Macbook Air mid-2011 Which OS?

[dlopan]

I have a Mid 11, 11" that runs Sierra just fine. I cloned it off of my MBP 2013. Mini me. It is slower than the MBP but not by much. Considering I bought it used for cheap 260.00, it's really good. I would not run High Sierra on it thought, probably not on anything.

 

[Techwriter]

I updated my mid-2011 13" to OS X Sierra and haven't noticed any slow down, which is great. I'm still getting about 5-6 hours out of a single charge using the original battery. It's a lot less if I'm streaming. However, I'm probably going to upgrade the 128 GB SSD to a Transcend 480 GB in the next few months. It's an expensive upgrade for such an old machine but I've outgrown the 128 GB and I believe it's worth it since it's still running like a champ. Considering it's nearly 7 years old, I know most people would disagree.

 

[cincygolfgrrl]

I know most people would disagree.

I don't.

 

[Macdctr]

I updated my mid-2011 13" to OS X Sierra and haven't noticed any slow down, which is great. I'm still getting about 5-6 hours out of a single charge using the original battery. It's a lot less if I'm streaming. However, I'm probably going to upgrade the 128 GB SSD to a Transcend 480 GB in the next few months. It's an expensive upgrade for such an old machine but I've outgrown the 128 GB and I believe it's worth it since it's still running like a champ. Considering it's nearly 7 years old, I know most people would disagree.

If you're happy with your MBA then that's all that matters. I am typing this using my 2013 MBA and I still use machines listed in my sig below (not all at the same time obviously)...

 

[enriro]

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

I have mid-2011 MBA i5/128/4 and have a lot of issues on clean installed El Capitan and Sierra, mostly overheating and slowing down issues. It surely use significantly more RAM and processor compared to Maverics and Yosemite.

 

[Boyd01]

Sold my 2011 13" i5/4gb/256gb MBA to a close friend in a "sweetheart deal" back in 2013. She is very good at using technology but not a technical person. Now she says it's really slow and I'm trying to help remotely (she lives in the EU). It is running High Sierra, which I would not have attempted on that machine personally, but she teaches at a university where students come and go at her apartment and evidently one of them "upgraded" her MBA.

There doesn't seem to be anything obviously wrong from the small amount of checking I've done so far, the SSD is only half full and disk utility doesn't find any problems. Malwarebytes gives it a clean bill of health. Haven't gotten around to looking at processes and memory usage yet. But would High Sierra be expected to really slow down a machine like this?

If I were there in person, I'd wipe it and install an older MacOS version, then move her files back. I don't want her to attempt that on her own, especially since she's on a fellowship in another country. Had thought of going back to Sierra, but looking at this thread I now wonder if it should go back farther? She isn't real clear on this, but I get the impression that it previously had Sierra and her troubles began with the High Sierra "upgrade".

 

[MultiFinder17]

Another update. I'm still using the little 2011 11" 1.6GHz i5 2GB RAM 128GB Air in my classroom. I upgraded it to High Sierra at the beginning of the year and used it with that for a few weeks to give it a solid try. I did clone the El Cap install to an external drive first though. High Sierra was definitely much more miserable on this machine than El Cap was, particularly with RAM usage; with only 2GB, every MB counts. After about two weeks of using it, I recloned over the El Cap install and I'm back to that.

TL;DR: On a 2GB Air, El Cap ends up being much kinder to it than High Sierra.

 

[Enri.Ro]

If I were there in person, I'd wipe it and install an older MacOS version, then move her files back. I don't want her to attempt that on her own, especially since she's on a fellowship in another country. Had thought of going back to Sierra, but looking at this thread I now wonder if it should go back farther? She isn't real clear on this, but I get the impression that it previously had Sierra and her troubles began with the High Sierra "upgrade".

I think you have to choose between El Capitan and Yosemite, Sierra use significantly more resources and overheat it

 

[pwm86]

Here is a MBA 13" 2011/i7/4GB/256 GB running High Sierra without problems. It is on its second battery.
I do a lot of TeX, also sagemath and many macport programs on it.
I like High Sierra because the syncronisation of Safari bookmarks and passwords between my computers did not work with very different operating system version. I run also an iMac 2015 in my home office and an iMac early 2009 (8GB/ 1TB SSD instead of superdrive, this even under beta Mojave) in my University office, all without problems.

