Who's still rocking their late 2010 MBA?

[FuNGi]

My 13"/4GB/480GB late 2010 MBA is still great for most things that I do. I use it predominately at home, coffee shops, and while traveling for word processing, as a music player, and for movies and web surfing on the couch (I sold my iPad after 3 months as it was redundant).

I also have a late 2013 15" rMBP (2.3/16/512) I use for work (research scientist) so you can guess I wince looking at the Air's screen but, apart from photo editing, don't notice big differences in it's performance.

I'm curious who out there is still rocking this first iteration of the modern MBA design, what your specs are, what you use if for, and how it's holding up. Do you yearn for something more?

 

[J&JPolangin]

I still have my mid 2013 11.6" MBA base model...I tried them all beginning with the 2010's wanting to keep one but the smaller SSD's, less RAM and lower battery life put me off purchasing one until the battery life finally increased enough with the 2013 models

 

[FuNGi]

I still have my mid 2013 11.6" MBA base model...I tried them all beginning with the 2010's wanting to keep one but the smaller SSD's, less RAM and lower battery life put me off purchasing one until the battery life finally increased enough with the 2013 models

So...not only are you not rocking the ol' 2010 but you never even owned one. o. k.

 

[abelism]

I with you still rocking my 2010 MBA

i still love my 2010 MBA. I used it while earning my bachelor's and master's degree's, and I know use it as a college instructor. I have the baseline MBA, and it still works like I took it out of the box yesterday. I love it!

 

[DDJ]

My 13"/4GB/480GB late 2010 MBA is still great for most things that I do. I use it predominately at home, coffee shops, and while traveling for word processing, as a music player, and for movies and web surfing on the couch (I sold my iPad after 3 months as it was redundant).

I also have a late 2013 15" rMBP (2.3/16/512) I use for work (research scientist) so you can guess I wince looking at the Air's screen but, apart from photo editing, don't notice big differences in it's performance.

I'm curious who out there is still rocking this first iteration of the modern MBA design, what your specs are, what you use if for, and how it's holding up. Do you yearn for something more?

I am using a MacBook Air 13-inch, Late 2010. Processor 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB. I use it all time at home and for traveling. Mine is holding up great.......I haven't even thought of getting a new one.

I have a 2010 21 in. iMac desk top for my office work.

 

[abelism]

I'll use mine until it breaks. Macs are worth the money.

 

[SusanK]

I'll use mine until it breaks. Macs are worth the money.

Macs cost a few dollars more but think of all the money saved on psychiatric care by not using Windows

 

[abelism]

That is very true. I use Windows at work and hate it

 

[J&JPolangin]

So...not only are you not rocking the ol' 2010 but you never even owned one. o. k.

...not quite...I've owned every version of the original 2010 11.6" MBA since they came out (and with every update)...just for the two week trial period until I found the battery life acceptable for my daily needs

 

[plusnq]

Early 2009 still used here

 

[motrek]

...
I'm curious who out there is still rocking this first iteration of the modern MBA design, what your specs are, what you use if for, and how it's holding up. Do you yearn for something more?

I was using my base model 2010 11" up until a month ago. Was using it as a travel machine to do email, web surfing, etc. plus some light app development.

I also used it as an HTPC for ~6 months but that was getting frustrating because it could barely manage streaming SD video from Netflix or Amazon. The CPU would go up to 80+ C, fan would spin up to 5000+ RPM depending on ambient temperature, etc. Eventually gave up on that and replaced it with a cheap and small home-built Windows computer.

I was only doing light app development on it because I found it somehow inconvenient/uncomfortable to run XCode, the simulator, etc. I assumed this came down to the small screen size, but about a month ago I bought a new 2014 11" model and I can be incredibly productive with it... so I guess what was holding me back was actually the processor speed.

I can only recommend getting a newer model. They are crazy fast, super quiet (not that my old one was ever very loud though), and the battery life is incredible. I've never been a super big fan of backlit keyboards but now that I've used one for a few weeks it's been growing on me for some reason.

