Macbook Air mid-2011 Which OS?

[Shinydesert]

I inherited a like new base model 13" mid-2011 i5/128/4. It's still running Lion with approximately 65 battery cycles. Windows user bought it, tried it for a while, and put it back in the box.

It's snappy on Lion but I'm wondering if I should update the OS to gain more features. For those who have updated, which OS would run the best without losing functionality?

Version 10.8: Mountain Lion
Version 10.9: Mavericks
Version 10.10: Yosemite
Version 10.11: El Capitan

Thanks in advance.

I would go with Mavericks. I have a MBP Late 2013 and after using all the OS listed above I always end up reinstalling Mavericks for these reasons.
-Battery life is excellent on Mavericks.
-It has maps on it.
-It needs less requirements to work smoothly.
-I don't need some of the features that Finder has on Yosemite and El Capitan.
The only thing that bothers me sometimes is the fact that Airdrop is pretty bad on Mavericks but other than that I am super happy with Mavericks.

 

[Techwriter]

Either go for 10.11 or 10.9.
I'd say while 10.11 has better typeface, optimal surface depth compared to 10.10, 10.11 is still a tiny bit jarring on non-Retina displays. But that varies from person to person, I guess.
These are the "tock" (or "tick", if you prefer calling the other way around) releases that improve performance and responsiveness.

The majority of the replies favored 10.11 El Capitan while a few advised to only upgrade to 10.9 Mavericks because of surface depth or contrast issues with El Capitan.

On thing I've noticed on Lion is that the Other folder increases quickly even if I'm just browsing the web. Rebooting helps. It could be just me but it doesn't seem to be as efficient at clearing old cache files. Some clean up is necessary. This may have been fixed in later software versions.

I agree with a few posters who said this is one of the nicer Macbook Airs. The trackpad is unbelievably fluid compared to any Windows PC I've ever tried.

 

[mabaker]

People are using MacBooks from 2008 successfully with El Capitan and some are wondering if a 2011 computer will work...

 

[doug in albq]

10.8.5

 

[SmOgER]

People are using MacBooks from 2008 successfully with El Capitan and some are wondering if a 2011 computer will work...

Exactly my thoughts. 2015 rMB is only slightly more powerful than the OP's MBA. higher resolution offsets the stronger GPU and CPU is almost on pair while the RAM shouldn't really be a problem. Even with 2GB it could still be OK since SSD pagefile is much more faster than HDD, besides - memory compression.

 

[Techwriter]

Thanks for all the great responses and feedback. I appreciate the help.

 

[Fizzoid]

People are using MacBooks from 2008 successfully with El Capitan and some are wondering if a 2011 computer will work...

Not in this thread they're not...

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Than maybe. just maybe, mabaker means that perhaps folks should do a search before they open up a new thread and ask a question that perhaps has been answered before. This forum is for sharing, not just for folks coming on and asking questions without doing some research!

Lou

 

[cincygolfgrrl]

I have a mid-2011 11" MBA with 4GB RAM running El Cap. I've had no issues.

 

[SackJabbit]

I have the mid-2011 13" MBA i5/4GB RAM/250GB SSD, and have upgraded to every single OS from Mavericks to El Capitan including every update.

Hands down, El Capitan is definitely the fastest stable version of them all; lags from Yosemite are now gone.

 

[Isamilis]

+1 for this. I have mba 2012 and Mbp 2011 all still functional and will use them till last drop.
In my opinion OP better go with Mavericks unless you have critical application or needs features from Yosemite / El Capitan.

I just sold my mid-2009 MacBook Pro. It had an HDD and was painfully slow. But the hardware itself was in pristine condition. It was in service roughly 6 years and was very well cared for.

As indicated in my earlier post, I have 2 mid-2011 11" MacBook Airs, one with 2gb RAM the other 4gb RAM. They run well and like their MacBook Pro predecessor, they are well cared for. I split use between the two, with the 2gb unit being used during the week and the 4gb used on weekends.

Given that subsequent OS X upgrades have not slowed my machines and that how I use them does not really tax the capabilities of the hardware, I am expecting a service life that will last into late 2018 to early 2019, provided the OS X upgrades still support the hardware. Even if future OS X upgrades do not support the hardware, I plan on utilizing them anyway. I don't like Apple to dictate when I buy hardware because of planned obsolescence.

The only exception to the last rule was when I replaced my iPhone 4S with a 5S and only because it had the 64-bit A7. I plan on keeping the 5S in service to at least 2018.

 

[shortcrust]

I have a MacBook Air mid-2011 11" w/ 2GB RAM

It's amazing to me that this 4 year old machine performs as if new. And should easily give me 2 more years.

I was about to post along the same lines. Mine's as fast as it's ever been. I'm on El Capitan.

 

[Fizzoid]

^^^^Than maybe. just maybe, mabaker means that perhaps folks should do a search before they open up a new thread and ask a question that perhaps has been answered before. This forum is for sharing, not just for folks coming on and asking questions without doing some research!

