ChromeOS flex on old macbook?

[tom_newton]

Anyone tried this? I finally upgraded my old macbook to a newer windows laptop from @ICTDirect_Dave

 

The only thing that's still better on the Mac is the retina display. I'm loathe to bin it. Anyone run chromeos on one of these? Is it any good?

[TheHyperTechie]

I had it running on our late 2015 iMac at home. Useless with Mac OS on it due to the hardware specs etc, Chrome OS Flex basically turned it into a fast (now useable) computer again. I would recommend 🙂

[dhicks]

29 minutes ago, HyperTech said:

I had it running on our late 2015 iMac

 

Same here - I'm posting from an early 2015 iMac running ChromeOS, works nicely - nice screen, camera and internal mic work. For some reason I don't think we managed to get the built-in wireless working - I haven't tried with a USB adaptor, we have a wired connection so didn't bother. I also use it with headphones, I can't remember if the internal speaker works or not.

[Danp]

I ran it on an old Mac a couple of years ago. It was fine for about 6 months, then the wifi stopped working. I was at a Google event and mentioned it, had a few emails back and forth, and they said they had stopped supporting some models.

[ZeroHour]

On 25/03/2025 at 12:29, tom_newton said:

Anyone tried this? I finally upgraded my old macbook to a newer windows laptop from @ICTDirect_Dave

 

The only thing that's still better on the Mac is the retina display. I'm loathe to bin it. Anyone run chromeos on one of these? Is it any good?

How old is the mac?

 

You could always try Open Core Legacy Patcher to try and run a newer MacOS

[tom_newton]

2015. I've just tried chromeos and the blasted WiFi doesn't work 

[tom_newton]

On 24/04/2025 at 12:55, Danp said:

I ran it on an old Mac a couple of years ago. It was fine for about 6 months, then the wifi stopped working. I was at a Google event and mentioned it, had a few emails back and forth, and they said they had stopped supporting some models.

Yes, this appears to be my problem. I should have probably paid more attention to this post. 

[dhicks]

10 hours ago, tom_newton said:

2015. I've just tried chromeos and the blasted WiFi doesn't work 

Well, at least it's consistant 🙂 Does a USB wireless dongle work, I never did check on mine?

[tom_newton]

6 hours ago, dhicks said:

Well, at least it's consistant 🙂 Does a USB wireless dongle work, I never did check on mine?

We will know tonight, mebbe. If I get home in time to be bothered to try it

[3s-gtech]

Try OpenCore on it as mentioned, you may be pleasantly surprised. It makes MacOS 15 run on some right old clunkers - yours will be fine.

[tom_newton]

That's option B

[tom_newton]

WiFi Dongle: Fail. Doesnt even seem to bother to try using it.

Option B it is.

[tom_newton]

Now getting MacOS back to "as far as it will go normally".  Then openlegacy patcher..

[k-strider]

ubuntu maybe? i put Kubuntu on an old HP  7th Gen i5 love it... 

[dhicks]

2 hours ago, k-strider said:

ubuntu maybe?

 

The new release of Debian (version 13, codename "Trixie") is due this Saturday. I'll probably be switching my current (home) 2017-era Windows 10 Dell Inspiron 5567 over to that, not sure if that's installable on older Macs.

[PotNoodleTech]

Did this.  Not really much point all I ended up with was a super heavy slow chromebook with poor battery life.

[tom_newton]

I ended up giving away the macbook to a charity collecting old laptops. 

It was never gonna play ball with chrome, and I couldnt get legacyopenpatcher to work, and I can't be bothered fiddling with a linux machine, I did that in my 20s

[3s-gtech]

Shame you couldn’t get OpenCore working - I use it extensively (I know some frown on that in a work setting, but we have 34 Macs running the latest version of MacOS that would otherwise be ewaste). My work laptop is a 2011 Macbook Pro running MacOS 15 which is ridiculous really (though app support is not complete due to the GPU).

 

The key is to get the machine onto the very latest supported version, install OCLP, boot to UEFI mode, then try installing the newer version. Then use the system patches.

 

Something to bear in mind if you get your hands on another one.

[tom_newton]

I _think_ I followed the instructions, I did try it a few times, but it never seemed to take. Anyway it is having a second life now, I didn't need any more computers in the house... (well, now I am looking for some for my wife to take to Kenya to give to kenyan kids)