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How is your 2010 MacBook Air holding up?

S

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,045
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I have a 13" 2010 MBA (1.86/4GB/128GB). Just wondering if anybody here still using the 2010 model? How is it holding up? Does the fan kick on more often than not when you have multiple browser tabs open or when playing video? Have you noticed any slowdown overall in general operation, boot times, wake up from slept etc.?

Finally, when do you plan to upgrade from the 2010 model if you haven't already?
 
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I just upgraded from a 2010 2GB/128GB model a month ago. I gave it to a relative and got a baseline 2014 model for $700 at BB. It was still running strong on Mavericks, but I couldn't pass up that deal. Back in 2012 the motherboard died on me, so I ended up getting the trackpad/battery/motherboard replaced at that time.

Matt
 
Just fine. As the above, I just upgraded to a 2014 model and passed my 2010 down to a relative. Even with a major drop that left a large dent, always worked flawlessly.

Re fans: I've see no difference in fans usage (they are noisier in the 2014). My 2014 is a top spec cusom build and the fans get triggered just as quickly as my low spec'd 2010 Air when doing CPU intensive tasks. That came as an unfortunate surprise.

Another surprise, the new one is not all that much quicker. CPU intensive tasks are fine. But the slower ssd is noticeable.

All in all I would not have upgraded if that's part of your question.
 
Ray2 said:
Just fine. As the above, I just upgraded to a 2014 model and passed my 2010 down to a relative. Even with a major drop that left a large dent, always worked flawlessly.

Re fans: I've see no difference in fans usage (they are noisier in the 2014). My 2014 is a top spec cusom build and the fans get triggered just as quickly as my low spec'd 2010 Air when doing CPU intensive tasks. That came as an unfortunate surprise.

Another surprise, the new one is not all that much quicker. CPU intensive tasks are fine. But the slower ssd is noticeable.

All in all I would not have upgraded if that's part of your question.
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That is unfortunate that the fans kick in so fast. I'd have upgraded my MBA mainly for that reason, but this makes me think again.

Also shouldn't the SSD be faster on the 2014 models? You are saying the newer SSDs are slower compared to what?
 
my gf uses her mba 11" (1,6 Ghz, 4/128, mac os 10.9) all day and are very pleased with it's performance still. she loves the small formfactor and will probably not upgrade until it totally breaks down...
 
saintforlife said:
That is unfortunate that the fans kick in so fast. I'd have upgraded my MBA mainly for that reason, but this makes me think again.

Also shouldn't the SSD be faster on the 2014 models? You are saying the newer SSDs are slower compared to what?
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Yes, they are slower. No recall where I got that from but it was immediately obvious when I started batch exporting some tiff files to ssd. I expected quicker due to the processor being quicker but it just seemed slower. My recollection is it was a cost savings decision by Apple to keep the price down.

But if you're doing disk intensive tasks, is an Air really the right machine? For my wife and I it's a machine we use for travel and it's good enough. Just like the old one was.

Re the fans: We're on the road now, the other day it was in use when a scheduled monthly av scan kicked in. The fans were on for about 2 hours. I don't ever recall this app triggering the fans. Certainly not on our iMac or mini.
 
Ray2 said:
Yes, they are slower. No recall where I got that from but it was immediately obvious when I started batch exporting some tiff files to ssd. I expected quicker due to the processor being quicker but it just seemed slower. My recollection is it was a cost savings decision by Apple to keep the price down.

But if you're doing disk intensive tasks, is an Air really the right machine? For my wife and I it's a machine we use for travel and it's good enough. Just like the old one was.

Re the fans: We're on the road now, the other day it was in use when a scheduled monthly av scan kicked in. The fans were on for about 2 hours. I don't ever recall this app triggering the fans. Certainly not on our iMac or mini.
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The SSD is not slower, especially not in comparison to the 2010 model. The article that made that claim was based on a very small data set of 4 computers. The comparison was between 2013 and 2014 models (and even the slow ones in that batch were faster than the 2010 models). There are 3 SSD manufacturers that provide for Apple: Toshiba, Samsung, and SanDisk. The SSDs used in the 2013/2014 models are exactly the same, but variation between manufacturers was the issue, as Toshiba is generally slower than Samsung/SanDisk.

If you want to test this, download BlackMagic from the Mac App store. The 128GB 2014 model has write/read speeds of around 300/700 MB/s. The 2010 model got around 150/400 MB/s. The PCIE interface SSDs are much nicer than the 2010 models. You may have a faulty SSD if it is actually slower.

Matt
 
I've recently upgraded to the 2013 MBA and gave my 2010 to my dad. So far it works perfectly life it was brand new. I had to do a fresh install of Mavericks to clean out all the trash lying around. There's only one problem with my old 2010, and that's it's battery. It's been giving me a Battery Warning since last year and it comes and it goes. But now, it never goes away. I don't know why this happened, but it may have something to do with a cheap china-made USB I used before. When I plugged in the USB, it made my MBA shutdown for no reason.
 
I had a 2010 11" high end model i7/4GB before upgrading to my current 2013 13" i7/8GB model. I gave the 2010 to my Mom who loves it. Still works great on Mavericks. Nice little machine that never has had a problem.
 