Lou

Then maybe, just maybe, he should have said that, rather than saying something completely different?

Research, you mean like coming on an Apple/Mac forum and asking for opinions on what other people though, that sort of research?

 

[asoksevil]

10.9.5

 

[flowrider]

Then maybe, just maybe, he should have said that, rather than saying something completely different?

Research, you mean like coming on an Apple/Mac forum and asking for opinions on what other people though, that sort of research?

No, Not Really. There's a lot of pretty bright folks who post here and a lot of knowledge to be gained by doing a little investigative work before asking asking redundant questions. This forum is a plethora of knowledge IMHO. If after doing the investigative work, you can't find an answer, then post your question. The Search Function on this forum really works quite well.

Lou

 

[nordique]

This thread is helping me right now too

I just got the 2011 MBA 11" 4gb ram/128ssd model from my sister and got a new battery installed from the Apple Store. Gave her my old (new?) 2013 MBP retina cause she needs the power more than I do, as my needs aren't as significant as hers right now.

It came with Lion and according to my App Store purchases, I can restore it and put Lion, Mavericks, Yosimete or El Cap on it.

From my initial impressions, Lion isn't too bad.

It seems the best are either Mavericks or El Cap

The statements regarding how el cap appear on the non-retina screen are interesting

Anyone able to comment further on their experiences with this model as to which one is the best for battery life and speed?


Also, as a fun aside - anyone with experience as to which version of Windows this little guy runs the best?

 

[Woodstockie]

Kind gesture of you to give your MBP to your sister. For your 'new' 2011 MBA El Cap should work fine, however I went back to Mavericks on my 2010 MBA 2GB. I noticed that Mavericks is much more responsive instead of El Cap. My suggestion would be to try out El Cap first and if you are not happy with it install Mavericks.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Also, as a fun aside - anyone with experience as to which version of Windows this little guy runs the best?

I've run Win7 Pro on my 11" 2011, and it runs beautifully. I upgraded it to Win10 Pro and while it wasn't awful, 7 definitely ran more smoothly on it and I downgraded soon after.

 

[nordique]

I've run Win7 Pro on my 11" 2011, and it runs beautifully. I upgraded it to Win10 Pro and while it wasn't awful, 7 definitely ran more smoothly on it and I downgraded soon after.

This is fantastic to know, as I presumed windows 10 would have been better. It works out well for me, as my only copy of windows lying around is Win 7.

Kind gesture of you to give your MBP to your sister. For your 'new' 2011 MBA El Cap should work fine, however I went back to Mavericks on my 2010 MBA 2GB. I noticed that Mavericks is much more responsive instead of El Cap. My suggestion would be to try out El Cap first and if you are not happy with it install Mavericks.

I do love my siblings! This is good to know. I have always liked Mavericks, for some reason it has run well on everything I've owned that has run it. This is great advice, thank you very much! I will do as you say though and try El Cap first.

This thread has helped a lot of people with making this decision, I am sure. Thank you for the responses, and if any one else is willing to share their experiences, it would be welcomed for those who happen to pass upon this thread

 

[Crazy Badger]

I've just upgraded my partners 2010 MBA (2.13Ghz/4GB RAM) from 10.10.5 to 10.11.2 and if anything it seemed a little quicker. Certainly no slower, so I'm sure your newer model will be just fine.

 

[617660]

Just a question for people with older version of mba. Does yours miss tap-click occasionally? I have a 2011 mba and it would miss tap-clicks more often than not before finally register one. It's annoying..I almost want to clean install the OS X just for this reason alone.

 

[jermy4]

Just a question for people with older version of mba. Does yours miss tap-click occasionally? I have a 2011 mba and it would miss tap-clicks more often than not before finally register one. It's annoying..I almost want to clean install the OS X just for this reason alone.

I never had this problem but I saw people posting about this on here and when they took their laptops to apple it was caused by a swollen battery pushing on the trackpad.

 

[robvas]

Lion always felt slow to me. El Cap 100%

 

[imasterus]

Two days ago I had my 4.5 years old MBA 2011 opened and cleaned from dust and other crap. I have to say that it revived my MBA and it became faster even on OS X Mountain Lion. Sometimes it is simply needed to clean it without blaming any version of OS X…
So my question to owners of old MBA: have you ever got it opened and cleaned since you own it? If yes, after what time (year/s)?
Thank you.

 

[SmOgER]

Two days ago I had my 4.5 years old MBA 2011 opened and cleaned from dust and other crap. I have to say that it revived my MBA and it became faster even on OS X Mountain Lion. Sometimes it is simply needed to clean it without blaming any version of OS X…
So my question to owners of old MBA: have you ever got it opened and cleaned since you own it? If yes, after what time (year/s)?
Thank you.

Well I've got mine opened recently but there wasn't much dust to write home about... : P