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Released June 2009 / 2.66, 2.8, or 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor

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Sierra upgrade possible on a MBP mid 2009

I have a customer with a:

Apple MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 15" (SD) Specs

Identifiers: Mid-2009 15" - MB986LL/A - MacBookPro5,3 - A1286 - 2325*

It has a 64 bit Architecture and therefore should be able to take Sierra.

But then so does my early 2009 MacPro and I had to do a firmware hack to make it think it was a 2010 before I could install.

Does anyone know how to get it to install, or if it will?

UPDATE

The system should run on this machine so I'm thinking of duplicating her hard drive onto another drive. Put that drive onto a newer machine, install Sierra then swap the drives and see if it runs?

UPDATE 10/1/16

Tried to start up from an external SSD drive with Sierra on in and got the circle with a bar on it. So it's a no go unless I can either do a firmware upgrade or possibly change the plist.

UPDATE 7/11/17

This may be the way to do it:

http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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@mayer - Apple lists 2010 or later for the MacBook Pro's so the installer may not let you. I think you should be able to cheat by using a different system to prep up the HD. The only thing I can think would be if the video drivers are missing in the build.

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I think I'll try booting first from an external with a clean Sierra install. If the drivers are missing, then do the install on an existing 10.11.6 with know good drivers.

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I know this is late, but my mid 2009 MBP has been running Sierra for a few days now and apart from some thermal issues at the start when it was setting everything up. Now it runs pretty smoothly and performance is comparable to El Capitan. I used the dosdude method and patcher, just make sure you back up the HD before you go ahead

My spec:

Mid 2009 MacBook Pro 13"

Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.26GHz

4GB DDR3 @1,066MHz

350GB HDD

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It's never to late as long as the solution is in question. Thanks for confirming the fix ;-) Welcome to the site.

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Thanks, wcd.maiden, for posting your experience. I too am running El Cap on the same machine, but with 8GB RAM and a 250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD. It's damned quick with El Cap, and I'm glad to hear Sierra performance is comparable to El Cap for you. On to imaging, F/W hacking, and testing High Sierra. The SSD made a HUGE difference, and at current prices, it's a no-brainer upgrade if anyone wants to keep a similarly ancient hulk operational.

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How would it run if you only had 2gb RAM?

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Following up, I'm writing from the upgraded mid-2009 MBP! So far, so good, except for this major installer screwup: I had a /vm folder containing some 116GB of (4) Vbox virtual machines that the High Sierra installation simply deleted without comment. My user data in /Users remained intact. I did image before the upgrade, but I'm totally ticked that Apple would nuke data. Or is this an error of the otherwise awesome dosdude installer patch? Dunno, but forewarned is forearmed, people: back up, and a disk image before any major upgrade can save your bacon.

To SW: I'd think High Sierra would probably run like a dog on just 2GB RAM. I would counsel against. But I guess it also depends on what OS you're running now. 10.8.x could warrant a change despite drawbacks!

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OK, re: nuked /vm folder, here's a useful thread: https://communities.vmware.com/thread/57...

Apparently I forgot I was expected to drink the Apple Kool-Aid and put monster VM files into my user folder to (maybe?) preserve them through upgrades. I've filed a bug report. I don't think installers should silently delete user data.

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okay guys so what y'all saying is with my mid2009 with 500GB SSD, 8GB ram core 2 Duo i can install sierra..??? i'm not really good at those so ima get someone to do it but its safe right..??? just to be sure and clear

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Right now I would stay with El Capitan. I'm having to many machines come in right now, 2012 and prior with kernel panic problem after doing a High Sierra update. You can do the upgrade yourself, what OS X are you running now?

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mayer will be eternally grateful.
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