I have been a Mac user since 2010. Since then, Many pieces of equipment and models have passed through my hands.. I sold them all to get new models until I reached the current one, a MacBook Pro M2 Pro 14″. However, yes I keep my first Mac. A white MacBook from 2010. A real gem that time had left in a drawer.
And having a more modern MacBook Pro, I may have fired up this MacBook once a year out of pure nostalgia. I tested all types of operating systems to find the balance between performance and modernity. With macOS Mountain Lion this worked relatively well. The problem? No apps or browsers are supported.
Then, if you upgraded to a higher version like macOS High Sierra, andMac performance dropped take several minutes to load a web page. And yet, the shadow of application and system incompatibility loomed. Faced with this, what could he do?
One option was to install Ubuntu, another was to leave it as is, and the last was to install ChromeOS Flex on Mac.
I evaluated these three options and decided on ChromeOS Flex. Above all, the decision was how easy it is for Google to install its operating system. It literally took me no more than 15 minutes to do this. Without entering any lines of code, and only with a PenDrive. Nothing more! The benefits of installing ChromeOS Flex on an old Mac are numerous.
My 2010 MacBook has a Intel Core 2 Duo and 3 GB of RAM. Additionally, its 5,200-rpm hard drive didn’t help with loading times. I could have invested money in buying more RAM and an SSD hard drive. But honestly, I already have a more modern MacBook Pro, I didn’t want to spend money on this device..
It’s because of it ChromeOS Flex offered what I was looking for to give my MacBook a second life. Speed, simple operating system with a modern look and compatibility with all types of web pages.
ChromeOS Flex It is basically a Google Chrome browser with desktop and standalone cloud applications. You have everything you can do on the Internet with Chrome plus file management and more. I was surprised by its good performance and speed. It’s like using an iPad so that you get the idea of fluidity.
Requirements to install ChromeOS Flex on a Mac
First let’s prepare everything what you need to install ChromeOS on your Mac. you need a Mac with an Intel processor (you can check compatible models). The Google and compatibility list is very succinct, in fact my model as such does not appear, I still decided to move forward. Otherwise, the installation would not continue and would require deleting the Mac’s hard drive partition, because as long as you have a Mac with:
- 64-bit Intel processor
- 4 GB of RAM memory
- 16 GB of internal storage
- USB stick of at least 8 GB
As you see, Google recommends 4 GB of RAM to run ChromeOS, in my case I have 3 GB and the performance is totally smooth. So even if you have a Mac with 2 GB of RAM, it will work without a problem.
Preparing PenDrive to install ChromeOS Flex on Mac
As we have seen, you need a PenDrive of at least 16 GB to host the ChromeOS Flex installer that we will later install on your Mac. This same PenDrive must be empty and formatted as exFAT. To do this, I will explain step by step how to install ChromeOS Flex from a Mac.
Format the PenDrive with Disk Utility
With the app Disk Utility, you can format the PenDrive to Exfat. To do this, simply connect it, go to Disk Utility and in the left sidebar select your USB drive. Now go to remove and choose exFAT as value. If you only see the option to delete it in APFS, delete it like that and then create a partition in exFAT format.
Add the extension in Google Chrome from the installer and follow the steps
Now open Google Chrome on your Mac and install Chromebook Recovery Tool. Once Adding the extension to your Google Chrome browserwe start by installing ChromeOS Flex on Mac.
Follow the steps that the installer tells you, it’s really quite simple. The only thing you’ll have is this select as Chromebook model, ChromeOS Flex then the PenDrive where you want to install it. In particular, it took me no more than five minutes.
Install ChromeOS Flex on Mac
Now that the PenDrive is ready with ChromeOS Flex inside, it’s time to install it on your Mac. Please note that installing ChromeOS Flex will completely format your device. If you need to back up a file, now is the time. Turn off your Mac and connect the PenDrive to one of its USB ports. NOW turn it on and hold ALT for about 10 or 15 seconds. You will see several drives to boot the Mac from, choose the PenDrive. It will have an orange color.
So, ChromeOS Flex will start installing on your Mac. In a few minutes you will have it and you will be able to start logging in with your Google account, configure the Wi-Fi network, etc. From there, you will be able to use your Mac normally. Of course, a new experience with ChromeOS Flex.
For me especially I was surprised by the good performance and how complete the system is. Including features like screen recording, file browsing and rproducing videos on YouTube at a speed as if it were a computer from 2024. So if you have a Mac that’s several years old and you really want to give it a second life, I recommend installing ChromeOS Flex like I did. In 15 minutes, your Mac will look completely different!
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