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I received MBA late 2010 with Mojave. Can I downgrade it? If so, which OS is it most efficient and fast?
- Thread starter rcmeqz
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The 2010 MacBookAir3,2 is officially updated up to High Sierra 10.13.6.
You have an option to reinstall that. Presumably previous owner have used a patcher to get Mojave running.
See this patcher most likely used.
Maybe worth your while to familiarise with the patcher. Potentially, if it is running Mojave well, you can keep it like that.
Note that High Sierra is suppose to be end of support and will no longer get security updates. So in that sense, going with Mojave, even with the patcher, might be a better option.
You have an option to reinstall that. Presumably previous owner have used a patcher to get Mojave running.
See this patcher most likely used.
Maybe worth your while to familiarise with the patcher. Potentially, if it is running Mojave well, you can keep it like that.
Note that High Sierra is suppose to be end of support and will no longer get security updates. So in that sense, going with Mojave, even with the patcher, might be a better option.
thanks for your response. However i'm face with two challenges:
1. Mojave is slow on this MBA. If I cannot downgrade, I'm stuck with it but I tried to reinstall OS but command+R won't work at startup it has error icon (like the ghostbuster logo without the ghost lol). How do I go about it?
2. I really want to downgrade it to where it would be fastest. Which OS is it and how do I do it?
I would Keep Mojave on the MacBook air, mine from 2010 is running great with that OSX and has the features like Pages, numbers, and keynote High Sierra recently dropped. The OSX is more responsive than the others cali themes.
You could partition the ssd for say, mountain lion and keep mojave if you need an older reliable osx.
You could partition the ssd for say, mountain lion and keep mojave if you need an older reliable osx.
Do you experience lag on Mojave? Seems like there's a 1-second delay for every click. Perhaps reinstalling fresh would do the trick however I cant get to recovery mode. What could I do? Also, How can I install lower OS?
My MacBook air sometimes lags, then i reset the PRAM and clear caché but not as much as High Sierra
my main slowdown is mostly photo editing using Nikon software and video importing makes the system kinda slower but not noticeable, I love Mojave and glad i downloaded the patch to run on my late 2010 MacBook air over the summer. i did get a new larger ssd drive for that tho.
besides the pluses i mentioned earlier, the OSX is modern enough for security features and everything 2020 related as well as CS4 so im very happy with my MacBook air 2010.
Im kinda new to MBA, but late 2010 model only has 2gb RAM and 60gb ssd, at least on what I have. How about yours? Can you actually upgrade RAM? I think low RAM is what causing the lag.
Nope, you are sick with the ram they give you, unless someone finds a special tech person who can solder in some more. My MacBook air was supplied with 4 GB RAM and ssd drive is 265GB. The new hard drive does speed up the MacBooks as OWC mac sales promises, but mine is from Fledging which features blue light and can run Mojave.
Ah, that is unfortunate. Think you have the 11" 2010 MacBookAir3,1.
2GB RAM is problematic. 60GB storage is meager as well. To be honest, I would probably sell it, instead of using it.
You can try installing High Sierra but I suspect it will not be much improvement either.
Create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support (AU)
You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.
To create USB installer and do a clean install, meaning erase disk and install afresh.
Can I go ahead and create installer of any OS I like and directly install it? Will olders OS like Lion make my MBA faster?Ah, that is unfortunate. Think you have the 11" 2010 MacBookAir3,1.
2GB RAM is problematic. 60GB storage is meager as well. To be honest, I would probably sell it, instead of using it.
You can try installing High Sierra but I suspect it will not be much improvement either.
Create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support (AU)
You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.support.apple.com
To create USB installer and do a clean install, meaning erase disk and install afresh.
Lion and mountain lion run very well on my other MacBook air 2gb that i am rebuilding- I run both snow leopard on a 64gb and Mt Lion on a 128GB with some web browsing using Opera, but can't run iCloud on the Snow leopard.
therefore i would keep your 2GB MacBook air because you will not get what that is worth.
there are programs like Libre Office that are free and run on older OSXs.
therefore i would keep your 2GB MacBook air because you will not get what that is worth.
there are programs like Libre Office that are free and run on older OSXs.
