Best os for MacBook 2015 core m?

[yabeweb]

Hello, I have been given a free MacBook 2015 core m, I updated to Big Sur, I feel is a bit too heavy for it, so I am looking for reccomendations on what you feel is the best so.


Or is it any optimization I can do on Big Sur?

I am not expecting lights-end and heavy usage, I know it is a low powered Mac.


BTW I am LOvING it.

 

[aespana]

I'm using a Macbook 2017 with Ventura but i don't know, the system feels slow sometimes.

I used for a lot of time that Macboom with High Sierra and it moves really nice. If you only need it for simple tasks it will works really nice.

The real problem that i found using a system this old is that Safari is not updated so you will need another browser. Also, if you need Word/Excel, etc it will only work an old version

 

[yabeweb]

Ventura is not supported on the 2015, it's finding the right balance support / speed that is hard. (even chrome is not supporting older OS with are def faster).
Currently on Big Sur with is there last supported OS, it's not unbearable, but sometimes it hangs with smaller task (not pretending to do 4k video editing here).

 

[Ganoninc]

Based on my experience, Big Sur runs faster than Monterey + OCLP.

The frame rate is slower in Monterey and it has some serious sleep issues (battery drain).

 

[EugW]

Hello, I have been given a free MacBook 2015 core m, I updated to Big Sur, I feel is a bit too heavy for it, so I am looking for reccomendations on what you feel is the best so.

Or is it any optimization I can do on Big Sur?

I am not expecting lights-end and heavy usage, I know it is a low powered Mac.

That machine was not fast even at launch. Or at least the base model I tried wasn't. High Sierra is faster than Big Sur, but given the choice I'd rather run Big Sur than High Sierra for compatibility reasons.

In terms of optimization you can block browser ads and turn off all the background searching and that sort of thing.

I'm using a Macbook 2017 with Ventura but i don't know, the system feels slow sometimes.

I used for a lot of time that Macboom with High Sierra and it moves really nice. If you only need it for simple tasks it will works really nice.

The real problem that i found using a system this old is that Safari is not updated so you will need another browser. Also, if you need Word/Excel, etc it will only work an old version

I have a 2017 MacBook Core m3 on Ventura and IMO it runs fine. Not super fast but fast enough. But that's moot since the 2017 MacBook is MUCH faster than the 2015 so it isn't really a good gauge, and Ventura doesn't run natively on the 2015 MacBook anyway.

 

[loby]

Big Sur runs well on it.

 

[loby]

Update: version 11.7.3 (20G1116) seems "snapper" on MacBook 2015.

 

[Onimusha370]

Based on the above, I'm going to try updating from Mojave to Big Surprise (11.7.3) now on my base 2015 model. Will let you know how it goes

 

[Onimusha370]

Update: On Big Sur, all going okay so far! For anyone on the fence about upgrading, I'd say its deffo worth the move to 11.7.3 from previous versions. My spotlight/photos indexing is taking ages but even with that going on, safari and other stock apps are running well without any issues - not seeing any slowdown compared to Mojave.

Worth mentioning that I have had a clear out on the SSD (previously had 20gb free whereas now I have around 90gb free) - not sure if this is part of the snappiness I'm feeling but it sure hasn't hurt!