2013 MacBook Pro: My Grand son (16yo) is visiting me for the holiday weekend. I got him into photography a few years ago by passing down my Canon 50D and a few lenses. He has has taken...

AFPhoto Loc: Jamestown, RI, USA

My Grand son (16yo) is visiting me for the holiday weekend. I got him into photography a few years ago by passing down my Canon 50D and a few lenses. He has has taken off like a rocket and is now even the official photographer for his high school. He is currently using a new(ish) but slow windows laptop to edit using his subscription to Light Room Classic and Photoshop. Last night I found a 2013 MacBook Pro that used to be mine several years ago and I cleaned it up and he tried to install his Lightroom Classic but was informed that the operating system -SIERA- was inadequate ( not surprising). Is there anything that we can do short of trashing this computer?

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

you might try the apple photo editing program that is already loaded on that computer. The apple editing program is quite good and will do most of your editing needs. My photo students find that they can do 90% of all their editing needs just by using the apple Photo program. It's free and already there in your computer. Try it , you may like it.

AFPhoto Loc: Jamestown, RI, USA

ORpilot wrote:

you might try the apple photo editing program that is already loaded on that computer. The apple editing program is quite good and will do most of your editing needs. My photo students find that they can do 90% of all their editing needs just by using the apple Photo program. It's free and already there in your computer. Try it , you may like it.

Thanks. We will give it a try

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

AFPhoto wrote:

My Grand son (16yo) is visiting me for the holiday... (show quote)

Update the OS to whatever OS the computer specs can handle, then try again to install Lightroom. You may not be able to get the most recent version of Lightroom to work but you should be able to get fairly close. You should be able to run a more current OS than Sierra, which is pretty old. As a subscriber, he has access to older versions of Lightroom if he has to back up a bit from the current iteration.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've seen several posts on YouTube that show how to install newer iOS on older Macs.

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-install-the-latest-macos-on-an-unsupported-mac-1847802771

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=install+new+ios+on+old+macs

AFPhoto Loc: Jamestown, RI, USA

minniev wrote:

Update the OS to whatever OS the computer specs can handle, then try again to install Lightroom. You may not be able to get the most recent version of Lightroom to work but you should be able to get fairly close. You should be able to run a more current OS than Sierra, which is pretty old. As a subscriber, he has access to older versions of Lightroom if he has to back up a bit from the current iteration.

Thanks, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear. He tried to do a quick installation late last night so today we will go at this in a more organized manner…, Thanks again

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

Depending on the specs of your specific computer you might be able to install Big Sur, which will run the latest LrC.

John Matthews Loc: Wasilla, Alaska

If it is a late model 2013 Big Sur is the operating system you can upgrade too, If not you are stuck at high Sierra

AFPhoto Loc: Jamestown, RI, USA

Thanks again for all of the help. It turns out that it is a mid 2014 model and when I bought it i bought 16 G of RAM. It seemed to take forever but yesterday my grandson was able to get Big Sur up and running, then he put all of his Adobe software on it and now it is running LRclassis and Photoshop lightning fast - compared to his Microsoft surface laptop. He is one happy kid. Now the question I have, is if NIK software is still available. He likes to work with B&W and saw that I use NIK silver effect pro and the presets. Can I get that for his setup?

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

minniev wrote:

Update the OS to whatever OS the computer specs can handle, then try again to install Lightroom. You may not be able to get the most recent version of Lightroom to work but you should be able to get fairly close. You should be able to run a more current OS than Sierra, which is pretty old. As a subscriber, he has access to older versions of Lightroom if he has to back up a bit from the current iteration.

I have an older macbook lightroom 5should work.

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

If you have access to the old google version .dmg file it should install on the 2014 MacBook Pro if not DxO who has ownership is selling it now for $75 (black Friday discount of 40% off list).

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

Ednsb wrote:

If you have access to the old google version .dmg file it should install on the 2014 MacBook Pro if not DxO who has ownership is selling it now for $75 (black Friday discount of 40% off list).

Good info.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

AFPhoto wrote:

Thanks again for all of the help. It turns out tha... (show quote)

https://nikcollection.dxo.com BUY TODAY FOR HALF OFF.

You can upgrade the drive in that MBP to a fast SSD. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro

The exact upgrades that work for your machine depend on which model it is.

It may be a wiser move, however, to get a used or refurbished MacBook Air M1 with 16GB memory and 1TB SSD storage. It will run all the latest software for several years to come. And it's MUCH faster than the 2014 MBP.

Greg from Romeoville illinois Loc: Romeoville illinois

AFPhoto wrote:

Is there anything that we can do short of trashing this computer?

Install Linux. You will be amazed how fast that Mac will fly.

https://www.systranbox.com/how-to-install-linux-on-macbook-pro-2013/

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

burkphoto wrote:

https://nikcollection.dxo.com BUY TODAY FOR HALF OFF.

You can upgrade the drive in that MBP to a fast SSD. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro

The exact upgrades that work for your machine depend on which model it is.

It may be a wiser move, however, to get a used or refurbished MacBook Air M1 with 16GB memory and 1TB SSD storage. It will run all the latest software for several years to come. And it's MUCH faster than the 2014 MBP.

Weren't they giving away Nik a few years ago? I have downloads from 2014 and 2016. Just checking, I see that I have Nik Studio installed. As a matter of fact, looking at my downloads, I see that I have twenty-one folders of photo programs, not counting those that aren't in folders. No sales resistance at all!

Yes, it is super easy to replace the Mac HDD with an SSD. I did that with my 2012. The odd thing is, no computer will acknowledge the existence of that HDD from the MacBook Pro. I have it in an enclosure, and the light lights up, but no computer will read it. No app in Windows sees it, either. When I built my computer in 2016, I paid $270 for a Samsung 500GB M.2. Now, a 1TB M.2 can be had for $200 less.