Breathing New Life into Vintage MacBooks: A Hobbyist's Journey

I know, another MacBook post! But I just couldn't resist spontaneously buying another old one. The listing claimed it was a 2011-2013 model, but it turned out to be an early 2010 MacBook. Thankfully, I can still update its macOS to a newer version using OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

The MacBook I won had a faulty hard drive, which wasn't surprising since it was the original. Swapping it out for a new SSD made the recovery process smooth, and the machine fired right up. Now, the battery is dead, so I'm on the hunt for a cheap replacement. I'm trying to avoid spending too much, as I'm quickly approaching the cost of a decent M1 MacBook! I'm also hoping the RAM from my other MacBook will fit, boosting this one from 8 GB to 16 GB, which would be fantastic for performance.

You might wonder why I bother with old hardware. For me, it's the satisfaction of getting things working again. There's so much to learn through troubleshooting and figuring out tools like OpenCore Legacy Patcher. Plus, I've always worked with PCs, so delving into Macs has been a fun challenge.

My ultimate goal is still to get my wife's MacBook Air back to her, but I still need to pick up the right Philips screwdriver for that project!