Optimizing and latest OS for Macbook A1181?

[PShermanWallaby]

I have a Macbook A1181 model, possibly early 2007 or 2006 (I'm unable to tell except that it is A1181). If it helps: it is possibly the first of the Macbook line, all white, 13-inch, designated A1181. It was distributed by a college my sister attended, but the school did not require its students to return the laptops, so we kept it.

I want to refurbish it for my mom who wishes to use it. I've backed up ALL the possible files on it on an external hard drive and USB (documents, photos, music, school/homework files, etc). I wish to completely wipe it clean and basically start the computer over from factory settings, as in re-install the operating system, clean-slate the hard drive, and optimize the computer to run at maximal speed (it's very sluggish right now). I admit I have tons of experience with Windows, and to do something similar on Windows I would just reinstall Windows 7 from an OS boot disk/USB, and delete the system-old folder to start anew. I don't know how to do this for our A1181 macbook.

Can anyone advise me on what is the latest OS (Yosemite, Mountain Lion, 10.7, 10.8, 10.10, etc) that the A1181 is capable of running/installing and how I would install it? Are these OSX disks sold at the Apple store? And how I would go about wiping the hard drive clean and optimizing as I would a Windows computer by reinstalling the OS? Thank you so much for the help!

 

[chas_m]

There are **17** models of Mac with that model number -- can you not give us more data from the "About this Mac" selection of the Apple Menu??

Assuming your guess is right about 2006-2007, it would be unlikely to go any farther than Lion (10.7.5), and may only be capable of using 3.3GB of RAM. Let me be frank -- unless you're not getting on particularly well with your mother, this would not be a good machine to give her. Again basing my opinion on the scant information/speculation you've provided, and without knowing anything about how computer-savvy your mother is, it could certainly be made to run pretty well with some modest investments -- but the machine is approaching obsolescence rapidly, and I think we agree that we don't want your mother to have a bad experience.

To rehab that machine as much as you can, you can order a 10.6.8 Snow Leopard DVD from Apple for $20. You can then use that to wipe the hard drive and install a fresh, clean OS X install ... but your information suggest that hard drive may be dying (or you're not used a nearly decade-old computer and how slow it will be by comparison to modern ones). The HD in there should definitely be replaced just due to age, and preferably replaced with an SSD so you can get some decent performance out of it.

Really I would strongly recommend buying her a used and/or more recent MacBook Air short of knowing more about what she'd like to do with it. With more information about the model, we could probably advise further, but as I say ... do you want her to have a good experience with it, or a frustrating one full of limitations due to the age and limits of the machine?

 

[chscag]

There were many model A1181 White MacBooks. If the machine can boot, boot it up and then click on the Apple menu at the top left and select "about this Mac". Provide us with that information. But based on the A1181 model number, the maximum version of OS X it can run would be Lion (10.7.X). It may not even be able to run that which is why we need to know the exact year and model. After OS X 10.6.X (Snow Leopard) Apple operating systems are download only and not sold on disk.

 

[PShermanWallaby]

Ok, a few things.

To start, forgive me for the lack of info. I've never used an Apple computer outside of college, and those few instances were only to use the word processor. Here is the "About this Mac" profile:

"Mac OS X
Version 10.4.11
Processor: 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Startup Disk: Macintosh HD"

From the More Info tab on the bottom:

Hardware
"Model Name: Macbook
Model Identifier: Macbook2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB21.00A5.B07
SMC Version: 1.17f0
Serial Number: W87260GVYA2
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled"

Software
"System Version: Mac OS X 10.4.11 (852167)
Kernel Version: Darwin 8.11.1
Boot Volume: Macintosh HD"

I hope that's a start. Sorry again.

Second, I know this computer is old, but I'm not "shorting" my mom by giving this computer to her... I would go ahead and buy the latest Macbook for her if she so wanted me to. She simply requested one day that, since this computer hasn't been used by my sister for a few years, that I do the best I can with it to make it run a little faster, wipe it out to start anew, replace the defunct battery (which I did from a battery I bought online), and install any OS updates. She wants to bring it over to her small business to use for her off-hours or non-peak times. It's simply a matter of resourcefulness. I think she herself would feel a completely new Macbook is far too much of an investment for such a minor use of the computer, not that I'm not willing to gift her one. I can name a few things she wants the computer to be able to do: browse YouTube, surf the web, basic Google searches, several applications (Gilt, Zillow, etc), and word process for documents. It's nothing big; I'm sure this old macbook is at least capable of a few of these things. She's not looking for a gaming laptop or a process-heavy workstation. If it can run at least a recent Flash plug-in, stream YouTube videos, a recent version of Google Chrome or Safari, and surf the web, she should have everything she needs from the computer.

