I have a 2013 MacBook Air. Will it run ok on Big Sur? Can anyone who has installed the beta on their non retina MacBook Air share their experience?
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I have a 2013 MacBook Air. Will it run ok on Big Sur?
- Thread starter brilliantthings
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
According to this, your machine is supported:
Which Macs will run Apple’s macOS Big Sur?
Apple this week unveiled its next desktop OS, a revamped version of macOS that has a new look.
www.computerworld.com
You might want to do a clean, fresh installation of Big Sur. However, 3 things you need to be aware of:
1. Typically the first couple of releases of a Mac OS have a number of bugs. By the time the .3 or .4 version comes out, just about all of those bugs are gone.
2. You need to insure that all your third party software is compatible with Big Sur. This site can help with that:
Application Compatibility Table — RoaringApps
Crowd-sourced application compatibility for macOS, iOS and Windows.
roaringapps.com
3. Are you making backups to an external device? That is absolutely critical. (I use SuperDuper! for that task).
Myself, I use just about all third party applications, so I typically have to wait until December or January to "upgrade", as that is usually when a compatible version of Tech Tool Pro is released. But that's fine by me, as Catalina is stable, works fine, and by December or January, the .3 or .4 version of Big Sur will have been released. Also, I would have read all the intervening reports about Big Sur, and thus will have no surprises.
Thanks.. Can anyone who has installed the beta on their non retina MacBook Air share their experience?
I have a 2017 non-Retina 13" MacBook Air, but I have yet to install any version of Big Sur. As I detailed above, I need to wait until all my third party applications are compatible with Big Sur. As it is, when I decide to test Big Sur, I will install the 11.0 or 11.1 version on one of my external SSDs, and test it there.
Is there a pressing reason why you need to install the current version on your machine? As it is, it is a beta version, which is risky in itself.
Thanks for your replies. I have no pressing need to install Big Sur, but I am interested in how well it runs on non-retina MacBook Airs. My question is really aimed at people who have installed Big Sur on these machines, rather than those who are yet to install it - like you and me.
Understand. It is also important to consider the following:
1. As I mentioned, you might want to do a clean, fresh installation of Big Sur. For that, of course, you'll need a backup of your current system. Some folks just upgrade from one OS to the next, and in some cases have been doing that for the most recent 2 or 3 versions. Myself i always do a clean, fresh installation followed by a migration/copying of needed files, folders, settings, etc. from a SuperDuper! backup I do right before proceeding to that new OS.
2. Also, it is beneficial to keep one's machine "lean, mean, and clean".
I used to have a 2013 non-Retina 13" MacBook Air, and they are excellent machines. However, they are not necessarily speed demons when it comes to running each new version of the Mac OS. It certainly helped me that I kept it "lean, mean, and clean". Am doing the same thing with both of my current Macs (mid 2017 non-Retina MacBook Air, and late 2018 Mac Mini).
Can anyone who has installed Big Sur beta on their non retina MacBook Air share their experience?
It runs more than fine from en external ssd connected to my Macbook air 2014, with only 4 gb of ram.
Mid 2013 MacBook Air here, and all is well except for an annoying touchpad/mouse issue such that some clicks are ignored. I'm sure that will pass, though. Much faster than Mojave/Catalina for me so far. Dev Beta 6, by the way.
That's great. Thanks very much
[automerge]1600165134[/automerge]
Amazing. Thanks
I too have a MacBook Air 2013 (only 4gb ram) and I'm still on Sierra (10.12) with the fear of a big slowdown, but I find Big Sur very beautiful and I like the new features. If I install Big Sur and it becomes slow, is there a way to easily return to Sierra?
More feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
More feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Last edited:
I also have a macbook air 2013 and wondering how the screen viewing is snd if there is text blur. I have to run a terminal command to adjust font smoothing since it was changed during Mojave.
How is the small text? Is it like Mojave and Catalina that it will need adjusting?
How is the small text? Is it like Mojave and Catalina that it will need adjusting?
What's the configuration of your MBA? Only have 4GB of Ram, I'm afraid it won't be enough to run smooth.Went ahead and installed it. Initial impressions are pretty good. Fonts look fine and are actually better than in Catalina (light display mode) even though I did not complain about them as it was.