i have an m2 2022 and it’s fantastic, had one of the iconic old design mbas, a 13” 2017 and that was great too. such a smooth and seamless experience. used a 2015 mbp 13” too which was slower but that was because of monterey.
I love this little guy for traveling. I messed around with chromebook’s for a few months and it became clear that for my uses I needed a full computer. For $150 I couldn’t find anything that traveled better. Plus, if something happens to it all I’m out of is $150.
Thanks for the comment :-) This is why I picked it up in the first place years ago. It is really good for carrying around. I find the 12 inch retinas to be good for the same reason. So portable.
I recently got mine, i travel a lot, so i was looking for something small and esay to carry around, it does all the job pretty well (office, chrome, youtube and spotify), and if something happed to it while traveling it only cost me 150 usd, i got it updated to the newest OS and it surprisisly run it well, it is a totally yes for me if you are looking for small and basic laptop
Thanks for the comment :-) Really happy to hear you get good use out of one. Mine is still going strong, but I tend to pick up my 12 inch MacBook more often due to the nicer display and trackpad.
got mine for 80 euros last year before i started uni (CS) and it was such a good investment. It was my first mac and i was surprised to see how well optimised Macbooks are. I see that you are running and HDD, but i swapped mine with an SSD and it runs actually pretty good. I've used it as my main workstation due to the time spent at uni but the small display is the only downside that would make me want to upgrade. I am thinking of getting an M1 pro / M2 when M3 drops, but for sure i am sticking with Apple. MacOs simply is more responsive, lightweight and optimised
That’s a pretty good price for something so useful to you. I’m not sure where you got the HDD info from, and I’m sorry if I gave that impression. My 2012 Air has an SSD. I agree with your comments about MacOS. I much prefer it to Windows for day to day computing. Cheers
I have a few MacBooks from around that time and they are all still ticking along. You are right about the 8gb memory. This old Air is quite limited by only having 4. It still has its uses though, and I am astonished the battery still works!
@@IrensTech Today I called cash converters and unfortunately they said since it’s an 11 year old laptop it may not work properly and they do not recommend me buying it
@@saimanhussaini2010 that is a risk with any older, used laptop. The conclusion of this video is that the 2012 / 2013 models might be a little too old (although I still regularly use a MacBook Pro from 2013).
gotta say my first mac i bought in 2024 in january are 2010 Macbook Pro, i kinda hate it because it runs on Core 2 duo, quiet laggy if you open multiple tabs, even though it's already ssd and 8 gigs, so i bought again 2012 13" macbook air with 8 gigs of ram, and i like it, super light, for work i prefer this mac instead of my Lenovo V310-14isk I3, i dunno it just feels special, could still run multiple tabs even though it runs on ddr3
Thanks for the comment :-) Oh yeah, anything with a Core 2 duo is really going to struggle these days. It is always great to hear about someone who finds a real use for one of these old MacBooks. I think the main contributing factor to mine being a bit too slow for me is the ram. With 4gb it really struggles. I still love this little computer and it gets used to play UA-cam in the background, or as something for my kids to practice typing on. Cheers
i just bought macbook air 2012 this year, 13” with 8gb of ram, like it very much, although it’s bit slow but it’s because i do multi-tabs open, which worth mentioning, other than that it’s so alright, plus i like it better than my lenovo v310-14isk with i3-6100u, technically it’s better but for work i prefer macbook air
@@auzaaja I had a more powerful Windows laptop when I was regularly using the 2012 MacBook, and also found that the MacBook was my preference. It was just a more pleasant experience.
Still using my mid-2014 11 inch MacBook Air as my primary computer. Does what I need. Need now to go to my second replacement battery and for under US$30 it is worth it.
@@IrensTech : I will skip the SSD upgrade and try to eke out another year, or so, from this 2014 computer. Then, I think, I will go for an up-to-date MacBook Air (I dread the transition. No matter what they say about how easy it is to transition, I know it will end up being a headache.)
@@pilotusa it wasn’t so bad when I stepped up to an M1 Air for most of my work. I got an external SSD which helped massively to transfer things across.
I have a 2012 13"MBA that still works, but as mentioned here, is not the fastest machine around. That said, it is great for loading Mint Linux onto to learn about how that OS works. It's been fun and has plenty of power for what I do there.
Indeed it could. I am going to be updating my 2013 MacBook Pro to Sonoma using OpenCore. If that goes smoothly then I might well update this old Air as well.
I’m an author and a friend offered me this laptop for free. Hoping it will be useful as a writing computer. Thanks for your video! Edit: It’s excellent for what I want. Battery is definitely a little weak but it’s a huge upgrade on my Chromebook.
