MBA 1,1-6,2 Right or wrong, I bought a MBA 2017

[romanof]

😳 Even with 8GB non-upgradable RAM, it should run OCLP Sonoma/Sequoia fine for basic tasks, but as that project is on its last legs, picking a solid Linux OS makes a lot more sense.

Have you used Linux on an Intel Macbook Air? I ask because I have had nothing but headaches trying to get it running on Apple laptops clear back to maybe 2013 or so. Something always doesn't work, and I know that almost all of those problems can be fixed with enough time and hacking, but that hasn't been my thing for decades on laptops. I just want to open the LT and work. My hacking is reserved for the old reliable Mac Pro 2012 over by the workbench. (Which runs Debian superbly, in fact.)

My foray into "real" Linux notebooks has been expensive, hot, noisy and a battery life measured in minutes.

Solid NATIVE Linux on an old reliable Intel MBA would be great. I say native because it runs very well on Apple Silicon in a VM but still isn't 'pure' Linux. MacOS still wants to claim authority on what can be loaded and run and as to personal drivers for the USB ports, forget it.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Have you used Linux on an Intel Macbook Air? I ask because I have had nothing but headaches trying to get it running on Apple laptops clear back to maybe 2013 or so. Something always doesn't work, and I know that almost all of those problems can be fixed with enough time and hacking, but that hasn't been my thing for decades on laptops. I just want to open the LT and work. My hacking is reserved for the old reliable Mac Pro 2012 over by the workbench. (Which runs Debian superbly, in fact.)

My foray into "real" Linux notebooks has been expensive, hot, noisy and a battery life measured in minutes.

Solid NATIVE Linux on an old reliable Intel MBA would be great. I say native because it runs very well on Apple Silicon in a VM but still isn't 'pure' Linux. MacOS still wants to claim authority on what can be loaded and run and as to personal drivers for the USB ports, forget it.

The reason I run MX is exactly this. I don’t have the time or inclination really to make Linux work manually. For me to use Linux, it just needs to work & MX does this for me. Installs quickly with 100% functionality ; WiFi, sound, video - everything. I am currently running it on an 08mb, 09mbp, 09imac, and 06cMP, an Intel mini and i7 winbox. It literally “just works” on every one of these early Intel Macs & my custom i7 build.

I am sure there is a config out there where it requires manual config/drivers through the CL but for this era Intel Mac, MX+XFCE has been pretty bullet proof for me. I have heard similar for Mint as well but haven’t ever tired it as MX was such a great solution for me. The one caveat that I think *could* be a bit better is battery/power management but even out of the box it isn’t bad at all, I just think it could be better lol.

Anyways, If you ever want to give a Linux distro a try again, I always recommend MX+xfce. It has been seamless and easy to learn out of the gate, is very lightweight and what I have used across my household to continue using my aging Macs vs buying a bunch of new Macs or using old, non-secure macOS. It’s pretty cool.

 

[GMShadow]

They're still nice hardware, but for my uses I just couldn't stand the screens anymore (I do a lot of writing so text clarity matters to me). I still have a 2011 11" but it's not my main.

 

[Amethyst1]

Talking about laptops, eh? 🙂 I have a Sony Vaio Pro 11. It's basically a take on the 2013 MBA, with just 4GB RAM unfortunately, but with a gorgeous 1920×1080 IPS LCD... and extremely lightweight at less than 0.9 kg. It runs Linux just fine, but getting its UEFI to boot GRUB in the first place takes a bit of handholding.

 

[Haemoglobin]

I've spent today transferring data from my Winblows laptop over to the MBA, the only thing I find I have to adjust to, is this two fingers to right click, instead of the trackpad having a left and right side for clicking left/right mouse buttons.

Setting up Linux Mint was piece of cake, took more time to install than it did to setup. The only thing that didn't work right away was wifi, but I anticipated that. I have a couple of USB wifi dongles that are natively Linux compatible. Plug one in, get online, download the right driver, voila internal broadcom up and running 🙂 It's one of the things I love most about Linux, versatility, adaptability and the fact as a user you can fix your own problems.

I'll have to take a look at MX Linux. If it offers an easy plug and play experience, it might be something I'd recommend to friends who are more familair with Windows and not so confident using computers.

I looked on passmark to compare the Intel i5-7200U in my Lenovo with the i5-5350U in the Air, the difference is 20%. Frankly that hit in performance in trade off for the mega battery life, is something I'm happy with🙂 The generally sluggish performance of Win11 is probably slowing down the 7200U by 20% anyways lol

 

[Haemoglobin]

Have you used Linux on an Intel Macbook Air? I ask because I have had nothing but headaches trying to get it running on Apple laptops clear back to maybe 2013 or so. Something always doesn't work, and I know that almost all of those problems can be fixed with enough time and hacking, but that hasn't been my thing for decades on laptops. I just want to open the LT and work. My hacking is reserved for the old reliable Mac Pro 2012 over by the workbench. (Which runs Debian superbly, in fact.)

My foray into "real" Linux notebooks has been expensive, hot, noisy and a battery life measured in minutes.

Solid NATIVE Linux on an old reliable Intel MBA would be great. I say native because it runs very well on Apple Silicon in a VM but still isn't 'pure' Linux. MacOS still wants to claim authority on what can be loaded and run and as to personal drivers for the USB ports, forget it.

Which distros have you been trying? As mentioned, I setup Linux Mint yesturday, it took about 20-30 minutes to install and configure and maybe 5-10 minutes to solve the issues with the wifi. My battery life as of typing right now, is estimated at about 6hrs 15minutes. Sorry to hear you've had a rough experience. Usually as a rule it's never that much of a headache, I've run Linux off SBC's, Thin Clients, G3-G4 Mac's, by far the easiest install has been on my intel based Mac's. Maybe MX Linux might be worth a spin, as it sounds like it works out the box with zero need from the user to tinker.

 

[romanof]

It has been a long time, and I assume that the distro was Debian or some derivative since that is what I settled on back around Sarge 3. I too have run Linux on just about everything, including a surplus Trash Can (that took a while before all the errors were gone) and lots of Cheesegraters but just never had much luck with laptops. And there is the fact that an Air with MacOS is so smooth for portable use that even a good running Linux on the same box would probably seem really inferior in comparison.