MBA 2010 looking forward

[WuMing2]

I have been using the MacBook Air 2010, 11”, for all this years with great satisfaction. From scripting development to software compilation to light photos retouch to financial spreadsheets mumbling it was always helpful. Incredibly was even able to toy with 3D rendering and provide feedbacks. I also care much about weight and it is as light as possible without being an iPad.

Replaced the logic board, battery, ssd and power cord to keep it working. Original 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage were not really enough anymore.

Alas is now beginning to show it’s age, with the few scary occasions when it wouldn’t boot up.

Anyone still using it willing to share a way forward? What is keeping you from upgrading. I have been thinking about the lightest MB ever produced for years. I also have an iPad that is absorbing more and more tasks. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[mectojic]

I love the 11-inch Airs. If you want an upgrade path, consider the following:
1) Another 2010 Air, purely to get a new logic board/SSD.
2) 2015 11-inch Air, the last of the 11-inch models. i7 with 8GB Ram.
3) 2015/2017 Macbook. Even lighter than 11-inch Air, though it has the butterfly keyboard.
4) Try Linux. ActionRetro just did a vid on it with an 11-inch Air:

 

[WuMing2]

3) 2015/2017 Macbook. Even lighter than 11-inch Air, though it has the butterfly keyboard.

I have been dreaming about MB 2017 for the last few years. Lightest ever. One concern is of relevance. I found no need for more speed, recently sold an MBA 2013 and was more than fast enough, but a new primary computer that is out of macOS upgrades already seems unwise. This being said MBA 2010 with High Sierra is imposing minor limitations only. My workflow is unlikely to be disrupted by that.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Anyone still using it willing to share a way forward? What is keeping you from upgrading.

As I mentioned in another thread the other day, I've owned one of these for a few years now and I absolutely love it. I use mine as a supplement to my more powerful and equipped Macs when I need something to take with me on my travels that's compact and lightweight but still possesses enough horsepower to perform most day to day tasks.

Which in my case, include accessing this forum, using social media, checking my emails, playing games, communicating through Signal and WhatsApp, watching video content from the SSD - or VOD services for that matter and image work in GIMP. It can even play a few Blu-ray discs too.

Catalina is my default OS for the MBA and it runs like a champ - even with just 2GB RAM. I found that the DosDude patched Catalina actually runs much better than any Linux distro - each one that I tried was riddled with the same problems from glitches in the GPU driver to broken hibernation - which is an absolute deal breaker on a laptop!

It easily fulfils my needs within this context and so I've got no need to abandon it.

 

[donesoon]

Same boat. My personal computer has been an 11” 2010 1.6/128gb model for 13 years! In recent years I’ve been alternating Mavericks/Sierra on it, with Win7 in boot camp. I’m now on Sierra which allows me to run updated Firefox and my old Office 2011 installation. It’s pretty slow for many websites but most of my daily browsing has moved over to iPhone/iPad. For the few things I still need a Mac for, like reviewing documents and writing, it works ok.

I had an itch to upgrade and recently tried an M2 Air, which is really an incredible computer and much better in every way, but when it came down to it, I didn’t feel like I was using it for anything more that I was doing on the old MBA. Tried a rMB 2017 as well— it’s about the same size as the 11” MBA, for 1/3 the price of the M2 MBA. I could deal with the feel of the keyboard but was worried it would break over time, given the reputation of the butterfly keyboard. Still didn’t feel like an upgrade that I needed.

So it’s back to the 2010 MBA. How many more years will I get out of this thing? When Firefox ESR goes out of support in 2024, I’ll move to Chromium Legacy or try out patched Catalina and see how it goes. The hardware is showing its age but I think not upgrading reflects more on how I’ve shifted my computing to iPhone and iPad. If I didn’t use those devices more, I’d probably have kept the M2.

 

[mectojic]

In terms of cost to worth, I’ve heard the 2013 MBA is one of the best. The battery life is excellent and processor is fast. Though by this stage I think there wouldn’t be much price difference between a 2013 and 2015.

As for the 2010 though, they are getting really cheap. People still using them should consider getting a backup one soon, just in case.

My only issue with the 2010 is the non-backlit keyboard.
For that sole reason I’ve recently been trying out a 2009 Air- boy, that feels old.

 

[TheShortTimer]

As for the 2010 though, they are getting really cheap.

My 2011 i5 MBA was less than half the price of my 2010.

People still using them should consider getting a backup one soon, just in case.

Good advice. A family member opined that when it comes to hardware that you enjoy using, investing in three backups or spares/repairs units is a prudent decision.