The processor, display resolution etc isn't the problem at all. Those can run and show anything you really need. The 1366x768 resolution is normal for this day common laptops, so you are better just watch a 1280x720 videos anyways with it. The CPU can run anything app wise you need from small machine, do some 1080p video editing (just expect those 12-15 FPS rendering times) and music editing to be limited with dozen or so tracks. The SSD is not a problem, as you can buy an adapter to get a M2 inside at any size you need. That cost like 7 € or something and 1 terabyte is enough for anything on that machine. But what will kill these machines very quickly, is the RAM. You have 4 GB of RAM, and that was at the time the top model. You needed to get the i7 model to have 8 GB of RAM. And the common Macbook Air at that time has only 2 GB of RAM. With that RAM amount, you are going to have just few web pages open, couple youtube video tabs and machine is slow as it is swapping memory to SSD. The downside is really that RAM is soldered directly to motherboard, so you can't just swap to new without small electronics operation. If that machine would allow to swap one RAM stick, it would still be possible upgrade to 8 GB on all machines.
Thanks for the comment, and the info. :-) The RAM is definitely holding back these older machines as you say, but I also feel that the graphics chips really struggle, and this makes them run quite hot. I recently picked up a 2013 Pro with 8 gigs of ram, and a faster processor and graphics chip. It also had a Retina display. The difference in usability is massive. Cheers
Hey IrensTech, Hope you're doing well! I've got a favor to ask. I'm trying to fix a corrupted .mov file that was originally shot on my MacBook Air 2012, but I don't have that laptop anymore. My recovery software needs a sample video from the same model to work its magic. Could you help me out by shooting a quick 30-second video on a MacBook Air 2011 and sending it over or uploading the original file somewhere I can grab it? Really appreciate any help you can give! Thanks a bunch!
Hello there, I’m alright, thanks. Just to clarify, you would like me to record a 30 second video recorded using the camera on my 2012 11 inch Air? Then send it to you? Cheers
Assuming the above is correct. files.fm/u/qy68fpf4bn Should be able to download it from here until the end of May. Let me know if it works, and if so, which software you used. Cheers
hey, where can I find this MacBook Air 2012? I’m living in Australia and I want that laptop, where can I get it? I looked up eBay and Amazon but I couldn’t find any good MacBooks I can afford
Sadly, my macbook air 11” late 2010 cannot play youtube in 1080p. Even I forced it to watch in 720, it was buffering a lot. I only use it for typing and browsing. Don’t know why but I don’t enjoy watching youtube in 480p
Thanks for the comment :) The 2010 Airs only had a Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of Ram. I’m not surprised it struggles with 1080p. I’m glad you are still getting some use out of it.
considering it only goes to catalina id say nope not a good buy Catalina is almost of of internet use completley how ever for non internt basic stuff should be ok for basic stuff that does not invlove going onlone
The speakers are much worse than anything you can get on a modern MacBook, but they still work :-) The screen was not great when it was new. Now it is quite poor, but as you say, they are reliable. Mine is still going strong after all these years!
My first Mac was 2010 MacBook Air (11 inch with 2 GB RAM), when I saw your video I remembered my first Mac. This content was fluent
Thanks for the comment :-)
watching this from a 2012 13-inch macbook air :)
Thanks for the comment :-)
How is it holding up?
Me from 2012 mbp 2012 13 inch
@@abhayraj1281 nice to hear these old MacBook are still ticking along :-)
i have an m2 2022 and it’s fantastic, had one of the iconic old design mbas, a 13” 2017 and that was great too. such a smooth and seamless experience. used a 2015 mbp 13” too which was slower but that was because of monterey.
Thanks for the comment :-)
The M series MacBooks are incredible.
Good to hear the 2017 was a good experience.
I love this little guy for traveling. I messed around with chromebook’s for a few months and it became clear that for my uses I needed a full computer. For $150 I couldn’t find anything that traveled better. Plus, if something happens to it all I’m out of is $150.
Thanks for the comment :-)
This is why I picked it up in the first place years ago. It is really good for carrying around. I find the 12 inch retinas to be good for the same reason. So portable.
I recently got mine, i travel a lot, so i was looking for something small and esay to carry around, it does all the job pretty well (office, chrome, youtube and spotify), and if something happed to it while traveling it only cost me 150 usd, i got it updated to the newest OS and it surprisisly run it well, it is a totally yes for me if you are looking for small and basic laptop
Thanks for the comment :-)
Really happy to hear you get good use out of one. Mine is still going strong, but I tend to pick up my 12 inch MacBook more often due to the nicer display and trackpad.
got mine for 80 euros last year before i started uni (CS) and it was such a good investment. It was my first mac and i was surprised to see how well optimised Macbooks are. I see that you are running and HDD, but i swapped mine with an SSD and it runs actually pretty good. I've used it as my main workstation due to the time spent at uni but the small display is the only downside that would make me want to upgrade. I am thinking of getting an M1 pro / M2 when M3 drops, but for sure i am sticking with Apple. MacOs simply is more responsive, lightweight and optimised
That’s a pretty good price for something so useful to you.
