Summary: Hands-On Tech 239 – Breathing New Life Into an Old Computer

Podcast: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
Host: Leo Laporte
Episode: Hands-On Tech 239: Breathing New Life Into an Old Computer
Date: October 26, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Leo Laporte answers a listener question about revitalizing aging computer hardware—specifically, a 2010 17-inch MacBook Pro that's still operational but no longer receives updates from Apple. Leo breaks down a variety of practical and creative ideas to keep older computers useful, ranging from installing modern lightweight operating systems to turning legacy hardware into capable home devices.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Listener Question: Repurposing an Old MacBook Pro

Listener Ozzy asks for advice on what to do with a 2010 MacBook Pro that's no longer updatable but still functional.
Ozzy also thanks Leo for introducing them to iMazing, a utility that helped save their music library from an old iPhone SE to a Windows 10 PC and an iPad Air.
- Leo: "It's an incredibly powerful app and one that I think everybody should try… You never thought about doing this, but now that you have this app and you've done this, you can do this." (04:10)

Option 1: Installing Linux

Why Linux?
- Offers a modern, secure, supported operating environment for older hardware.
- Provides access to security updates and modern web browsing, which older macOS versions lack.
- Leo's lightweight Linux distribution recommendations:
  - Ubuntu
  - Linux Mint
  - Pop!_OS (his personal favorite)
Important Caveat:
- Retain a Base macOS Partition: Wiping the drive entirely can remove firmware update capabilities unique to Apple hardware.
- Resource: Leo refers to a comprehensive Reddit guide on properly installing Linux on Macs to avoid these pitfalls.
- Quote: "When some of that hardware needs an update, you need to have macOS there to properly work with that hardware." (08:43)

Option 2: OpenCore Legacy Patcher

What Is It?
- A free tool that allows installation of recent (unsupported) macOS versions on older Macs.
Leo’s Caution:
- He hasn't personally used it, feeling uneasy about relying on "an unblessed version of macOS" not officially supported by Apple.
- Others (like frequent TWiT community member Scooter X) have had great success with it.
- Scooter X: “I used this on a 2017 iMac for years, worked great to keep it running current macOS's until I ended up with an M4 Pro...” (13:10)
- Quote: "It’s a type of a hack… many people are fine with that. For me, it’s not." (12:40)
- Performance Caveat: Newer macOS versions may run slowly on old hardware.

Option 3: Media Server or Home Automation Hub

Media Server:
- Use Plex or Jellyfin to stream media from the MacBook to other devices. The large screen makes setup and management easy.
- Connect a large external drive for expanded storage.
- Works well with other devices (iPad, Apple TV, etc.)
Home Automation Hub:
- Run Home Assistant – well-documented, community-backed platform for smart home control.
- Great for tech-intermediate users and beyond.
- Quote: “Home Assistant is a very powerful way to control your smart home, if that’s something you’re interested in.” (15:47)

Option 4: Retro Gaming Machine

Install emulators like RetroArch or OpenEMU.
Play classic NES, SNES, PlayStation, and other games.
The machine’s graphics capabilities can handle classic gaming.

Option 5: Chrome OS Flex

Transform the MacBook into a Chromebook-like device using Chrome OS Flex.
Ideal for web-based productivity: email, browsing, docs, cloud apps.
Quote: “A lightweight online tool… probably more than you would ever need in terms of processing power locally on that device.” (18:35)

Essential Steps Before Repurposing

Run Apple Diagnostics:
- Hold down D on startup to check hardware health before making changes.
- Ensures you don’t wipe a working system if there’s a lurking hardware issue.
Consider an SSD Upgrade:
- Swapping out the old hard drive for an SSD can significantly speed up the computer.
- Refer to iFixit for step-by-step guides on replacing the MacBook Pro’s hard drive.
- Quote: “You would be shocked, I think, by the performance improvements you would see as a user who is installing a new hard drive.” (21:10)
- Note: SSD less important for Plex server use; more critical for regular desktop use.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On iMazing: "It's an incredibly powerful app and one that I think everybody should try because... now that I have this app and I've done this, I can do this." (04:10)
On Linux: "You'll get, most importantly, security updates and access to modern web browsing, which... you would not be able to use on older machines due to the fact that they can't get the security updates that they need." (06:30)
On OpenCore: "It feels like I would always have that in the back of my mind that I am using sort of an unblessed, a completely unblessed version of Mac os." (12:40)
On Media Servers & Home Hubs: "With that 17 inch screen... you can go through and manage that media library and then stream all of that content on your other devices.” (15:03)
On SSD Upgrades: "I think you'd be shocked by the performance improvements you would get by way of an SSD upgrade." (21:10)

Timestamps for Important Segments

[03:00] – Introduction to Ozzy's question and mention of iMazing tool
[05:00] – Overview and recommendations for installing Linux
[08:40] – Caveats about macOS partition and firmware updates with Linux on Macs
[12:00] – Introduction and discussion on OpenCore Legacy Patcher
[15:00] – Alternative uses: Media server (Plex, Jellyfin), home automation (Home Assistant)
[17:30] – Setting up the Mac as a retro gaming machine
[18:35] – Using Chrome OS Flex to create a lightweight Internet device
[19:50] – What to check before wiping your Mac: Diagnostics and SSD upgrades
[21:10] – The practical process of replacing an old MacBook's hard drive

Conclusion

Leo delivers a rich set of options for making aging hardware useful again, encouraging listeners not to dispose of still-working machines and offering both mainstream and creative technical solutions. He emphasizes careful preparation (diagnostics, considering SSDs) and the importance of consulting guides and community resources before making big changes.

