New old Macbook

May 25, 2024 9:07 AM

I have dug out my wife's elderly Macbook Air, I think it's probably from 2013? It's a lovely bit of kit, but it's on OSX 10, it's clunky to use the internet because it claims to be unable to make a safe connection etc. But "no updates available".

However, I believe it's too nice old hardware to let go, am I right? It's MacBoookAir6,1 according to it's identifier. Is it possible at all to update macos? Is it one of the Intel based macs that I can put windows on? Can I throw a minty-linux or something on here? I know very little about mac computers, so I really need my hand held here.

posted by J.R. Hartley to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

Best answer: You might find my previous question's answers useful.
posted by dobbs at 9:27 AM on May 25 [1 favorite]

We have a 2013 MacBook Air we still use. It can’t run the latest MacOS but we don’t have any trouble using the internet. I think Chrome might be more of an issue than Safari. It works fine as a computer for homework, YouTube, and even Minecraft.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:32 AM on May 25

Best answer: If you take a look at OS compatibility lists, the most recent MacOS version compatible with that MacBook Air is Big Sur - support is dropped in the subsequent Monterey. You can find your exact model here.

Big Sur is unsupported as of September 2023. It'll work, but you're also flying solo - it's not receiving security updates, which is a risky state to be in. It's up to you to decide how you feel about that.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 9:34 AM on May 25

In system settings, is the time and date set correctly? If the time and date is way off, that's another reason why a computer wouldn't be able to make secure connections to websites or to Apple's update server. This can happen after a laptop has been unused for a long time, because the tiny "clock battery" that holds the date information runs out of charge after a few years.

Until a year ago I was using a 2013 Macbook Air routinely, with the OS updated to whatever the latest supported version was, because I like to hang on to hardware until I run it into the ground. It worked fine other than a physical problem with a few of the keyboard keys (and no longer getting security updates from Apple). After I got a new one, I gave the old one away on Buy Nothing to a person who was willing to use it with an external keyboard and just needed a basic functional computer.
posted by dreamyshade at 9:34 AM on May 25

I replaced MacOS with Ubuntu on my old Intel Mac without too many issues, however it was not a fast performer. But I can receive security updates.

You'll probably notice a speed increase if you just create a new clean-slate user account. But your time for Firefox/Chrome browser support is likely limited to a year or two.
posted by credulous at 9:57 AM on May 25 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks so much! Will start with getting a updated as above but am open to other input about alternatives like linux or windows as mentioned.
posted by J.R. Hartley at 11:09 AM on May 25

Best answer: You might find my previous question's answers useful.

I can second that advice. You can get standalone installers for a newer OS — not the most recent, but enough that you can get that Mac to support more modern networking modalities.

That process helped me revive an old 2012 iMac that I popped open and upgraded the memory and drive to an SSD. Got it dual-booting (bootcamp) into Windows to regift to my parents, who still use it today in 2024!

Old Intel Macs are pretty bulletproof. You might take a look at the iFixit site if its memory and storage can be upgraded. That can easily add another several years of life, as it did for my parent's iMac.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:11 PM on May 25

Response by poster: I'm on Sierra now :o downloaded the Big Sur but it says I don't have the space to install it. Seems I am on like 120G of OS install partition. I'm not going to repartition, are there other ways around? Can I run it from a USB or would I need to make a bootable USB or are there other options?
posted by J.R. Hartley at 1:43 PM on May 25

Best answer: the OS should only be taking about 16GB, so the rest of your space is probably taken up with your own files. A quick & easy way to find what's taking all your space on macOS:
* in the Finder, choose "go to..." and choose Home
* from the View menu choose "View as List"
* from the View menu choose "Show view options"
* check the box for "Calculate All Sizes"
* click the Size column so it sorts by largest
* (wait a while as it calculates)

This will show all of your folders, sorted by size, so you can can figure out what's taking up so much space and delete things to free up more space.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 1:58 PM on May 25 [1 favorite]

Best answer: There are ways to force newer updates - I did it on a 2015 machine recently. But it's kind of a workaround and with an even older device I'm not sure it's worth it.

I have a 2012 MacBook Air that I had the same issue with, and I tried out five or six different Linux type installs. The best by far for me is Zorin, which was simple to install, has a more friendly interface IMO than Mint or Ubuntu, is fast and easy to customize, and works better out of the box with the trackpad than the other ones. I have it around as a sort of computer of last resort but it would be perfectly good as a browser, writing station, or even media device attached to an external monitor or TV.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:30 PM on May 25

Best answer: Can I run it from a USB or would I need to make a bootable USB or are there other options?

The installer should allow you to install to any external storage formatted by Disk Utility. You can run Disk Utility from the Utilities menu of Recovery or Internet Recovery or a "createInstallMedia" installer. I've run APFS-format external USB drives.

Note also, if you want to go meddling in the guts of the machine, there are adapters so that you can replace the stick SSD with a faster NVMe stick SSD -- but don't splash out for the fastest current generation NVMe SSD (PCIe 4.0 or above) because the speed won't be attained by the mainboard, which speaks at best PCIe 3.0.
posted by k3ninho at 6:19 AM on May 26

Response by poster: I already have an SSD so I am looking for an M2 adapter that will fit inside the shell, but the "no space" issue was solved by signing in as the main administrator and installing from there. I only have about 6 documents on the entire machine (two profiles). I am now on Big Sur and very pleased with the outcome of my ask. Thanks so much all!
posted by J.R. Hartley at 10:46 AM on May 26