I’m not sure where you got the HDD info from, and I’m sorry if I gave that impression. My 2012 Air has an SSD.
I agree with your comments about MacOS. I much prefer it to Windows for day to day computing.
Cheers
Macbook's are truly durable my MBA 2014 13 inches is still around glad that 8gb was really the game changer
I have a few MacBooks from around that time and they are all still ticking along. You are right about the 8gb memory. This old Air is quite limited by only having 4.
It still has its uses though, and I am astonished the battery still works!
I’m going to order a MacBook Air from cash converters tomorrow morning and I’m so excited, I can’t wait to test it out when it arrives
Good stuff :-)
Let me know how it is.
@@IrensTech
Today I called cash converters and unfortunately they said since it’s an 11 year old laptop it may not work properly and they do not recommend me buying it
@@saimanhussaini2010 that is a risk with any older, used laptop. The conclusion of this video is that the 2012 / 2013 models might be a little too old (although I still regularly use a MacBook Pro from 2013).
@@IrensTech
I agree with you but I really like old and vintage stuff, I wanted to keep for my collection
@@saimanhussaini2010 that’s why I still have my 11 inch Air. I don’t use it, but I maintain it :-)
Informative video as usual. Also, how do you monitor the temperature and fan rpm at the top?
Thanks for the comment :-)
I use a program called Macs Fan Control. It is nice and simple, and uses hardly any system resources.
gotta say my first mac i bought in 2024 in january are 2010 Macbook Pro, i kinda hate it because it runs on Core 2 duo, quiet laggy if you open multiple tabs, even though it's already ssd and 8 gigs, so i bought again 2012 13" macbook air with 8 gigs of ram, and i like it, super light, for work i prefer this mac instead of my Lenovo V310-14isk I3, i dunno it just feels special, could still run multiple tabs even though it runs on ddr3
Thanks for the comment :-)
Oh yeah, anything with a Core 2 duo is really going to struggle these days.
It is always great to hear about someone who finds a real use for one of these old MacBooks. I think the main contributing factor to mine being a bit too slow for me is the ram. With 4gb it really struggles.
I still love this little computer and it gets used to play UA-cam in the background, or as something for my kids to practice typing on.
Cheers
i just bought macbook air 2012 this year, 13” with 8gb of ram, like it very much, although it’s bit slow but it’s because i do multi-tabs open, which worth mentioning, other than that it’s so alright, plus i like it better than my lenovo v310-14isk with i3-6100u, technically it’s better but for work i prefer macbook air
@@auzaaja I had a more powerful Windows laptop when I was regularly using the 2012 MacBook, and also found that the MacBook was my preference. It was just a more pleasant experience.
Still using my mid-2014 11 inch MacBook Air as my primary computer. Does what I need. Need now to go to my second replacement battery and for under US$30 it is worth it.
Thanks for the comment :-)
Great to hear you are still finding regular use for one of these. Mine is in need of a new battery and an SSD upgrade.
@@IrensTech : I will skip the SSD upgrade and try to eke out another year, or so, from this 2014 computer. Then, I think, I will go for an up-to-date MacBook Air (I dread the transition. No matter what they say about how easy it is to transition, I know it will end up being a headache.)
@@pilotusa it wasn’t so bad when I stepped up to an M1 Air for most of my work. I got an external SSD which helped massively to transfer things across.
I have a 2012 13"MBA that still works, but as mentioned here, is not the fastest machine around. That said, it is great for loading Mint Linux onto to learn about how that OS works. It's been fun and has plenty of power for what I do there.
Thanks for the comment :-)
Glad you are still finding a use for it.
I have that too:)
I have a 2012 air 13 i5 128ssd and still fast i used until 2 years ago with MATLAB &simulink and was good
Thanks for the comment :-)
I’m happy to hear people are finding these old machines useful.
If you have any links to any online Australian laptop shops kindly please put it in video description so I can buy it
As I mentioned in my other comment…
gumtree.com.au has some
:-)
It could run on OCLP Monterey or Ventura for this devices for longer support macOS versions.
Indeed it could. I am going to be updating my 2013 MacBook Pro to Sonoma using OpenCore. If that goes smoothly then I might well update this old Air as well.
I’m getting this laptop for Christmas
I hope it works out for you.
@@IrensTechthanks
I’m an author and a friend offered me this laptop for free. Hoping it will be useful as a writing computer. Thanks for your video!
