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Resolved [SUCCESS!]Late 2011 Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard
- Thread starter DayOfChaos
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They won't work on new MBP 2012 because hardware drivers are not supported!
Of course not, Snow Leopard nor Lion has drivers for the rMBP. This only will work on the Late 2011 Macbook Pro.
Tim, just joined MacRumors to be able to thank you for this thread. After struggling for three months to use Lion / Mountain Lion, I installed 10.6.8 and couldn't be happier.
The irony is that I bought my SandyBridge MBP exactly 16 days before the new IvyBridge models shipped. I was pretty upset with my inattention; if I'd just waited two weeks I would have gotten a better/faster machine for the same price!
A machine that would have locked me onto Lion.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Thanks again!
The irony is that I bought my SandyBridge MBP exactly 16 days before the new IvyBridge models shipped. I was pretty upset with my inattention; if I'd just waited two weeks I would have gotten a better/faster machine for the same price!
A machine that would have locked me onto Lion.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Thanks again!
Does 10.6.8 run at full speed on these (late 2011) machines? Does the DisplayPort work (to drive a TB or 2560x1440 display)?
I only ask because I have successfully installed 10.6.8 on two July 2011 Mac mini servers (quad i7, HD3000). But it requires updating a number of additional kext files to get correct performance for the processor and the graphics.
Geekbench before these patches is approx 2000, and approx 8000 after applying the kexts. There is a VERY lengthy thread on this on the Apple forums.
Is the same true for the early and late 2011 MacBook Pros? Or does a basic 10.6.8 work fine?
I only ask because I have successfully installed 10.6.8 on two July 2011 Mac mini servers (quad i7, HD3000). But it requires updating a number of additional kext files to get correct performance for the processor and the graphics.
Geekbench before these patches is approx 2000, and approx 8000 after applying the kexts. There is a VERY lengthy thread on this on the Apple forums.
Is the same true for the early and late 2011 MacBook Pros? Or does a basic 10.6.8 work fine?
Sorry Spectrum, I didn't think to do any before-and-after benchmarking. When I get some time I'll take a look at some of the published benchmarks for my Late 2011 MBP on Lion, then run the same ones myself on SL. You've got me curious now. Thanks for the nudge to check the forums on this.
I use this machine for editing HD videos in Adobe Premiere, and if there was a loss of performance when I downgraded I can't see it. File copies through the GigE run at a solid 600Mb/s to my Linux server. I've only used the Thunderbolt port up to 1920x1080, with DVI and HDMI adapters, but it worked as expected.
So it runs a 27" display OK? And would you be able to post your Geekbench score?
It sounds like it is probably working great, but I would be really pleased if you can post your Geekbench score under 10.6.8 - compared to the average Lion score.
On the Mac Mini i7 quad, 10.6.8 actually scores slightly higher in geekbench (only after the kext patches are applied) than the native install of Lion that the machine came with!
Thanks!
Didn't try it with a 27"; I use 24" 1920x1080 monitors via DVI. The Thunderbolt to DVI adapter worked as expected.
32-bit Geekbench score for my Late-2011 13" MBP was 7128. Geekbench claims the average for this hardware (on all OS's) is 6919. I couldn't find a way to get an average by OS. Scrolling through other people's submissions for 10.6.8 and 10.8.1 (there were plenty of both), the numbers seemed comparable.
Details here:
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/1169011
I think it's important to note this hardware first shipped with Snow Leopard (and a promised free upgrade to Lion). The gray 10.6.8 factory install disks could be ordered from Apple as late as March 2012.
and 64-bit was 7788, against their average (for all OS's) of 7636. Again, a difference that's lost in the noise, IMHO.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/1169126
Thanks for the info - I hadn't thought about using the Geekbench browser to look or 10.6.8 submissions.
One point though: I didn't think the "Late 2011" MacBook Pro ever shipped with 10.6.8 did it? (I know the "Early 2011" Macbook Pro did.) Surely Lion was already deployed in all hardware by October 2011?
I did some more checking, and you're right. In trying to figure out how to get mine to run 10.6, I found several news/rumors sites announcing the March "last chance" to get 10.6.8 gray installer disks for the Late 2011 MBP, implying that was what the machines had shipped with. But I just now searched out reviews written at the product launch, and all say it shipped with Lion.
What's surprising, then, is the large number of Geekbench posts for this combination. I would have thought it unlikely if Apple never shipped the machines that way. OTOH, everyone who tried it probably wanted to determine if their hacked machine was faster or slower than before.
I have successfully cloned a Mac mini i7 SL 10.6.8 partition into a new/refurb 2.2Ghz late 2011 MBPro. The machine runs and boots fine, but I have problems with waking from sleep.
