MacBook Air 4,1 (A1370) Mid-2011

[eyoungren]

Scored this today on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4032899743...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

(MODS!!!! This is NOT my auction, I am NOT selling anything!!!)

Paid $125. 4GB Ram, 128GB SSD. Mid-2011.

Going to be my wife's Mac to replace her aging Thinkpad.

Oh yeah…charger included!

 

[Amethyst1]

Congrats! Is the battery still any good (if it isn't the CPU will throttle, so having a working one is highly recommended)?
What ThinkPad is this going to replace?

Some facts about it:

• SSD (uses SATA interface but custom "blade" form factor) and battery can easily be replaced or upgraded.
• It will run (up to) High Sierra out of the box. Catalina is possible using dosdude's patchers. No idea about Big Sur or Monterey.
• A Thunderbolt dock or a Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter will give you... USB 3.0.
• Thunderbolt also means you can hook up an external graphics card and make this an awesome gaming machine (LOL!)

 

[eyoungren]

Congrats! Is the battery still any good (if it isn't the CPU will throttle, so having a working one is highly recommended)?
What ThinkPad is this going to replace?

Some facts about it:

• SSD (uses SATA interface but custom "blade" form factor) and battery can easily be replaced or upgraded.
• It will run (up to) High Sierra out of the box. Catalina is possible using dosdude's patchers. No idea about Big Sur or Monterey.
• A Thunderbolt dock or a Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter will give you... USB 3.0.
• Thunderbolt also means you can hook up an external graphics card and make this an awesome gaming machine (LOL!)

No idea about the battery, but I expect it to be used at home on charger mainly.

My wife hates video games so the likelihood that this Mac will ever see a game installed while it's hers is not good. I'm not a big fan of Airs, but I know my wife and she's going to want something that isn't bulky and doesn't weigh very much. She mainly uses her computer in bed so this will be far less in the way than her Thinkpad.

Right now, according to the pics it has High Sierra. Going to put Catalina on it (I already have the patcher on a flash stick for when I upgraded my own MBP and my Mini).

If she needs to connect it to a monitor (unlikely) I've got plenty of those Mini Display adapters. She will mostly be using it for MS Office apps, Chrome and iTunes. I'll be ripping her CD library (USB optical drive) and then syncing the music to her iPhone (11 Pro Max).

The Thinkpad it's replacing is an LS420, same one I have.

 

[Amethyst1]

No idea about the battery, but I expect it to be used at home on charger mainly.

In my experience, throttling still occurs when on charger if the battery is dead. But the battery may well be fine - it's just something to be aware of with MacBooks.

 

[eyoungren]

In my experience, throttling still occurs when on charger if the battery is dead. But the battery may well be fine - it's just something to be aware of with MacBooks.

Thanks. I doubt she'll notice though. She's been working with that old Thinkpad for about 4 or 5 years now. I never could get Windows 10 installed on it, it simply refused. It's a good Thinkpad, but it's old now.

We'll see what we have when I get it.

 

[Amethyst1]

I doubt she'll notice though.

This reminds me of a story a friend of my dad told me: He used to own a classic VW Beetle convertible with a heavily upgraded engine that would easily do 100 mph. He let his girlfriend use the car and she forgot to loosen the handbrake, limiting the top speed to like 50 mph. And she just thought "Well it's an old car so it's gotta be slow!"...

Lesson: If that red "HANDBRAKE!" warning light is glaring at you, check the handbrake!

 

[TheShortTimer]

Scored this today on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/403289974334?nma=true&si=OgbqykaznBpUUsqsTZzwZR01cvQ%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Congrats @eyoungren, that spec and price is a good deal.

Some facts about it:

• SSD (uses SATA interface but custom "blade" form factor) and battery can easily be replaced or upgraded.

The ease with which you can replace the batteries and upgrade/install the SSDs has brought a smile to my face whenever I've worked on these machines. I couldn't say the same about the G3/G4 iBooks!