Edit: It’s excellent for what I want. Battery is definitely a little weak but it’s a huge upgrade on my Chromebook.
Thanks for the comment :-)
Can’t really go wrong for free!
I really like the keyboard on these older MacBooks. I hope it works out for you.
i have the macbook air 11 inch 2012 and it holds up pretty well though it can not round anything eles other than youtube and discord
I wouldn’t expect much more than that from an ultra book over ten years old :-)
The processor, display resolution etc isn't the problem at all. Those can run and show anything you really need. The 1366x768 resolution is normal for this day common laptops, so you are better just watch a 1280x720 videos anyways with it. The CPU can run anything app wise you need from small machine, do some 1080p video editing (just expect those 12-15 FPS rendering times) and music editing to be limited with dozen or so tracks.
The SSD is not a problem, as you can buy an adapter to get a M2 inside at any size you need. That cost like 7 € or something and 1 terabyte is enough for anything on that machine.
But what will kill these machines very quickly, is the RAM.
You have 4 GB of RAM, and that was at the time the top model. You needed to get the i7 model to have 8 GB of RAM.
And the common Macbook Air at that time has only 2 GB of RAM.
With that RAM amount, you are going to have just few web pages open, couple youtube video tabs and machine is slow as it is swapping memory to SSD.
The downside is really that RAM is soldered directly to motherboard, so you can't just swap to new without small electronics operation.
If that machine would allow to swap one RAM stick, it would still be possible upgrade to 8 GB on all machines.
Thanks for the comment, and the info. :-)
The RAM is definitely holding back these older machines as you say, but I also feel that the graphics chips really struggle, and this makes them run quite hot.
I recently picked up a 2013 Pro with 8 gigs of ram, and a faster processor and graphics chip. It also had a Retina display. The difference in usability is massive.
Cheers
Can you press the enter button a bit slowly. Pressing it hard wont make it go faster.
I mean, I can…
Hey IrensTech,
Hope you're doing well! I've got a favor to ask. I'm trying to fix a corrupted .mov file that was originally shot on my MacBook Air 2012, but I don't have that laptop anymore. My recovery software needs a sample video from the same model to work its magic. Could you help me out by shooting a quick 30-second video on a MacBook Air 2011 and sending it over or uploading the original file somewhere I can grab it? Really appreciate any help you can give!
Thanks a bunch!
Hello there,
I’m alright, thanks.
Just to clarify, you would like me to record a 30 second video recorded using the camera on my 2012 11 inch Air? Then send it to you?
Cheers
Assuming the above is correct.
files.fm/u/qy68fpf4bn
Should be able to download it from here until the end of May.
Let me know if it works, and if so, which software you used.
Cheers
i am watchin my brand new macbook m1
I hope it works out for you :-) Mine is great for my needs.
hey, where can I find this MacBook Air 2012? I’m living in Australia and I want that laptop, where can I get it? I looked up eBay and Amazon but I couldn’t find any good MacBooks I can afford
Hello again,
I am based in Japan, but my Australian friend listed the following:
Cash Converters
Gumtree
Facebook Marketplace
I hope this helps
why is there Japanese or something as secondary lettering on the keyboard
Thanks for the comment. I am currently living in Japan, and often need to write in Japanese.
@@IrensTechI wondered as such cos your UA-cam was also in Japanese :o
Does it get security updates?
Thanks for the comment :-)
It does not. I believe security updates for Catalina ended around November 2022.
Sadly, my macbook air 11” late 2010 cannot play youtube in 1080p. Even I forced it to watch in 720, it was buffering a lot. I only use it for typing and browsing. Don’t know why but I don’t enjoy watching youtube in 480p
Thanks for the comment :)
The 2010 Airs only had a Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of Ram. I’m not surprised it struggles with 1080p. I’m glad you are still getting some use out of it.
Butterfly key, I don’t like that keyboard at all😂😂😂
Neither do I. Luckily this laptop doesn’t have one.
Time to install Linux and get a few more years out of it.
Not a bad idea :-)
considering it only goes to catalina id say nope not a good buy Catalina is almost of of internet use completley how ever for non internt basic stuff should be ok for basic stuff that does not invlove going onlone
The fact it only goes as far as Catalina was a big factor in me wanting to upgrade. That and the display quality…
The speakers are awful and the display looks like trash but these are extremely reliable and cheap laptops.
The speakers are much worse than anything you can get on a modern MacBook, but they still work :-)
The screen was not great when it was new. Now it is quite poor, but as you say, they are reliable. Mine is still going strong after all these years!
Skip to 4:18 for actual relevance.
For people who only want to know about the performance, this is a useful time reference.