My only issue with the 2010 is the non-backlit keyboard.

Ah, that is a slight disappointment given its presence on other machines but I soon got used to it.

For that sole reason I’ve recently been trying out a 2009 Air- boy, that feels old.

Oh yeah - what's the spec and what have you been using it for?

 

[mectojic]

Oh yeah - what's the spec and what have you been using it for?

Well basically the same as the 2010 – for Snow Leopard. There's something magical about MBAs that run Snow Leopard. This 2009 Air gets a lot hotter though, so it's probably going to be mostly word processing rather than burning myself watching HD video.
This 2009 has the SSD and MiniDP, so it runs quite well when the CPU is not overloaded, and the MiniDP may come in handy if I want to run it closed.
The real novelties I'm loving about the older design is that you aren't distracted by the magsafe, because you can't see it – it literally hides below the case. Also, the USB port door feels cute, having appreciated that same novelty in the original iMac G3 – feels like a passing of the torch.

 

[WuMing2]

I’m now on Sierra

What’s wrong with High Sierra? Mine works very well with it and sometimes goes one year or more before rebooting. With deep sleep enabled battery shows very little drain.

Tried a rMB 2017 as well— it’s about the same size as the 11” MBA, for 1/3 the price of the M2 MBA. I could deal with the feel of the keyboard but was worried it would break over time

Thought about it. But also read reports of ppl simply shaking dirt out of it. I am now convinced it would be manageable, don’t dislike the soft tap and am quite gentle with my items, and main concern is lack of macOS upgrades and soon of security updates as well.

When Firefox ESR goes out of support in 2024

Didn’t know that. Thanks for the heads up.

not upgrading reflects more on how I’ve shifted my computing to iPhone and iPad.

We have just received an iPad 9th gen. Awesome machine and will do everything for us. Except for all the sw development toolset, however simple, and many other 3rd party tools not available on iPadOS. Screen real estate is also a factor. 10.2” is fine for most but not all needs.

On the screen subject I must add removal of anti aliasing with color fringing makes non-retina displays unusable for me. Experienced with an MBA 2013 and Big Sur. MBA 2010 is again perfectly readable instead.

 

[WuMing2]

In terms of cost to worth, I’ve heard the 2013 MBA is one of the best. The battery life is excellent and processor is fast.

As mentioned just sold an MBA 2013, 13”. Not mine even if trialled using it as an alternative to the 2010. There realized speed bump was more than enough and Big Sur felt nice syncing with the iPhone again. But always felt too heavy and large, 11”-12” is really my sweet spot, and anyway display was a pain to read. Even after extensive tuning.

As for the 2010 though, they are getting really cheap. People still using them should consider getting a backup one soon, just in case.

If forced to replace I will definitely upgrade to something newer. No lack of second hand options. Most likely the rMB 2017.

My only issue with the 2010 is the non-backlit keyboard.

I never type in the dark so for me is a non issue.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Well basically the same as the 2010 – for Snow Leopard. There's something magical about MBAs that run Snow Leopard.

Totally agree. My 2010 has Catalina, Mojave and Snow Leopard - its presence is mandatory.

This 2009 Air gets a lot hotter though, so it's probably going to be mostly word processing rather than burning myself watching HD video.

Fair enough! Let me guess, Microsoft Word 2011?

This 2009 has the SSD and MiniDP, so it runs quite well when the CPU is not overloaded, and the MiniDP may come in handy if I want to run it closed.
The real novelties I'm loving about the older design is that you aren't distracted by the magsafe, because you can't see it – it literally hides below the case. Also, the USB port door feels cute, having appreciated that same novelty in the original iMac G3 – feels like a passing of the torch.

I wasn't familiar with the 2009's design so I needed to have a look at some images.

Wow, that's quite something!

 

[B S Magnet]

What’s wrong with High Sierra? Mine works very well with it and sometimes goes one year or more before rebooting. With deep sleep enabled battery shows very little drain.

Literally nothing wrong with High Sierra 10.13.6! I think they are kvetching that official Mozilla support for Firefox for Sierra, High Sierra, and Mojave ends in later 2024 with the release of Firefox 115 ESR.

There is no need to worry about this in either the near or mid-term, though, as there will unquestionably be continued community development of browsers with security (and even feature) updates on par with the current version of Firefox for some time to come. In fact, that’s already underway with the SeaLion browser by @wicknix — whose support range covers all OS X/macOS versions from Lion to Monterey. There will, in fact, likely be additional Mozilla-based browsers for post-10.11 versions of macOS for many, many years to come.

