Keep that thing off the internet if you can. Security is kind threadbare on that abandoned macOS.
Fantastic form factor for non internet tasks though. The 2011 model is worse for thermal management and the fans work harder so may need replacement, listen for rattles or silence from one side. Keep it ventilated on all sides including bottom.
Debian should run very nicely on that if you want modern software features and low-worry internet security.
Thank you for the info! She’s being sunset for an air eventually here. Original battery, turns out she’s only got about 26 cycles—I thought her to bring to LAN parties with W7 as a dual boot and her video card kicked ass for that! Kept her plugged in all the time. Battery looks perfect, and on full brightness she gets through 1.75 playthroughs of Beetlejuice.
No rattles, always had a cooling mat with fans under her while I was playing games. Fans are all doing great!
Ooo, cooling mat! Well then, no wonder it’s still running. One of the easiest laptops to fix, too, so you could just repurpose it.
Also, when you buy an Air, consider whether you are going to be gaming or not. If not, a M2 with 16 GB of RAM can be a lot cheaper than new, and my 16GB M1 is still awesome even for some intensive use.
it’s crazy that the most reliable laptop I own is more than 10 years old
I have a 15 year old mac laptop running as a 24/7 homelab server.
2011 MacBook Pro 15” I’m still using, too! Mostly for just web browsing and picture storage. iPhoto is so good.
I did replace the optical drive with an SSD and maxed out the RAM, so that helps. My only complaint is USB2 is hella slow.
Keep that thing off the internet if you can. Security is kind threadbare on that abandoned macOS.
Fantastic form factor for non internet tasks though. The 2011 model is worse for thermal management and the fans work harder so may need replacement, listen for rattles or silence from one side. Keep it ventilated on all sides including bottom.
Debian should run very nicely on that if you want modern software features and low-worry internet security.
Thank you for the info! She’s being sunset for an air eventually here. Original battery, turns out she’s only got about 26 cycles—I thought her to bring to LAN parties with W7 as a dual boot and her video card kicked ass for that! Kept her plugged in all the time. Battery looks perfect, and on full brightness she gets through 1.75 playthroughs of Beetlejuice.
No rattles, always had a cooling mat with fans under her while I was playing games. Fans are all doing great!
Ooo, cooling mat! Well then, no wonder it’s still running. One of the easiest laptops to fix, too, so you could just repurpose it.
Also, when you buy an Air, consider whether you are going to be gaming or not. If not, a M2 with 16 GB of RAM can be a lot cheaper than new, and my 16GB M1 is still awesome even for some intensive use.