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Macbook Air mid-2011 still going strong...

C

cyberone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2005
350
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Can't believe it myself: soon going into its 8th year, and still a trusted computer. Doing Photoshop stuff on it and mostly Web stuff, texts and editing... but power-using the machine each and every day for years now.

The MBA remains snappy and responsive. Software maintenance might play a big part; using CleanMyMac certainly has a good effect on the computer's overall health

Okay, the journey wasn't without issues. Am on the third battery and needed to replace the keyboard.

The beauty of the MBA? Repairs are easy - or easier compared to the latest MB machines with glued battery packs, difficult-to-repair keyboards, etc.

Sure I'm looking at successors - the Macbook is too tiny and the MBPs are nice, yet looking forward to what this soon-to-be-announced MBA 2018 could look like.

Might well ditch higher MBP specs for lower MBA specs.

Seems those are more than good enough for me!
 
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Another satisfied user. My mid-2011 11" (i5/4/128) just cranks along like it's still new. The logic board was replaced under warranty in 2012, no issues otherwise. Original battery is still going strong—early in its life it was mostly a desktop so the charge cycle count is relatively low and it's still at 83% of original capacity.
 
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I've got a 2011 13" . Bumped up the SSD to 480 Gb and replaced the battery last year after 1100 cycles . It just works .When the battery went I thought about replacing it , but Apple doesn't have anything I'm interested save for another Air , and the improvements since I got mine aren't enough to get me to fork out 1300 or so when a 100 buck battery will fix me up for a while
 
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I have 2 mid-2011 11" (i5/4/128) units, and they are amazing. I'll likely go to a next-gen MacBook (assuming it upgrades to TB-3) as the lighter weight is helpful for me. Otherwise, the rumored reworked MBA might be needed, if the 11' MBA's need replacement.
 
2011 mba technically is about to enter its 7th year, not 8th.

I know that because i got one too.
 
For what they are....the MBA are amazing computers. I am getting ready to give my brother my fully spec’d 2013 MBA since I will be moving up to a fully spec’d 2015 MBA. I know he will be happy with his 2013 MBA. Wonderful laptops!
 
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I have a 2011 11" base model Air that I use in my classroom. I'm still amazed at how useful and productive it can be given that it only has 2GB RAM, and it runs High Sierra well enough. I recently upgraded to it from El Cap, and really don't notice much of a performance hit at all, so that's nice.
 
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I have a 2011 i5/4/128 that I'm currently writing this on. I've been feeling that it has been slowing down a bit lately. Mostly with loading web pages, some UI elements, etc. Original battery and SSD on Sierra.

I was considering trying to roll back to El Capitan. That is what my 2011 base 27" iMac is on and it just flies (albeit with an SSD and more ram).

Also considering swapping out the SSD for more space and (hopefully) more speed.
 
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Mid-2011 11"/ i5 / 4 / 128. All original hardware. Running High Sierra. Probably could gain more mobility time with a fresh battery (but frankly, it spends most of its time as my 'desktop'), while I've still got 28GB free with everything I use daily - and I lot I don't - onboard. Still does what I need it to do, and there's nothing (beyond, maybe, a 13" MBA) on Apple's current roster that would encourage me to 'upgrade' - prices overwhelming while hardware underwhelming.
 
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Still using my Late 2010 MBA 4/128. No repairs, 3rd after-market battery. Average daily use of about 4-5 hours daily since new. Runs like a champ on High Sierra. I have added a couple of Small USB thumb drives for enhancing storage. Loaded with usual programs, Office etc along with a couple of Linux VMs. The VMs are a bit slow with 4 GB total RAM.

Considering 15" MBP (2018) to supplement (not replace) and continue using MBA for travel and browsing. Wondering if MBP will be as bullet proof as the MBA has been.
 
2011 Sandy Bridge, can't believe still using it but am sure the slow down is been so gradual I haven't notice it, still love everything just wished Apple had thrown a retina on it before fooling with perfection. :(
 
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I wish to say the same for mines since it’s experiencing swollen battery issue but I’m hoping eventually Apple would offer free replacement for older models.
 
Gave mine to my daughter with a battery change 3 years ago. My wife still uses hers [also with a new battery]. Both 2011 MBA 13s. Great computers.
[doublepost=1524355830][/doublepost]
whohasaquestion said:
2011 mba technically is about to enter its 7th year, not 8th.

I know that because i got one too.
Click to expand...

Should have finished 7 years by now right?
 
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Banglazed said:
I wish to say the same for mines since it’s experiencing swollen battery issue but I’m hoping eventually Apple would offer free replacement for older models.
Click to expand...

But that would be anti-capitalistic. How are they gonna entice you to buy a new laptop if they help you to keep the old one alive? :)
 
I still use (not as my main machine) my Late-2010 11" MacBook Air with a 1.4GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo, 2gb RAM, and a Nvidia 320m GPU.

It still runs absolutely great on High Sierra, which I am really surprised about because it only has 2gb of RAM, but hey, I'll take it!

I heard that the logic board for the 2011 MBA will fit and work in the 2010 MBA I have. If this is true, it would be a cheap way to get more RAM on my MBA, and a slightly better processor. I have seen some 2011 MBA logic boards out there for not that much money. Amazingly the battery still holds up pretty well, but will need to be replaced in about six months or so even though it is plugged in most all the time.