Listener Call-to-Action: Leo invites Ozzy to share what path they choose, and encourages others to write in with their own tech questions.

Transcript

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Leo Laporte (2:01)

Coming up on Hands on Tech. What do we do if we've got an old machine and we want to breathe new life into it? Stay tuned for my answer. Next on Hands On Tech. This is twit. Hello and welcome to Hands On Tech, the show where you write in with your tech questions and I answer them. Oh, what a novel idea. We have some great questions. A great question this week that comes in from listener Ozzy. Ozzy writes, I'm a longtime Mica listener and Club Twit member. Thank you Ozzy. That's very kind. I do have a question, but first I wanted to thank you for introducing me to imazing. I was able to save my music library from oblivion. It took a bit of trial and error, but I was able to get my music library from my iPhone SE to my U Windows 10 PC not able to upgrade to 11 and my iPad Air 4th gen so Ozzy first and foremost super happy to hear that. For people who aren't familiar, Imazing is this tool that I have long talked about as a means of backing up stuff from your phone or your iPad, but also doing so much more. You can create backups of your device and then access the files within that backup. You can pull music from your device, you can pull files from your device, you can save out your messages that you have sent and received on your phone or your iPad. You can do so much with imazing and it's a really really really cool tool. They are not a sponsor they I just have been a longtime user of imazing and I love what it is able to do. It's an incredibly powerful app and one that I think everybody should try because I think it's one of those situations where you go I didn't think I could do this so I never thought about doing this. But now that I have this app and I've done this, I can do this. It's a pretty nice moment for sure. So Ozy, very happy to hear that it is working for you as well. Ozzy goes on to say your amazing knowledge of the Apple ecosystem could help me again. I have an old 201017 inch MacBook Pro. It still works, but since it's no longer updatable I would like to still use it for something. I don't want to send it away to Apple for recycling just yet. So this is the opposite of a question we received earlier this month about recycling some older Macs that actually aren't really usable anymore. This is one that's still usable and doesn't need to be recycled just yet, ozzy writes. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to repurpose it? I'm on the intermediate side of understanding tech, but I can figure out most things or find the information I need. Great question Ozzy. So my first answer for you is one that if I did not say, there would be many people who would be very upset. And so I'm going to start by saying Linux. You can install Linux and with Linux you have a well, if you get a lightweight version of Linux, you're going to have a very lightweight operating system running on this machine that can breathe new life into it as like a machine that you continue to use day to day. It is a great choice because it will use the MacBook Pro hardware that you have which is capable of running modern Linux distributions and of course means that you will get most importantly and the reason why you don't want to use Mac OS in its current form, you'll get in this case security updates and access to modern web browsing others, which in some cases you would not be able to use on older machines due to the fact that they can't get the security updates that they need. So Linux is an option. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, my favorite is popos. But these are some lighter weight options that should work well on that MacBook Pro. I have included, however, a link that I have not had in the past for installing Linux on a Mac that I now having read this, am sharing anytime I talk about it. There's this great guide over on Reddit and in this guide it talks about what you need to do to properly install Linux on a Mac such that you don't run into issues going forward. And let me explain how these issues can kind of appear. So Apple's software and everything therein is owned by Apple. When you're using this hardware that you have, you are a user of software that does not belong to you, it belongs to Apple. And with that software, as I said and everything therein, you have firmware that is part of this, which is basically in this case. And of course this is not precise, but it works in this case the way that all of the different components on your machine can talk to each other, right? And so when some of that hardware needs to have an update, you need to have macOS there to properly work with that hardware. What happens is people use the Linux installer of whatever version and in the process of installing it asks do you want to wipe the drive? And you say yeah, because you know you're installing Linux, but in wiping the drive you're wiping the base macOS system. And in doing so, the Mac no longer has access to the copyrighted software portion of from Apple, which would give that machine the ability to, in these rare cases, do those necessary updates that allow the hardware that is part of the Mac to continue to function properly. So people would run into firmware issues, driver issues going forward with their Linux machines that were once Apple Mac machines and they couldn't do anything about it because they they didn't have that base macOS installation that facilitates this. So great guide on Reddit that talks about this exact issue and how to deal with it. ScooterX in the chat has reminded me of another option that I always forget for some reason, and Scooter X is always the person that reminds both Leo and myself about it, which is an option that lets you update an older Mac to the latest version of macOS. It is a tool called OpenCore Legacy Patcher. OpenCore Legacy Patcher is a tool that will basically say, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the hardware is older and Apple says no, you can't support it, but it doesn't matter, let's just let them install the latest version of macOS or one of the later versions of macOS. Are you curious about Club Twit? I can't blame you. It's our premium membership that transforms your Twit experience. Every show ad free and uninterrupted, exclusive podcasts you won't find anywhere else, behind the scenes content and VIP access to our private Discord community where you can connect directly with hosts and fellow tech enthusiasts. Sound good and ready to Upgrade? 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