Resurrecting an old Macbook Air 2011 with Linux

I resurrect an old MacBook Air (13 inch) from 2011 with the power of Linux into a fully functional, capable machine. 💻
🔧 What's Inside: details on why I’m doing this, what Linux distros I chose, comparison on installation experience, out of box experience, available applications and (perceived) performance)
📌 Important Notes: iFixit, The Verge and the other websites and companies features in the video are obviously owners of their respective content.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Opening
00:02:37 Introduction
00:04:06 Chosen Linux Distros: Ubuntu, Linux Mint (MATE), Elementary OS
00:05:00 Comparison criteria
00:06:25 Creating installation media
00:07:38 Ease of Installation
00:09:42 Out of Box experience
00:11:37 Available applications
00:13:20 Overall performance
00:14:49 Geekbench 4 results
00:15:53 Conclusion
#apple #MacBook #macbookair #linux #ubuntu #linuxmint #elementaryOS #oldtech #linuxoperatingsystem #mint

[@PixelShade]

Awesome video mate, and such an important subject... I recently "upgraded" my girlfriends desktop PC to an 11 year old CPU... A core i5 3570K. I bought a newly manufactured Chinese motherboard with modern features (like full PCIe 3.0 4x NVMe storage). These motherboards re-use old chipsets that would otherwise be thrown away as e-waste, but the wear and tear parts like capacitors, connectors etc. are new. The motherboard was bundled with the processor. Other than that I used her old 16GB of DDR3 memory, her old 2TB HDD, her old mITX case and power supply and a new 1TB NVMe SSD. I Installed Manjaro Gnome. And honestly, in everyday tasks the computer is perceptually as quick as my modern Ryzen computer. Personally, I think my partner will be happy with this setup for 10+ years to come... Imagine that she might be using a 20+ year old hardware eventually, an upgrade that cost me 67EUR from her previously 10 year old computer... Which is now our network connected file server for backups.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you for your kind words! What a great upgrade you did - indeed this Manjaro machine would probably easily serve for the next 10 years. My home server is an old PC in Node 304 case that I built entirely from used parts (some free), running Ubuntu Server and it is going very steadily and strongly for 6 years already.

[@puffylinux8653]

Firstly, I love how you talked about tech waste. Its completely true that a lot of consumers are too obsessed with getting the latest&greatest every single year which is super wasteful (and expensive). I remember when *that specific 2011 macbook* was seen as "the latest and greatest" and was used by an artist i looked up to at the time....just crazy how "2011" is seen as essentially vintage now. Love to see other youtubers repurposing older tech with linux! its the wave of the future imo

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you! As someone said on the internet, "Software industry managed to entirely negate several orders of magnitude of performance improvements provided by the hardware industry", which is super sad :)

[@rachelvanboven3499]

I love how clear and professional your video’s are! 😍

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you for your kind words, this is very nice to hear :)

[@SimplengKristyano]

This is a comprehensive video. 3 Linux Distros into one. Very helpful as I am currently looking for a 2011-2013 Mabook Air to install lInux in it and use it as my daily driver for basic computing. Thank you sir!!!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you! Glad it was helpful!

[@The_Penguin_City]

Try mint with cinnamon and desklets, or Kubuntu, those distros are awesome!😊

[@SimplengKristyano]

@@The_Penguin_City thanks a lot.

[@alexeydanilov7323]

Great distro comparison! I had a bunch of MPB from 2011-12 and they all got a second live with xUbuntu. I had to tweak a few things though around bluetooth mouse and system sleep when closing the lid but overall I was pleasantly surprised how much hardware support you get out of the box.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you!

[@ganthrithor]

Just wanted to say thanks so much for this video: I happen to have almost the exact same laptop: mid-2011 11" MBA and it was both running like garbage and becoming dysfunctional due to the inability to update critical applications as a result of being stuck on OS X 10.13. Tried some different web browsers to try and make things like KZbin playback and Google Maps usable on it, but nothing was working. Decided to research linux distros that I could use, and this video was literally exactly what I needed. After watching, I gave Mint Mate a try and it's an absolute game-changer: not only are the performance issues solved, but shockingly everything works out of the box and at times Linux seems to support devices better than Mac OS did-- even Apple ones. When I plug in my iPhone it mounts like a disk in Linux and I can easily browse the files stored in various iOS applications-- trying to do similar stuff on Mac OS through iTunes was always a nightmare. I should probably see if I can get another battery pack, but otherwise this laptop has received a second life :) Thanks for the work!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you for your comment, Im glad you liked the video and you can use your mba again. Battery packs are fortunately still easy to install on this model - if you check the ifixit guide, it is very straightforward.