 

[imasterus]

Here is a MBA 13" 2011/i7/4GB/256 GB running High Sierra without problems. It is on its second battery.
I do a lot of TeX, also sagemath and many macport programs on it.
I like High Sierra because the syncronisation of Safari bookmarks and passwords between my computers did not work with very different operating system version. I run also an iMac 2015 in my home office and an iMac early 2009 (8GB/ 1TB SSD instead of superdrive, this even under beta Mojave) in my University office, all without problems.

I do enjoy the same machine. Been using macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 since last August. What can I say? Not better, but not worse than previous systems - just need to keep macOS up to date to benefit from latest versions of software.

 

[Enri.Ro]

Went back to Mavericks today in 2018 lol )) All apps I need are working (Latest Firefox works too), the system is insanely fast compared to El Capitan and Sierra.

Just tired of reinstalling, tweaking and switching all the time between Yosemite El Capitan and Sierra

MBA 11 Late 2011 i5/4Gb/128Gb

 

[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.

When I last posted in this thread, I was using a 2013 MBA. My partner is now using this so I got the 2010 MBA back and decided to keep it and play with some non-macOS options. It runs Linux very well, with my personal preference for either ElementaryOS or Mint. It also runs PC-BSD pretty well, and given I'm running FreeNAS, this would be perfect if I could find some drivers for the Wireless Broadcom card. As it is, it only works with a wired ethernet adapter, so is fine in the office, but not out and about on the road.

It's only when you compare a non-macOS option with macOS that you realise how slow it's become running its native OS. It does a much better job with Linux. If you don't need macOS, I'd be tempted to go down that route, but it's not too tricky to set it up to multi-boot (using rEFInd) and you get the best of both worlds!

 

[Enri.Ro]

When I last posted in this thread, I was using a 2013 MBA. My partner is now using this so I got the 2010 MBA back and decided to keep it and play with some non-macOS options. It runs Linux very well, with my personal preference for either ElementaryOS or Mint. It also runs PC-BSD pretty well, and given I'm running FreeNAS, this would be perfect if I could find some drivers for the Wireless Broadcom card. As it is, it only works with a wired ethernet adapter, so is fine in the office, but not out and about on the road.

It's only when you compare a non-macOS option with macOS that you realise how slow it's become running its native OS. It does a much better job with Linux. If you don't need macOS, I'd be tempted to go down that route, but it's not too tricky to set it up to multi-boot (using rEFInd) and you get the best of both worlds!

Yes it works fast on Linux and Windows, but most applications I need can't work in Linux without Wine (and via Wine they will work slower than even native in Sierra). But it works as fast with Mavericks so why bother.

With Linux I can use it only as a web browser/mail reader.

But as a web browser/ mail reader it works fast on El Capitan as well.

 

[Aston441]

I'm very unhappy about Apple dropping software support for my late 2011 MBA. I was planning to get the next version of the 12" MacBook with hopefully better keyboard and relegate my MBA to dedicated synthesizer stuff.

Dropping support for my perfectly good and fast MBA is causing me to rethink everything.

I'm getting fed up beyond belief with Apple.


ETA: I'm angrier with Apple now than I was with Microsoft before I switched.

They've turned back into the Apple I hated in the late 90's.

I am SO SICK of arrogant executives destroying companies.

 

[Enri.Ro]

Another update. I'm still using the little 2011 11" 1.6GHz i5 2GB RAM 128GB Air in my classroom. I upgraded it to High Sierra at the beginning of the year and used it with that for a few weeks to give it a solid try. I did clone the El Cap install to an external drive first though. High Sierra was definitely much more miserable on this machine than El Cap was, particularly with RAM usage; with only 2GB, every MB counts. After about two weeks of using it, I recloned over the El Cap install and I'm back to that.

TL;DR: On a 2GB Air, El Cap ends up being much kinder to it than High Sierra.

How

I'm very unhappy about Apple dropping software support for my late 2011 MBA. I was planning to get the next version of the 12" MacBook with hopefully better keyboard and relegate my MBA to dedicated synthesizer stuff.