That being said, you mentioned several possible hardware upgrades such as the transition to an SSD. Is that really possible? Because I'm definitely interested in purchasing these if available. Aside from the SSD, what additional changes should I make? Especially relating to processing speed? Again, my laptop expertise in general is limited. I've built a desktop computer and assembled all parts (power supply, video card, motherboard, CPU, fans, etc) myself, but I've always known laptops to be more or less unchangeable hardware-wise. I didn't even know these changes can be made, let alone specifically to this one model of the A1181.

And finally, I guess the part about the OS in my original post still stands: can you guys tell what the latest possible OS X is for this Macbook? Will the disk (or the download for those beyond 10.6.X) simultaneously accomplish the clean wipe I want for the computer's memory?

Sorry for the loaded questions, and thanks for all the help.

 

[chas_m]

Regrettably the specs you gave narrow it down to two different possible models, one from 2006 and the other from 2007. In either case, the answer to the question about the max System version you can run is Lion (10.7.5) -- getting pretty old now, and will have its support dropped (re: security updates and iTunes compatibility) in the near future if it hasn't been dropped already. This could be important if you're wanting to hold on to this for more than a year, or if your mom wants to plug recent iDevices into it.

She wants to bring it over to her small business to use for her off-hours or non-peak times. It's simply a matter of resourcefulness.

I can respect that, but IMHO it's been too long now. Going on the web with this machine is likely to be an exercise in frustration now or in the very near future; there will be some areas where that machine is just too old (or the web plugins too old) to work well. Google Earth will be painful, forget about HD videos, Java applets won't run right, and I suspect Flash support for Lion isn't long for this world.

I think she herself would feel a completely new Macbook is far too much of an investment for such a minor use of the computer,

I specifically said new*er*, not brand new. See above for the reasons why.

I can name a few things she wants the computer to be able to do: browse YouTube, surf the web, basic Google searches, several applications (Gilt, Zillow, etc), and word process for documents. It's nothing big; I'm sure this old macbook is at least capable of a few of these things.

It should be able to handle the basic Google searches and word processing without an issue. YouTube could be quite difficult; many sites will have some problems (again see above), I'm not sure Gilt and Zillow are "apps" on the Mac (maybe you're confusing this with iOS apps? Those won't run), and even their websites are *heavily* dependent on an assumption that you're surfing on something newer.

I owned one of these machines (the black 2007 version) and loved it dearly -- but the combination of weak video card, low RAM capability, and no ability to upgrade beyond Lion was becoming a serious hassle to me when I sold it a year ago!

If it can run at least a recent Flash plug-in, stream YouTube videos, a recent version of Google Chrome or Safari, and surf the web, she should have everything she needs from the computer.

See above.

That being said, you mentioned several possible hardware upgrades such as the transition to an SSD. Is that really possible?

Sure. A 2.5-inch SSD is, from the computer's perspective, just another drive ... and on those machines the drive is VERY easily replaceable.

Aside from the SSD, what additional changes should I make? Especially relating to processing speed?

There is not a thing you can do about that. You could max out the RAM at 3.3GB (2x2GB modules) -- again very easy to do.

And finally, I guess the part about the OS in my original post still stands: can you guys tell what the latest possible OS X is for this Macbook? Will the disk (or the download for those beyond 10.6.X) simultaneously accomplish the clean wipe I want for the computer's memory?

You mean storage, not memory, and the 10.6 disk can completely wipe the drive before installing 10.6 if you want. As for the OS version, I mentioned it above -- I am not certain you can still obtain Lion, but Snow Leopard is for sure still available.

I'd again suggest you look at a used or refurbished MacBook Air -- my wife is using one from 2010 with a 128GB ssd in it and has no thought of moving on, since it can still do everything she wants from a computer (and her list of priorities is very similar to your mom's!)

 

[PShermanWallaby]

Hi everyone,

Just want to thank you both, chas_m and chscag, for all the help. chas_m, I pretty much took your advice, although for different reasons. While trying to update the OS X from Leopard to Snow Leopard to Lion on the A1181 (a nightmare, as you predicted. I think the disk reader is damaged, or disk utility was not functioning), I must've seriously messed with something while trying to wipe the hard drive. After trying to install Snow Leopard from boot-up, I get a serious kernel panic now, where I continually get the multi-lingual restart message in an endless loop, no matter if I try to start in safe mode or hold alt to choose which disk to boot from. I found no easy way out of this, or even a solution at all, so I just bid for a used Macbook Pro and gifted that to my mom. It has noticeable dents and scratches but otherwise runs absolutely fine. Also, it seems to transition into running Korean (for my mom) as the primary language much better than the A1181 as well.

Now I'm just wondering what to do with this defunct macbook. I feel a little wasted having bought a new battery for it as well. I guess I'll figure out a use for it later on. Again, thanks for all the help!