Which OS to upgrade to on a 2007 1.83GHz Core 2 mini?

[AVR2]

My father-in-law's mini, which is still on Snow Leopard, needs an OS upgrade before it will talk to his brand-new iPad. Should I just move up to Lion and call it good, or take it all the way to El Capitan? My concern is that El Cap would simply be too slow on a 2007 1.83GHz mini.

I'm going to take the opportunity to upgrade the memory from 1GB to 4GB (I know that only 3GB is actually accessible to the CPU) and throw in an SSD.

 

[Intell]

Being a 2007 Mac Mini, it cannot officially run 10.11. Lion is it's last supported version of Mac OS X. As long as it has at least 2GB of memory, it'll run Lion adequately. However, it may be time for a replacement Mac Mini as Lion is rather obsolete at this time and it may not work overly well with a new iPad.

 

[AVR2]

Being a 2007 Mac Mini, it cannot officially run 10.11. Lion is it's last supported version of Mac OS X

Ah, I didn't know that.

However, it may be time for a replacement Mac Mini

No chance of that. It currently does everything my in-laws need, other than sync with the iPad, and there's no way they'd shell out for a replacement mini just to gain compatibility with the tablet. If necessary, they can use my own mini for sync/backup purposes.

 

[Totally]

I keep mine on snow leopard.

 

[Kaida]

I used windows 10 on mine. Lion feels kinda old now.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd recommend 10.6.8.

Lion (10.7) runs no better, and with 10.6 you still retain the ability to run Rosetta.

"Security" means nothing to either OS, as Apple no longer supports either of them. I wouldn't worry about it.

If he's going to be keeping the Mini he has now, and SSD and RAM (and 10.6.8) should do him fine for at least the next 2-3 years...

 

[Giuanniello]

So I upgraded my Mini to a CoreDuo2 2.33Ghz CPU and to EFI Firmware 2.1, wondering if worth upgrading to Lion and how to cos I would love to be able to use iCloud to sync the phonebooks/calendars/etc and to use it as a media server for the iTunes library.
If worth I'd add an SSD and turn it into our media server.

Thank you

 

[louisosx]

Hi,

I updated to 10.7 after performing the firmware update and it ran very well. Gave me a lot more options for upgrading to newer versions of iTunes, Plex and a few others. I then upgraded to Yosemite via the MacPostFactor method which runs well enough for me. Runs as a headless iTunes, Plex and File Server.

 

[Giuanniello]

Can I ask how did you install 10.7 since I read here and there than it won't install through the DVD installer.

Thank you

 

[DeltaMac]

10.7 does not come on a DVD installer.
You can still purchase 10.7 directly from Apple as a download.
Use that image to make a bootable USB flash drive.
You can boot to that flash drive installer, and upgrade with that...

 

[louisosx]

Can I ask how did you install 10.7 since I read here and there than it won't install through the DVD installer.

Thank you

The steps i performed are as below:
1. Updated the Firmware to 2.1 -http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/296034-upgraded-mac-mini-11-late-2007-with-osx-106/ **Post 3 on this page.
2. Upgraded the CPU from a Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo
3. Then by removing the platformsupport.plist from the 10.7 installer and then once installed from the boot drive i was successfully running 10.7 Lion -http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/249877-how-to-install-lion-on-any-coreduo-mac-upgraded-to-a-core2duo/ **Post 8 on this page.
4.Then used PostMacFactor to upgrade to 10.9 Yosemite with standard Yosemite Installer.

 

[louisosx]

Giuanniello, if its of interest i've just created a thread detailing my Mac Mini:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/my-2006-mac-mini-plex-server-osx-10-10.1988478/

 

[Intell]

The steps i performed are as below:
1. Updated the Firmware to 2.1 -http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/296034-upgraded-mac-mini-11-late-2007-with-osx-106/ **Post 3 on this page.

The firmware update is not needed for any of the other steps. The only gain is the ability to use up to 4GB of memory, with 3.3 being accessible. An Intell T7400 Core2Duo will work just fine on the 1,1 firmware as will Lion.

 

[Giuanniello]

I already installed the T7600 CPU and upgraded the FirmWare to 2.1, I "only" need to update the OS, it's interesting the possibility to update to 10.9 which would give full iCloud compatibility.

If I got it right from this

3. Then by removing the platformsupport.plist from the 10.7 installer and then once installed from the boot drive i was successfully running 10.7 Lion -http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/249877-how-to-install-lion-on-any-coreduo-mac-upgraded-to-a-core2duo/ **Post 8 on this page.
4.Then used PostMacFactor to upgrade to 10.9 Yosemite with standard Yosemite Installer.

I will need to edit the platformspport.plist from the 10.7 installer, let me try and go figure it out...

 

[louisosx]

I already installed the T7600 CPU and upgraded the FirmWare to 2.1, I "only" need to update the OS, it's interesting the possibility to update to 10.9 which would give full iCloud compatibility.

If I got it right from this

3. Then by removing the platformsupport.plist from the 10.7 installer and then once installed from the boot drive i was successfully running 10.7 Lion -http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/249877-how-to-install-lion-on-any-coreduo-mac-upgraded-to-a-core2duo/ **Post 8 on this page.
4.Then used PostMacFactor to upgrade to 10.9 Yosemite with standard Yosemite Installer.

I will need to edit the platformspport.plist from the 10.7 installer, let me try and go figure it out...

Yes but please follow the method in the link on post 8