My 2010 13" base model still runs fine on Mavericks. My wife uses it for all her computer needs (i.e. email, surfing, BookFace), and my son's friends use it to play Minecraft when they come over. I generally keep it plugged in when it's being used for Minecraft, and unplugged when doing easier tasks, in order to keep the battery fresh.
 
I upgraded from a 11" 2010 MBA to a 11" 2013 MBA. Now the 2010 MBA is my backup computer. For daily usage, it is still good. The difference is very obvious, though, when I run Windows virtual machines or Photoshop. The raw performance of 2013/2014 MBA is about 2-3 times that of 2010 MBA, which uses old Core 2 Duo processor.

saintforlife said:
I have a 13" 2010 MBA (1.86/4GB/128GB). Just wondering if anybody here still using the 2010 model? How is it holding up? Does the fan kick on more often than not when you have multiple browser tabs open or when playing video? Have you noticed any slowdown overall in general operation, boot times, wake up from slept etc.?

Finally, when do you plan to upgrade from the 2010 model if you haven't already?
Click to expand...
 
Mine still works fine; I upgraded last year to a 2013 CTO MBA and gave my perfectly fine 2010 model - which still had about three months of Applecare to run - to my brother. He loves it and it is still working perfectly.
 
My 2010 13" MBA is doing great, still running Snow Leopard, and the battery has 538 cycles and 88% health. Bought as a refurb, and it's been a great machine.

The temp sensor occasionally acts up and the fans will run at 6500rpm in auto-safe mode. It's probably a loose connector, so I'll have to open it up and fix it if it continues to act up... in the meantime I use MacFanControl to manually adjust the speed.

May look at the new 12" MBA, but really thinking about a 15" MBPro to use as a desktop machine.

Do you guys recommend running Mavericks? I'm happy with Snow Leopard as it is.
 
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Well still going strong with a 2011 model! The power of this little (11") is incredible.
128GB, 4GB RAM and i5 1.6 GHz
 
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I am still using a late 2010 Air 2.13 Ghz. 4Gb RAM and a 250GB Drive running Yosemite. Running great.

I have been looking for a reason to upgrade and was hoping that the always coming never arrives Retina display will finally come to fruition.
 
Mine is doing OK considering. The battery needs replacement and the track pad is sticky. I am luck to be able to write most of my upgrades off as a business expense, so I change every gadget out regularly.

The only device in my quiver that is more then 2 years old is my 2010 MBA. I think that is a testament to how well it is built.

It has reached the point now where it is too slow to run the latest HD video so I will be upgrading soon. Waiting to see what the new refresh is, but I will probably just pick up a 2013 or later refurbished, since 12 inches is too small for me.
 
So far so good but over the past month, when I open it the screen brightens in two stages. First dark for a second, then bright.

Maybe time to upgrade.
 
Thread resurrection! Still going strong and love this machine. The only thing it doesnt like now, running El Capitan, is Skype - any video call sends the temperatures soaring to 93-96 degrees C. Doesn't happen with Facetime so assuming it's some issue with the Skype code and the C2D processor...
 
Mine (13" 2010/2GB/upgraded Transcend 240GB) is still running fine with Mavericks. Thought about upgrading, but since everything works, why should I spend the money? I have a 2012 MacBook Pro where I replaced the HDD with an SSD, so if I need more screen, power or speed, I will use that one. For travel and everyday tasks the MBA is working real fine.
 
The laptop from my 2014 post in this thread is still running. Backing it up now and deciding whether to update it to El Capitan. Going to check the patch threads and see the general reaction before committing. If it isn't broke and all that. At least laptops can be rolled back to earlier OS versions.
 
FWIW, my 11" 2010 MBA is still chugging along, all 2 GB of memory and 128GB flash drive! For the most part, when I travel I rely on my 13" iPad Pro (I guess we have to say 13" now that they are coming out with a smaller one!) with the smart keyboard, since so much of my stuff is on the cloud or otherwise accessible via the Good apps ... However, I am closely watching whether Apple turns out a Skylake-based MacBook ... For when I need something more hefty. But it's good to know that an almost-6-year-old product works like a charm. Doesn't run too hot, no service issues (knock on wood). It's a great little machine!
 
I have an 11” 2010 MBA which has held up better than any of the non-apple products I used before. But after 5 ½ years, the battery is almost useless, and some of the keys on my keyboard have stopped working for no apparent reason. Because apple didn’t release a new skyline model today, I suspect that the macbook air line is going to be discontinued this year. The retina macbook doesn’t met my needs so I have, today, just purchased a full spec 11” 2015 macbook air. Hopefully apple will have come to its senses regarding ports and performance on the retina macbook by the time my new computer falls apart.
 
My late 2010 MBA 4/256 13 inch is still working great. This is one of two Airs that I have, the other being an 11 inch (2012) model that I have dedicated to business activities. Both of these machines have been flawless. The fact that I have two probably contributes to their long life as each gets about one half of a machine would get ordinarily. The useful work life of these machines causes me to keep loyal to Apple.

I use the machines daily, primarily for internet, office apps, banking apps, and electronic calendar management. I think I am a typical business user, but not a photographer or involved in making videos.
 
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