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MacBook Air 2011 vs 2012

C

ceres0

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 21, 2020
1
0
Hi there,
I've got a MacBook Air 13inch 2011 with Intel i5 and 4gb of ram and a friend is selling me a MacBook Air 13 from 2012 with Intel i7 and 8GB of ram for less than 300 pounds, is it worth the upgrade? My Air is a little bit sloppy now, I mainly use it for office and browsing tasks. Will I notice the difference?

Thanks!
 
The 2012 has the following advantages:
1. It will officially run 10.15 Catalina, although it is likely to be dropped by the next version of OS X. The 2011 officially caps out at 10.13 High Sierra, although it can be hacked to run newer versions.
2. Double the RAM.
3. Better graphics that support metal. The HD 4000 is the lowest end graphics card that supports metal.
4. Vaguely faster CPU. Depending on how you use your air, you may or may not notice a difference.
5. USB 3 instead of USB 2.

If you’re willing to pay £300 for it, it’s a decent upgrade. Remember that you can probably sell your 2011 for between £100-150 depending on where you sell it and what kind of condition it’s in. I would probably go for it personally, but then I tend to live in the world of low end Macs anyway.
 
300 pounds isnt that cheap for a 2012. Might as well look around for at least a 2013, 2013 was a major upgrade (WiFI, battery life).
 
If your 2011 is good enough then I would keep it. I don’t think the 2012 will be that different unless you feel that the extra RAM could help with your usage of the MBA. USB3 is also a nice upgrade over the USB2 on the 2011 models.

I recently picked up a 2012 13” MBA (i7/8GB/256GB) and I think it runs totally fine. I picked the 2012 over a 2013/2014 as I like the feel of the keyboard better. The 2013 and later models don’t feel as nice. I put in a new battery as well.

Catalina is the last macOS version it will receive as Big Sur is notofficially supported. It also is limited to 802.11N wifi as AC support didn’t arrive until the 2013 models. The 2013 and later models also get much better battery life.
 
I am still rocking a 2011 11", i7 and 4GB ram. Let me tell you it's sluggish and in need of a repair. Fans easily start running. It has served me well, though. It's around 9 years old now! I keep umming and aahing about a replacement, need to take the plunge.
 
This doesn't directly answer your question, but I am still with my 2013 Macbook Air, 8GB RAM. Has had the display assembly (by AppleCare) and battery and topcase (by me) replaced, and still runs really well, no intention to replace it until it fully dies. Will even run Big Sur! I would recommend it if you can find a good deal on a 8GB RAM model. As @lixuelai said that year was a major upgrade.
 
Continued adventures of my 9-year-old 11" MBA. Occasionally after my system has been asleep for a a good few hours, say 8-12 or so, it won't wake up when I lift the lid. Nothing happens. Hitting the power button doesn't do anything. I have to leave it for a bit, then hit the power button, sometimes will work, sometimes won't. Then it eventually boots up again and Firefox asks to restore tabs. I'm so glad I started using iCloud for back-up last year. This thing is totally on its way out.

Any idea what it could be? My original SSD died last year and I had a new one put in. Anything I could do to fix the issue above? I have such an affinity for this little 11" that could.
 
Quackington said:
Continued adventures of my 9-year-old 11" MBA. Occasionally after my system has been asleep for a a good few hours, say 8-12 or so, it won't wake up when I lift the lid. Nothing happens. Hitting the power button doesn't do anything. I have to leave it for a bit, then hit the power button, sometimes will work, sometimes won't. Then it eventually boots up again and Firefox asks to restore tabs. I'm so glad I started using iCloud for back-up last year. This thing is totally on its way out.

Any idea what it could be? My original SSD died last year and I had a new one put in. Anything I could do to fix the issue above? I have such an affinity for this little 11" that could.
Click to expand...

Did you use an adapter and a standard SSD. Try turning off hibernation.
 
Jack Neill said:
Did you use an adapter and a standard SSD. Try turning off hibernation.
Click to expand...
Where's the hibernation option? I can't see it in Energy Saver. I'm using 10.13.6.

Also, re. the SSD - I'm not sure, I just took it somewheere to get it down. I thought they could fix mine but they said the original SSD died and just fitted a 256GB one for me. Any way I can find out which type it is without having to open the MBA up?

Thanks.
 
Quackington said:
Where's the hibernation option? I can't see it in Energy Saver. I'm using 10.13.6.

Also, re. the SSD - I'm not sure, I just took it somewheere to get it down. I thought they could fix mine but they said the original SSD died and just fitted a 256GB one for me. Any way I can find out which type it is without having to open the MBA up?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

About this Mac>System Report>SATA, will tell you the brand of SSD you have. If its still the stock SSD it will be a 6+12 connector. If they used a Sintech type adapter and a standard m.2 SATA SSD then you may be having issues with hibernation. Its a known issue with the NVMe drives but I have the same problem on my 2012 with an adapter.
 
Jack Neill said:
About this Mac>System Report>SATA, will tell you the brand of SSD you have. If its still the stock SSD it will be a 6+12 connector. If they used a Sintech type adapter and a standard m.2 SATA SSD then you may be having issues with hibernation. Its a known issue with the NVMe drives but I have the same problem on my 2012 with an adapter.
Click to expand...
Here's what I get when I check there, looks like it's an Apple one:
Intel 6 Series Chipset:

Vendor: Intel
Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Physical Interconnect: SATA
Description: AHCI Version 1.30 Supported

APPLE SSD SM256C:

Capacity: 251 GB (251,000,193,024 bytes)
Model: APPLE SSD SM256C
Revision: AXM09A1Q
Serial Number: S0TNNEABC55007
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Medium Type: Solid State
TRIM Support: Yes
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
EFI:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
File System: MS-DOS FAT32
BSD Name: disk0s1
Content: EFI
Volume UUID: 85D67001-D93E-3687-A1C2-79D677F0C2E0
disk0s2:
Capacity: 250.79 GB (250,790,436,864 bytes)
BSD Name: disk0s2
Content: Apple_APFS
Click to expand...
Seanm87 said:
Save the money and put it towards a modern Mac
Click to expand...
I plan to! Still deciding on 2020 MBA/P or to wait for the next ones. Given how my MBA 11" is doing though, I'm not sure I can wait for the next ones.
 
Quackington said:
Here's what I get when I check there, looks like it's an Apple one:

I plan to! Still deciding on 2020 MBA/P or to wait for the next ones. Given how my MBA 11" is doing though, I'm not sure I can wait for the next ones.
Click to expand...

Thats the stock SSD but its only running at SATA 2 speeds. You might want to try a clean install of .13 and see if the hibernation gets fixed.
 
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Jack Neill said:
Thats the stock SSD but its only running at SATA 2 speeds. You might want to try a clean install of .13 and see if the hibernation gets fixed.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. How do I go about a clean install, since I don’t have the OS on a USB stick or anything like that? When I my SSD failed and I had the new one installed in Oct 2019, the repair shop I did it via did a clean install.

It’ll be good to know, but I think I’m going to wait until I replace this MBA and then try to sort it, so I can keep it as a back-up system in case I have to send the new one in for repair.
 
Quackington said:
Thanks for the tip. How do I go about a clean install, since I don’t have the OS on a USB stick or anything like that? When I my SSD failed and I had the new one installed in Oct 2019, the repair shop I did it via did a clean install.

It’ll be good to know, but I think I’m going to wait until I replace this MBA and then try to sort it, so I can keep it as a back-up system in case I have to send the new one in for repair.
Click to expand...
If that Air supports it you can do internet recovery and upgrade all the way to HS or use a USB drive and make an installer.
 
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