macOS 15 Sequoia on Unsupported Macs Thread

[OKonnel]

Have you tried resetting SMC<NVAM, restarting in safe mode, then reverting patches and installing the latest nightly, then installing 15.5, then repatching. My Imac is running better than ever before with n and 15.5, before that I had various problems with 15.4b's.

Hi @ronton3! What iMac do you have? If you have a Kepler series nVidia graphics card can you check for me, kindly, if the Histogram in Preview.app works with 15.5 and if the "Auto Levels" button is the two sliders at the ends of the Histogram make the open image disappear as soon as we touch them? Thanks

By now I am almost convinced to go back to Sonoma, but if Preview had started working well again with macOS 15.5 beta I might decide to stay with Sequoia.
It's not just of Histogram since today I discovered that in exporting eight photos in HEIC format to JPG format, Preview corrupted some JPGs (strangely, their preview icon did not appear) and Photoshop did not recognize them.

So I become more and more convinced that Sonoma will remain the last system best suited for our Intels. Especially since Sequoia, in exchange for instability, fans in action, etc., offers few more things than Sonoma, and the only ones I have in mind are the two ugly dynamic backgrounds that don't work with Kepler series cards and the Password app that is much-hyped but adds nothing to how it has worked so far, with the older macOSs, nor can it compete with the fabulous completeness of 1Password to which I have subscribed for many years.
And about the Categories in Mail... first I didn't understand where they were and then I didn't understand whether I can sort them into columns in my own way, whether I can rename them, and whether I can make other customizations. After that, this new feature neither adds nor detracts from Mail even if it is less dangerous than the delay in sending e-mail introduced with Sonoma... More than once, in fact, in my haste to get out, I have put my Mac to sleep after sending an e-mail and failed to remember to wait 30 seconds for the message to start...
In short... whistles and bells or, as they say in Italy, all smoke and no meat 😂

 

[oraculo666]

Finally decided to downgrade to Sonoma. Considerably better experience on my Mac. Things work faster, cooler and sometimes simply work. I'll be keeping an eye on Sequoia OCLP development.

 

[ronton3]

Hi @ronton3! What iMac do you have? If you have a Kepler series nVidia graphics card can you check for me, kindly, if the Histogram in Preview.app works with 15.5 and if the "Auto Levels" button is the two sliders at the ends of the Histogram make the open image disappear as soon as we touch them? Thanks

By now I am almost convinced to go back to Sonoma, but if Preview had started working well again with macOS 15.5 beta I might decide to stay with Sequoia.
It's not just of Histogram since today I discovered that in exporting eight photos in HEIC format to JPG format, Preview corrupted some JPGs (strangely, their preview icon did not appear) and Photoshop did not recognize them.

So I become more and more convinced that Sonoma will remain the last system best suited for our Intels. Especially since Sequoia, in exchange for instability, fans in action, etc., offers few more things than Sonoma, and the only ones I have in mind are the two ugly dynamic backgrounds that don't work with Kepler series cards and the Password app that is much-hyped but adds nothing to how it has worked so far, with the older macOSs, nor can it compete with the fabulous completeness of 1Password to which I have subscribed for many years.
And about the Categories in Mail... first I didn't understand where they were and then I didn't understand whether I can sort them into columns in my own way, whether I can rename them, and whether I can make other customizations. After that, this new feature neither adds nor detracts from Mail even if it is less dangerous than the delay in sending e-mail introduced with Sonoma... More than once, in fact, in my haste to get out, I have put my Mac to sleep after sending an e-mail and failed to remember to wait 30 seconds for the message to start...
In short... whistles and bells or, as they say in Italy, all smoke and no meat 😂

I have a Late 2015 K5, 27Imac. Preview takes several seconds to open, but then is quick, I rarely use it and am not familiar with how histogram or photoshop work. I believe the 2015 is beyond Kepler, also the backgrounds work just fine. I simply turned the mail categories off. Sorry I could not be more helpful.

 

[David403]

Have you tried resetting SMC<NVAM, restarting in safe mode, then reverting patches and installing the latest nightly, then installing 15.5, then repatching. My Imac is running better than ever before with n and 15.5, before that I had various problems with 15.4b's.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am trying a simple re-install over the top of the existing Sequoia 15.4 first and then will try what you suggested. If it doesn't work, I will try going back to Sonoma.

