Late 2010 MacBook Air (MacBookAir3,1): Guidance needed

Hey All - My MBA on High Sierra is starting to hit usage & upgrade walls with software (e.g. Chrome & Drive). I am just looking to continue to use these pieces of software, ideally with a neutral to positive performance impact, and without having to upgrade again as long as possible.

Device specs:

  • 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo
  • 4GB RAM
  • 64GB SSD

I know it's underspec'd by today's standards, but it runs well with High Sierra. :)

From what I've assessed reading other posts, Monterey (Ventura has USB & stability issues) with OCLP 0.6.7 is the most stable install for this device (have not yet seen any reports using OCLP 1.0+, although happy to see some new non-Metal fixes going in). This is a bit of a bummer, as Monterey will not likely receive updates past end of 2024 (next year).

I tried to upgrade with 27GB of storage free, 1GB more than recommended, and was told by the installer to free up another ~8GB. I'm not sure I can get this MBA down to a fighting weight of 29GB total consumed (35GB free), including formatting overhead, so I wanted to get guidance from this community on the following:

  • Is anyone running a Late 2010 MBA (3,1 or 3,2) on something newer than Monterey with success? If so, sharing the process, including OCLP versions, appreciated.
  • Is the request for 35GB from the Monterey installer a bug? Is it related to OCLP? Any ideas how to workaround?
  • If 35GB free is actually required, I think I have 3 options. Which do you advise (feel free to add more)?
    • Delete things that I can't easily find again and hope I can restore from TimeMachine
    • Wipe the disk with Disk Utility in the install flow, hope the install works then, and hope I can restore what I need from TM
    • Upgrade storage and install fresh (Hoping to avoid this, as not sure I want to disassemble a computer of this age; the battery - replaced several years ago - only works 20% of the time)

Thanks much, All. Touching the OS on the device is a bit nerve-racking. :)

submitted by /u/ry__t
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