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thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,125
17,041
My 2016 nTB is still on last version of Sierra

I feel like if I ever get another Mac, then ill get a new version but I strive for stability, compatibility, and battery life..

A lot more upgrade hungry on iOS front, but I still stagger between upgrades for jailbreak compatibility reasons and even then usually new iOS comes with new hardware for me

Glad to see it evolve, I tried high Sierra and didnt like it, Mojave seemed good on external SSD but too afraid battery would be junk, and now its so many leaps not sure my measly 2.0ghz i5 could keep up
 

BeatCrazy

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2011
5,122
4,480
I use the 2016 nTB for work. I guess I don't understand the urge to not update to the latest official OS, assuming you don't have any incompatible apps.

The stability and security reasons should be enough. Performance improvements and feature updates are just the nice bonus :)
 
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thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,125
17,041
I use the 2016 nTB for work. I guess I don't understand the urge to not update to the latest official OS, assuming you don't have any incompatible apps.

The stability and security reasons should be enough. Performance improvements and feature updates are just the nice bonus :)

Concerned about battery life, or weird one-off apps not working

Not sure how much more stability I could have, I seldom reboot my machine (only really to hop into Win10 on BC side of things)
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2011
5,122
4,480
Concerned about battery life, or weird one-off apps not working

Not sure how much more stability I could have, I seldom reboot my machine (only really to hop into Win10 on BC side of things)

Like a specific one-off app, or you're just nervous? Battery life has always improved with official macOS releases, IMO.

There's a lot of under-the-hood stability stuff that I notice they fix with each subsequent macOS release. I wouldn't want to go back!
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,252
5,563
ny somewhere
not sure what 'upgrade hungry' really means, but.. seems reasonable to want bug fixes, enhancements, security improvements; personally, i find that worthwhile. all versions of the OS have issues, and new betas of a new OS are guaranteed to have lots of issues, but i find it exciting to dive in.

whatever works!
 

akash.nu

macrumors G4
May 26, 2016
10,870
16,998
My logic is simple, I’m always on the latest version until the hardware can’t take it anymore, at that point I buy anew Mac. It’s essential for my work but I don’t stress about battery life because I have chargers at work and at home.
 
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xgman

macrumors 603
Aug 6, 2007
5,697
1,425
I would have been, but not this time. Seems messier than usual. Probably because there are a lot of bits and pieces of 32 bit portions of apps that need to be updated before they will work properly. Well that and the fact that no matter what, Apple seems to break things along the way to fixing other things.
 

saudor

macrumors 68000
Jul 18, 2011
1,512
2,115
Mojave is decent and even works fine on my 2010 on 10.14.3.
Not interested in Catalina at all because of the so many things it drops (legacy safari extensions, 32 bit, dashboard, etc)
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,252
5,563
ny somewhere
I would have been, but not this time. Seems messier than usual. Probably because there are a lot of bits and pieces of 32 bit portions of apps that need to be updated before they will work properly. Well that and the fact that no matter what, Apple seems to break things along the way to fixing other things.

it's the first developer beta, not sure what you'd expect it to be. and the 'breaks things along the way..." comment can apply to any new mac os introduced since... forever; it's how it's always been.

soon enough, catalina will find it's balance, and by fall, lots of people will move to it, freak out about unworking 32bit apps.. and find new apps (and ways) of getting their work (and play) done.

and life will go on.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,238
13,306
Use whatever version of the OS that makes you comfortable and runs well for you.

Don't worry about what others say.

I wouldn't particularly worry about "security updates", either. I've been using Macs for 32 years, and they have NEVER been "an issue" for me.

There's no reason to "keep moving up" because someone else TELLS YOU to.
Use what you like and don't be worryin' about it !

My 2010 MBP still boots 10.6.8.
My 2012 Mini boots Low Sierra forever.
My 2018 Mini will remain on Mojave forever. No interest in "non 32-bit" versions of the OS !
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,125
17,041
Use whatever version of the OS that makes you comfortable and runs well for you.

Don't worry about what others say.

I wouldn't particularly worry about "security updates", either. I've been using Macs for 32 years, and they have NEVER been "an issue" for me.

There's no reason to "keep moving up" because someone else TELLS YOU to.
Use what you like and don't be worryin' about it !

My 2010 MBP still boots 10.6.8.
My 2012 Mini boots Low Sierra forever.
My 2018 Mini will remain on Mojave forever. No interest in "non 32-bit" versions of the OS !

well and the new features over the years seem nice, but i find myself largely indifferent / not really actively caring about it.

with iOS, I feel the new versions bring lots of much needed change or can. ymmv
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,252
5,563
ny somewhere
well and the new features over the years seem nice, but i find myself largely indifferent / not really actively caring about it.

with iOS, I feel the new versions bring lots of much needed change or can. ymmv

i care about my apps, and the finder; i want speed, stability, security, more than anything else. and for that, i appreciate updates. but as long as we can work, that's what matters most, regardless of OS...
 

LogicalApex

macrumors 65816
Nov 13, 2015
1,459
2,310
PA, USA
My 2016 nTB is still on last version of Sierra

Mojave is pretty good. I'd recommend jumping up to that since you'd inherit a lot of security enhancements and other fixes and you can move up to 10.15 once you've evaluated your 32bit footprint.