• It will run (up to) High Sierra out of the box. Catalina is possible using dosdude's patchers. No idea about Big Sur or Monterey.

Yes, Catalina runs surprisingly well on my 2GB C2D MBA so I'd imagine that it would be fairly comfortable on an i5 w/ 4GB.

• A Thunderbolt dock or a Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter will give you... USB 3.0.

Plus Gigabit Ethernet too!

• Thunderbolt also means you can hook up an external graphics card and make this an awesome gaming machine (LOL!)

Or an awesome NLE rig...

In my experience, throttling still occurs when on charger if the battery is dead. But the battery may well be fine - it's just something to be aware of with MacBooks.

You can also experience other issues too with a dead or exhausted battery. My C2D MBA exhibited several power management problems including failing to reboot or shut down properly because of a faulty battery that I initially suspected were due to corrupted SMC settings. I was ignorant to the extent upon which the unibody laptops rely on the internal battery in many unexpected areas.

 

[eyoungren]

I have at least two TB/Ethernet adapters should my wife ever need one. But I highly doubt it. She'll mainly be on WiFi.

You guys know those Apple users who just want to use the stuff and have no idea how it all works and just do not care? That's my wife. She's relatively up on technology because of me and because her schooling and now her profession require it, but she's much more comfortable with her typewriter.

I hear everything you guys are saying and plan to make it work for me and for her, but quite honestly she's going to be totally clueless and my trying to explain any of it to her is going to be met with the hand. Or at the very best her eyes will simply glaze over and she'll tell me (yet again) "You know this is all going right over my head, right?"

The idea was to make this as easy and painless for her as possible and I figured an Air would do that instead of an MBP.

 

[TheShortTimer]

The idea was to make this as easy and painless for her as possible and I figured an Air would do that instead of an MBP.

I gifted that model to my mother with exactly the same reasoning.

Hopefully your wife will enjoy her present.

 

[eyoungren]

I gifted that model to my mother with exactly the same reasoning.

Hopefully your wife will enjoy her present.

She wants music on her iPhone, so yeah, she will. We were talking about a Mac this morning for that. I could use her Thinkpad, but it's more complicated/non-intuiative. Plus I wanted an excuse to finally get her an Air. She'd mentioned wanting/needing a new computer in the past so this excuse works.

 

[Amethyst1]

Plus Gigabit Ethernet too!

Plus eSATA and FireWire 800!

 

[MultiFinder17]

Nice score! Those little 11" 2011 Airs are baller little computers. I used one as my main teaching laptop for my first couple years as a teacher (11" i5/2GB/128GB) that I got here on MacRumors for around $400 in 2015. Six years later, I'm still using it daily in my classroom, albeit as a dedicated laptop over by my board to remote control all the computers in the classroom

May it serve her well for years to come! The RAM was the only reason I stopped using mine as a regular laptop - 2GB just wasn't cutting it for my needs.

 

[swamprock]

Scored this today on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/403289974334?nma=true&si=OgbqykaznBpUUsqsTZzwZR01cvQ%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

(MODS!!!! This is NOT my auction, I am NOT selling anything!!!)

Paid $125. 4GB Ram, 128GB SSD. Mid-2011.

Going to be my wife's Mac to replace her aging Thinkpad.

Oh yeah…charger included!

I have the same exact model, scored for $100 on eBay with no charger or battery, and a sticky keyboard. I took care of the issues, and she's connected to my monitor via HDMI (closed clamshell mode) as my current main machine running Catalina.

If the battery is dead, it will be *painfully* slow, even with the charger. It was bad under High Sierra. I couldn't imagine how doggy it would be under Catalina. Big Sur does run, but with numerous graphics glitches, and some apps don't work.

