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Is my Mac compatible with OS X 10.7 Lion?

Check the following spots on your Mac before attempting to upgrade to Lion. Your Mac must be running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard in order to purchase OS X Lion from the Mac App Store. Click the Apple in the upper left corner of your Mac and select Software Update to upgrade to 10.6.8. 

If you are running Leopard (OS X 10.5), you must buy Snow Leopard on DVD before you can update to Lion.

 

Processor

AboutThisMacProcessor2.png

Lion can only be run on certain Intel processors. Go the the Apple in the upper left corner of  your screen and select About This Mac to view your processor's type.

Your processor must be an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor to run Lion.

The earliest Intel Macs with Core Solo and Core Duo (without the 2) processors will not run Lion. PowerPC Macs (such as the iBook and PowerBook) manufactured before 2006 are also not compatible.

 

Memory (RAM)

Officially Lion requires a minimum of 2 GB of Memory (RAM) to run. You can view your Mac's RAM right under Processor in the Apple menu > About This Mac. Tekserve recommends installing as much RAM as your budget allows. More RAM will help your Mac run more applications faster. Tekserve can max out most Mac's RAM for $199 while you wait. 

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Hard Drive Disk Space

You'll need 4-5 GB of free disk space just to download the Lion installer but you'll want at least 20 GB available to safely run the upgrade and continue using your Mac. To check how much free space your Mac has, select your hard drive and choose File > Get Info. If you don't have enough "Available" space, Tekserve can upgrade your computer's hard drive in about one day, typically for $299 or less.

 

Firmware Updates

Some Macs may require a firmware update to run Lion. You may have been prompted to run a firmware update while using Software Update but just in case, you can check if your Firmware version is up to date on Apple's EFI and SMC firmware updates article.


Published July 11, 2011 4:56 PM
Last modified on July 20, 2011 10:05 AM


Related Links

Top 12 Reasons to Upgrade to Lion
Which software is compatible with Lion (OS 10.7)?
How do I upgrade to Lion (OS 10.7)?
How do I upgrade or reinstall Mac OS X? (Snow Leopard & Earlier)
I’m upgrading to a new Macintosh, how do I transfer my files over?
After a data transfer or clean installation, how do I get my files and applications working again?




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