I think you should go for OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)
OS X 10.7 (Lion) would certainly work, but internet browsers are getting less useful on Lion, mostly because they don't support some internet functions, and newer versions can't be used with Lion. At least with Yosemite you will get a couple more years of use before THAT gets to obsolescence. It will deal with only 2GB of RAM much better than a newer system.
OS X 10.7 (Lion) would certainly work, but internet browsers are getting less useful on Lion, mostly because they don't support some internet functions, and newer versions can't be used with Lion. At least with Yosemite you will get a couple more years of use before THAT gets to obsolescence. It will deal with only 2GB of RAM much better than a newer system.
el capitan is also as good and will sync with iPads, iPods etc. and has a security update provided this autumn, I do have a useless internet experience on Snow Leopard these past months while safari does not like mountain lion more by the month.
Okay, so if I go with El Capitan, what are the steps to install it considering I cannot enter recovery mode? Sorry for this newbie questions and I thank you so much for your help.
Okay, so if I go with Yosemite, what are the steps to install it considering I cannot enter recovery mode? Sorry for this newbie questions and I thank you so much for your help.
either download el captain from the apple store, but you need to have the original or earlier OSX.
if you are running Mojave now, you need to time machine that, then restore your MacBook air to Lion or Mt Lion.
time machine is inserting an external hard drive and making a copy of everything incase you need data in the future.
you can also restore your MacBook air using time machine.
if you are running Mojave now, you need to time machine that, then restore your MacBook air to Lion or Mt Lion.
time machine is inserting an external hard drive and making a copy of everything incase you need data in the future.
you can also restore your MacBook air using time machine.
Then you need to reset your MacBook air to factory settings there are how to like OSX daily or even apple.com that are very thorough and east to follow. (:https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211683)
I see. Sorry for this noob question, I checked Time Machine currently on the system and it has nothing, no past information whatsoever, so can I really revert back to the old OS?
you would make a new time machine back up.
this store everything in a external hard drive incase you needed some files, etc.
done worry about any noob questions, i had these as well in the past and still do!
this store everything in a external hard drive incase you needed some files, etc.
done worry about any noob questions, i had these as well in the past and still do!
I mean, I dont need to backup anything as of the moment so I guess I wont need that? BTW you mentioned earlier that in order to get El capitan that I needed to have the original or earlier OSX. Wait, Im confused! LOL Sorry again
your MacBook air cannot for from El Capitan (released in 2016) to Mojave (released in 2019)
because the OSX Mojave is from 2019, you cannot go backwards-
therefore you need to re-install a clean copy of El Capitain.
which your MacBook might need a factory reinstall or just a fresh install of El captain.
because the OSX Mojave is from 2019, you cannot go backwards-
therefore you need to re-install a clean copy of El Capitain.
which your MacBook might need a factory reinstall or just a fresh install of El captain.
its always a good habit to back up data especially when memory is cheap and has a great system to do this.
you can try loading el Capitan, your MacBook air will stop this anyways or that might work
just follow the instructions carefully- which are easy to follow.
you can try loading el Capitan, your MacBook air will stop this anyways or that might work
just follow the instructions carefully- which are easy to follow.
By saying reinstall el capitan, you mean download the pkg OS and create a bootable disk? Am I right?
The OP has a 2010, which will easily go back to the original Snow Leopard. But, as it is unlikely the OP has a bootable copy of a Snow Leopard that was not a general release version, then it would just be a simple matter of finding a copy of the installer for anything from Lion (10.7) to High Sierra (10.13). Make a USB bootable installer from that installer app, and go for it - install the system.
OP also said that the MBAir is new for them, and came with Mojave, which is not supported natively, and would be a patched system to even work. And, would also be working within the limitations of only 2 GB of RAM, not upgradeable.
OP can't even reinstall that existing Mojave system, without creating a patched installer for Mojave. Much simpler to just go to an older system. Even El Capitan is challenging to install because Apple, in their wisdom, has never updated the installer to accept current dates on the system. You have to reset the system date manually to install El Capitan. Yosemite (OS X 10.10) is a better choice, as the installer has no such issues. AND, it handles the limited RAM in a 2GB system better than El Capitan does.