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best OS for MacBook Air mid 2012, 4gb

K

Kevsurf

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 26, 2014
56
32
Hello guys,

can you please give me a hint which OS is the fastest for my machine?
At the moment, I am on El Capitan but I have the Feeling that Mavericks was the fastest OS on it -since Lion (which it came with).

Thank you guys in advance...

Kevin
 
throAU said:
2c.

Stay current.

Your machine will run 10.11 and that will receive security updates for longer.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your answer...It would shure be the easiest Thing to do. But I am afraid that alle new features and all future features will slow down my machine. I only have 4 gb of ram....Do you think thats a problem?
 
Kevsurf said:
Thanks for your answer...It would shure be the easiest Thing to do. But I am afraid that alle new features and all future features will slow down my machine. I only have 4 gb of ram....Do you think thats a problem?
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be a problem i don't think as your air has SSD...

You are correct in your assumption that Mavericks may be a bit faster though. But you'll need to upgrade sooner or later for software support and updates.
 
throAU said:
Shouldn't be a problem i don't think as your air has SSD...

You are correct in your assumption that Mavericks may be a bit faster though. But you'll need to upgrade sooner or later for software support and updates.
Click to expand...
Thanks again, I will think of it...most probably I will downgrade to Mavericks...
btw: does Mavs still receive security updates?
 
throAU said:
Shouldn't be a problem i don't think as your air has SSD...

You are correct in your assumption that Mavericks may be a bit faster though. But you'll need to upgrade sooner or later for software support and updates.
Click to expand...


The mid 2012 has a SSD. My mid 2012 air has 4 gigs of ram and is running the latest version OS well. The newer airs have improved battery life by using lower power chips, and some improvement in graphics capability, but otherwise the 2012 air is still an up to date machine. 4 gigs is enough for most users, unless you are running Windows within OSX.

I feel no reason to update to a newer model, the 2012 air is my main machine, currently hooked up to a 23 inch monitor and a 2 terabyt HD
 
gertruded said:
The mid 2012 has a SSD. My mid 2012 air has 4 gigs of ram and is running the latest version OS well. The newer airs have improved battery life by using lower power chips, and some improvement in graphics capability, but otherwise the 2012 air is still an up to date machine. 4 gigs is enough for most users, unless you are running Windows within OSX.

I feel no reason to update to a newer model, the 2012 air is my main machine, currently hooked up to a 23 inch monitor and a 2 terabyt HD
Click to expand...
So you're saying that our 2012 MBA is almost as fast as the latest MBA and they only difference is that the newer chipsets are less battery demanding?
 
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Kevsurf said:
So you're saying that our 2012 MBA is almost as fast as the latest MBA and they only difference is that the newer chipsets are less battery demanding?
Click to expand...

Here are MBA 13 benchmarks:
MBA 13 mid 2012 - Intel Core i5 1,8GHz = Single Core Score 2351, Multi Core Score 4742
MBA 13 early 2015 - Intel Core i5 1,6GHz = Single Core Score 2540, Multi Core Score 5040

So, you won't see significant differences in daily use. The main noticeable difference is the battery life, but remember that, when your A-1406 battery expires, it can be replaced with the A-1496 wich is the same installed on MBA 13 early 2015 and you'll see a more than 9 hours battery life
 
Last edited:
Daniva said:
Here are MBA 13 benchmarks:
MBA 13 mid 2012 - Intel Core i5 1,8GHz = Single Core Score 2351, Multi Core Score 4742
MBA 13 early 2015 - Intel Core i5 1,6GHz = Single Core Score 2540, Multi Core Score 5040

So, you won't see significant differences in daily use. The main noticeable difference is the battery life, but remember that, when your A-1406 battery expires, it can be replaced with the A-1496 wich is the same installed on MBA 13 early 2015 and you'll see a more than 9 hours battery life
Click to expand...
Thanks for your post. According to this values, it acutally does not ake sense to buy a new MacBook Air when it comes to daily computing (sure, battery is another issue).
I will get my battery replaced...
 
Found this old thread by putting in a search term!

I was wondering what people would recommend for my MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) - worth updating to High Sierra or would that slow it down too much?

Currently running El Capitan 10.11.6
 
Kevin, your 2012 MBA is still a great computer to use on a daily basis. I would probably run El Cap (OS 10.11) on this laptop although it should run High Sierra.

With that said... I have two 2012 MBPs that I have High Sierra running on but both of those computers also have 16GB RAM installed. I know you're limited with 4GB on your MBA so that's why I say you should be okay running El Cap.
 
Folks I think with OSX you have no choice but to keep up. I've been staying with Maverick (the last with 3D icons) then websites I visit keep telling me my Safari is obsolete, and then won't display any more graphics/video, and after repeatedly ignoring gmail constant admonition to upgrade, it finally stopped working. HOW DO YOU PUT UP WITH IT?
 
Kevsurf said:
Hello guys,

can you please give me a hint which OS is the fastest for my machine?
At the moment, I am on El Capitan but I have the Feeling that Mavericks was the fastest OS on it -since Lion (which it came with).

Thank you guys in advance...

Kevin
Click to expand...
When I updated my OS to Sierra then High Sierra, my Macbook Pro mid 2012 4gb Ram has become much slower. The time of application launch has tripled or maybe even more. I have formatted my OS and reinstalled Yosemite. Now my macbook is much faster. I think that with 4 GB RAM one shouldn't update further than yosemite, because new OS with new features slows down our old "friend".
 
Sorry to bring this thread from the dead. I'm one of those with a MacBookAir Mid 2012 11" but with 8GB RAM. So far pretty happy with 10.10 (Yosemite) but yes I know, I need to keep up with the security patches. Concerned about stories of Sierra/High Sierra potentially slowing me down, but running into this conundrum where I wanted to import the iMessages DBs that originated from my other MacBookPro running 10.12.6 (Sierra) and of course upon importing, none of the texts were readable (due to the original DBs being on newer version of OSX).

It sounds like my 11" needs to be on 10.12.6 at the very least to be able to successfully import these iMessages DBs, right? Any one with known performance issue (if you have 8GB RAM on yours)? I usually leave Outlook, Messages, Mail (stock app), FireFox (many many tabs) running at all times.

Thanks in advance!
Jim

(P.S.: Yes I already know the trick to force my Macbook to take in a semi-old OSX).
 
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