 

[eyoungren]

Nice score! Those little 11" 2011 Airs are baller little computers. I used one as my main teaching laptop for my first couple years as a teacher (11" i5/2GB/128GB) that I got here on MacRumors for around $400 in 2015. Six years later, I'm still using it daily in my classroom, albeit as a dedicated laptop over by my board to remote control all the computers in the classroom

May it serve her well for years to come! The RAM was the only reason I stopped using mine as a regular laptop - 2GB just wasn't cutting it for my needs.

View attachment 1911083

Yeah, I specifically searched with a minimum of what I wanted in mind. 4GB, 128GB SSD. I figured that the RAM wasn't going to be upgradeable. Her Thinkpad already has 4GB ram so I wasn't going to step down from that. The idea is to make this better, not worse, LOL!

Thanks!

 

[eyoungren]

I have the same exact model, scored for $100 on eBay with no charger or battery, and a sticky keyboard. I took care of the issues, and she's connected to my monitor via HDMI (closed clamshell mode) as my current main machine running Catalina.

If the battery is dead, it will be *painfully* slow, even with the charger. It was bad under High Sierra. I couldn't imagine how doggy it would be under Catalina. Big Sur does run, but with numerous graphics glitches, and some apps don't work.

I guess I'm just going to have to see what happens when I get it. It's shipped now so we shall soon see. Things will become apparent once I try installing stuff. Hopefully the battery is good.

 

[eyoungren]

So the conversation this morning on a particular subject went like this…

Her: "I love you and I hate you!"
Me: "Whhhyyy?"
Her: "Because I printed a turkey recipe at work and went back for it and it wasn't there. So then I realized (this was when I was in the shower) I could just print it here from my Pixel."
Me: "You can print it from your iPhone too."
Her: "It's not set up."
Me: "Yes it is." (BECAUSE I set it up!)
Her: "Hmmmm…"
Me: "Well, forgive me for trying to make your life easier."
Her: "You bastard!"

The particular printer in question is a Samsung Xpress M2020w in our bedroom that has both AirPrint and WiFi printing capability. It was purchased for its ability to print jobs sent directly from mobile phones as well as most other devices (like actual computers!).

PS. Her reaction when she finally saw the MBA I got her was "Ohhh, nice!"

So, yeah, my tech life at home.

 

[Amethyst1]

Those little 11" 2011 Airs are baller little computers.

Yep, and they’re significantly faster than the underpowered-from-the-beginning 2010 Airs. Their Achilles heel is the un-upgradable 2 GB RAM in the base 11” (what were Apple thinking?).

 

[TheShortTimer]

Yep, and they’re significantly faster than the underpowered-from-the-beginning 2010 Airs. Their Achilles heel is the un-upgradable 2 GB RAM in the base 11” (what were Apple thinking?).

Yeah, the soldered RAM on the MBAs (and other products) has been such a terrible decision because it hindered their future potential. I can only conclude that Apple were motivated by a forced/planned obsolescence agenda that will push the consumer into rapidly abandoning the machine and purchasing anew once they outgrow its capabilities (instead of the computer growing with the user - as was Apple's ethos for decades going back to the Woz days) but it was such a counter-productive business strategy because it rightly attracted criticism from the computer press and other areas.

 

[MBAir2010]

was that a bid, or buy now?
(I'm looking for a display for a logic board i found in 2014 and currently building)

i still use the MacBook Air from late 2010 religiously and installed Mojave which runs incredible.
Video playback and stream sports is not up to par tho.
Catalina sputtered and wanted iCloud password and the MBA password to log in.
i still have the original battery which runs 2 hours maybe more.
the scree is big enough got my cartooning and the typing rules!

 

[Amethyst1]

Yeah, the soldered RAM on the MBAs (and other products) has been such a terrible decision because it hindered their future potential. I can only conclude that Apple were motivated by a forced/planned obsolescence agenda that will push the consumer into rapidly abandoning the machine and purchasing anew once they outgrow its capabilities

Combined with the anemic (especially for 2010/2011) base amount, this is so true. I guess the reason was both planned obsolescence and the Air's thinness possibly not allowing RAM slots. On the other hand, the SSD was not soldered on...

