Best macOS for my MacBook Air 13" Mid 2012

[striatum]

Hi, can anyone advise me on which macOS to use for clean install on my oldy MacBook Air 13" Mid 2012 (2.0GHz, i7, 4GB RAM)?

On some sites it becomes a bit blurry as they say "This system fully supports the last version of [...] OS X 10.11 El Capitan", but also that "This model is compatible with the final version of [...] macOS Catalina (10.15)". So, it *fully supports* and is *compatible* makes me a bit nervous. Should I stick with El Capitan? Or go max with Catalina?

Thanks!

 

[krs]

This model officially supports macOS 10.15.7, ie Catalina.
But unless there is a specifi need for you to run Catalina, I would update it to macOS 10.14, ie Mojave

 

[IWT]

+1 for macOS Mojave.

Ian

 

[striatum]

May I ask for the rationale behind this? Mojave should also belong together with Catalina in the "compatible" group, not the "fully supported" group, out of which El Capitan is the latest.

Thanks!

 

[krs]

May I ask for the rationale behind this? Mojave should also belong together with Catalina in the "compatible" group, not the "fully supported" group, out of which El Capitan is the latest.

Thanks!

Where do you get the "compatible" vs "fully supported" information?
Mojave and Catalina are both "fully supported"- if any macOS is not "fully supported" it's El Capitan since Apple no longer offers security updates for that.
As to Mojave vs Catalina - One of the big differences is that Mojave is the last macOS that still supports 32-bit applications. If you use any of those they will no longer work under Catalina, Catalina only supports 64-bit applications.

 

[IWT]

And, if asked, I would say that macOS Mojave was, and is, a solid Operating System (OS).

macOS Catalina had problems over and above the 32bit situation. Given the age of your computer and your experience so far, I'd definitely go for Mojave. Catalina changed the format from Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) to APFS. This was a big change.

So there is no real comparison between Mojave and Catalina.

So, I agree with krs. Hey, it's your computer. Go where your mind takes you.

Ian

 

[chscag]

macOS Catalina had problems over and above the 32bit situation. Given the age of your computer and your experience so far, I'd definitely go for Mojave. Catalina changed the format from Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) to APFS. This was a big change.

I agree that Mojave would be best. However, one note here.... Mojave likewise will reformat your drive to APFS. This is desirable if your drive is a SSD. Spinner drives (hard drives with platters) will slow down due to the new APFS format which is designed for SSDs.

Be sure the choice you make is the right one.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I'm going to be slightly contrarian here. As a clean install, I think Catalina is fine today. Early on, and especially as an upgrade install, that was a hard no. If you are SURE you have no need for 32-bit app compatibility, I personally would recommend going with Catalina. If you aren't sure, then definitely Mojave.

 

[striatum]

Where do you get the "compatible" vs "fully supported" information?

On several sites. But here is the one: LINK
Honestly, what freaked me out is that very similar phrasing

 

[ferrarr]

Compatible vs Fully Supported, to me sounds like the fully supported macOS versions use all available options/features with the hardware, the compatible macOS versions have more options the hardware can not support.