[@frankborja25]

Terrific video. I do have a 2014 MacBook that definitely could be better once I get Mint into it. Keep up the great work!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you for a nice comment! Good luck with your MacBook - keep it running.

[@patriotsedge6730]

Absolutely brilliant video.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you for such a compliment!

[@moeskido]

Thank you for this comparison. I'm considering experimenting with a Linux partition on a 2008 MacBook, so this was very helpful.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Glad it was helpful! Good luck with your oldie macbook ;)

[@wickeddelight4k]

My company takes old hardware from our clients thru a buy back program and give them a discount to buy new hardware. We then take that old hardware and factory reset, clean them and donate them to nonprofits.. we just acquired a bunch of these MacBooks pros 2011. Just happened on this video and now I'm interested in maybe taking one of them and throwing Linux on it 😊 to see how it runs.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

That's a great initiative! I'd definitely recommend trying out Linux Mint with MATE desktop environment (there is also an XFCE Linux Mint but it has less features)! Good luck with your company's initiative!

[@maxmouse3]

Great video! Glad to see Linux giving this computer a new life

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you!

[@Lionheart1157]

Thanks for a great vid.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

I am glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your comment!

[@bobnywran]

I did this with my 2011 macbook pro. It breath new life to my old laptop

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Perfect 👏🏻 keep it running

[@theawesomerb2807]

upgrade it with an SSD if you can , and install sonoma with OCLP ...

[@alexnickel]

Magician!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you!

[@Javier22G]

Thank you very much for this compare! I have exact the same specs in a 11 inch early 2014 I Was thinking what distro use. I will try mint!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Glad I could help!

[@anacletoasmr2206]

Congratulations for the clear and professional explanation. I have a MBP mid 2010, stopped at high sierra for Apple limit and used with a win10 virtual machine, but the combination is very heavy... 512 GB SSD + 8GB ram made it more performant, but anyway obsolete. Tested on live distro Mint Cinnamon, it seems good enough to install on disk. All the peripherals are working properly, included the keyboard backlight. The only issue is the fan speed, I use in MacOS macs fan control to help in cooling, I'm looking for something like that for linux mint.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you! I did not experience any problems with fans speed - they would go down and up automatically. But there is lot of utilities for linux that allow you to control the fan speed - have you checked those?

[@anacletoasmr2206]

@@TechFi-te3ik found macfanctld. Works perfecly in Mint. Fans speed is now progressive, following the sensors.Thanks for your support!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

@@anacletoasmr2206 I will check it out as well, thanks!

[@ChateauScholt]

Nice Video! Good to know I can fall back to Linux just in case. I have an 11“ Air from 2013 which I maxed out back then. That machine went through alot of stuff with me, still love it. I‘m on the current MacOS with Open Core Patcher and dualboot to Windows for some Windows only stuff I need from time to time. Just one comment on the Intro: with a bit work old iPhone 4 or 4s can still be great devices. The battery can be changed very easy and with Jailbreak you can modify lots of stuff which makes them usable as Music- or Audiobook player for Kids, even some old games are possible.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hey, thank you for the compliment! Keep your air running! 👍🏻 And thank you for the iPhone 4 point - my main gripe with them is lack of security update and the fact that modern apps like a browser and youtube won’t work - not sure if Jailbreak would help there 🤔

[@ChateauScholt]

​@@TechFi-te3ik yes, a lack of security updates and no browser/youtube is one thing which needs to be considered. Perhaps my usecase is a bit special, which is a Media Player for Kids where I can put some stuff on the device. So for this use I don't need Internet (Browser, KZbin, etc). This means I don't worry so much about security and I know what content is on the device which means I don't worry about them picking up unsuited content. The devices are also in constant flight mode which is great for battery life. I only occasionally turn on bluetooth when the wired headphones are too inconvenient. music and audio books are freely accessible. Some movies and TV shows are in an old VLC Version which is protected by a PIN. A couple of games are hidden from the homescreen (thanks to jailbreak) but can be accessed by a spotlight search. Also I just hide everything which can't be used anymore or is not really useful to kids like the stock app etc. So perhaps this is really more repurposing instead of refurbishing :)

[@TechFi-te3ik]

@@ChateauScholt Still a very nice use-case - keeping a usable device useful is admirable! I remember I got so excited about Linux phones and Ubuntu touch and all the prospect of having a device and OS that you could fully control and then it all died out and now we only have mainly two mobile OSes which are pretty closed sourced :/

[@LorenzoBettini]

Thank you for the video! At 9:00 you say that wifi was working during the installation but not in the installed system right? You show a dialog proposing to install the additional driver. Has the dialog automatically popped up or did you have to search for it?

