 500 bucks :confused: (Creality CR-10S)
 
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