I bought the new model for $850 on sale from Best Buy. I ended up selling my older model for $475 on Craigslist. So I doubled my RAM, SSD, battery life, and increased my CPU speed by about infinity percent for $375. I think that's the math you have to do re: upgrading, if it's worth that price to you. For me, I would happily do it again.

 

[FuNGi]

Early 2009 still used here

GET OUT!!!

I was using my base model 2010 11" up until a month ago. Was using it as a travel machine to do email, web surfing, etc. plus some light app development.
-snip-
I bought the new model for $850 on sale from Best Buy. I ended up selling my older model for $475 on Craigslist. So I doubled my RAM, SSD, battery life, and increased my CPU speed by about infinity percent for $375. I think that's the math you have to do re: upgrading, if it's worth that price to you. For me, I would happily do it again.

Valid points for sure – especially if you're thinking of buying an aftermarket SSD for growing storage needs.

I've done the same for previous MBP's. But I want to ride this MBA, and its poor unlit keyboard, until it dies. I want to hold it when its fan sputters it's last desperate cooling breath. I want to weep when its core 2 duo, an ancient remnant of a bygone era, gives up the ghost.

 

[blesscheese]

Early 2009 still used here

Ditto...as we know, it has only 2GB RAM, but with the 120GB SSD, I find it fairly speedy and zippy. This is with the latest version of Mavericks. Amazing that a 5 year + computer is still being supported, and running as well as this does.

Safari is the biggest memory hog, but I can always get what I need done. Right now, I have several of my statistical/programming editor/research apps open and running (for over 2 weeks!). I open up Safari when I need it, and close it when not being used. With Safari open, my swap goes well over 1 GB; with it closed it goes well under. I should reboot at some point, but why?

 

[jdavtz]

Mine's working great; I got the 11.6" 1.6GHz 4GB model and judging by the amount of time my CPU is maxed out when editing photos I'm glad I got the extra 0.2GHz.

I'm running Yosemite DP8 without a hint of trouble.

It's a fantastic machine for everything EXCEPT photo stuff where it's clearly out of its depth.

The only things I'd really like are a retina display, a longer-life battery (although this one is okay), and a backlit keyboard (very occasionally).

 

[plusnq]

Ditto...as we know, it has only 2GB RAM, but with the 120GB SSD, I find it fairly speedy and zippy. This is with the latest version of Mavericks. Amazing that a 5 year + computer is still being supported, and running as well as this does.

Safari is the biggest memory hog, but I can always get what I need done. Right now, I have several of my statistical/programming editor/research apps open and running (for over 2 weeks!). I open up Safari when I need it, and close it when not being used. With Safari open, my swap goes well over 1 GB; with it closed it goes well under. I should reboot at some point, but why?

That's my experience also. I use it for the basics when we travel plus file transfer for our travel photography. While it still works ok, we will keep using it. Once it dies we will upgrade. Looking around my house we have one powerful recent desktop, one 13 inch rMBP my daughter uses and a smattering of four to six year old macs, with one legacy windows machine that is eight years old ( used for a specific piece of software only). The need to upgrade regularly on a three year cycle seems to have been negated by the power of the machines and the lack of progress in software using multi core to any great advantage. Also possibly our offloading most data from the machines to network storage may have contributed to their continued longevity.


Cheers

Shane

 

[stillone]

I am still using my 2010 2.13 GHz 4mb 250gb unit. For the last couple of years I have been looking for a reason to upgrade but none of the recent units have anything that would entice me to buy. I am really hoping the next unit is either retina or provides the Wow factor this made me jump from my 2008 unit.

 

[Delmar]

I'm still using my Late 2010 MBA 1.86 GHZ, 2GB & 256 SSD. It was my first Mac & it still does everything I need it to do well.

 

[asoksevil]

Rocking hard with my 2010 MBA 1.86 GHz 4 GB RAM 128 GB SSD.

Still thinking if I should go for a bigger SSD like the ones offered by owc. Any experiences with it? How faster is it? Worth the money?