I wouldn't particularly worry about "security updates", either. I've been using Macs for 32 years, and they have NEVER been "an issue" for me.

The problem with ignoring security holes is you don't always know when you've fell victim to an exploit. You could be exploited and the attacker only decides installing a key logger operating silently in the background is enough or that they'll put your machine into a bot net and only "activate" it when they want to use it to target another system. Just because you haven't been locked out by a crypto virus or aren't getting annoying popups on screen doesn't mean you can ignore security updates nor that you've never had "an issue".
 
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macdos

Suspended
Oct 15, 2017
604
969
Macos upgrades have deteriorated beyond belief. It used to be a simple installation and then reboot.

Now, it is doing several restarts (à la WIN-DOS), while going dark, flashing the screens, changing resolution and stuff that makes no sense.

It also can't always properly remount a disk encrypted with filevault, so it stops the installation process, reboots in a loop until a safe boot is made to unlock the disk and let it finish the installation.

This makes me reluctant updating, and I am afraid I will one day have a bricked mac because of constant deteriation.
 

sgtaylor5

macrumors 6502a
Aug 6, 2017
723
441
Cheney, WA, USA
I had Mojave on my late 2013 MacBook Pro, and it handled it just fine with no slowdowns. Then I looked at my battery life in Activity Manager. Not so good at 4 hours.

My machine was advertised new with a 10 hour life. Want my laptop to last as long as possible and don't want to unnecessarily overwork it.

I went back to Sierra, and I got my battery life back in Activity Manager. It actually has a 10 hour battery life; I tested it a few days ago. Recently upgraded to High Sierra after I did my research that HS wouldn't be a regression from Sierra, and it wasn't. Don't need Marzipan/Catalyst apps for what I do.
 
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smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,942
4,009
Silicon Valley
I can completely understand how you feel. I usually have every reason to want to upgrade, but the hassles I've endured in the past make me weary to do so.

My system can be traced all the way back to the early versions of OS X. I've never done a clean install. There's some funky stuff hidden in there that pops up everytime I do an upgrade that causes issues that don't affect most people. The most common problem I have is my Mac not sleeping or waking at random times. I've learned to expect this to happen almost every time I upgrade.

That said, the last few upgrades from Sierra to High Sierra to Mojave have been some of the smoothest and least issue ridden ones for me. That might change my feelings about upgrading in the future.
 
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honeycombz

macrumors 6502a
Jul 6, 2013
588
154
I am always multiple OS behind. Rarely upgrade to the first major releases. Do I want to be current? Yes. But I am busy and have multiple computers to manage, simply don’t have the time to deal regularly. I’m currently running latest version of Sierra. Probably will skip High Sierra and go to Mojave at some point in the next 6 months since I haven’t addressed my 32bit apps yet. I don’t know, I could be backing up and updating constantly at this pace. Also have phones to deal with as well. Would be a lot easier to just have 1 machine and 1 phone but I don’t.
 
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redheeler

macrumors G3
Oct 17, 2014
8,623
9,252
Colorado, USA
I had been waiting for Mojave's system-wide dark mode since Yosemite. Catalina's sidecar feature could potentially make my iPad Air 2 much more useful than it currently is.

If it weren't for these specific features, I'd probably feel the same about updating my iMac. I do try the betas on my Retina MacBook Pro though.
[doublepost=1560562311][/doublepost]
Not interested in Catalina at all because of the so many things it drops (legacy safari extensions, 32 bit, dashboard, etc)
Mojave devastated MacOS Server by phasing out most of its functionality. I don't run MacOS Server on the iMac, but the Mac Pro is still on High Sierra.
 

mmomega

macrumors demi-god
Dec 30, 2009
3,888
2,101
DFW, TX
I do it every year on day one. I have at least one - two machines I will test on, have been doing in since Leopard betas so it's just the thing I know I'm going to do every year. The first year or two would be some frustrations but after 10 years or so that is gone and I enjoy the looking for and reporting bugs and issues in my evening down time.
 
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Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,238
13,306
Logical wrote:
"The problem with ignoring security holes is you don't always know when you've fell victim to an exploit..."

If that's the case, I hope they keep on "exploiting" me, because my Macs have always run fine.

Back in the "Classic" days, I would use "Disinfectant" from time to time -- always got a clean report.

These days, MalwareBytes seems to do a good job.
 

return2sendai

Suspended
Oct 22, 2018
1,200
917
I said I'd never upgrade early after Yosemite screwed my internet connections. But I was lulled by Sierra, and High Sierra, and both upgrades were smooth as a baby's bottom. I fell for false confidence and upgraded early for Mojave. What a train wreck! I still have icons which won't display and the spinning beach ball freezing finder. killall. killall. Seduced by the dark mode. Cometh Catalina. No iTunes. Dubious synching possibilities for my iPod Classic. Razzle dazzle, sure, but can I get on with my work and play? Upgrade hungry? I'm actually considering downgrading back to High Sierra.
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,336
4,726
Georgia
I have to install the latest version be it macOS, Windows, iOS or Android. Whether it interests me or not. For major releases sometimes I'll start as soon as public beta testing is available. So, that I can be sure my knowledge is up to date for diagnostic, repair, configuration, answering questions, making suggestions to improve productivity or knowing new features a client may find useful. Although staying up to date on Android is not necessary as the UI between manufacturers is too inconsistent.
 
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