2014 Macbook Air Upgrades

[Nick1991]

I just bought a 2014 Macbook Air, it's only got a 1.4 GHz CPU and a very sad 4GB of RAM. I know you can't really upgrade that so, what are the best things I can do to speed this thing up. Just some background - I bought it on eBay and I'm going to give it to my mother for Mother's day. She is a teacher and uses technology a lot, she always has like 9000 tabs open. She currently has a crappy HP laptop running windows 7 with a mechanical HDD which is slow as ****. At the very least this MacBook will have a better battery but I would like to make it as fast as I can.

Thanks in advance,


-Nick

 

[ferrarr]

Not much can be upgraded in any current (last 5 years) MacBook (Pro, Air too), except maybe the SSD drive, but that won't speed anything up.

 

[Slydude]

According to the Mactracker app there are two 2014 MacBook Air models. Both can be upgraded to 8 GB. Apple's specs officially say 4 GB but

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[Nick1991]

It can support 8GB but you can't upgrade it because fricken apple soldered it to the board.. Thanks apple..

 

[pm-r]

It can support 8GB but you can't upgrade it because fricken apple soldered it to the board.. Thanks apple..

Quite right!!! :-(

4 GB Maximum RAM: 8 GB*
Details: *4 GB of RAM is onboard. It could be upgraded at the time of purchase to 8 GB as a US$100 option, but it cannot be upgraded later.

MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.4 13" (Early 2014) Specs (Early 2014, MD760LL/B*, MacBookAir6,2, A1466, 2632): EveryMac.com




- Patrick
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[Randy B. Singer]

I just bought a 2014 Macbook Air, it's only got a 1.4 GHz CPU and a very sad 4GB of RAM. ...what are the best things I can do to speed this thing up...

I have several MBA's in my office that have the same amount of RAM, and the same or worse specs and they are all older than your MBA. They aren't at all slow, and 4GB of RAM is not at all "sad" for just about all purposes.

The best thing that you can do to speed your MBA up is upgrade to the most recent operating system version that makes sense. With every operating system upgrade Apple has included more advanced memory management and compression, and has made things run a bit faster. My experience, though, is that you won't likely realize the latter unless you do a clean install of the new OS.

Your MBA can be upgraded all the way up to the latest version of the Mac OS, which is macOS 10.15 (Catalina)....which I don't recommend because it won't run 32-bit apps and it still likely has a data-loss problem in Mail.

So, if your MBA doesn't already have Mojave installed, that's what I recommend:

MacOS 10.14 - Mojave - FREE
Connecting to the Mac App Store

Let me know if you have problems downloading or installing Mojave...some folks have been having an expired certificate problem that requires a work-around.

Here is how to do a clean install of the Mac OS:

Upgrading To The Very Latest Macintosh Operating System
Especially item #6

I'm assuming that your MBA is already running just fine. If it is currently running slow, then it has a problem, and you should fix that first. See:

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions
Macintosh OS X Slowdown Solutions

 

[Raz0rEdge]

While the MBA might not be a performance monster like the Mac Pro or iMac or Macbook Pro, it is quite a capable machine. Besides, it isn't the hardware that makes the Mac perform better than a PC, it's the operating system. macOS (based on Unix) is far more efficient with hardware use that Windows ever will be because Apple designed the hardware and the software to work with it. Windows has to work with a large variety of hardware combinations and at its core has some limitations.

You might find that the MBA is a perfectly suitable replacement for the PC. While it might not support 9000 tabs, it is unreasonable for any machine to handle that many. Perhaps you should take the time to teach the user how to handle an appropriate number of tabs.

 

[Nick1991]

Lmao i always tell her not to open them all but shes a teacher so she has lesson plans open and now with being at home she has to teach from home so.... I don't actually know how the Macbook preforms. I didn't get it yet I bought it on eBay yesterday. The only reason I was concerned is cuz I have an iMac with like 4 times everything in there.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

One of the things I've found with multiple tabs is that takes up resources as well. So I've found that there is a extension called The Great Suspender that will suspend unused tabs for a period of inactivity so that it doesn't take up resources all the time.

 

[Nick1991]

Awesome, thanks! I will install that when I get it.

 

[Slydude]

Here's one idea that may help a bit with the number of tabs. It might be particularly useful if she teaches more than one subject.

1. Open a series of tabs that are somehow related (all related to earth science for example).
2. From the Safari Bookmark menu add a Bookmark folder.
3. Also from the Bookmark menu choose Add Bookmarks for these x tabs).
4. With this arrangement it's possible to open that entire group of sites in a series of tabs within the same window. Click on the folder name in the Bookmark list and open in tabs is one option. Closing the window closes all tabs at once.

This process can be repeated with different subjects/topics.



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[Slydude]

One of the things I've found with multiple tabs is that takes up resources as well. So I've found that there is a extension called The Great Suspender that will suspend unused tabs for a period of inactivity so that it doesn't take up resources all the time.

Certainly going tp give that a look.

 

[jga40]

I just bought a 2014 Macbook Air, it's only got a 1.4 GHz CPU and a very sad 4GB of RAM. I know you can't really upgrade that so, what are the best things I can do to speed this thing up. Just some background - I bought it on eBay and I'm going to give it to my mother for Mother's day. She is a teacher and uses technology a lot, she always has like 9000 tabs open. She currently has a crappy HP laptop running windows 7 with a mechanical HDD which is slow as ****. At the very least this MacBook will have a better battery but I would like to make it as fast as I can.

Thanks in advance,-Nick

The best way I know is to delete all non essential Applications and not to keep so many tabs open. Also to try the trial version of CleanMyMac X. (MacPaw) Many Mac users don't believe that such an application is necessary, but if you thank that just dragging an application to the bin deletes fully deletes that application is wrong your library will be full of plists, kext caches etc. Warning CleanMyMac is not to confused with MacKeeper as other members can advise.

 

[ferrarr]

I use AppCleaner, AppCleaner, to clean up all the "extra" files.

 

[pm-r]

Also to try the trial version of CleanMyMac X. (MacPaw) Many

I will admit that CleanMyMacdoes an admiral and through job and I just recently ended up paying for the older version 3 that works with Mavericks that I use and before the developer makes it unavailable.

It was able to clear up some old cache files etc. that nothing else seemed able to do properly.

I don't often recommend "Cleaner" Software for the Mac, but in this case I was quite impressed. There are lots of other things I will be using it for in the future and I found it worked quite well even in trial mode, but using it in paid mode is much better and worth the price IMHO, especially when it was on sale and with a discount coupon!!!




- Patrick
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[Slydude]

I strongly recommend making a backup before running most of these "cleaner" applications. The internet is rife with reports of problems that seem to be related to overzealous removal of files. Whether that's the fault of the app or the user will be virtually irrelevant if it comes time to clean up the mess.

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[pm-r]

I strongly recommend making a backup before running most of these "cleaner" applications. The internet is rife with reports of problems that seem to be related to overzealous removal of files. Whether that's the fault of the app or the user will be virtually irrelevant if it comes time to clean up the mess.

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+1!!! Excellent good advice Sly!!!




- Patrick
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[jga40]

RAM v Hard Drive

I have a 2020 MacBook Air. Sorry can't use my usage as there is no facility for attachments

 

[pm-r]

I have a 2020 MacBook Air. Sorry can't use my usage as there is no facility for attachments

Sorry, but I have no idea what you are meaning or trying to say with your post.

I think you're going to have to add a lot more of a description and details by editing your post or just posting a new one.




- Patrick
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[corro]

Try LINUX. Elementary OS is VERY Mac like and runs nicely on one of my 2006 white MacBooks.