 

[rampancy]

Congratulations! What an awesome find. My 11" MacBook Airs from 2010 and 2013 are still going strong even now, and they served me faithfully as an ESL teacher both at home and overseas. They're incredibly resilient computers, and seem to take almost anything I can throw at them. I know your 11" will serve your wife proudly!

 

[eyoungren]

was that a bid, or buy now?
(I'm looking for a display for a logic board i found in 2014 and currently building)

i still use the MacBook Air from late 2010 religiously and installed Mojave which runs incredible.
Video playback and stream sports is not up to par tho.
Catalina sputtered and wanted iCloud password and the MBA password to log in.
i still have the original battery which runs 2 hours maybe more.
the scree is big enough got my cartooning and the typing rules! View attachment 1911551

It was a bid and it was at $80 with two watchers. So I assume there had already been some back and forthing a bit on it. But the seller had a Buy Now option and that was what I used. That was set at $125.

Generally, unless it's really something I want and can't find elsewhere, I use Buy Now. I don't want to wait for an auction to end and potentially be sniped at the last second - no matter how much I might have saved. If the Buy Now price is decent or agreeable, I'll use that and pay it.

 

[eyoungren]

Yeah, the soldered RAM on the MBAs (and other products) has been such a terrible decision because it hindered their future potential. I can only conclude that Apple were motivated by a forced/planned obsolescence agenda that will push the consumer into rapidly abandoning the machine and purchasing anew once they outgrow its capabilities (instead of the computer growing with the user - as was Apple's ethos for decades going back to the Woz days) but it was such a counter-productive business strategy because it rightly attracted criticism from the computer press and other areas.

Combined with the anemic (especially for 2010/2011) base amount, this is so true. I guess the reason was both planned obsolescence and the Air's thinness possibly not allowing RAM slots. On the other hand, the SSD was not soldered on...

I always saw the MBAs as sort of a 'on the go' type Mac. There was a short period of time where PC manufacturers were selling notebooks alongside laptops. The idea was that you just needed something to toss in your bag on your way out the door. It could perform the basic functions you needed during your travels but wasn't necessarily meant to be a full on laptop. Hence, features you'd find standard on normal laptops weren't necessarily present. Eventually, that whole trend died I think, probably replaced by the low cost of Chromebooks.

But that was I think Apple's idea on this. They weren't ever meant to be a regular use laptop. For my wife's needs, this context is perfect. She doesn't use her PC like I use my Macs. All her heavy use is on her phone. She hates pulling out the computer, so I think this will attract her much more than an MBP would. Not much heavier than her phone.

 

[Amethyst1]

Hence, features you'd find standard on normal laptops weren't necessarily present.

I get the point of ultraportables (like the 11” MacBook Air) necessitating some compromises. That’s been true to some extent or another ever since ultraportables existed.
Still, even for one of these, 2 GB RAM was anemic in 2010/2011.
I bought an ASUS ultraportable in 2007. First thing I did: upgrade to 2.5 GB RAM, the max it could take.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Generally, unless it's really something I want and can't find elsewhere, I use Buy Now... If the Buy Now price is decent or agreeable, I'll use that and pay it.

On the whole, I also prefer buy-it-now and very often, I'll contact a seller and ask how much they'd want to forego the bidding process. They usually agree and give me a price.

I don't want to wait for an auction to end and potentially be sniped at the last second - no matter how much I might have saved.

Last second sniping has become my speciality over the years where highly coveted items are involved - I wait till the last 10 seconds and then place a bid at 5 or 6 seconds and ensure that my rival bidders are unable to respond in time to my bid and the amount. I can imagine that it sparks ire amongst those who lose out but it's a necessary evil where eBay is concerned because otherwise you can end up in a series of bidding wars over several days with the price escalating beyond all reason.

From my experience, sniping lessens the danger of this outcome.