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If you’re running Mac OS X 10.5 or earlier ( and have a compatible Mac-see above!) your official route to Mountain Lion is to buy a DVD copy of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (still available from Apple for $29.99), install that, then connect to the App Store and pay an additional $19.99 to install Mountain Lion.

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If you’re running any version of Mac OS X 10.6, you can upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.8 for free using software update: again, the process might take a while, but when you’re done you’ll have access to the App Store. So here’s another gotcha: users can only get to the App Store if they have Mac OS X 10.6.8 or newer, an Apple ID, and either App Store credit or payment information (like a credit card) on file. If you’ve got a comparatively low-bandwidth connection to the Internet, the download could take many, many hours: set aside some time, or (if your Mac’s portable) maybe relocate someplace with tons of bandwidth for the basic download. Although it will be priced at $19.99, it will be a mammoth download in the neighborhood of 4 GB.
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How to get Mountain LionĪs with Mac OS X 10.7 before it, Apple isn’t making Mountain Lion available on DVD: customers will have to get it online from the Mac App Store. We’d recommend having at least double that amount. Similarly, Apple says you’ll need a minimum of 8 GB of free disk space to install Mountain Lion. What else do you need? Mountain Lion officially requires a minimum of 2 GB of RAM though, we really can’t recommend trying to use Mountain Lion effectively on less than 4 GB of RAM. These hardware requirements are the most complicated Apple has had for an operating system in years. If your number is lower than that…Mountain Lion not for you. For MacBook Airs, you want “2.1” or greater, for plain-old MacBooks you want “5.1” or greater, and for iMacs you want “7.1” or greater.
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The same command works in Snow Leopard and earlier, but you want the “Model Identifier” field, which will say something like “MacBookPro4,1.” (Treat the comma as a decimal point.) For Mac minis, MacBook Pros, and Mac Pros (and Xserves, just in case you have one) you need a machine that’s “3.1” or greater. Not sure which Mac model you have? If you’re running Lion, click the “More Info” button in “About this Mac,” available in the Apple menu: your model description appears right at the top of the “Overview” panel. Mountain Lion will not load 32-bit kernel extensions…even if they’re graphics drivers.
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Although it has not been officially confirmed by Apple, the reason is widely believed to be that drivers for the graphics systems in those older set-ups are all 32-bit. This list omits some older MacBook Pros, iMacs, and Mac Pro models that can have compatible processors and run a 64-bit kernel.

In practice, this means the following Macs support Mountain Lion: Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion requires a Mac with at least an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an “advanced” graphics processor, and (since Mountain Lion is 64-bit through and through) a logic board that can support a 64-bit kernel. If you’re running an older Mac with Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard” or Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger,” the answer is maybe…and your path to Mountain Lion will probably be at bit complicated. The first question, of course, is “Can my Mac run Mountain Lion?” The basic answer is that if you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” or Mac OX 10.6 “Snow Leopard,” the answer is probably yes. Mountain Lion also picks up new security features to help keep things like the Flashback botnet from happening again, deepens integration with Apple’s iCloud services, and offers built-in dictation so users enter text into almost any app just by speaking.Īpple is also upping its upgrade game with Mountain Lion: it’ll be available as a download from the Mac App store for just $19.99 - pretty much the lowest price ever charged for a mainstream commercial desktop operating system.īut is there a catch? What do Mac users need to know before they upgrade to Mountain Lion? Is your Mac compatibile? With Mountain Lion, Mac OS X is getting things like Game Center, Messages, Notification Center, one-step sharing to services like Twitter and Flickr, and (eventually) integrated Facebook support. Once you’ve got your Mac prepped, make sure to check out our review of OS X Mountain Lion.Īpple is set to launch Mac OS X 10.8 “Mountain Lion” this week, adding a spate of new features to its desktop operating system-many of which are borrowed and adapted from its even more widely-used iOS mobile operating system.
