A few questions about a macbook pro 17"

[kojack]

So, I have stumbled across a A1297 macbook 17" for 95 dollars semi locally.  The owner says he purchased it with the intention of installing a new HD and battery.  There is no charger with it.  My son has a 2015 macbook air.  Are the chargers the same for both macbooks so I can see if I can get the 17" to post?  Also, where I have no install media for MacOS, can I create this somehow and will this old system be able to run newer OS versions some how?  I am interested in this project since I have some spare parts hanging around.  

[Aaron44126]

I don't think the power adapters will be cross-compatible.  A1297 has the original MagSafe connector and MacBook Air 15 has MagSafe 2.

 

You don't need install media for macOS.  The system BIOS has the capability to pull it down on-demand over the Internet.  Hold the "Command" and "R" keys while you power on the system and you will get to a recovery mode where you can reinstall macOS.  (You may have to select a Wi-Fi network and enter the password if you do not have the system connected via Ethernet.)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

 

Once macOS is installed, you will be free to upgrade it to the latest version supported on the system using the regular online process.  (Newer systems are upgraded through the "Software Update" component in system settings, but older ones actually had you pull down the new OS through the App Store.)

 

...I looked up the model information.  A1297 is rather old, that model was released in 2009.  The latest officially supported OS is Mac OS X 10.11 "El Capitan", released in 2015.  You might be able to upgrade to a later release "unsupported", this site has some information on that.  http://dosdude1.com/software.html

[kojack]

18 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

I don't think the power adapters will be cross-compatible.  A1297 has the original MagSafe connector and MacBook Air 15 has MagSafe 2.

 

You don't need install media for macOS.  The system BIOS has the capability to pull it down on-demand over the Internet.  Hold the "Command" and "R" keys while you power on the system and you will get to a recovery mode where you can reinstall macOS.  (You may have to select a Wi-Fi network and enter the password if you do not have the system connected via Ethernet.)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

 

Once macOS is installed, you will be free to upgrade it to the latest version supported on the system using the regular online process.  (Newer systems are upgraded through the "Software Update" component in system settings, but older ones actually had you pull down the new OS through the App Store.)

 

...I looked up the model information.  A1297 is rather old, that model was released in 2009.  The latest officially supported OS is Mac OS X 10.11 "El Capitan", released in 2015.  You might be able to upgrade to a later release "unsupported", this site has some information on that.  http://dosdude1.com/software.html

Ok, I have seen on other forums where you can install unsupported OS versions. I was thinking about doing the upgrades to the system and selling it.  It looks as if it's still a desirable machine out there. Maybe I will keep it and install the lastest unsupported version and go from there.