Dropping support for my perfectly good and fast MBA is causing me to rethink everything.

I'm getting fed up beyond belief with Apple.


ETA: I'm angrier with Apple now than I was with Microsoft before I switched.

They've turned back into the Apple I hated in the late 90's.

I am SO SICK of arrogant executives destroying companies.

Yes, agree. Apple executives have already destroyed Apple without Steve some time ago, now they are doing the same without him again.

 

[bradl]

I'm very unhappy about Apple dropping software support for my late 2011 MBA. I was planning to get the next version of the 12" MacBook with hopefully better keyboard and relegate my MBA to dedicated synthesizer stuff.

Dropping support for my perfectly good and fast MBA is causing me to rethink everything.

I'm getting fed up beyond belief with Apple.


ETA: I'm angrier with Apple now than I was with Microsoft before I switched.

They've turned back into the Apple I hated in the late 90's.

I am SO SICK of arrogant executives destroying companies.

You do have to realize that nearly every software and hardware company does the same thing Apple does, right? Good case in point: Windows 7 is near EOL, if it hasn't reached it yet. Microsoft dropped Vista, XP, Windows Server 2000, all releases of Windows NT, etc. because they all reached EOL for what they can support. It costs much more money for them to backport patches for all new vulnerabilities that exists.

Same applies with Apple, let alone with the hardware they have. I still have and use my mid-2011 13" MBA, even though it was dropped as well. 7 years is a very long run as far as hardware goes; in the PC world, you're obsolete when it comes to 2 year-old hardware! but they have to cut their losses somewhere, especially when it comes to the time, effort, and money to keep up with all of those patches.

Don't think that any other OS is out of bounds either; Solaris 8 has been dropped and that was around for as long as the MBA; Solaris 10 is just about on its way out, and every Linux distribution has dropped all support for 32bit x86 processors. Even RHEL and CentOS have dropped that.

7 years is a damn good run, and we're basically on borrowed time to where we can't fix our Macs if something goes wrong with it, and we'd be better for ourselves if we realized how long our hardware has lasted us, as most PCs, especially laptops from Dell, HP, etc., barely last a week after the 2 year warranty expires.

BL.

 

[Enri.Ro]

You do have to realize that nearly every software and hardware company does the same thing Apple does, right? Good case in point: Windows 7 is near EOL, if it hasn't reached it yet. Microsoft dropped Vista, XP, Windows Server 2000, all releases of Windows NT, etc. because they all reached EOL for what they can support. It costs much more money for them to backport patches for all new vulnerabilities that exists.

Same applies with Apple, let alone with the hardware they have. I still have and use my mid-2011 13" MBA, even though it was dropped as well. 7 years is a very long run as far as hardware goes; in the PC world, you're obsolete when it comes to 2 year-old hardware! but they have to cut their losses somewhere, especially when it comes to the time, effort, and money to keep up with all of those patches.

Don't think that any other OS is out of bounds either; Solaris 8 has been dropped and that was around for as long as the MBA; Solaris 10 is just about on its way out, and every Linux distribution has dropped all support for 32bit x86 processors. Even RHEL and CentOS have dropped that.

7 years is a damn good run, and we're basically on borrowed time to where we can't fix our Macs if something goes wrong with it, and we'd be better for ourselves if we realized how long our hardware has lasted us, as most PCs, especially laptops from Dell, HP, etc., barely last a week after the 2 year warranty expires.

BL.

New MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Minies are getting worse in many ways. I know many people who buys 2-3 yo Apple computers because they are more suited for their professional needs than new sh&t what Apple executives throw out to the market. They are doing another Samsung from Apple.

 

[leekil]

When I went to Sierra on an 11"/i7/4G MacBook Air, it seemed to be a mistake. At times it basically hangs up, and may recover after I put it to sleep (or it reboots while asleep?). My theory is that eventually Safari takes up too much memory, and it is constantly swapping and nothing is responsive as a result. I would stay on El Capitan, unless you are the kind of person that only has like 4 tabs or windows open at once on Safari.

