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The Early Intel Mac Mythbuster Thread

Amethyst1

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Original poster
Oct 28, 2015
9,783
12,183
Per @Project Alice's idea... I'll start:

Myth: Intel Macs can't run a version of OS X older than the one they shipped with.
Fact: I've run Tiger on an Early 2008 MB and MBA, Leopard on a 2010 MBA, Snow Leopard on a 2011 MBA and 2012 rMBP, Lion on a 2012 rMBP.

Myth: All Intel Macs have the "evil" ME.
Fact: Those based on the Intel 945 chipset family are guaranteed to be free of it.

Myth: You can't use unflashed "PC" graphics cards in a Mac Pro.
Fact: You can as long as the GPU is new enough to be auto-initialised by OS X. You'll not have boot screens though.

Myth: Early Intel Macs can't drive "4K" monitors.
Fact:
  • I've run 3840×2160 at 30 Hz from a 2006 MBP, 2007 MBP, 2010 MBA and a 2011 MBP.
  • I've run 3840×2400 at 17 Hz, 3840×2560 at 25 Hz and 4096×2880 at 24 Hz from a 2011 MBP.
  • I've run 3840×2400 at 17 Hz, 4096×2304 at 30 Hz and 4088x2880 at 27 Hz from a 2010 MBA.
  • A Mac Pro can run "4K" at 60 Hz with a newer DisplayPort 1.2-capable GPU (AMD 7xxx and newer, NVIDIA Kepler and newer).

Myth: You can't use an eGPU with a pre-Thunderbolt Intel Mac.
Fact: Yes, you can.

Myth: Intel Macs can't run Classic Mac OS.
Fact: They can't run it natively... but it can be emulated using e.g. Basilisk II, QEMU or SheepShaver.

Myth: Core Duo Macs can't run the final release of Lion.
Fact: They can run a modified version of Lion.

Myth: The 2006/2007 Mac Pro can't go past Lion.
Fact: With a little help and a compatible GPU, it maxes out at El Capitan.

Myth: Mid/Late 2007 and Early 2008 iMacs, MBs, and MBPs top out at 4 GB RAM.
Fact: They can take 6 GB. [And there are many other examples of Macs being unofficially able to take more RAM than advertised.]

Myth: 2010 15" and 17" MBPs have defective GPUs.
Fact: Most of the time, it's just a capacitor that causes seemingly GPU-related issues.

Myth: 2011 and 2012 non-retina MBPs can only run one external display.
Fact: They can run two displays.

Myth: Thunderbolt 1 Macs can't run "4K" at 60 Hz.
Fact: They can... sort of.
 
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tensixturtle

tensixturtle

macrumors 6502
Sep 30, 2021
320
152
Kepler 22b
Myth: A universal Tiger installer (that doesn't require modding) for Intel Macs doesn't exist.
Fact: 10.4.7 Server (found on Macintosh Garden) is a Universal Binary installer.

Myth: You can swap out the logic board on a MacBook/MacBook Pro with one of a newer model as long as the design is the same. (e.g. unibody MacBook Pros)
Fact: Even if it looks identical in the exterior, it can be slightly different inside a lot of the time. See below, my bad ⬇️

Myth: The 2006 Intel iMac was the first iMac to have a built-in iSight camera.
Fact: There was an iMac G5 with iSight released in late 2005.

Myth: All 2006 Macs can't get past Snow Leopard (officially) or Lion (unofficially).
Fact: Many late 2006 Macs can kind of get up to El Capitan.
 
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tensixturtle

tensixturtle

macrumors 6502
Sep 30, 2021
320
152
Kepler 22b
B S Magnet said:
I must confess I’ve never read or heard of this myth uttered from anywhere, ever — not even on the PowerPC side of laptops.
Click to expand...
It is more of an extremely commonly asked question, I suppose. If you Google it you get endless threads with people asking if they can upgrade for example their 2006 MBP with a 2008 logic board, etc. More often than not it is not possible.
 
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