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Will Mojave or Catalina Slow Down a MacAir?
- Thread starter HUGE AL
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The good old answer of that question is always ”it depends”. For me, Mojave and Catalina has slowed down my early 2014 MacBook Air to a crawl for 90% of the time, hence I will not upgrade to any newer version of macOS Even if it is supported. I also need iTunes 12.6.5.3 support and 32-bit support, so Mojave and above is a no-go.
If you are hesitant, make a full time machine backup or a full backup of some sort, upgrade, then try it out. If experience don't add up, restore your backup and you are good to go again.
If you are hesitant, make a full time machine backup or a full backup of some sort, upgrade, then try it out. If experience don't add up, restore your backup and you are good to go again.
I updated my early 2015 13" MBP with 2.7ghz i5 to Catalina recently. In terms of speed, might be somewhat comparable to your i7 MBA.
I did not feel it got any slower. The integration with my iPhone/watch improved a lot though, handoff, Safari tabs, unlock by watch etc. works smoother. So overall I'm pretty happy about the upgrade.
I did not feel it got any slower. The integration with my iPhone/watch improved a lot though, handoff, Safari tabs, unlock by watch etc. works smoother. So overall I'm pretty happy about the upgrade.
Your mileage will, of course, vary. But Mojave ought to not be slower than High Sierra. A Mid 2013 Air ought to run either OS just fine. An Early 2015 Air will definitely run either OS just fine. The 8GB of RAM will hurt if you like to have a lot of browser tabs open, but that's not unique to Mojave or Catalina.
I've found Mojave to be much more stable than Catalina; the 32-bit app support in Mojave is a nice plus as well. Though, Mojave only has another year left of security patch support (it will lose support altogether when Big Sur's successor is released next fall).
Yeah, I was using that version of iTunes...until the syncing didn't work (famous for Apple) and their engineering said, "Why doesn't he just use iCloud?"
Thought 32-bit support was available in Mojave.
Yeah, leaning more towards Mojave.
So is the consensus that I should go ahead and upgrade to Mojave...or Catalina without any worries?
Syncing only stops working for device that is released on or after 2019. My iPhone XS Max still syncs just fine, so does iPad Pro 2018.Yeah, I was using that version of iTunes...until the syncing didn't work (famous for Apple) and their engineering said, "Why doesn't he just use iCloud?"
Thought 32-bit support was available in Mojave.
Yeah, leaning more towards Mojave.
So is the consensus that I should go ahead and upgrade to Mojave...or Catalina without any worries?
Mojave does still support 32-bit but in a reduced capacity. Your 32-bit app may run, but there will be way more “gatchas” than on High Sierra or older version of macOS.
Speaking of syncing, I am using windows version of iTunes 12.6.5.3 most of the time now cause that version can still support app downloads.
If you still need mission critical 32-bit macOS applications, stop upgrade. Otherwise, wait until Big Sur and get that one instead IMO.
Cloud in general is still a joke despite we are relying on it more than before. This joke is more so for iCloud than other similar services.
Yeah, I was using that version of iTunes...until the syncing didn't work (famous for Apple) and their engineering said, "Why doesn't he just use iCloud?"
Thought 32-bit support was available in Mojave.
Yeah, leaning more towards Mojave.
So is the consensus that I should go ahead and upgrade to Mojave...or Catalina without any worries?
32-bit support IS available in Mojave (10.14). And, in most cases, your 32-bit Mac app will run just fine. So, I wouldn't worry.
32-bit support IS NOT available in Catalina (10.15). So, if you need to run 32-bit Mac apps, you should NOT upgrade to Catalina. In general, Catalina is a bit of a mess, so if you were planning on upgrading (which you may want to do after this time next year when Mojave stops receiving security patches), I'd honestly wait until Big Sur or its eventual successor (assuming you stick with Mojave for this next year).
In my experience with 2014 MBA, I have upgraded my MBA through 3 OSs with out performing fresh install between new OS. My MBA worked just fine.
But recently I performed a full wipe, erased the hard drive and installed Catalina 10.15.6 from scratch and my 2014 MBA works better than ever.
In the past, my biggest issue was, new tabs in safari would take 5-10 seconds to open. Now, new tabs in safari open instantly, even if I have a dozen tabs open.
Before full wipe, once a month, I cleared ALL Cache, obsoletely everything. And yet, new tabs would take ages to open. I run a tight ship on my MBA and new tabs would still take time to open.
Youtube videos. Going from full screen and exiting full screen, would pause video for 1-2 seconds. I thought it was do to older CPU/GPU. After performing fresh install from scratch, this is no longer an issue.
Battery life is about the same.
Word documents, using MS Word, open about 2 seconds faster after fresh install.
Ookla Speedtest App, still freezes at random times and requires a force quit. Just ran a speed test and the app won't quit. So I had to force close it.
If you going to install Mojave or Catalina from scratch, install it from a thumb drive. First, Create a bootable thumb drive, than wipe your drive on your Mac, erase everything and install from USB drive. Installing OS from scratch from internet, will take hooouuurs. Its a long and pain staking process. You will save your self 2-4 hours if you install from a usb thumb drive.
But recently I performed a full wipe, erased the hard drive and installed Catalina 10.15.6 from scratch and my 2014 MBA works better than ever.
In the past, my biggest issue was, new tabs in safari would take 5-10 seconds to open. Now, new tabs in safari open instantly, even if I have a dozen tabs open.
Before full wipe, once a month, I cleared ALL Cache, obsoletely everything. And yet, new tabs would take ages to open. I run a tight ship on my MBA and new tabs would still take time to open.
Youtube videos. Going from full screen and exiting full screen, would pause video for 1-2 seconds. I thought it was do to older CPU/GPU. After performing fresh install from scratch, this is no longer an issue.
Battery life is about the same.
Word documents, using MS Word, open about 2 seconds faster after fresh install.
Ookla Speedtest App, still freezes at random times and requires a force quit. Just ran a speed test and the app won't quit. So I had to force close it.
If you going to install Mojave or Catalina from scratch, install it from a thumb drive. First, Create a bootable thumb drive, than wipe your drive on your Mac, erase everything and install from USB drive. Installing OS from scratch from internet, will take hooouuurs. Its a long and pain staking process. You will save your self 2-4 hours if you install from a usb thumb drive.
Yeah, had to move to Apple Configurator 2 to manage my apps and maintain the ability to downgrade.
Apple has ALWAYS SUCKED at syncing -- dating back to MobileME.
Appreciate the advice.
Appreciate the advice.
i was going to update to big sur on my early 2014 macbook air but now im not sure what os to update to my mac is currently running osx yosemite which is pretty outdated and alot of apps have lost support for it and when i do try to install macos big sur the appstore always says "incorrect password or apple id" meanwhile when i enter it and press ok my iphone pings and says that my mac is trying to log in it only does that when i put the correct pass in so i will be taking it to the istore today all i can say is that this is a pretty intresting problem
jump to Big Sur.
it's the latest and the most efficient macOS that'll run on a 2013 MBAir
install Monterey on the 2015 Air for the same reason