# OS X 10.5 System Requirements?



## Packbacker92 (Jul 14, 2006)

Currently, I am still using an old Apple Powerbook G3 Pismo (500 MHz, Upgraded 8x dual-layer Superdrive, 12 GB HDD, 512 MBs of RAM, and running OS X version 10.4.7)  I know I know it's old and slow compared to what apple has on the market these days.  But heck, there's no way I would trade it in for even a top of the line MacBook Pro.  

So anyways...lets cut to the chase.  Tiger was yesterday's news.  Now all the big talk is on what new features Apple is going to use in Leopard to once again leave Microsoft light years behind.  The question is (for people like me who have gotten attached to their older macs), what are the system requirements going to be for Leopard to run smoothly on my mac?  

I would of course hope that Leopard runs noticeably faster than Tiger did on my Pismo,(if it runs at all)  but if the new features that Leopard has to offer are as impressive as I've heard they are, then I would be happy just to have those features, and see no improvement in speed.  I mean come on, Tiger is pretty damn fast if you ask me.  Besides, I was already planning on getting a G4 upgrade for my Pismo.  And I just can't see Apple making the requirements for Leopard so high, that a 550MHz G4 can't make the cut. 

So what do you guys think the requirements for Leopard will and should be?  Do you think apple would really completely drop the G3 when so many people are still using those 900MHz ibooks?  I mean, those things arn't more than 3 years old are they?  Or do you think Apple will have some special features in Leopard that will only work on more powerful intel or altivec optimized macs and then allow the base system to run on some G3's?  And finally, how many people out there are still using a mac that is 4 years old or older for their primary computer?  Just curious about that last one, I'd like to think I'm not the only one.

Please share your thoughts everyone!  I'd like to hear everybody's opinion!


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## Mikuro (Jul 14, 2006)

I doubt they'll ditch G3s. With Tiger, they officially support every system made in the 4 years prior to its release (and most systems a year or two older). And as far as technical requirements go, they're even more reasonable than that; there's no _technical_ reason you can't install Tiger on a machine without built-in FireWire, but Apple doesn't "support" it. The first G4 iBook was released in October 2003, so I think they'll still support G3s.

Apple's been pretty good about integrating new technologies without breaking old hardware. For example, Quartz Extreme benefits a lot from a good video card, but if there's no good video card present, everything will still run; you'll just suffer worse performance. Same with AltiVec so far, and even Core Image.

I wouldn't be shocked to see them require 32MB of VRAM, though, which would put your pismo out of the running. It's possible they're going to implement some major changed to the graphics system to support true resolution independence (a feature that halfway-kinda-almost made it into Tiger, but didn't work too well), and that might need better graphics specs.

Of course, it's all just speculation at this point. I guess we'll know more at WWDC when they give us our first preview of Leopard.


I tend to replace my computer about once every 4 years, so I don't think you're pushing the limit, really. I might still be using my 450MHz iMac DV+ (c. 2000) today if it hadn't died on me near the end of 2004.


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## fryke (Jul 14, 2006)

I'm pretty sure Leopard will ditch more hardware than Tiger did. They tend to "let go" of another generation of hardware with every release. Last time, the entry point was on-board FireWire ports. This time, it might be Quartz Extreme compatibility. I'm pretty sure it'll hit the Pismos and clamshell iBooks (as well as some early white iBooks and maybe even the early TiBooks). It's not only that the old hardware would not really benefit from the newer features, anyway (most of the effects and stuff will probably only work with rather current graphics cards, like it was with Quartz Extreme and later on Core Graphics etc.), but also about how many different hardware platforms to support for Apple. They have to move on. And since I already recommend users of Pismo-generation Macs to stay with 10.3.9 rather than updating to Tiger, I'd say it's not much of a problem, anyway. Performance gains in Leopard will probably most be seen on intel and 64bit PowerPC hardware (i.e. G5).

But until a first developer release is issued, we don't know squat, really, and everything's just speculation - based on how Apple handled these things in the past. And the past five years have shown that Apple will continue to leave older hardware in the dust. You can try and see whether your hardware is on that edge by looking at it this way: The oldest/lowest (officially!) supported Mac for Tiger would probably be the iMac G3 DV, which had FireWire ports. It was released in mid 2000. Tiger was released in "mid" 2005. So we're looking at a 5-year cut-off, more or less. So it might even hit the 550/667 MHz TiBooks. That's more or less the cut-point I'd be looking at.


