Macbook air 2013 upgrade to Monteray

[chungfu]

Hi,

Ik have a macbook air 1,3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 running on Catalina.
The software update is available for upgrading to Monteray.
Is it worthwhile to do the upgrade and wil it slows my air down much more ?
How about first trying out Big Sur first? Wil it effect it's current performance?

 

[IWT]

Thank you for your post; but, just saying, there is no need to initiate 2 posts on the same subject

Wil Running Monteray slows down my macbook air 2013

Hi, Ik have a macbook air 1,3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 running on Catalina. The software update is available for upgrading to Monteray. Is it worthwhile to do the upgrade and wil it slows my air down much more ? How about first trying out Big Sur first? Wil it effect...

www.mac-forums.com

As you are currently running macOS Catalina, you may find Upgrading to Big Sur difficult because that OS is not readily available. But Monterey is available.

If you are sure that your Mac is compatible with Monterey, go for it.

Ian

 

[lclev]

From what you posted you have a 2013 MBA. According to Apple it will not run Monterey. You can however run Big Sur.

This might help with finding a Big Sur download: How to get old versions of macOS

Lisa

 

[Rod]

Welcome to these forums chungfu. Yes as stated your mid 2013 MBA can run Big Sur but it is the oldest model capable of doing this, obviously Big Sur will rum a little better with more RAM and a faster processor.

Here is a fairly comprehensive article on Catalina Vs Big Sur macOS Big Sur vs Catalina: Will it be worth the upgrade? just to point out the big changes in upgrading from Mac OS 10 to macOS 11.

My advice, stay with Catalina if it's working well for your needs or think about upgrading your device to an M1 silicon generation.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

For the last bunch of years, upgrading to a new major version of the Mac OS has tended to make your Mac FASTER, not slower. It also usually makes your Mac LESS RAM hungry, not more. With each new OS upgrade Apple tends to optimize the code more, and improve memory management.

If you are currently experiencing a slowdown with your Mac, have a look at:

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions

 

[Rod]

Randy, it was my impression that Big Sur was a bit of an exception to that rule while Monterey was considerably less demanding on system resources. Just my opinion though.
Given that this is a 9 year old device on the border of comparability I would be inclined to stay with what works unless there are other considerations at least while Catalina remains supported.

 

[lclev]

I do agree with Rod and Randy. Catalina is a better OS versus Big Sur. I had more issues with Big Sur and computer speed versus Catalina. While I really like Monterey and it has proven to be less of a resource hog, it will not run on a 2013 MBA. Sorry!

Lisa

 

[Rod]

This has been my personal experience too.