And in fact, you can no longer upgrade to Lion, as it’s been removed from the Mac App Store as of July 2012. Once you do that, and you have the Mac App Store installed, go there to upgrade. That said, you first need to ugprade to 10.6.6 or 10.6.8 through Apple’s support website. You have to upgrade digitally, or not at all - meaning 10.6.6, the earliest version to support the Mac App Store, is also the earliest version that can upgrade digitally to the newest version of OS X.
Prior to this, you could update the same version of OS X online through Apple’s Support Download section of its website, but you couldn’t go to the next major version without the DVD.Īnd in fact, there are no DVDs for 10.7 Lion and newer versions of OS X.
That’s because 10.6.6 is the first OS X version to introduce the Mac App Store, which enabled online upgrading from Macs across major versions.
You have to patch Snow Leopard all the way to 10.6.6 first on Apple’s website (and Apple recommends going all the way to 10.6.8). You can’t go straight from the earliest version of Snow Leopard to Lion. Upgrading from 10.6 “Snow Leopard” to 10.7 “Lion” Lion system requirements:
Note that 10.6 Snow Leopard is the minumum version to be able to run our Mac optimization app, MacReviver. If you have any Intel Mac, just put the Snow Leopard DVD in the drive and follow the instructions to upgrade.Īs we said earlier, if you still have a Power PC Mac, you’re stuck at 10.5 Leopard, as that was the last version to officially support non-Intel Macs. This DVD is also the only way for Macs with older versions of OS X to gain access to the Mac App Store and upgrade past Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard is the last verison of OS X available strictly by DVD. Upgrading from 10.5 “Leopard” to 10.6 “Snow Leopard” Snow Leopard system requirements: If you have an early Intel-based Mac, it’s wiser to skip Leopard and go straight from Lion to Snow Leopard - assuming you meet the memory and hard drive requirements. Still, there’s a lot you will no longer be able to do on your Mac until you get a more recent, Intel-based machine. Leopard is the last version of OS X that supports PowerPC Macs, so it’s a good idea to have this latest version. If you’ve got an older PowerPC Mac that you’d like to upgrade all the way, put the 10.5 Leopard DVD in the drive and follow the instructions. Intel processor or PowerPC G4 or G5 at 867 MHz or greater.A PowerPC G3, G4 or G5 at 300 MHz or greater.Upgrading from 10.4 “Tiger” to 10.5 “Leopard” Tiger minimum system requirements: Some features require an Apple ID terms apply.Here’s a guide designed for all Mac users, that takes you through upgrade paths for all the latest versions of OS X. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,ģ. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.ġ. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. You can purchase Lion at the Online Apple Store.
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mavericks, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion. See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps. It's displayed in the panel on the right. To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or laterħ. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or laterĦ. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or laterĥ. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or laterĤ. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) -ģ. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or laterĢ. Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mavericksġ. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless. The file is quite large, over 5 GBs, so allow some time to download. Purchase and download Mavericks (Free) from the App Store. To upgrade to Mavericks you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Lion, or Mountain Lion installed. Upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion or Mavericks If you upgraded to Mavericks be sure to upgrade your RAM to at least 4 GBs, if possible. Personally, I would stick with Snow Leopard unless you had a need to upgrade.