I want to upgrade macOS on my father's Mac, as it's quite out of date (currently running Mac OS X 10.6 or earlier I think). I understand how to back up files before upgrading, but what about apps? For example, he uses Matlab and would want it to remain available after the upgrade.

Would that mean reinstalling it after the upgrade (which I suppose might require him to know the product key, which he might not know: he generally doesn't know such things) or is it somehow possible to transfer one's current apps to the post upgrade system without having to reinstall them?

Here is the specification of the Mac in question:

OS: Mac OS X Version 10.6.8

Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core 15

Memory: 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,1

No. of processors: 1

No. of cores: 2

I want to upgrade macOS on my father's Mac, as it's quite out of date (currently running Mac OS X 10.6.8). I understand how to back up files before upgrading, but what about apps? For example, he uses Matlab and would want it to remain available after the upgrade.

Would that mean reinstalling it after the upgrade (which I suppose might require him to know the product key, which he might not know: he generally doesn't know such things) or is it somehow possible to transfer one's current apps to the post upgrade system without having to reinstall them?

Here is the specification of the Mac in question:

OS: Mac OS X Version 10.6.8
Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core 15
Memory: 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,1
No. of processors: 1
No. of cores: 2

I want to upgrade macOS on my father's Mac, as it's quite out of date (currently running Mac OS X 10.6 or earlier I think). I understand how to back up files before upgrading, but what about apps? For example, he uses Matlab and would want it to remain available after the upgrade.

Would that mean reinstalling it after the upgrade (which I suppose might require him to know the product key, which he might not know: he generally doesn't know such things) or is it somehow possible to transfer one's current apps to the post upgrade system without having to reinstall them?

I want to upgrade macOS on my father's Mac, as it's quite out of date (currently running Mac OS X 10.6 or earlier I think). I understand how to back up files before upgrading, but what about apps? For example, he uses Matlab and would want it to remain available after the upgrade.

Would that mean reinstalling it after the upgrade (which I suppose might require him to know the product key, which he might not know: he generally doesn't know such things) or is it somehow possible to transfer one's current apps to the post upgrade system without having to reinstall them?

Here is the specification of the Mac in question:

OS: Mac OS X Version 10.6.8

Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core 15

Memory: 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,1

No. of processors: 1

No. of cores: 2