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hey there. Thank you! Actually WiFi was working fine after installation as well, but there was still a suggestion to install the correct driver instead of using the generic one. It “pops up” as part of the “update suggestions”. You can also find it if you go to system updates or similar section in your Linux distro

[@MrAlhaines]

You're living the past with Etcher, today we all use Ventoy which allows you to put many distro on one USB drive. My Ventoy drive has 65 distros on it and I distro hop every weekend. I have 5 m.2 drives in my Linux Box using Pcie adapters. Come into the 21st century with Ventoy! I have tried over 50 distros and always go back to my Linux Mint install. Ease of use and an awesome panel that has dozens of applets that make Mint my daily driver! BTW I have used Linux for over 30 years and have not gone back to Windows since Win10 came out.

[@nikyrabauliman3715]

My 2011 MacBook Air with i5 has been running Elementary OS, my 2010 Dell Latitude E6510 is hanging on with Zorin…they both still run smoothly today.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

How do you like elementary? I didn’t find it very user friendly tbh, unless the user knows how to install packages on Linux via terminal

[@mlthmp]

I love Linux Mint. Use to run plain Debian too

[@laurencejohnson4106]

An enjoyable video!👍👍 Linux Mint Mate is my preference and I use the Opera and Vivaldi browsers, Opera comes with a free VPN., and a free advert and tracker blocker, Vivaldi comes with a free advert and tracker blocker. Zorin OS., Core is another distro which in my opinion is worth trying, it's default desktop resembles Windows 7 but there a several pre installed desktops to choose from, Zorin 17 is the latest version and I did install it on a Samsung laptop, but I could not get the WIFI., to activate until I pressed the reset button on the router, I had Zorin 16.3 installed on my travelling laptop and I used the upgrade to Zorin 17 tab and the upgrade worked without any problems. I have two old Dell 32 bit laptops and I have LMDE 6 installed on those and so far they work well enough, they were my first and second laptops so I like to keep them in working order.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you for your comment! I’ll make sure to give Zorin OS. a look!

[@BillyNoMates1974]

Good video. you could try Tuxedo OS thats what I run on my Early 2015 Macbook Air (4GB ram). However, this laptop has a new gaming NVME drive and adapter so harddrive transfer rates are double what the original hard drive had.

[@jkbobful]

You probably could have gotten even better performance with the linux mint xfce since its even more light weight

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Yes, i have considered it, but xfce is somewhat limited in terms of software packages and cinnamon offers a very well rounded setup ;)

[@jonathanlombardo7]

It is true that we use devices for the same tasks, I study programming and I really like to play video games, which is why I have a gamer PC with Ryzen 5 5600g 16GB RAM RX 570, dual monitor, and with SSD and HDD (taken from an old PC from 2011 if it's still useful, why not use it rather than throw it away) and I've been testing a 2012 MacBook Air with i5 and 4GB RAM that works well but a little slow, but it's not mine but I love its hardware quality, I want a portable PC to program occasionally on other sites and I'm thinking about a 2012 MacBook Pro for its quality hardware and update it as necessary and if Mac os is slow, change it for Linux, and get a quality laptop at low prices

[@TechFi-te3ik]

That’s good thinking. For the tasks of programming could also aim to get a good used laptop PC like a think pad, get a new battery and install Linux on it

[@petrov8086]

Well done! I have one question: were you able (in any distro) to reproduce the touch-pad gestures comparable to ones in macOS?

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hello there! I haven't tried to reproduce all the macOS possible gestures there. I know that Mint has quite an extensive customization options and by default a lot of them work - tap instead of click, double tap, three tap to move window.... But I don't know the extent to which you can go :)

[@petrov8086]

@@TechFi-te3ik Of course you know. Like you, I was able to squeeze out all juices off my macbook pro late 2008 (2 SSDs; RAM to max, Linux dualboot, OCLP) but lets be honest - at the moment no distro (out of the box) can beat Apple's gestures capability. But overall I 100% agree - on the same machine Mint performs way better than El Capitan. On this machine via OCLP I was able to install the latest Monterey. Yes, it works, but apparently Mint works better.