Thanks

 

[FuNGi]

Rocking hard with my 2010 MBA 1.86 GHz 4 GB RAM 128 GB SSD.

Still thinking if I should go for a bigger SSD like the ones offered by owc. Any experiences with it? How faster is it? Worth the money?

Thanks

Hey.
I went with a 480GB SSD from Transcend so that I could completely duplicate my rMBP storage. I cloned my computer so that I have two duplicate machines for redundancy and for different applications (work vs. travel). I sync working files via Dropbox. The Transcend SSD is cheaper than OWC and so far there haven't been as many complaints with it's reliability/build.

I haven't noticed any real-world speed differences coming from the 128GB stock SSD although expect for Finder indexing of your new SSD to take some time during big folder reads for awhile. Also note that the bus speed will only work at 3 Gb/s although the SSD could permit 6Gb/s (SATA III) if inserted into a 2011 MBA.

 

[EsspeN]

Still using my 11" 4gb ram / 1.6 core2duo - 128gb storage as my main computer. 75% battery left, 600 cycles.

Does everything I want it to do, but im really considering a upgrade very soon!

 

[Ray2]

We just gave one away to family. Replaced with a 2014 MBA. Really dumb "upgrade". 2.13 c2d versus 1.7 i7. Can't see its any faster. Nothing but issues with usb3 disks ejecting improperly or not mounting (very common issue with the later MacBooks). The 5th usb3 enclosure is in the mail. I give up on this one if it doesn't play well.

 

[Delmar]

We just gave one away to family. Replaced with a 2014 MBA. Really dumb "upgrade". 2.13 c2d versus 1.7 i7. Can't see its any faster. Nothing but issues with usb3 disks ejecting improperly or not mounting (very common issue with the later MacBooks). The 5th usb3 enclosure is in the mail. I give up on this one if it doesn't play well.

I went to a local apple store the other day to play around with the new MBA's & I really didn't see any noticeable difference in speed or graphics. Atleast it wasn't enough of a difference for me to sell my Late 2010 & buy a new one.

 

[motrek]

We just gave one away to family. Replaced with a 2014 MBA. Really dumb "upgrade". 2.13 c2d versus 1.7 i7. Can't see its any faster. Nothing but issues with usb3 disks ejecting improperly or not mounting (very common issue with the later MacBooks). The 5th usb3 enclosure is in the mail. I give up on this one if it doesn't play well.

I have a hard time believing you can't see ANY difference between those processors. Admittedly my old MBA was a 1.4GHz C2D and not 2.13GHz but still that's only a 50% difference. And my MBA was barely able to do a normal everyday thing like stream SD video from services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. The CPU would be almost completely pegged, the fan would spin up to 4000+ RPM etc. HD video was completely out of the question.

Now, with my 2014 MBA, I can play any video from any service and the CPU barely registers any activity and the fan doesn't have to spin up. Night and day difference.

Things like XCode and the iOS simulator are also very usable on my 2014 whereas they were crunchy and awkward on the 2010...

 

[FuNGi]

I have a hard time believing you can't see ANY difference between those processors. Admittedly my old MBA was a 1.4GHz C2D and not 2.13GHz but still that's only a 50% difference. And my MBA was barely able to do a normal everyday thing like stream SD video from services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. The CPU would be almost completely pegged, the fan would spin up to 4000+ RPM etc. HD video was completely out of the question.

Now, with my 2014 MBA, I can play any video from any service and the CPU barely registers any activity and the fan doesn't have to spin up. Night and day difference.

Things like XCode and the iOS simulator are also very usable on my 2014 whereas they were crunchy and awkward on the 2010...

Yes, well, if you're only checking email, creating Word documents, and reading online news I suspect you would not notice any differences...

 

[Crazy Badger]

I replaced a late 2010 ultimate (2.13/4GB/256GB) with a 2013 ultimate (1.7/8GB/512GB) and its a much much faster machine.

The 2010 is still being used by my girlfriend and its more than capable with office type tasks, but don't pretend it's comparable with the latest MBAs