My friend is finally willing to make the switch to Linux and wants me to help getting their laptop switched over. It’s a very old Macbook. I think MacBook Air pro 15 or something? I unfortunately don’t have the specs on hand at the moment but it’s a very old model.
I was going to put Linux Mint on there since that’s what I’m familiar with, but I’m not sure how well Ubuntu runs on older hardware. Any other distros I should consider? I should note that they’re not a computer/tech person.
Edit: Macbook Air, 13 inch, from early 2015. 1.6 GHz Dual Core Intel i5. 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3. Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 Mb.
If that MacBook is old enough that it’s part of the first generation of Intel Mac products, you may have to do a few extra things to account for the 32-bit EFI – not UEFI; that would come later – that those machines used. I recall dealing with this myself, back when older versions of Ubuntu provided the ISO for specifically this scenario. Instead, you might want to review this page which describes the problem and how to address it: https://ctrl-alt-rees.com/2024-08-13-operating-system-options-for-32-bit-efi-mac-macmini-11-21-macbook-imac-64-bit-usb-install.html
Note that a 32-bit EFI does not prevent you from installing a modern 64-bit OS. The complexity is just with getting the system to boot from the installer disc.
even my early 2008 macbook has 64bit efi.
Naw, 32-bit EFI was back before 2010. By 2012, Apple had gone fully 64-bit.
That’s fair, but since OP doesn’t have the machine to immediately check the model number, and 2010 is within spitting distance of 2012, I figured I’d provide some additional info, just in case it’s older than originally estimated.
That said, a 2010 machine would be fairly ancient. But then again, it’s 2026 and DDR3 is somehow relevant again…
Pretty much only the very first year of Intel Macs had 32 bit EFIs. Coincidentally the only 2007 machine with a 32 bit EFI was the Mac Pro. But the 07 Mac Pro was basically identical to the OG 06.
Yes, the fuckwit is right.
(I just wanted to say that.)
Hey thanks for this. It is indeed a 2015 laptop.
specs: Macbook Air, 13 inch, from early 2015. 1.6 GHz Dual Core Intel i5. 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3. Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 Mb.