Thought about it. But also read reports of ppl simply shaking dirt out of it. I am now convinced it would be manageable, don’t dislike the soft tap and am quite gentle with my items, and main concern is lack of macOS upgrades and soon of security updates as well.

You have options. You should able to continue updating your 2010 MBA with community projects like the dosdude1 patchers (through Catalina) and OCLP for macOS 11 and beyond. This ought to keep you up to date on Apple security updates for a bit longer.

Didn’t know that. Thanks for the heads up.

Again, this is not a significant thing to be worried about anytime soon. That is sort of the beauty of an open-source code base on which Firefox gets built: other developers can take up the mantle for OSes which Mozilla drops for their own browser and to keep them current and on par with the most critical updates and even new features.

tl;dr: Keep that MBA around to give it lots of added life., thanks to a brilliant Mac community.

 

[RinkDinkus]

While I don’t personally have this device—I do have a computer that has stood the test of nearly a decade. I got a new 2014 rMBP when I started college that summer, and it is still my mobile operator.I just threw Ventura on it, but haven’t really gotten around to really see how well 10 years of OS updates have treated this machine.


I just don’t feel the need to update because the new style just doesn’t resonate with me yet. I’m sure the M-series is light years ahead of a 2nd or 3rd Gen. Intel chip but I just don’t like the new machines from an aesthetic standpoint (also because I’m broke LOL). I also have a 2009 Mac Pro that I bounce around Mojave and windows 11. Because of the whole thing with Mojave finally getting left in the dust for browser support, I’m thinking I’m either going to update to at least Catalina or just go the whole way up to Ventura. I’m wondering just how far these machines can go, and maybe then I will have to make the decision to finally upgrade.

Also if anyone is looking for a really good Firefox fork, Pale Moon worked amazingly when I rolled my MacBook Pro back to Mavericks.

 

[donesoon]

What’s wrong with High Sierra? Mine works very well with it and sometimes goes one year or more before rebooting. With deep sleep enabled battery shows very little drain.

Sierra just because it played well with the Office 2011 install, which is not supported by High Sierra. At this point, there is nothing in High Sierra that I needed that wasn't in Sierra. I clean installed when official Firefox support ended for 9, 10 and 11. Sierra is ok but I still prefer the speed and responsiveness of Mavericks and Snow Leopard, the original OS my computer came with.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Sierra just because it played well with the Office 2011 install, which is not supported by High Sierra.

Really? Works fine for me!

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I have been dreaming about MB 2017 for the last few years. Lightest ever. One concern is of relevance. I found no need for more speed, recently sold an MBA 2013 and was more than fast enough, but a new primary computer that is out of macOS upgrades already seems unwise. This being said MBA 2010 with High Sierra is imposing minor limitations only. My workflow is unlikely to be disrupted by that.

Still on Ventura, meaning it receives security updates for at least the next two years.
That being the 2017 MacBook.
If you absolutely want the thinnest and lightest, you don’t care about the latest, and you don’t mind having out of date software the 2017 MacBook is kinda hard to beat.
If you want to be on the latest software though, M1 Airs can be found for very reasonable prices, and those will still be getting software updates for several years to come.
They’re quite a bit bigger and heavier than yours, but that’s definitely the path I would recommend. Not even for the speed, but for the reliability. The 12 inch MacBook for a lot of people had keyboard issues and performance issues Just not found in an Apple Silicon machine.
Also, if you even want a slight chance of this computer lasting you another 10 years like your last one, it’s not going to be an Intel Mac that’ll do it.

 

[WuMing2]

Also, if you even want a slight chance of this computer lasting you another 10 years like your last one, it’s not going to be an Intel Mac that’ll do it.

I generally keep the same laptop for 10 years. More with the current one. So is two of them since modern laptops were not borne so long ago. But then I buy a near to last generation model to enjoy the most recent advances and for longevity. At the same time I throughly disliked MBA 2013 13” weight. That happens to be more or less the same of MBA M1. As you wrote available already with large discounts. I will choose one. Eventually.

 

[donesoon]

Really? Works fine for me!

Interesting. Was this fresh installed onto HS or did you upgrade over a prior OS install? A few years ago when I was upgrading from Mavericks, I had read that the Office 2011 installer did not work in HS correctly so I never tried it. Later, I had no motivation to try HS over Sierra. Are there any benefits of HS over Sierra at this point?

