MBA 11.6" 2011 1.6GHZ i5 2GB RAM is it even worth buying.

[bobjob186]

Hi MR crew, curious to know who in the MacBook Air community has and is using an 11.6" MBA with 2GB of RAM. How unusable is the machine given the 2GB of RAM?

I am looking at a 2011 1.6GZ i5 but it only has 2GB of RAM and from my research only the 2013 to 2015 can be upgraded by replacing the logic board from a higher spec donor.

How much would you pay for an 11.6" i5 MBA with only 2GB of RAM?

Thanks!

 

[chrfr]

Hi MR crew, curious to know who in the MacBook Air community has and is using an 11.6" MBA with 2GB of RAM. How unusable is the machine given the 2GB of RAM?

I am looking at a 2011 1.6GZ i5 but it only has 2GB of RAM and from my research only the 2013 to 2015 can be upgraded by replacing the logic board from a higher spec donor.

How much would you pay for an 11.6" i5 MBA with only 2GB of RAM?

Thanks!

I wouldn't buy a Mac with 2GB of built in RAM at any price.

 

[mtneer]

What do you want to do with it? If you are handing this to someone who seldom uses a computer and only for the very basics - it maybe workable. But I would recommend getting such a user a cell phone or a tablet.

 

[MultiFinder17]

How much is it?

I’ve had one for five years now. I got it used in 2015 as a laptop for basic teaching use, and it worked quite well for that. 2-3 tabs in safari, Word, PowerPoint, email, that kind of thing. I’ve since retired it from active duty in my classroom, and I currently use it as a writing machine at home.

I also have it running 10.11; it can go up to 10.13, but I had it there for a week or two and found it to be much more sluggish than 10.11.

If you can get one cheap, you’re looking to use it lightly, and you don’t mind it either being sluggish or running older software on it, it’s a great little laptop. For price reference, I paid $400 for mine (1.6GHz i5, 2GB of RAM, 256GB SSD) in 2015, so I’d hope that the prices have gone down from there.

Am I glad I bought one in 2015? Yes. Would I buy one today in 2020? Ehhhhh.....

 

[bobjob186]

How much is it?

I’ve had one for five years now. I got it used in 2015 as a laptop for basic teaching use, and it worked quite well for that. 2-3 tabs in safari, Word, PowerPoint, email, that kind of thing. I’ve since retired it from active duty in my classroom, and I currently use it as a writing machine at home.

I also have it running 10.11; it can go up to 10.13, but I had it there for a week or two and found it to be much more sluggish than 10.11.

If you can get one cheap, you’re looking to use it lightly, and you don’t mind it either being sluggish or running older software on it, it’s a great little laptop. For price reference, I paid $400 for mine (1.6GHz i5, 2GB of RAM, 256GB SSD) in 2015, so I’d hope that the prices have gone down from there.

Am I glad I bought one in 2015? Yes. Would I buy one today in 2020? Ehhhhh.....

It's $280 and I appreciate this feedback a lot as this is very helpful. I was thinking I could use it with 10.13 for light tasks and some basic terminal work on the go, but if you're saying it's basically a non starter to even run 10.13 that might be the end of it.

 

[MultiFinder17]

It's $280 and I appreciate this feedback a lot as this is very helpful. I was thinking I could use it with 10.13 for light tasks and some basic terminal work on the go, but if you're saying it's basically a non starter to even run 10.13 that might be the end of it.

I wouldn’t say that it’s a non-starter, but it was more sluggish than I was willing to put up with for my needs on 10.13. If I were just using a tab or two, word, and terminal, it would probably be fine.

Though $280 is significantly more than I would pay for one today, especially if it’s only coming with the factory 64GB SSD.

 

[bobjob186]

I wouldn’t say that it’s a non-starter, but it was more sluggish than I was willing to put up with for my needs on 10.13. If I were just using a tab or two, word, and terminal, it would probably be fine.

Though $280 is significantly more than I would pay for one today, especially if it’s only coming with the factory 64GB SSD.

