Early 2015 Macbook Air, Catalina 10.15.7 and Safari 15.6.1. Still safe to browse the web with?

[Barrovian]

Hi,
As per the title really. I have an early 2015 4GB / 128 GB Macbook Air running mcOS Catalina 10.15.7 and the most up to date version of Safari 15.6.1 that will run on Catalina. I've held off updating to Big Sur and Monterrey as I was worried be Air wouldn't be powerful enough to run them easily enough. Plus, I've only got about 32GB of free storage left so think I might run into trouble anyway. I know support for Catalina has ended, but what about Safari? Is 15 still getting security updates? I've searched the web but can't find a definitive answer. The Air really doesnt owe me anything, its almost 8 years old after all, but I really cant afford a nice new M2 right now. Any suggestions? Am I safe to keep using the Air as is, or should I switch to Chrome for browsing while I continue to save up for a new Mac. Or risk trying the update to Monterrey to give me a bit more time to save up. All it's used for is browsing, email, banking. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
Many thanks.

 

[Longplays]

You could test Big Sur and Monterrey by doing a time machine backup of Catalina then upgrade to Big Sur and Monterrey.

If you're unhappy with newer macOS then reinstall your back up and install FireFox's latest version.

 

[Barrovian]

You could test Big Sur and Monterrey by doing a time machine backup of Catalina then upgrade to Big Sur and Monterrey.

If you're unhappy with newer macOS then reinstall your back up and install FireFox's latest version.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Forgive me if I’ve misunderstood, but are you saying that a Time Machine back up would re-install Catalina if I tried the update to Big Sur or Monterey? I thought Time Machine only backed up data and apps etc, not the operating system. Or have I got that wrong?

 

[Longplays]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Forgive me if I’ve misunderstood, but are you saying that a Time Machine back up would re-install Catalina if I tried the update to Big Sur or Monterey? I thought Time Machine only backed up data and apps etc, not the operating system. Or have I got that wrong?

Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support

Restore files from your backup.

support.apple.com

 

[Isamilis]

It’s very unlikely you become the target, unless you’re politician or other very important person. I would say, you’re still safe; just use Safari, or… if you’re still uncomfortable, you can use Firefox or Brave (or Thorium - trunk from Chromium).

 

[davigarma]

If you like Safari, don't leave it. You can use it improved. It's amazing

Orion Browser by Kagi

browser.kagi.com

 

[Barrovian]

Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support

Restore files from your backup.

support.apple.com

Thank you. I'll set some time aside to read and digest

 

[Barrovian]

It’s very unlikely you become the target, unless you’re politician or other very important person. I would say, you’re still safe; just use Safari, or… if you’re still uncomfortable, you can use Firefox or Brave (or Thorium - trunk from Chromium).

I like to think I'm a very important person. No one else does though But thank you. I will try Firefox and see how I get on with it. I've not heard of Brave, will have to look that up. Interesting that you don't suggest Chrome. Any particular reason to avoid it?

 

[Longplays]

Thank you. I'll set some time aside to read and digest

To clarify you need to Time Machine your current Catalina install then upgrade or clean install to newer macOS.

That time machine backup will restore you back to Catalina if you dislike newer macOS

 

[Barrovian]

Thankyou to everyone how has replied. What I'm taking away from this is that I'm maybe worrying about unnecessarily at the moment. I'm hoping to be in a position to get a new Macbook later in the year so fingers crossed the old Air will last until then.

 

[Isamilis]

I like to think I'm a very important person. No one else does though But thank you. I will try Firefox and see how I get on with it. I've not heard of Brave, will have to look that up. Interesting that you don't suggest Chrome. Any particular reason to avoid it?

I avoid Chrome as it consumes lot of memory (and CPU). Beside that, Google is probably the worst if you concern about privacy.

 

[sdfox7]

I have an early 2015 with i7 and 8GB RAM, still works perfectly fine. I use it in addition to an M1 Air I bought while I was still in school and eligible for the student discount.

 

[Algus]

I still run a 2012 Mac mini on Catalina. Am I concerned about security issues? Not really.

I try to practice good data management so I keep on site backups through a thunderbolt array and Time Machine. I also have all of my really important files synced to iCloud. A stray virus or ransomware or something that might get into my system would be no big deal as nuking my OS pretty much means no more to me then a bit of time to reinstall.

I also keep my ear to tech news. Sites like Macrumors are good at reporting things I might need to know as far as major bugs/exploits. If something emerges that would put my computer at risk I would certainly make a decision on what to do there.

A bigger concern with unsupported software is that over time more and more things are likely to break and fixes won't be coming. So eventually you will want to migrate to a newer device with a newer OS.