Regular sleep is OK, but if I leave the machine for a longer period - I think the computer goes into safe sleep/hibernate. It will then not wake even though the battery is fully charged. I can't even start the machine by holding the power button!
The only way to get it to start is by plugging in to the wall - at which point the system reboots.
Any ideas?
Regular sleep is OK, but if I leave the machine for a longer period - I think the computer goes into safe sleep/hibernate. It will then not wake even though the battery is fully charged. I can't even start the machine by holding the power button!
The only way to get it to start is by plugging in to the wall - at which point the system reboots.
Any ideas?
Success Story
Hey guys, I know I'm bumping up a real old thread, but if there's people out there trying to downgrade their MBP's:
I got an MBP late 2011 I think, supposedly came with SL, but got upgraded to Lion. I tried to downgrade it the more or less acceptable way, but it wouldn't. Seems Apple edits the firmware in some way so downgrading isn't possible anymore?
Anyways, I tried it with the latest release of SL, and it crashed everywhere, kernel panics and I don't know what. Got kinda desperate, then I found this thread. So I downloaded the 10.6.7 ISO from this swedish pirate site, gave it another whirl, and next thing you know, boom shakalaka, the laptop was up and running again. I updated it to 10.6.8 and it works like a charm.
I have to add to that, make sure you wipe the HDD of the laptop first, I did 1 nullswipe, seems to have done the trick, because it wouldn't work if I didn't swipe the drive (it would get stuck at boot screen).
I'm just replying so if other people want to give it a spin: it really works!
Hey guys, I know I'm bumping up a real old thread, but if there's people out there trying to downgrade their MBP's:
I got an MBP late 2011 I think, supposedly came with SL, but got upgraded to Lion. I tried to downgrade it the more or less acceptable way, but it wouldn't. Seems Apple edits the firmware in some way so downgrading isn't possible anymore?
Anyways, I tried it with the latest release of SL, and it crashed everywhere, kernel panics and I don't know what. Got kinda desperate, then I found this thread. So I downloaded the 10.6.7 ISO from this swedish pirate site, gave it another whirl, and next thing you know, boom shakalaka, the laptop was up and running again. I updated it to 10.6.8 and it works like a charm.
I have to add to that, make sure you wipe the HDD of the laptop first, I did 1 nullswipe, seems to have done the trick, because it wouldn't work if I didn't swipe the drive (it would get stuck at boot screen).
I'm just replying so if other people want to give it a spin: it really works!
I do not recommend, that you download your OS from a piracy site. It can contain some nasty surprises!
I'm sure many Early-MBP owners sell their grey, 10.6.7 machine-specific DVDs, which you can use to install 10.6.7 on your Late-2011 MBP (then use the 10.6.8 Combo-Update).
Technically, running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro Late 2011 IS possible. Snow Leopard is known to run on the Early 2011 MacBook Pro, however the Late and Early 2011 models share VERY similar hardware. Personally I have 10.6.8 Snow Leopard on my Late 2011 MacBook Pro and it works perfectly. In fact, I'm typing this reply in Snow Leopard. Check this out if you want specific details on how to install Snow Leopard on your Lion-based or Late 2011 machine: http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-install-snow-leopard-on-a-brand-new-lion-based-mac/
I tried it a few month ago and it ran perfect on my 17" MacBook Pro Late 2011 too. I just put the SSD in an older MacBook, installed it from a 10.6.0 or 10.6.3 DVD, updated it to 10.6.8 and put the SSD back in the Late 2011 one.
But now I am back on El Capitan because I missed too many features. It also seems to be much faster on older Macs than Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite.
But now I am back on El Capitan because I missed too many features. It also seems to be much faster on older Macs than Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite.
I have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 installed on my late 2011 MacBook Pro. I installed 10.6.4 on an older iMac and then installed the 10.6.8 combo update. Then I cloned the hard disk partition over to my MacBook Pro, and it works flawlessly.
I just put the SSD with 10.6.8 on it back into my Late 2011 and it even showed my RAM running at 2133MHz too:
By the way:
Is it on purpose or a bug, that there is no translation anymore for the Mac model in El Capitan?
Until Yosemite it always said "MacBook Pro (17 Zoll, Ende 2011)" for example.
Did anyone else who uses a different language than English noticed that?
By the way:
Is it on purpose or a bug, that there is no translation anymore for the Mac model in El Capitan?
Until Yosemite it always said "MacBook Pro (17 Zoll, Ende 2011)" for example.
Did anyone else who uses a different language than English noticed that?
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