I'm interesting in trying Catalina on the 2010 but one thing I like about the HFS partitions is that I keep a HDD of all my prior fresh installs handy, so whenever I want to change to a different OS I just restore the partition. This leaves my Windows partition untouched and Bootcamp works as usual. Does anyone know if APFS partitions work similarly in terms of copying and restoring?

 

[TheShortTimer]

Interesting. Was this fresh installed onto HS or did you upgrade over a prior OS install?

If my memory serves me correctly, it was an upgrade from El Capitan to High Sierra but here it is running without issue on my 11" 2010 C2D MacBook Air in Mojave from what was definitely a fresh install:

A few years ago when I was upgrading from Mavericks, I had read that the Office 2011 installer did not work in HS correctly so I never tried it.

Clearly, that was wrong information.

Are there any benefits of HS over Sierra at this point?

I've never used Sierra: I leapfrogged from El Capitan to High Sierra so I can't offer much insight there but I'd recommend that you consider Mojave and Catalina because both run very well on my 2010. Of course it's important to note that Catalina is not compatible with 32 bit applications but as you can see that's not a problem for me with Snow Leopard and Mojave also available.

 

[h.gilbert]

I thought my 2016 pro was long in the tooth

 

[retta283]

Are there any benefits of HS over Sierra at this point?

I'll chime in with my own experience here. HS definitely has a bit better modern app support, though a chunk of the applications that claim to run only on 10.13+ will work on Sierra if you just show package contents and run the application through Terminal. At this point I consider there to be little reason to go to HS, just go straight to Mojave.

High Sierra was always very buggy for me. For example, the calculator in the Notification Center was always bugged and reset itself instantly once the NC is dismissed; the Sierra one will retain the last result or input forever. Try using the calculator regularly when it resets every time you need to scroll or change windows/tabs or anything at all. I had major bugs with external storage, especially with FireWire drives. (not an issue for an MBA of course)

Otherwise I simply do not like the updates to built-in apps that came with HS, I greatly prefer the Photos app that came with the regular Sierra from a UI viewpoint. Ironically as well, with regards to Office my suite of choice for these newer OSes is 2016 as Outlook still works. However, the Outlook 2016 version I run on Sierra will not open on HS, it requires me to re-enable the update service which updates me to this new version which is terrible. Time is definitely running out on Sierra for current support, but if in future I need to choose, I will never use High Sierra and instead go for either Sierra or Mojave.

 

[WuMing2]

Considering an aluminum Cinema HD Display 23” : is MBA 2010 capable to drive it?

 

[retta283]

Considering an aluminum Cinema HD Display 23” : is MBA 2010 capable to drive it?

Yeah, a 320m graphics card will drive that panel just fine with the necessary adapter. You can run up to 2560x1600 through that machine, I believe.

Beware however that the 23" Cinema Display is notorious for poor quality control, there are many issues with pink and green tints and discolored fringes. Power supplies are also known to die. Frankly, unless there is something particular about the Apple display that you like, getting a 1920x1200 24" monitor from Dell or HP is a much better route to take. They have been made up into the 2020s and are LED panels.

 

[WuMing2]

Beware however that the 23" Cinema Display is notorious for poor quality control, there are many issues with pink and green tints and discolored fringes. Power supplies are also known to die. Frankly, unless there is something particular about the Apple display that you like, getting a 1920x1200 24" monitor from Dell or HP is a much better route to take. They have been made up into the 2020s and are LED panels.

Thanks for the tip. Never bought an external display before. Since Thunderbolt is a direct descendant of DVI a more recent monitor will be able to accept both connections? Also should a driver be necessary to enable anti aliasing with colour fringes? Without it I found text tiring for the eyes on non-retina displays (i.e. with Big Sur).

 

[retta283]

Thanks for the tip. Never bought an external display before. Since Thunderbolt is a direct descendant of DVI a more recent monitor will be able to accept both connections? Also should a driver be necessary to enable anti aliasing with colour fringes? Without it I found text tiring for the eyes on non-retina displays (i.e. with Big Sur).

With adapters pretty much anything is possible. What I recommend with modern monitors and this computer is to get a DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable, this way you're staying in the same connection. No adapting being done, and cables are cheap. I don't think any monitors these days have DVI, but again with adapters things can be made to work.

As for the LCD font smoothing, it is still in newer versions as a Terminal command. Very annoying to test with, but it does exist. You need to turn it off completely since it is optimized for Retina displays only which is laughable given that before Snow Leopard there were 4 levels of font smoothing in the system and now it is a simple on/off. There is an article here on MR that talks a bit about it: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/disable-font-smoothing-in-macos-big-sur/