As you can see in the screenshot above of Markus Winter’s 32 or 64 bit Kernel Startup Mode Selector running on my aluminum unibody MacBook, Apple will not let me run the MacOS X 10.6 kernel in 64bit mode. My hardware, which is identical to the rebranded 13″ MacBook Pro, is locked out for the only reason that my laptop carries the “MacBook” instead of the “MacBook Pro” moniker. As you can read in my previous post on Snow Leopard, I thought that my MacBook would support the 64bit kernel since I have the right hardware to support it. Unfortunately, I was wrong as Mr. Winter explains in this post on his website. This makes me particularly mad, because I purchased Snow Leopard knowing that it had a 64bit kernel which would make use of the 4GB of RAM installed on my computer and allow for 64bit drivers. I realize that individual applications can run in 64bit despite the kernel running in 32bit mode, but I believe that Apple’s decision in this matter is intended to reward particular customers for purchasing higher end hardware. Except in this case, my hardware is no different than the rebranded 13″ MacBook Pro–the difference internally and externally is name alone!
I have the same MacBook. I’m buying Apple Care soon; their tech support are gonna get an earful over this. Someone really needs to make a hack enabling Macbook 5,1 to use 64bit kernel mode. :(
Never thought Apple would screw over their consumer base like this, especially after they marketed the new MacBook so heavily.
Hey Jake,
Thanks for leaving the comment. I agree that Apple is purposively hurting their MacBook customer base by touting new technologies, but then saying that you have to pay to play. I would understand if there were some technical limitation that prevented them from supporting the 64bit kernel on our MacBooks, but as I said above, the hardware is identical to the MacBook Pro hardware that Apple supports with Snow Leopard’s 64bit kernel.
-Jason
Hey again. I’ve come across a hack that will allow the MacBook model we both use (5,1) to boot into 64-bit kernel mode. Check it out here:
http://netkas.org/?p=189
Also, have a look at the comments. I had a bit of difficulty making the change permanent and I posted a comment (#21) on how to do so.
Cheers,
Jake
Hey Jake,
Thanks for the followup post! I may give this a try this weekend, but I’m going to post a new message with the link that you provided and your proviso.
Jason
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