 

[MacRumors3590]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am trying a simple re-install over the top of the existing Sequoia 15.4 first and then will try what you suggested if it doesn't work, I will try going back to Sonoma.

I have (5) 5,1 machines and they all work great with 15.4. See my sig.
I would simply Backup your data and do a clean fresh install after formatting the disk.
cheers

 

[xlw108]

Hi everyone,

I just downloaded the latest update of WhatsApp Desktop from the Mac App Store and was delighted to find that the program starts and works again on my MacPro3,1!


View attachment 2500458
This can mean two things: The program no longer needs AVX2 compatibility or it was simply another bug, now fixed, that was preventing the program from launching.

Anyone who had the same problems on their vintage Macs should give the update a try!

Yes I had the same issue and had to use the web version of WhatsApp for a while. Since the latest update of Whatsapp the desktop app now works again. If the reason is AVX2 or another bug I don't know. It did work on my MacBook Pro and Air (specs see signature) which hints towards AVX2 incompatability.

 

[Neon Ball]

Yes I had the same issue and had to use the web version of WhatsApp for a while. Since the latest update of Whatsapp the desktop app now works again. If the reason is AVX2 or another bug I don't know. It did work on my MacBook Pro and Air (specs see signature) which hints towards AVX2 incompatability.

It was AVX2, it seems they might've accidentally compiled on AVX2 and fixed it because they also broke it on Big Sur for native machines despite claiming they still support Big Sur. However it might be possible it happens again in the future.

 

[MacinMan]

I have a Late 2015 K5, 27Imac. Preview takes several seconds to open, but then is quick, I rarely use it and am not familiar with how histogram or photoshop work. I believe the 2015 is beyond Kepler, also the backgrounds work just fine. I simply turned the mail categories off. Sorry I could not be more helpful.

Preview remains the same as it was under Monterey for me on this iMac. I haven't tried the editing tools as I never used Preview for that on a supported OS. I have the top tier standard configuration for the iMac 17,1 Apple sold before going public. 2TB Fusion drive, I upgraded the machine with 32 GB RAM Crucial from amazon to save money on RAM. My GPU is the Radeon R9-M395 with 2 GB VRAM. In following these threads for a while, I've noticed some of the issues others with a lower specked late 2015 27" iMac have, I don't seem to, or they are far less.

I know for me, my two biggest limitations on an OCLP install over native are:
DRM content in safari and downloaded content from Apple TV, and 3D acceleration in VMWare (which after Broadcom bought it, it's really worth using now). Beyond those two main things. Everything works as it should. My other main reason for wanting to stick with Monterey as long as possible was mainly for support reasons, if I ever needed to call apple, or another vendor of software I use, I would much rather be on a supported config.

 

[amaze1499]

2.3.2 was released several days ago? How is it?
Is it worth the potential hassle to upgrade from 2.2? Everything on 2.2 works fine for me, so I was thinking about not updated for like at least 1 year.

In my case, like with so many others it was a no brainer to use it.

 

[Luposian]

We will be expanding this thread with much more information as the day goes by including known issues as well as patcher support.

Spoiler: Important information:

• MacBookPro with T1 chip have iCloud, FaceTime, AirDrop etc. problems, not fix available. Please stay on Sonoma.
  Affected models seem to be:
  • MacBookPro13,2 - 13,3
  • MacBookPro14,2 - 14,3
• All pre AVX2 cMP and iMacs with upgraded Metal AMD dGPU should use OCLP 2.0.2 or later to avoid the VTDecoderXPCService crashes.
• Mac models with T2 chip have currently no support at all.
• AI functionality is limited to Apple Silicon and T2 based Intel Macs, so it will not work on OCLP upgraded Intel based Macs!

Spoiler: Intel Macs officially compatible with macOS 15 Sequoia:

• iMac 2019 and later
  • iMac19,x
  • iMac20,x
• Mac Pro 2019 and later
  • MacPro7,1
• iMac Pro 2017
  • iMacPro1,1
• Mac mini 2018 and later
  • Macmini8,1
• MacBook Pro 2018 and later
  • MacBookPro15,X
  • MacBookPro16,X

Spoiler: Macs that WILL NOT BE SUPPORTED in any capacity by Apple?

