Electronics

[bargainsgirl]

My MacBook AIr is about 5 years old and runs on El Capitan.  I cannot get Facetime to work and called apple for help.  They said to upgrade.  Is it worth it and has anyone done this with good results?  I am NOT tech savvy!!

[ahoymate]

Good grief! Upgrade. You are not getting any virus protection on this old platform.Google this topic and upgrade. It's easy.

[I am still oxox]

@ahoymate 

Macs do not need virus protection, I have had Macs for 20

years and never had a virus protection plan

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@ahoymate wrote:

Good grief! Upgrade. You are not getting any virus protection on this old platform.Google this topic and upgrade. It's easy.

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[ahoymate]

All computers, even MACs can get viruses'. Old platforms R NOT supported by Apple.

Google is your friend. Use it and upgrade your Mac.

[Mz iMac]

@ahoymate  The OP is correct.....

There are no known viruses "in the wild" that can affect Macs OSX.

If you know of any, I would suggest that you provide Apple the names of these viruses.  I do believe there is a reward in the millions of dollars if you find any.

FWIW....  Viruses & Malware are 2 different things.  Like apples & oranges.

[Mz iMac]

@bargainsgirl 

You need to know which version of El Capitan you are using in order to get Facetime to work.   You also need an Apple ID.  You do NOT need to update your OS.

Strongly suggest that you research through your favorite search engine as well as watch the YouTube tutorials since you are "not tech savvy."  A video is worth a million words.

To get you started:  copy/paste link--->howtoisolve.com/how-to-fix-facetime-not-working-on-mac-os-x-ei-capitan-10-11/

FWIW.....

I am currently fonting from my 2012 MBP using Snow Leopard as well as iChat.

I Facetime using my 2017 iMac.

EDIT:  It would have helped if you advised what issues you are having w/FT.  Need details in order to help you troubleshoot.

[bargainsgirl]

FT won't accept my password for my Apple id.  But it works for anything else.  El Capitan 10.11.6

[Cats3000]

Do the upgrade.  As far as I know, there's no charge even for upgrades from older, non-supported versions.  Far cheaper than buying a new computer.  If the Air does quit, so what.  Nothing lost except upgrade time.

[Mz iMac]

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FT won't accept my password for my Apple id.  But it works for anything else.  El Capitan 10.11.6

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@bargainsgirl   Did you try the suggestions from the unclickable link I previously provided?

@Cats3000  Apple does not charge for updates or upgrades.  I believe that stopped years ago.

[dooBdoo]

               @bargainsgirl,  I urge you to keep your device updated to the most current operating system software available for it.  All of them are free.   El Capitan no longer receives security updates, ending summer 2018, and it's no longer supported by Apple.   The lack of security updates puts our personal data at an increasing risk if we use an unsupported device online.   There have been 4 new major operating systems since El Capitan was retired -- Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, and Catalina.   I still use an old 2011 Mac desktop, but with macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (the most current version available) and it works beautifully.   Sometimes I hear "if it's not broke, don't fix it" -- but the fact is that as operating system software ages out and moves further and further away from the last security patch, it is "broke" with holes in its security blanket like moth holes or Swiss cheese.   I understand not updating immediately when new software is released, allowing time for bugs to be identified and resolved, but please do think about the essential security updates that are missed along the way making the operating system more and more vulnerable as time goes by.