[@rafaburdzy449]

Did install Linux Mint on my MacBook air from 2014. I love the idea to not waste mony and don't create completely unnecessary waste and I also have more security and last but not list have more power with minimal RAM.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Security is a great addition. I might also add - with Linux you’re free from any corporations add-ons like “windows bing” or “advertisements” everywhere

[@TomatoPotat0]

sorry for commenting on older video but wanted to ask how the touchpad is compared to MacOS was, I've heard and read that it diminishes it quite a bit but wanted to hear your opinion on it

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hey there - thank you for your comment! Touchpad worked fine! I did not see any difference compared to my normal day-to-day actions on MacOS. Of course, built-in MacOS gestures don't work under Linux out-of-the-box, but there are plenty of options how you might want to configure your touchpad.

[@TomatoPotat0]

@@TechFi-te3ik thank you for replying, I'm gonna give Linux a go

[@dragonballjiujitsu]

Linux Mint Mate is great for this. If the MacBook Air had 8GB of RAM I would have gone with ultramarine or ZorinOS

[@PerSkeles]

Installed Linux Mint to my Mac Mini late 2012, works great compared to last supported OS Catalina.

[@jancoman]

Did you ever consider the LMDE version of Mint? It seems very popular in the last couple years since the Ubuntu controversy

[@TechFi-te3ik]

No! Thanks for telling me about it - sounds pretty interesting. What is the Ubuntu controversy are you referring to?

[@JonTrott]

Even Mint Cinnamon would likely have worked well on that machine. One question: on the 2015 MacBook Air (11") I have issues with the Camera in Mint. Did you try the camera on that 2011?

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hello. I did try the camera and it worked!

[@JonTrott]

@@TechFi-te3ik Excellent! I think the hardware on the 2015 (and maybe 16 and 17 too?) had some issues unique to those models where Linux is concerned.

[@AcousticDoc]

Did you encounter any scrolling problems with your distros? Two finger scrolling seems too sensitive. Otherwise it's been great (Ubuntu 24.04 on A1369).

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hey there. No, no problems with scrolling. To be honest, I only used a trackpad for this video - normally i use a bluetooth mouse. But I did not experience any problems with scrolling!

[@DiscipleWhomJesusLoves]

hoo, brother, how did you add "minimize button" in elementary? please, help me out on this one XD

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hello! It's not there by default - only for specific apps, if you install them with a terminal. I think you can enable it if you go to System Settings - Tweaks - Window Control and then click on "Replace maximize with minimize"

[@Mbro-dq2do]

Im the exact same bro. Ive bought 20 Unibody Macs not working and brought them all back. to life for pennies and knowledge to resell or donate to poor kids in my bldg. All my 2010-2011 Macs run sonoma flawlessly via Open Core. All run basremetal Linux perfectly and are veryy usable

[@TechFi-te3ik]

This is amazing initiative!

[@Mbro-dq2do]

@@TechFi-te3ik All these Macs most people think are bricked have TONS of life left. Reset them starting with High Sierra which i think resets the firmware then use Open Core to get them to Ventura or sonoma. New fast SSD and put more RAM and fastest RAM i can. Flawless machines still for a basic user. With Open Core they are fully integrated with your iphone and all the latest apps the hardware can handle which is a lot.. Most would be thrown away as e waste or scrapped for part then thrown away. I havent lost a dime yet and taught myself how to repair them. Most of these with Homebrew installed. I have them al ost more anonymous as any windows machine. Got TOR running in the background helping to keep you safer. All on a 2011 or 2012 unibody 15 inch. Some of these Macs ive got for 15$ on ebay. Not running or even working the sellers "THINK"

[@KidioFs11x]

Awesome video. I'm thinking to try Pop_Os on my 2014 Macbook Air. There's no way to use MacOs on that hardware.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thank you! Pop Os is a solid operating system, I used to run it as a daily driver several years ago. I’m curious how well it would run on 2014 air.

[@KennerMarqueti]

What about battery life? Macbook's battery life wold be horrendous under linux a few years ago. Has it improved? Honestly battery life is the most important criterea for me onec the machine is usable.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

This macbook air only survives about 40 minutes on battery when under macos. Under Mint it was kind of similar. You’re correct in saying that battery drains faster under Linux - it lacks optimizations from Apple itself.

[@mlthmp]

Any reason Windows 10 wouldn't run via BC?

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hi there. It probably will, but Win10 is also on its way out...

[@FerroMagnetar]

Consider a distro with QT. The tables of graphical heaviness have turned. These days, funnily enough, they are more optimized than GTK.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Thanks! Which one would you recommend ?