 

[bradl]

When I went to Sierra on an 11"/i7/4G MacBook Air, it seemed to be a mistake. At times it basically hangs up, and may recover after I put it to sleep (or it reboots while asleep?). My theory is that eventually Safari takes up too much memory, and it is constantly swapping and nothing is responsive as a result. I would stay on El Capitan, unless you are the kind of person that only has like 4 tabs or windows open at once on Safari.

Which is weird, because I went to Sierra on my 13"/i5/256/4G MBA, I have't had any problems whatsoever. However, I had nothing but crashes on High Sierra, that not even the patches Apple released helped, to the point I went back to Sierra and haven't looked back.

BL.

 

[MultiFinder17]

How

How what? How is El Cap kinder to it than High Sierra? It uses notably less RAM, which is super important on a system with only 2GB.

 

[Aston441]

You do have to realize that nearly every software and hardware company does the same thing Apple does, right? Good case in point: Windows 7 is near EOL, if it hasn't reached it yet. Microsoft dropped Vista, XP, Windows Server 2000, all releases of Windows NT, etc. because they all reached EOL for what they can support. It costs much more money for them to backport patches for all new vulnerabilities that exists.

Same applies with Apple, let alone with the hardware they have. I still have and use my mid-2011 13" MBA, even though it was dropped as well. 7 years is a very long run as far as hardware goes; in the PC world, you're obsolete when it comes to 2 year-old hardware! but they have to cut their losses somewhere, especially when it comes to the time, effort, and money to keep up with all of those patches.

Don't think that any other OS is out of bounds either; Solaris 8 has been dropped and that was around for as long as the MBA; Solaris 10 is just about on its way out, and every Linux distribution has dropped all support for 32bit x86 processors. Even RHEL and CentOS have dropped that.

7 years is a damn good run, and we're basically on borrowed time to where we can't fix our Macs if something goes wrong with it, and we'd be better for ourselves if we realized how long our hardware has lasted us, as most PCs, especially laptops from Dell, HP, etc., barely last a week after the 2 year warranty expires.

BL.

Completely wrong. Windows 10 works fine on 10 year old hardware that came originally with Windows 7.

Windows 10 works perfectly on the boot camp side of my 2011 MBA, and it flys. Ironic that Microsoft is supporting my MBA and Apple is not!

 

[bradl]

Completely wrong. Windows 10 works fine on 10 year old hardware that came originally with Windows 7.

Windows 10 works perfectly on the boot camp side of my 2011 MBA, and it flys. Ironic that Microsoft is supporting my MBA and Apple is not!

You didn't read my post. Windows 7 has been given EOL as of 2015. Windows 8 has been as well. Extended support is another thing, but mainstream EOL has been done for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Additionally, you are running a glorified PC, as that is what a Mac is, so Microsoft isn't supporting anything except the software you want on it, and they aren't even supporting that mainstream anymore.

Also, If you haven't noticed, Apple is still supporting High Sierra as well as Sierra, in addition to Mojave. You are still getting support from them on those operating systems. Hell, it can even be stated that El Capitan is still being supported. Apple isn't supporting the HARDWARE, but it is still supporting the SOFTWARE. That is no different than what Microsoft is doing.

BL.

 

[KGB7]

Completely wrong. Windows 10 works fine on 10 year old hardware that came originally with Windows 7.

Windows 10 works perfectly on the boot camp side of my 2011 MBA, and it flys. Ironic that Microsoft is supporting my MBA and Apple is not!

Microsoft isn’t supporting your MBA. It’s the Bootcamp that’s alowing win 10 to run on your MBA. Because Win 10 was never meant to natively run on any MacBook of any sort.

Furthermore, Win10, 8,7, won’t run on older PCs, since there is no longer hardware support.

By a used 2013 MBA for $500 and you’ll get few more years out of it. Or don’t do anything at all.

 

[weezin]

For what its worth, my 2011 base 13" was draaaaaaggggiiiiinnnnnngggg on Sierra. Hard to use it was so slow.

I just "downgraded" to El Capitan today and it's back being quite zippy (so far anyway). I'm sticking with this OS!

 

[weezerr]

Anyone running the dosdude patcher and Mojave on a 2011 air?