OSX Lion or HiSierra

[Mac03ForLife]

Hello

I bought my 13 inch MBP (2.4ghz i5, 4gb RAM, 500 SATA HDD) in 2011 with OSX 10.7 preinstalled.
It worked super well back then, and eventually it was put in a closet for 3 years due to the emergence of my parent's old powermac g5, which I began to use as my primary mac. After 3 years of being in storage, it wouldnt start, so I took it to the apple store, and had it wiped with OSX El Cap installed. I then used it consistently (School laptop), and upgraded to Sierra in preparation for my iPhone. (Up until then I had a slide phone bc i didnt see the need for a smartphone... But

Will reverting to lion (which is what my machine was meant to run) be...
a. Compatible with my iPhone SE on iOS 10.3.3
b. My extensive photos library
c. MS Office 2016
d. Any other problems that would arise?

Thanks

 

[chrfr]

Hello

I bought my 13 inch MBP (2.4ghz i5, 4gb RAM, 500 SATA HDD) in 2011 with OSX 10.7 preinstalled.
It worked super well back then, and eventually it was put in a closet for 3 years due to the emergence of my parent's old powermac g5, which I began to use as my primary mac. After 3 years of being in storage, it wouldnt start, so I took it to the apple store, and had it wiped with OSX El Cap installed. I then used it consistently (School laptop), and upgraded to Sierra in preparation for my iPhone. (Up until then I had a slide phone bc i didnt see the need for a smartphone... But

Will reverting to lion (which is what my machine was meant to run) be...
a. Compatible with my iPhone SE on iOS 10.3.3
b. My extensive photos library
c. MS Office 2016
d. Any other problems that would arise?

Thanks

You need to be on at least 10.9.5 to be compatible with your iPhone.
You would need to be at least on 10.10 to run Office 2016. Lion was not Apple's best operating system. For right now, leave it on Sierra and be sure it's updated to 10.12.6. Lion won't work better than that.

 

[EugW]

Lion is effectively obsolete, due to many compatibility issues. I just replaced my MacBook kitchen computer because it was stuck on Lion, with another used MacBook that could be updated to High Sierra.

High Sierra runs ok with SSD plus 4 GB RAM but not great with hard drive. However, Lion doesn’t run great with hard drive either. My Lion MacBook had an SSD.

 

[loby]

OS X Lion runs better with more memory and on a SSD. I have a dual boot MacBook Pro 2010 with SSD and 16 gb RAM and it runs good (Lion and High Sierra).

OS X Lion was not the best OS from Apple, but it ran ok for me. Snow Leopard for that era is the jewel. Sierra so far for me comes close.

Unless you have software that only runs on OS X Lion, probably better to upgrade. I can boot into 32-bit mode to run some old 32-bit programs that I occasionally use and is why I have a dual boot setup. Also, you need to get another browser, for safari is too old to open some sites (as well as security concerns).

 

[makinao]

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)
2.6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
1tb Crucial MX300 SSD.
Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1036)

What's not to like in Sierra? Why on earth would you want to go back to Lion?

 

[loby]

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)
2.6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
1tb Crucial MX300 SSD.
Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1036)

What's not to like in Sierra? Why on earth would you want to go back to Lion?

Problem is if you use any software (32-bit only) or have hardware that does not have updated drivers. Other than that, Sierra is the better choice.

 

[chrfr]

Problem is if you use any software (32-bit only) or have hardware that does not have updated drivers. Other than that, Sierra is the better choice.

There are no limitations on 32-bit applications in either Sierra or High Sierra.

 

[loby]

There are no limitations on 32-bit applications in either Sierra or High Sierra.

But 32-bit drivers for external hardware can be an issue.

Best to first check to see if in Sierra everything runs ok before making a permanent switch. Try external drive loaded with Sierra first and make sure everything works, or a dual boot with OS Lion and Sierra.

No reason really anymore to use OS X Lion unless you are constrained by older hardware or programs. I use on occasion older audio equipment that drivers are only 32-bit, so the need for OS X Lion remains unfortunately.

 

[Isamilis]

There are no limitations on 32-bit applications in either Sierra or High Sierra.

I would suggest El Capitan, unless you have specific needs to use Hi-Sierra. I saw El Capitan is matured product, the least performance effect which features almost all functionality with IOS 10.3.3.