I am delaying the upgrade based on a few reported issue so far.
Very interested in perspectives from a broader audience.
Very interested in perspectives from a broader audience.
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Big Sur 11.6: The verdict - largely OK? Unexpected problems?
- Thread starter cfm56d7b
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I have a 2019 MBP, and it’s been absolutely horrible.
All I care about is security. The latest updates are supposed to be the most secure. I don’t need Siri and translucent wallpaper and new beachball icons.
But installation was a complete disaster. As in, I had to reformat my drive, lose all my data and perform a network backup. It took all day until I got my computer running and my data restored. And now it crashes very frequently. Maybe I’ll get it resolved, I don’t know, but I wish I’d kept it on Mojave.
All I care about is security. The latest updates are supposed to be the most secure. I don’t need Siri and translucent wallpaper and new beachball icons.
But installation was a complete disaster. As in, I had to reformat my drive, lose all my data and perform a network backup. It took all day until I got my computer running and my data restored. And now it crashes very frequently. Maybe I’ll get it resolved, I don’t know, but I wish I’d kept it on Mojave.
After 11.6 I have been having trouble with the Mail app. 2 main problems; the inbox doesn't always properly sync with Gmail so it looks like I've "lost" emails, and for the first time I'm getting emails rejected by domains because they think I'm sending spam.
Otherwise everything seems ok on my MBA 2020 16/256
Otherwise everything seems ok on my MBA 2020 16/256
I did exactly what Apple has been bugging me to do for months. “Click Here to Upgrade!!!” It’s not my fault when Apple screws that up. Did I have a backup? Yes, you bet. And I had to use it. So after APPLE completely borked this upgrade, THEN I had to wipe the disk and fresh install.
So far, not seeing any improvement with Bug Sur, just lots of headaches, like granting Full Disk Access to almost all software. To install my Canon RAW editor software, after constant fails, I finally had to create a new Admin account and install from THAT account. Which makes me think that when T M restored my user account, it must have screwed something up.
This is on pretty new hardware. It should just work.
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I had the exact same problem with 3 Macs (2017 iMac, 2017 MacBook Air and 2014 MacBook Pro) coming from Mojave to Big Sur. Abosulete diaster on each of them where the installation froze for 6+ hours and I ended up having to reformat and do clean installs.
Now trying to go from 11.5.2 to 11.6 is taking hours on end.
All it tells me is that Apple needs to go back to 2 yearly MacOS updates, because clearly this insane yearly upgrade push means not enough development and testing time.
I absolutely agree that the yearly upgrade cycle harms the customer and provides no tangible benefit. It’s certainly not what keeps me using Mac over Windows.
It's exhausting! The previous year's version rarely even gets to a really stable point by the time the new version comes out!
I would reinstall Mojave.
Admittedly, that would mean another while going through install, updates and migration but you'll get a rock solid OS back .
Especially if you're not interested in the newest gadgets (and the latest instability issues).
IMHO BS looks like an iOS , and generally might be appealing to skateboard kids and YouTubers, but as far as I can see nothing essential (not to mention innovative) is added for an adult that uses a Mac device for (more or less) professional purposes.
Another (personal) point of view is that apparently people try to keep up wth this completely unnecessary pace of yearly new OS releases because of security risks (and every newer OS gets more insistent about "updating").
I'm foreseeing a future where you cant avoid forced OS "upgrades" not even with rigid hacks.
And by the time your Mac device cant run an OS with security updates anymore well.... uhm .... buy a new Mac period.
Fear not, Apple knows whats best for us, dont start thinking different......
There's a market for anything, and if there isnt yet, create one.
This hysteria about security is out of proportions for a while now.
Personally I never take much precautions with websites, downloads etc (and my daughter even less).
The only standard measure I take is the firewall and like once a year I run MalWareBytes out of curiosity.
Using Mac devices for more than 2 decades now without 1 single MalWare or similar detection ever.
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If we could do a survey and people are honest about it, we would probably find that "most" of the issues with getting malware and viruses on Macs are caused mostly by going to shady websites, pirate-ing software, music, movies or torrents etc., going to hacker websites, porn etc. etc. If people go to the "boring" general websites that are common to the public, chances are that most will not get malware or viruses.
If someone gets a virus from someone else's files (via email sent, USB drives etc.) usually someone before them down the chain of the life of the file went to a website that is prone to malware or virus and got it from there. Until technology get to the point that malware and viruses do not need user install or interaction on the Mac, then we are probably generally ok as far as security in most cases and may not ever see a virus or have to deal with it. That could change of course, but as of now, I have not found any malware or viruses that can install itself on a Mac without user influence to install (unless it is out there and I have not read about it of course). That is from my understanding and experience of course and could be wrong.
Apple just patched a vulnerability which lets an attacker gain complete access to your system by sending you and iMessage, even if you don’t touch the message or read it. So I think security matters a lot.
I use 1Password to store all of my passwords. They are complex, long random strings. The product works very well and seamlessly across my Mac and my iPhone.
I use 1Password to store all of my passwords. They are complex, long random strings. The product works very well and seamlessly across my Mac and my iPhone.
There was a Safari update a few days ago indeed.
Of course it matters a lot, I never said it doesnt .
What I tried to say in my previous post is that i see lots of people convinced that a more or less recent Mac OS is very vulnerable and 3rd party AV , anti MalWare anti whatever is absolutely necessary .
Concerning security , I think Apple does a very good job .
I dont store any password on my devices .
I've never stored ( knowingly ) any data on clouds either , but make regular backups of all my devices on multiple external disks.
My main workstation is seldom used for internet activity , and I use other Macs for general purposes, so basically I keep things separate this way.....
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Yes, I do but as a safety net I've got them written down on paper in a way nobody else can decypher.
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Look into 1Password sometime. It's very effective; it's worked very well for me.
Anyways, i installed 11.6 over 11.5.2 (i think that's the ver before 11.6) everything works just fine. The system problems that I saw some people reported like the missing items in security tabs (like full disk access tab etc) doesn't happen on mine. Tho nowadays I always upgrade my Mac using the full installer anyways since i always have a fast USB with the latest bootable installer Incase something bad happens.
Or do Bitwarden. Open source too. If you want to self host it, well you can. It's awesome
Eventually got all my family member's Macs successfully updated to 11.6. For whatever reason the 2014 MacBook Pro just took ages to 'prepare' the update. The 2017 iMac, 2017 MacBook Air and 2015 MacBook Pro were much faster.
My unsupported Mid 2012 MacBook Pro also updated fine.
My unsupported Mid 2012 MacBook Pro also updated fine.
Mac OS Tiger was the MacOS that's most stable. Mac OS Tiger also was sold for 30 months before being replaced with Leopard. You might have a good idea.
Snow Leopard was also pretty good!
From subsequent releases (since Apple switched to the yearly update cycle) I've found Mountain Lion, El Capitan and Mojave to be the most stable.