Questions & Answers for OS X Lion (10.7)

No, you should be able to upgrade without these details. However you may use the serial number or precise model details to check online that your laptop will be compatible.

• Answered by Brian M
• 14/03/2015
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Do I need any info or serial numbers to upgrade to Lion - a friend gave me a laptop with OS X 10.6.8 already on it and I want to upgrade to Lion.)

Go to 10.7.5. As I understand it. Once you are there you can go to 10.11 - El Capitain for free. Like you, I am stuck on 10.6.8 and seems that in order to continue to get upgrades on software i run i need to upgrade.

I am not a professional computer consultant although I have been using Macs for over 25 years.

Be sure to back up your computer to an external hard drive or cloud service before upgrading. Use the time machine application on your computer to do this. It is very self explanitory.

Good luck.

• Answered by Dean H from Scottsdale
• 9/05/2017
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (What is the upgrade I need for my IMAC which already was upgraded to snow leopard OSX 10.6.8? I was guessing that OSX Lion would be good,which one?)

Yes you can.

• Answered by Jon B from Chicago
• 6/03/2016
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (I have a Mac Mini 2GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo, with 2 GB 667 MHZ DDR2 SDRAM purchased in early 2008, can I run OS X 10.7?)

I was researching this question earlier today, and the answer has two steps:

1. First you need to install Snow Leopard (10.6), which you buy on a disk. It’s $19.99 in the Apple Store right now.

2. Once you have installed Snow Leopard and run Software Update, you will be running MacOS X 10.6.8. It will include the Mac App Store, and you’ll be able to buy OS upgrades through there.

Two notes:

I haven’t verified that Lion and Mountain Lion (which are no longer the latest version of MacOS) are still offered in the Mac App Store; I’m still at step one. It’s possible that if you want Lion or Mountain Lion (not Mavericks) you might have to buy e.g. this item we’re commenting on, which eventually gets you a download code you can enter in the Mac App Store. A year ago when my mom wanted to upgrade to Lion (the furthest her MacBook can go) that’s how we had to do it. We bought Lion over the phone and they emailed the code.

Note that you should check how far your MacBook Pro should go. Search Google for things like "can I install Lion on my MacBook Pro" or "can I install Mavericks on my MacBook Pro" to find more tips for that. The very first MacBooks Pro were left behind several versions ago, but more recent ones can run Mavericks.

• Answered by David L L from Lambertville
• 9/03/2014
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (I have a MacBook Pro with OS X 10.5.8 and 4 GB memory. What upgrade would be the best one to purchase in order to be compatible with other products?)

Compare your system to the listed minimum System requirements for each OS. If it meets/exceeds, you can use that OS.
In your case, with the 2 Duo at 2 GHz and 4 MB RAM, you can go to OS X El Capitan and have room to spare.

• Answered by Elbert A from Lake Stevens
• 19/08/2016
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (I'm not sure if my iMac is able to upgrade and if it can which is the highest I can upgrade it to?)

You can run Mac OS X 10.7.5 :)

• Answered by Owen A from Taroona
• 13/12/2013
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (What levels of OSX can I upgrade if I have a black macbook? I am currently running 10.6.8)