My Early 2009 MacBook was still running Mac OS X Mavericks and Aperture, but I felt it was time to update. The specs are at the bottom of the compatible hardware list and I was hesitant, but all was fine in the end.

Before you begin: I did a timemachine backup and I advise everybody to do the same on a regular basis and certainly before an update.

I’ve used RoaringApps to find application compatibility issues and found nothing that would hold me back. When their Mac application comes out I’ll be installing it.

First I updated to Yosemite. The app store makes this easy. After half an hour the setup wizard asked me to log in with my mobileme icloud account and finish the update. Now it’s time to explore.

Aperture is not working, but I decided before the update to start using the Photos app. On first launch the Photos app imports to Aperture/iPhoto library and offers an iCloud upload. All things in time, first do the import without iCloud upload. Again a process without any hassle.

The upload to iCloud took some time, so I let it complete overnight. With my 12 mbps upload I managed about 1000 photos an hour. In the morning my 19000+ pics were all uploaded and available. In preferences I checked the option to download all originals to my mac, unlike my iTunes Match where I leave all content in the iCloud.

Last step in my update was El Capitan. Some internet search made me comfortable with another big OS update. This one should help speed up the system. Again updating via the App Store worked as it should. Again I provided the iCloud credentials to finish the update. Even the Trim Enabler was working (Intel 330 180 Gb). After a small optimization period the system was in deed snappier. Remember I have the oldest macbook compatible with El Capitan.

I’ve noticed that the Photos app is real CPU hungry. When it runs the pressure on the CPU goes beyond 100%, where normal usage is about 20%. Maybe it’s time for a hardware upgrade in the near future?