Does anyone know for sure if the 2011 MBA logic board works in the Late-2010 MBA? That would be a huge help for me, and if anyone does know, thanks in advance for the help!

Edit: I was just searching around and found some 2011 MBA logic boards. If it is indeed true they work with the Late-2010, I could upgrade from the Core 2 Duo I have now to a 1.8GHZ Intel Core i7, and double my RAM to 4GB all for $200-$250.00. That is not very expensive to me to upgrade a computer I love so much. I know I will not notice the CPU difference of 400MHZ, but I bet I would notice that 4GB of RAM. Though thinking about, the i7 has to be better than the Core 2 Duo in more than just speed, right? So I may notice some difference.


PS: Just for clarity, my main machine is a 2015 13" MacBook Pro.

:apple:
 
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I had a 2011 MBA with the i5 cpu and 4gb RAM. It was about twice as fast as my 2008 15" MBP with a 2.4ghz Core2Duo cpu and 4gb RAM, so I'd expect you would see at least that much improvement.

But there's no way I would put $250 in an 8 year old computer (even more when you include a battery). I upgraded to a 2013 11" i7 MBA and it was about 30% faster than the 2011 MBA, but battery run time was almost twice as long due to the more efficient chips. The SSD in the 2013 is also much faster, so is the wifi and of course you also get USB 3.0 which is a huge improvement. IMO you would be much happier with a 2013 or newer 11" MBA.
 
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Boyd01 said:
I had a 2011 MBA with the i5 cpu and 4gb RAM. It was about twice as fast as my 2008 15" MBP with a 2.4ghz Core2Duo cpu and 4gb RAM, so I'd expect you would see at least that much improvement.

But there's no way I would put $250 in an 8 year old computer (even more when you include a battery). I upgraded to a 2013 11" i7 MBA and it was about 30% faster than the 2011 MBA, but battery run time was almost twice as long due to the more efficient chips. The SSD in the 2013 is also much faster, so is the wifi and of course you also get USB 3.0 which is a huge improvement. IMO you would be much happier with a 2013 or newer 11" MBA.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, however, I like to tinker a little bit and think it would be kind of cool to spend $200-250.00 to upgrade from a Core 2 Duo to an i7 with the extra added benefit of going from 2gb RAM to 4gb RAM.

I have my MacBook Pro as my main machine, so this would just be a side project. I do not use my MBA much anyway and I would not get that much for it if I sold it now. Also, unless Apple adds a Retina display to a MacBook Air (which apparently will not be around much longer) I could never spend my money on any MacBook that does not have a Retina display, which obviously is only the MBA now.

For my next machine, I plan on getting a 2018 MacBook Pro (even though I am VERY happy with my current 2015 MBP) IF Apple actually releases them this year, and they have AT LEAST a quad core processor and better GPU's. Wishful thinking on my part more so on the GPU's vs. the CPU's as it seems almost certain Apple will use quad core processors for base model MBP's, and hexa core for the higher end models.

*Sorry for getting off topic!

:apple:
 
SRLMJ23 said:
I agree with you, however, I like to tinker a little bit and think it would be kind of cool to spend $200-250.00 to upgrade from a Core 2 Duo to an i7 with the extra added benefit of going from 2gb RAM to 4gb RAM.
Click to expand...

While I know one could get more via, say, Kijiji for my machine, a recent query thru Apple's trade-in service suggested I'd only get $150 for my excellent condition mid-2011 11" i5 / 1.6 / 4 / 128. Who are they kidding, especially as they've so heavily applied the Apple Tax to current models? That considered, if I was dead keen or handy, I'd well consider 200 - 250 bucks to add some 'oomph' to it and bring it back to better than factory and gain another 7 years. Better that than the beer money they're offering, and blowing a wodge to get a newer, marginally better, machine.
But as my MBA currently does all I ask of it, I'll hold off - probably until it simply doesn't work at all anymore.
 
Bazza1 said:
While I know one could get more via, say, Kijiji for my machine, a recent query thru Apple's trade-in service suggested I'd only get $150 for my excellent condition mid-2011 11" i5 / 1.6 / 4 / 128. Who are they kidding, especially as they've so heavily applied the Apple Tax to current models? That considered, if I was dead keen or handy, I'd well consider 200 - 250 bucks to add some 'oomph' to it and bring it back to better than factory and gain another 7 years. Better that than the beer money they're offering, and blowing a wodge to get a newer, marginally better, machine.
But as my MBA currently does all I ask of it, I'll hold off - probably until it simply doesn't work at all anymore.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Apple Trade-In Service is absolutely ludicrous as far as what they offer you for your machine(s). You are like me, my MacBook Air and MacBook Pro look like they just came out of the box...absolutely mint condition.

If the new MacBook Pros are not a huge improvement over the the 2017 models, then I will just skip it and continue using my current MBP. I do not even need a new MBP but I like to the newest Apple stuff. Ahhh, oh well...if they are worth it I will get one and obviously still keep this MBP as my backup. If they are not worth the money then I will just skip the 2018's and continue using my perfectly fine 2015 MBP.

First world problems, haha!

:apple:
 
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