need help upgrading the os in my macbook air

[kaitlin4599]

picked up an early 2014 macbook air specs can be seen in the photos below. it has 4gigs of ram which may limit me in some operating systems and a 256 gig ssd. its currently on big-sur a friend of mine suggested i use open core legacy patcher to upgrade my macbook air to the latest os but #1 im not sure if my 4gigs of ram will be a limitation and #2 im not sure if this is the way to go to upgrade it to the latest os lastly #3 if i find the new os to slow can i downgrade back to big sur? any help please

i wanna use my macbook air for basic web surfing youtube and some steam games so nothing too demanding i visit family alot so would be nice to browse the web etc when im there feel free to offer any input on if i should upgrade the os as well as how to do so

 

[rm5]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) has become much better over the years, and the performance has improved drastically on older hardware compared to just a couple years ago. I'd suggest going that route, and the instructions for doing so, along with a wealth of other support documentation can be found here.

4 GB of RAM should not be a limitation, as I've run macOS Ventura and Sonoma on MacBook Airs/Pros with only 4 GB. It will work for basic web browsing and word processing, but anything more demanding will be an issue on so little RAM.

And yes, you can downgrade the OS after installing OCLP if you feel the need to.

 

[kaitlin4599]

@rm5 is there a guide i can follow for updating to say the latest os with OCLP? also how do i downgrade if i decide the new os isnt running how i like it?

 

[kaitlin4599]

@rm5 i wanna educate myself ahead of time so that when the mac gets here i know how to update the os as well as use OCLP

 

[BrianBaughn]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Experience macOS just like before

dortania.github.io

To downgrade you'd have to erase the SSD and start over…either in Recovery Mode or from a bootable USB installer.

 

[arcite]

OS MOJAVE is your best bet.

 

[kaitlin4599]

@arcite how do i make a usb installer in case mojave isnt for me and i wanna go back to the stock os that shipped with my mac from retail?