Got it. Maybe I throw in an offer and see where it goes.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Got it. Maybe I throw in an offer and see where it goes.

Good luck! I will say that for not a lot more money you could get a 2012-2015 11” Air that might serve your needs even better. My main laptop these days is a 2015 11” i5/8GB/256GB that I got on eBay about two years ago for $400. If you keep your eyes peeled, there are some solid deals out there.

Also I just noticed, we seem to be waiting for the same thing in our signatures

 

[Jimmy James]

I wouldn't buy a Mac with 2GB of built in RAM at any price.

I’m would, if you could replace it. That is the real problem here.

 

[hvfsl]

I gave my mum a MacBook from 2009 which had 2GB of RAM and an SSD. It was perfectly usable for basic internet use and MS Office. It was kept at OS 10.10, which probably helped a lot though.

 

[bobjob186]

Good luck! I will say that for not a lot more money you could get a 2012-2015 11” Air that might serve your needs even better. My main laptop these days is a 2015 11” i5/8GB/256GB that I got on eBay about two years ago for $400. If you keep your eyes peeled, there are some solid deals out there.

Also I just noticed, we seem to be waiting for the same thing in our signatures

!! I'd pay anything for a PowerBook G5. Nice to see I'm not the only one!

 

[gpat]

I'd just get a Pro from the same year with upgradable RAM.

 

[Macdctr]

!! I'd pay anything for a PowerBook G5. Nice to see I'm not the only one!

Apple never produced a PowerBook G5 to my knowledge due to significant cooling and power challenges the G5 processor would bring to the laptop platform so Apple went to Intel processors instead.

"Jobs said Apple tried to see if there was any way possible way to fit a G5 into a notebook computer, but all in vain because of the heat and power consumption."

There may have been prototypes in various forms but getting your hands on one is very rare if you're lucky to find them...

Regarding whether or not the 11 inch MBA 1.6GHz i5 2GB RAM is worth buying today... it depends on how you are planning to use this computer. If you don't mind sticking to the non-supported MacOS and are using it for simple tasks like surfing the internet, emails and messaging then perhaps you can get by using this computer. Keep in mind you will be limited due to the small RAM size and booting possibly taking slightly longer but if you don't mind these things then for the cheap you can get one of these.

I myself when buying a MBA would prefer to have one with 8GB RAM and get a 2013-2015 11 inch because of longer battery life (battery management has been greatly improved starting 2013) and run the newer MacOS. I prefer using my 11inch i7 8GB MBA over the 13inch i7 8GB MBA I used to have so I sold my 13inch this year.

Either way, it is really up to the original poster what will work out best. Good luck on your decision

 

[TenthDoctor]

Hi MR crew, curious to know who in the MacBook Air community has and is using an 11.6" MBA with 2GB of RAM. How unusable is the machine given the 2GB of RAM?

I am looking at a 2011 1.6GZ i5 but it only has 2GB of RAM and from my research only the 2013 to 2015 can be upgraded by replacing the logic board from a higher spec donor.

How much would you pay for an 11.6" i5 MBA with only 2GB of RAM?

Thanks!

I don’t have a MacBook Air 2011, but I do have a MacBook 2011 that I think originally came with 2 gb of ram. I upgraded it to 4 gb several years ago, which extended the useful life of it. It made it faster, but in More recent years I was finding it to be too irritating To use for browsing the Internet with, and annoying to use with Office.

All other programs (except zoom) on it worked fine, although it took a little while for apps to open.

I had problems using it with Zoom — my microphone became unusable. It was really loud and had lots of echo. It worked okay the first couple of zoom sessions, but then completely became unusable. I had to mute myself so that everyone did not hear the horrible noise. I don’t know if the issue was the computer microphone Itself or just an incompatibility with zoom. (It had me update zoom a couple times over the last few months, and I don’t know if the microphone issue was tied to the update).

I think a 2011 Mac is okay to use with old software, and not browsing the web. However, using it with more modern software may cause issues, as software may Be too advanced for it.

Definitely do not use it as your main computer. You will be frustrated if you do.