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Could this machine support a more recent macOS and would that be necessary for development work?

I have a chance to buy a Mac Pro 3.1 (2008):

  • Intel Xeon Dual Quad-Core 2.8Ghz (8 cores total)
  • 12GB RAM
  • Dual GPUs. ATI Radeon HD5770 1GB VRAM (1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 2x DVI), and HD2800 XT (2x DVI)
  • Dual CD/DVD Optical Drives
  • 1TB Storage over two HDD drives
  • 2x Firewire 800, 2x Firewire 400, 2x 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 5x USB 2.0, Audio Toslink In/Out, Headphone & Speaker out
  • Running OS X Yosemite but can be upgraded.

I am beginner to coding but keen to get started.

Any comments on how this machine may cope (or not) with any programming tasks (mostly Xcode) are appreciated.

Graham Miln
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Marky Canavan
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  • I recommend you MacTracker. It's an app that provides information about nearly every single Apple device. It also tells the latest operating system a device can run. –  Aug 24 '18 at 08:21
  • @pixelomer - the edit to the question actually changed the intent. The opening paragraph was not in the OP :/ – Tetsujin Aug 24 '18 at 08:28

1 Answers1

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The machine itself is quite up to the task.

However, it is limited to El Capitan 10.11, so whilst you could use it for learning, to publish Apple usually require you have the very latest Xcode; which is incapable of being run on an older OS. For instance, Xcode 9 requires macOS 10.13.2 minimum.

If you can find the next model up - the 2009 4,1 can be upgraded by a Firmware hack to become a 5,1* & then be capable of running at least Mojave.

*It can be hard to tell the difference between a true 5,1 & upgraded 4,1 - but this is the giveaway...

enter image description here

A 'true' 5,1 would say 2010 or 2012. A non-upgraded 4,1 couldn't be running even Sierra, so this has to be an upgraded 4,1
I know this for sure - it's my machine ;-)

Additional note: Whichever you decide on, the first thing to do is add an SSD as boot drive. The difference in performance cannot be overstated. Recent versions of macOS expect you to be running from SSD.

Tetsujin
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  • Thanks. Some food for thought. I have seen some affordable 4.1. (Early 2009) Mac Pros. So getting a 4.1 is better option so I go with that. – Marky Canavan Aug 24 '18 at 13:35
  • You'll need to decide whether it's a task you want to take on yourself, or whether you buy one ready-upgraded - This is the loooong thread on how it's done - http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html I've never done it personally,. I bought mine already done & with the newer, faster processors. – Tetsujin Aug 24 '18 at 13:44
  • Was the price (£200) that attracted me to the 3.1. Some 4.1 are still within my budget. Makes sense to have something that is bang up to date so if 4.1 can run mojave and latest Xcode then I think that makes sense. Would rather have it upgraded but I’m sure I could upgrade to if necessary. The £200 Mac 3.1 can update iOS to. If it let me get a hands on coding environment even with old Xcode releases then could still be good place to start. If I get into it I then could consider upgrade. But what about Mac books? Also in price range but I’m thinking not as upgradeable perhaps? – Marky Canavan Aug 24 '18 at 14:27