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## Veljo (Jul 15, 2006)

While I don't think Apple will officially ditch G3s, I'm expecting Leopard to run like a dog on them; likewise on lower-end G4 machines.


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## Ferdinand (Jul 15, 2006)

They might just ditch many old Macs, to encourage people to buy newer ones. They surely wont ditch iBook G4's, PowerMacs etc... but I can image that they'll say no computer built earlier than 2001 or 2000, so those people with newer PowerPCs wont have to give up their computers, but older ones will.
Though many people with be sad/angry about it, because like Packbacker92 said, some still use their old comps, they might just do it to get only "modern" machines to run it.


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## emax4 (Jul 16, 2006)

I just hope that the memory requirements aren't astronomical.  I have 1.5 GB of RAM in my upgraded 1.2 GHz G4 Digital Audio.  I don't want the next operating system to take up even 500MB of RAM.  Think about it... ...how difficult would it be to work with an operating system that eats up that muc of your OS that it wouldn't leave any room for any other applications?   I think graphics cards are an exception because even if the new OS takes up a lot of video RAM, I might be playing a game that will take up the whole screen and not show any of the desktop at all.  It would be nice to be able to turn on and off certain graphical features (such as dock magnification) so that users of older Macs and less powerful graphics cards aren't left behind.  I believe that Windows users have this feature.


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## Qion (Jul 16, 2006)

I have a premonition that Leopard will come sporting a 32 megabyte video card minimum. I have a 32MB Radeon right_now, and I can't even have that nifty little ripple effect in the Dashboard I never use. Unless Leopard just builds off technology no more complicated than Exposé, I doubt Macs older than my eMac are going to "make it".

And yes, I agree with emax4 in that Apple *should* (and could) allow users to have some choice in what graphic effects are displayed. On a related note, I noticed that when installing Tiger on my Sawtooth, the cube effect for new user setup was nonexistent. With both my eMacs, the cube effect was there.


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## iStoica (Oct 6, 2006)

so... they finally convince me to buy one of those new damn machines...


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## Qion (Oct 6, 2006)

Some'a'this!


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## Satcomer (Oct 6, 2006)

iStoica said:


> so... they finally convince me to buy one of those new damn machines...



Start budgeting for the machine now. By the time 10.5 comes out you will have enough for a new Mac.


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## live18 (Oct 9, 2006)

I'm planning on buying a macbook pro, but I'm going to wait just a bit because there are rumors that Apple is going to lunch the new macbook pro's with intel core 2 duo.


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## Galley (Oct 9, 2006)

live18 said:


> I'm planning on buying a macbook pro, but I'm going to wait just a bit because there are rumors that Apple is going to lunch the new macbook pro's with intel core 2 duo.



That sounds like a smart move.


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## ADDABAD (Sep 22, 2008)

I have an IBOOK G4 with OS X 10.4.  I want to upgrade it to 10.5 but my IBOOK cannot handle it.  I already installed it once and it crashed my IBOOK.  Luckily I had a friend repair it for me.  Any suggestions?

Adam Rogers


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## nixgeek (Sep 22, 2008)

ADDABAD said:


> I have an IBOOK G4 with OS X 10.4.  I want to upgrade it to 10.5 but my IBOOK cannot handle it.  I already installed it once and it crashed my IBOOK.  Luckily I had a friend repair it for me.  Any suggestions?
> 
> Adam Rogers



Does your iBook meet the requirements for Leopard?  Are you using a retail version of the disc or are you using one that came with another Mac?


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## Doctor X (Sep 22, 2008)

Funny, seeing how old the thread is, because I had a Widdle Upgraded Pismo I loved.  I resisted getting a new computer for the very reasons in this thread.  So now--after the AC Soundcard died--I now have a MacBook Pro with the Core 2 Duo people were looking for last October!

Anyways, is there a "pros and cons" thread about upgrading to 10.5?  I have heard conflicting opinions.

--J.D.


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