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How many years left in 2012 MBA if I replace the battery
- Thread starter OneSon
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It depends a lot on your usage. A 2016 MBA may not be sufficient for some people. Others can still happily rock a Core Duo MacBook.
That said, your Mac will certainly get an additional few years' of OS updates and support. If it's running okay at the moment, and notwithstanding unforseen hardware failures, I can't see any reason why you wouldn't get another 4 years from it.
That said, your Mac will certainly get an additional few years' of OS updates and support. If it's running okay at the moment, and notwithstanding unforseen hardware failures, I can't see any reason why you wouldn't get another 4 years from it.
Absolutely. Even though my wife's white MacBook is WAY out of support, she still uses it daily, even though she no longer receives updates from Apple. I have a 2012 MBA myself and just replaced the battery. I expect to have quite a bit of life from it, and it will probably replace the wife's MacBook when (if?) it finally dies.
Well it sounds like you got 4 or 5 years out of the old battery, so most likely it will be good for quite awhile with a new battery. But you have to ask yourself how much longer you'll be satisfied with this computer and whether it is better to save the cost of a battery, sell it as-is and put the money into a new machine.
Of course 4gb is going to be somewhat limiting, but maybe not a big deal (depending of your software). I think the biggest issue is the relatively short run time of the 2012 MBA vs newer models. In 2013 they switched to more efficient chips that give run times approaching twice that of the 2012. But again, it depends on your usage pattern. 10 to 12 hours of battery time could make a huge difference for some people. May not matter much to others who usually have their computer plugged into the wall.
Another shortcoming is the slow wifi on the 2012 model. In 2013 they upgraded to 802.11ac wifi that is really fast (probably 5 to 6 times faster than yours). Again, this won't matter to people who don't have a router that supports the correct protocol. And it probably won't matter much for connecting to the internet unless you have something very fast like FIOS. But it makes a considerable difference if you connect wirelessly to shared network drives and copy big files.
Of course 4gb is going to be somewhat limiting, but maybe not a big deal (depending of your software). I think the biggest issue is the relatively short run time of the 2012 MBA vs newer models. In 2013 they switched to more efficient chips that give run times approaching twice that of the 2012. But again, it depends on your usage pattern. 10 to 12 hours of battery time could make a huge difference for some people. May not matter much to others who usually have their computer plugged into the wall.
Another shortcoming is the slow wifi on the 2012 model. In 2013 they upgraded to 802.11ac wifi that is really fast (probably 5 to 6 times faster than yours). Again, this won't matter to people who don't have a router that supports the correct protocol. And it probably won't matter much for connecting to the internet unless you have something very fast like FIOS. But it makes a considerable difference if you connect wirelessly to shared network drives and copy big files.
I recently put a new battery and 1TB OWC SSD into a 2011 MBA 13".
It is ok for text-based things, web-surfing, etc., but my wife recently tried to make a PowerPoint with photos and animations. It was not up to the task.
It is ok for text-based things, web-surfing, etc., but my wife recently tried to make a PowerPoint with photos and animations. It was not up to the task.
I just swapped my 2011 11 inch air battery that was at 960 cycles and the computer was acting slow with terrible battery life.
I don't know if its placebo but it feels much snappier now with a new battery. I was probably going to buy a 2017 13 nTB but I think I might be able to last until 2018 now. Not bad for $60, and it was an easy swap.
I don't know if its placebo but it feels much snappier now with a new battery. I was probably going to buy a 2017 13 nTB but I think I might be able to last until 2018 now. Not bad for $60, and it was an easy swap.
The MBA is insanely durable. Provided it meets your performance needs, I believe there is a good chance you could get several more years out of it.
Before investing money, you could take the MBA (along with the charger) to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider and ask them to run MRI on the machine (it's free.) This comprehensive diagnostic looks for many of the most common signs of hardware failure, and will specify which specific areas have issues (if any.) This might be nice piece of mind to get the machine a clean bill of health before investing the money in it?
Before investing money, you could take the MBA (along with the charger) to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider and ask them to run MRI on the machine (it's free.) This comprehensive diagnostic looks for many of the most common signs of hardware failure, and will specify which specific areas have issues (if any.) This might be nice piece of mind to get the machine a clean bill of health before investing the money in it?
Excellent advice!
I'm sure I've posted this before... My (daughter’s) 2010 MBA is still going strong - expect another 3 years? Fingers crossed...
My mother’s 2014 MBA (which I convinced her to buy, because they are 'simply reliable'), the SSD failed around the 1-year mark, got to Apple too late, so $500 to repair! Currently using a Transcend 128GB SD & debating whether to get it fixed properly.
I will keep all of the family Macs for another 3-5 years (2007 mini through 2014 MBAs), and only buy one more - probably iMac pro? They are all fast enough, whether they are durable, is impossible to say except with hindsight.
Good luck
I replaced battery on my 2012/8GB abt 2 years ago and now it is still > 90% good. I also replaced SSD with OWC.
In OP case, I think the limitation is more on RAM because it is soldered. Which applications that are used frequently require RAM > 4GB.
In OP case, I think the limitation is more on RAM because it is soldered. Which applications that are used frequently require RAM > 4GB.
if you are going to install the newer mac os, it s not going to last more than 2 years.
mac os is going to require 8gb to run properly.
if you leave the os you re using now, you can stay safe until it will turn on (5-8y ? )
mac os is going to require 8gb to run properly.
if you leave the os you re using now, you can stay safe until it will turn on (5-8y ? )