Did you get the parts from recycling too? That’s a lot of potentially pricey parts.
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12 Inch Macbook in 2024
- Thread starter racer1441
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Some yes, though most were from eBay. Just hunted around and waited for good deals, I haven’t put more than $100 into this machine.
With the mix of things I use it for, I generally seem to be getting a solid 6-7 hours out of it. It’s finally become a solid little laptop!
Man what an awfull performance the Macbook chipset has.. you are totally right, with an A processor should be enough.
Can Apple give a really low cost Macbook with an A processor?
Awesome project! Glad to see you make it work.
Where did you get the parts? And what OS did you install?
Thank you! Most of the parts came from random eBay auctions - if you’re patient and can put up with a few cosmetic flaws you can get most parts really cheap! It’s currently running Sequoia quite well with OCLP
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unless it was 1/3 the price of a 13" m1 air or less, I would not, its just way, way off the performance level.
I'm picking up a 2017 1.4GHz i7/16GB/512GB MacBook so I can see how this laptop compares to the 2015 11-inch 2.2GHz I7 Air I currently have. I have not been a fan of the "butterfly" keyboard however I am curious how useful this laptop will be due to its fanless design and portability. With my 11-inch air, I enjoy how light and portable this laptop is. Having a 12 inch Retina display will be welcome in comparison.
Once I have this laptop in my hand, I intend to install OCLP 2.2.0 and update the OS to Sequoia 15.3 and use this laptop with the current MacOS.
Once I have this laptop in my hand, I intend to install OCLP 2.2.0 and update the OS to Sequoia 15.3 and use this laptop with the current MacOS.
Nice man. I would love to have a more powerful soc that the base model (2017, m3, 8GB, 256GB).
I still on Big Sur since it have the best performance for me
When I take delivery of my MacBook, I plan to remove the logic board and take apart the CPU heatsink and remove the old thermal paste and reapply new thermal paste. I'm also considering doing the CPU mod that another forum member posted which looks very promising in helping to dissipate the CPU heat.
I'm curious how much of a slowdown there will be vs. Ventura (which is fully supported). Cuz on my 2017 m3, I find that Ventura already slows it down somewhat compared to older versions of macOS.
I am running MacOS 15.3 beta (24D60) on my 2015 11-inch Air without any issue however I'm only doing web browsing, YouTube videos and emails using that laptop. I'm planning to use the MacBook I'm about to receive for the same purpose. For anything much more demanding, I have my 2024 M3Pro MacBook Pro laptop connected to my 32 inch 4k display for that purpose. I'm more interested in having a decent laptop with Retina display that I can take anywhere with me.
How much RAM in your 2015 MacBook Air? I use a 2014 model (having just 4GB RAM) to purchase/download Sequoia-only MAS apps and it all feels so very sluggish! Pretty-much unusable. Do you think that 8GB versus 4GB does really make a difference?
Yeah, I did it to my Macbook. Good mod with good results. Just be aware of the keyboard/trackpad flex to avoid problems
My 2015 11-inch Air has 8GB RAM. Sequoia 15.3 beta runs perfectly fine on this machine. It is no where as quick as my 2015 MacBook Pros are or my 2024 M3 Pro MacBook Pro but does just fine for web browsing and emails. I love the portability of this laptop which is why I still use it to this day.
Yes having 8GB over 4GB makes a huge difference in performance. Having 16GB is the sweet spot however which is why I got my 2017 MacBook i7 16GB/512GB storage to compare next to my MacBook Air.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the 12-inch MacBook performs compared to my 2015 air.
Thanks for the heads up! I will keep this in mind when doing my retrofit
I just snagged another 12 inch MacBook for $90 on eBay. This one is a 2015 base laptop with 8GB RAM and a 256GB storage drive. I installed Sequoia 15.3 beta on this laptop and so far the updated OS is very responsive on it. I will be comparing this to my 11 inch Air over the next few days until my i7 MacBook arrives. So far I don't mind the butterfly keyboard. Everything has been working so far.
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how are you installing the newest OS on it? Does everything work?Thanks for the heads up! I will keep this in mind when doing my retrofit
I just snagged another 12 inch MacBook for $90 on eBay. This one is a 2015 base laptop with 8GB RAM and a 256GB storage drive. I installed Sequoia 15.3 beta on this laptop and so far the updated OS is very responsive on it. I will be comparing this to my 11 inch Air over the next few days until my i7 MacBook arrives. So far I don't mind the butterfly keyboard. Everything has been working so far.
so this makes the 2017 run faster on new update? Does the 16gb ram run faster than the 8gb ram model?
Everything has been working except for iPhone mirroring. This issue has been previously reported and is something I don't need in my MacBook. For web browsing, responding/sending email and video watching thru YouTube my MacBook has been very responsive.
Keep in mind that being fairly underpowered as compared to the 2024 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro processor, the MacBook will be slow. If outright speed is not as critical then upgrading to Sequoia with OCLP shouldn't be an issue.
It doesn't run any faster or much slower than it would running a natively-supported version of macOS in my experience. More RAM will generally help any machine feel snappier, so it would likely feel faster depending on what you use the machine for. I run Sequoia on a base 2016 and find its performance more than acceptable.
I just performed the upgrade to Sequioa 15.4 beta without issue. Once the update completed it’s install, OCLP came up recommending the necessary root patches and I executed this batch to complete my upgrade. The only thing not working is the iPhone mirroring which I still don’t need using this laptop.
Everything I would use this laptop for, web browsing/emails/watching videos, are all functional so I am satisfied knowing I have the current MacOS running with the most current Safari build. Sequoia is still running smooth.
Everything I would use this laptop for, web browsing/emails/watching videos, are all functional so I am satisfied knowing I have the current MacOS running with the most current Safari build. Sequoia is still running smooth.
I installed Sequoia inmy base 2017 model and I just can't stand it. The performance just don't feel good for me.
Installed Catalina and that thing flies. Snappy, good battery life.
Obviously, software wise is not good but for ky use, I think I can stand in Catalina as long as Firefox is still supported
Installed Catalina and that thing flies. Snappy, good battery life.
Obviously, software wise is not good but for ky use, I think I can stand in Catalina as long as Firefox is still supported
It comes down to the model of MacBook you have. Yes with the base configuration you will see performance hits when installing the current MacOS but with higher tier models, not so much. On my i5/16GB/500GB MacBook the current OS runs fine and I am not bothered by the slight performance lag as this is not my main laptop. I have a 2024 MacBook Pro with M3 Pro for my main laptop.
Yeah, I would love to have a i5-i7 with 16GB of RAM. These m3 intel are just too underpowered.
But at time moment it not worth for me to invest in another Macbook with better specs. I think I'm fine with my current Macbook and the OS.