Should I Upgrade?

[HunnieBunnie]

I love my Air and have never had any problems with it, but it is from mid 2011, and I have what I believe is the final upgrade to the OS, High Sierra. I know I am going to have to upgrade at some point, but I am not sure what is the best time to do it. How much longer will my Air be compatible with my iPhone 8 Plus? Will they probably be compatible for a couple more years or longer? If so, should I wait? Will the 2020 model be a big improvement over the 2019 model?

I am not eager to spend the money for a new Air, but I know my current Air cannot go on forever.

 

[casperes1996]

Officially speaking, the support status of High Sierra is:

Partially supported. Extended support ends in September 2020. iTunes, in August 2021 Might still work for everything longer than that, but nothing's guaranteed

 

[HunnieBunnie]

I was just reading that many people do not like the keyboard on the 2019 model either. I have not seen them in person, so I have no idea if I would like it or not.

It might be wise to try to get 1-2 more years out of my laptop.

 

[casperes1996]

I was just reading that many people do not like the keyboard on the 2019 model either. I have not seen them in person, so I have no idea if I would like it or not.

It might be wise to try to get 1-2 more years out of my laptop.

With the 16" MacBook Pro, Apple has started the move towards a different keyboard style, more akin to the older generations, but keeping some of the benefits of the newer.

 

[reukiodo]

If I were you, I would wait. If you really want to, you could run Mojave or Catalina unsupported on your MacBook Air.

 

[HunnieBunnie]

You just can never know what is the best time to buy. Right now, I am thinking of waiting, but it is so difficult to resist an upgrade after 8 years with this laptop even though I love it.
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I never knew that about Mojave and Catalina. Thanks.
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It might be just as well to buy my first iPad Air now instead. Well, it would be my first iPad ever. I have a little RCA Voyager, but honestly, my iPhone 5s puts the RCA tablet to shame.

 

[FreeWoRLD83]

I love my Air and have never had any problems with it, but it is from mid 2011, and I have what I believe is the final upgrade to the OS, High Sierra. I know I am going to have to upgrade at some point, but I am not sure what is the best time to do it. How much longer will my Air be compatible with my iPhone 8 Plus? Will they probably be compatible for a couple more years or longer? If so, should I wait? Will the 2020 model be a big improvement over the 2019 model?

I am not eager to spend the money for a new Air, but I know my current Air cannot go on forever.

I upgraded from 2013 Mid Air last week when I saw the price tag of $899 plus tax for the base model of the 2019 Macbook Air. I like the keyboard so far but it takes time to get used to it. I will be honest the keyboard on my 2013 Air is better but 2019 one is not bad at all. I am in love with the retina screen and the true tone feat which I was a huge fan of it on my iPhone already.
After 6 years of using my 2013 Air, the upgrade was well worth it especially with that price tag.

 

[HunnieBunnie]

Congrats, FreeStLeMasTeR! Thanks for the input. I am glad you are happy with your 2019. At the moment, I am leaning toward waiting at least one more year. I am curious to see what they will come out with in 2020. 2020 seems like such a big number. 2025 even more so!

 

[FreeWoRLD83]

Congrats, FreeStLeMasTeR! Thanks for the input. I am glad you are happy with your 2019. At the moment, I am leaning toward waiting at least one more year. I am curious to see what they will come out with in 2020. 2020 seems like such a big number. 2025 even more so!

If you can wait then I would highly recommend you to wait as there are already talks of the keyboard revisions and complete redesign.

 

[HunnieBunnie]

Yes, I think I am going to go for an iPad Air instead if I can find a really good price on one. I just missed out on a great day yesterday, unfortunately. Thanks!

 

[mtneer]

If nothing is broken and the device performs all the duties you expect of it - why "upgrade"? The computer is a tool and if its doing what its supposed to do, you are better off saving that money or investing it in improving some other aspect of your life. My opinion would be to not upgrade in anticipation of a future device incompatibility - cross that bridge when you get there.

 

[HunnieBunnie]

I agree, mtneer. That is my usual procedure with most things. For instance, I always used every telly I have ever owned until it broke down and was too costly to repair. I only made one exception to that rule ever, and it was because the old telly had become too heavy for me to lift to dust under each week. It was a Sony with a gorgeous picture, though, and I was able to sell it someone who for whatever reason wanted an older telly. It definitely was the right decision in that case. I can probably get 1-2 more years out of this Air, though.

 

[TimothyL]

My old 2011 MacBook Air got so slow I had to upgrade even though I didn’t use it that much. I got a 2014 MacBook Pro and It’s a huge improvement in my opinion. Maybe you’d like a MacBook Pro? I haven’t used any newer MBAs recently other than in the Apple store....

 

[HunnieBunnie]

Hi TimothyL. Thank you for the input. My Air is not particularly slow or anything. I only became concerned mainly because it will no longer accept newer OS updates. I am probably going to wait another year or maybe even two before I replace it. Will probably go with another Air. I love the lightweight Air, and it does everything I need it to do. Never used a Pro before, but I had the feeling it is more computer than I need. Actually, the Air is probably more than I need, but I just love the design so much. First time I saw it, I fell in love with. For years I used big, heavy, clunky Windows desktops and even a Windows laptop that was very heavy compared to my air. Once I switched, I knew I would never go back!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

.

 

[HunnieBunnie]

Erehy, my eyes have gotten really bad, too, so I totally empathise with you! I have holding fast to bifocals right now, but I had an eye exam in November in fact, and I am slowly edging toward trifocals. I use two pair of spectacles because I could not adjust to the combined lenses. My readers now make my computer screen look a bit concave, but without them, I literally cannot read what is on the screen. All I can say is getting old is not for cowards!

You are not the only one who is not keen on the newer keyboards either. This is another reason why I decided to wait another year or maybe even two before I upgrade. I should go look at them in the shops in order to see how much they have changed since 2011, but those places are always such madhouses, especially the Apple store. I cannot relax and just "shop" with all of the noise and people bumping into me, etc. It is difficult just to think whilst in the midst of all of it. I shop mainly on-line these days.