831AppleUserCountryViews wrote:
Hi so I have a Mac BookAir 11.7.11 that needs a major update.
There is no MacBook Air model called "11.7.11". It sounds like you are telling us that you have a MacBook Air that is running macOS 11.7.11 – the most recent release of Big Sur.
I want to downloads some apps and it won't allow me to because of the late version on this Mac. I believe the last time I tried to update it, it said something about storage I think. What I'd like to ask of the community is the step by step instructions on how to update my Mac
First, you need to use > About This Mac to determine which MacBook Air you have. That will determine if, and how far, you can upgrade macOS.
- If your MacBook Air has an Apple Silicon ("M-series") processor, you can upgrade all of the way to macOS 26 (Tahoe) and will be able to upgrade to macOS 27 (Golden Gate) when it comes out this fall.
- If your MacBook Air is the Intel-based model from 2020, macOS 15.* (Sequoia) is the end of the line.
- If your MacBook Air is from 2018 or 2019, macOS 14.* (Sonoma) is the end of the line.
- If your MacBook Air is from Early 2015 or from 2017, macOS 12.* (Monterey) is the end of the line.
- If your MacBook Air is from Mid 2013 or Early 2014, you cannot upgrade past Big Sur.
Also where is a good place to buy a good used Mac. Im in the works of starting a Non Profit for Veterans and their families and would like to keep personal and business separated. Plus little money to work with. So any help in that department as well would be helpful.
I would be very careful about buying a used Mac from any place other than
- The Certified Refurbished section of the online Apple Store, or
- Other World Computing
If a Mac is not prepared properly for resale, you may run into problems such as Activation Lock (newer models) or firmware lock (Intel-based models) that can keep you from ever using it properly.
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
I would suggest shopping for Apple-Silicon-based models.
With Apple having moved completely away from Intel processors, buying just about any Intel-based Mac (even the really nice ones) can be a dead end unless you are specifically buying a Mac to run older software (such as old 32-bit games that won't work on Catalina and later) and know what you are getting into.
On top of that, a lot of late-era Intel Mac notebooks have the infamous "butterfly-switch" keyboards that are prone to malfunctioning if dirt gets into them. Apple first started using this design in Early 2015, when they came out with the first 12" Retina MacBook. The design soon spread to most other Mac notebooks. To the best of my knowledge, all Apple Silicon Mac notebooks have "scissor-switch" keyboards that are more reliable.