[@yannisgk]

i have the same question, as i also own a 2011 macbook air!!!@@TechFi-te3ik

[@FerroMagnetar]

@@TechFi-te3ik I ran Lubuntu 22.04 recently on an old Dell E1505 (that's 2006!) and was happy with it. Core 2 Duo T7600 with 4GB of RAM. I haven't tried it on the MacBook yet, perhaps soon. I've got a late 2010 MacBook Air which is chugging High Sierra.

[@AdrianJarvis-zk7ld]

I tried LMDE on a macbook air 2011. if you can put up with the turbojet engine sound of the fans that kick in after 2-3 minutes and run full throttle... apart from that, it is reasonable and cheap.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

That's interesting - Cinnamon Mint works cool enough to not kick off the fans.

[@AdrianJarvis-zk7ld]

@@TechFi-te3ik nope

[@I401]

Puppy linux or ramdisk stuff would be nice on this thing

[@TechFi-te3ik]

What are those?

[@I401]

@@TechFi-te3ik Imagine using ram as a way to power your PC instead of a HDD or SSD, while I wouldnt do this with an SSD machine, If you have a HDD this is where these kind of OS's shine.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

@@I401 interesting! thanks

[@charlieg4379]

I was given an old imac 2006 that would only go to Lion. I tried & tried to get 64 bit versions of mint suse & other versions of linux to install. The Imac had a 64 bit intel chip, did not want to install. I finally found solution though. I installed 32 bit version of q40s linux it was easy peasy everything works.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Congratulations! Hope everything works fine.

[@user-el8xg2ch6h]

Webcam is working?

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Yes

[@mori7423]

That's so sad seeing so much talented engineering being put in today's apple silicon Macintosh computers and then dealing with irreplaceable SSDs and such..

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Indeed! 13- year old CPUs are slow but they are still capable for casual use and that’s what majority of people need their laptops for! What Framework laptops and Fairphone are doing is commendable with regards to repairability and support for their devices and I wish more companies would focus on making reliable and long lasting products. Understandably this goes against their primary business models where selling a whole new device is much more profitable then replacement and upgrade parts :(

[@mori7423]

@@TechFi-te3ik my main issue with old CPU and x86 for general consumption is power efficiency, too bad we still don't have lightweight arm based laptops widely used as apple silicon models and chromebooks

[@artefactor2246]

linux M X, a 2008 ASUS laptop with 2GB of memory - the flight is normal, the video from KZbin is playing.

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Very nice 😊

[@Mbro-dq2do]

One I run baremetal Debian raw. one of them Im running Garuda Linux and one Im running Kali Linux. ALL run flawlessly

[@artem_morozov]

So interesting. I have MacBook air with 2 gb RAM and dual core processor (less then i3). This method can help for it? And if I install to the main hard dusk it will remove macos? I want to make experiment, but afraid about success. Coz I still use this laptop for work 😅

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Hi! Yes i think so. It will remove macOS. You can try to disk boot, but be careful with it. Alternatively, you can use an app called Carbon Copy Cloner and make a full copy of the bot disk to an external drive, then validate you can boot from that drive (press alt during laptop startup). In that case of anything will go wrong you can boot again from external drive and use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your drive back to MacBook internal drive.

[@Jake-xx9xq]

Linux mint is best for these old airs. I have a 2011 11inch MacBook Air with only 2GB of ram and it works flawlessly. Only problem is no ethernet

[@TechFi-te3ik]

In case if airport card ever fails, you could still use usb-ethernet adapter also limited to usb2 bandwidth 😅

[@theawesomerb2807]

mate , just use sonoma with OCLP ...

[@TechFi-te3ik]

Have you tried using Sonoma on an 2011 MacBook air in 2024? I really doubt it would perform - the hardware just isn’t there.

[@theawesomerb2807]

@@TechFi-te3ik tried on a mba 2015, also a virtual machine with similar hardware as a 2011 mba , i dont know if you can upgrade to 8gb ram in an mba 2011, for sure you can throw in a nice ssd

[@thotratkoceri]

Try pop os

[@TechFi-te3ik]

I could, but Its ubuntu based and cosmic is as heavy UI shell as Gnome 3 so it will be like trying ubuntu with a different color scheme.

[@thotratkoceri]

@@TechFi-te3ik I said Pop OS more as a joke .You should try endeavourOS is arch based and very light weight, you can try too

[@thotratkoceri]

Whatever Linux Distro you use you gonna have little stupid problems with something stupid, im having problems with suspend and sleep on arch

[@TechFi-te3ik]

@@thotratkoceri never heard of that one, thank you!

[@TechFi-te3ik]

@@thotratkoceri or when mouse stops working after the 2nd sleep, but not after the 1st or 3rd one :D