I have the Macbook Air 11' late 2010 with Core 2 Duo and 2 GB RAM. I decided to install XCode 7, but it requires Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan. So, should I upgrade OSX on my 5-yearold macbook air? I worry about work speed.
MacOS – Should I upgrade Mac OS 10.6.8 to El Capitan on Macbook Air 2010
macbook promacossnow leopard
Related Solutions
A similar question was asked over at Programmers.SE, though it was about iOS development. Some might say that's not the same thing, but Photoshop is a robust application that allows you to install some very heavy-duty plug-ins and it has some of its own as well. The consensus could be gotten from the top two answers (mine, which has the higher vote count, and the other which was accepted):
Mine with 5 votes:
...leaving aside price, I would recommend a MacBook Pro for any serious development work instead. A MacBook Pro is more easily upgradeable to suit needs than an Air (if it is even upgradeable at all). The Air seems more targeted to lighter-weight uses.
Accepted with 4 votes:
It's obviously not going to be the fastest machine but it's perfectly suitable.
I'd say the 13" over the 11" because reasonable screen size is a big deal for development, and it can go up to 4Gb RAM rather than 2Gb (absolutely go for the 4Gb RAM model on day one and if you can afford it the faster processor as I suspect upgrading later isn't something Apple will be pushing).
Yes it's got limitations (basically the same as any laptop - essentially screen and power are limited next to a desktop) but I have the new one and it's entirely workable and I know others who use them (and used the old MacBook Air) day to day with no problems.
I, personally, still wouldn't recommend the MBA for any type of development work, web or otherwise. I've yet to do anything developing for iOS that causes me to bog down my machine the way Photoshop can and will.
(Note: The original post said "No", which was right at the time it was written, but as of February 15th, 2014, the OWC page says that you can install up to 16GB of RAM on mid 2010 MacBooks (2.4GHz).)
It Depends.
OWC continously tests the max RAM which apple computers support - which is usually more than Apple officially states.
The mid-2010 MBP is size dependent. The 13" will support 16GB. The 15" and the 17" will not.
The following table shows that the max RAM supported by your Macbook Pro based off size (mid 2010) is 16GB (officially 8GB).
Related Question
- MacBook – Resetting old MacBook Air to factory defaults
- MacOS – RAM upgrade MacBook pro 15 inch mid-2010 on “El capitan”
- MacOS – El Capitan on MacBook Air with 2 GB ram
- MacOS – Which version of OS X should I update the Mac to
- MacOS – Should I upgrade Mavericks to Yosemite
- MacBook – install macOS 10.6.8 on a mid-2011 MacBook Air
Best Answer
I'm posting this answer from a late 2010 11" MacBook Air running El Capitan, and I have no performance issues. It runs very well. But this machine has 4GB of RAM, not 2GB, and that might make a difference.
Remember that 10.6.8 has not received security updates for years now, and will be full of unpatched vulnerabilities. It is a risk to keep running it.