• 2006-2007 Mac Pros, iMacs, MacBook Pros, and Mac Minis:
  • MacPro1,1
  • MacPro2,1
  • iMac4,1
  • iMac5,x
  • iMac6,1
  • iMac7,1 (Merom CPU swappable to Penryn)
  • MacBookPro1,1
  • MacBookPro2,1
  • MacBookPro3,1
  • Macmini1,1
  • Macmini2,1
• 2006-2008 MacBooks:
  • MacBook1,1
  • MacBook2,1
  • MacBook3,1
  • MacBook4,1
• 2008 MacBook Air (MacBookAir 1,1)
• All PowerPC-based Macs
• All 68k-based Macs

Spoiler: Macs capable of being patched to run Sequoia:

From version 2.0.0 onwards OCLP will support Sequoia! OCLP supported Intel Mac models are listed on GitHub, only. Reading the OCLP installation documentation and OCLP version the CHANGELOG is always useful. Most limitations are listed in several GitHub issues, the most important one is about GPU issues.

Please also read this fully before downloading anything, or we'll be very disappointed...

As usual, this is still a new operating system and a bleeding-edge patcher version. Don't try this if you're not already familiar with OCLP, don't try this if you're not willing to have to deal with any data loss, and especially don't try this if you don't know how to troubleshoot.

Please do not blindly update your only single working macOS environment on your one and only single Mac without reading the next section!

Spoiler: Necessary preparations:

To avoid any frustration or even worse data loss please create and maintain backups on a regular basis. Before performing a major and even before doing a minor macOS update create a new backup.

Update the firmware of your Mac and keep it up to date! We do not provide support for not proper managed Macs.

Do not swim ahead of the swarm of macOS users, you have an unsupported Mac, neither Apple nor the OCLP developer team will recover your system. If you nevertheless believe installing beta software with development patchers on unsupported Macs is a great idea you will discover quickly nobody can or will help you. Follow the swarm. Observe posts and read about new problems and do not ask if is is safe - it is not!

Look up Apple support pages how to manage and create multiple parallel macOS installations using APFS volumes. Keep the latest working macOS and create a new test environments with new test users before messing with your single working Mac. A lot of problems are related to incompatible settings inherited in a decade of macOS updates and from incompatible third party software.

Finally:
Keep the USB installer with OC created with the OCLP app. This is an external recovery option. The internal recovery can be accessed after pressing the space bar on the OC boot picker. Do not disable this picker unless you know how to make it visible, again - by pressing ESC on boot.

Open the system preferences and the softwareupdate pane and disable all automatic actions. Do not preload, do not auto install updates, or auto install security patches. This may break your OCLP based installation.

Spoiler: How to support the OCLP development?

After many requests, we've finally opened up a way for people to make monetary contributions to OCLP's development, using Open Collective: https://opencollective.com/opencore-legacy-patcher If you appreciate what we do, please considering donating! Your support will help us purchase needed hardware to improve the project.

Thanks!

Spoiler: Third party application problems (this section should to be maintained by users!!):

Patching means adding back software parts from older macOS versions into recent versions. This way we will not be able to use most recent technology and feature enhancements. Apple likes to show those in their own (sometimes macOS included) applications like Maps, Photos, FinalCut, Garageband, LogicPro, Pages, Keynote, Numbers. So please get and save those software version running on older macOS versions before updating applications. You might end up with a new version not running on the latest macOS.

Before reporting an error here please first check if you have really the latest app version installed and if this app supports Sequoia at all.

This happens mostly to users of pre 2011 non metal Macs, but lately also with metal Macs using Kepler and AMD GPUs 20

1. Google Chrome on MacPro6,1 or MacBookPro 2015 with red windows (all Macs using AMD GCN1-3 graphics cards)

Spoiler: Things one will never be able to fix or simply need new hardware!

Over the years Apple introduced a lot of new software features relying on real new hardware. Sometimes because of execution speed and latency induced by older hardware, sometimes because of new features like WiFi ac, Bluetooth 4.0, 4k HEVC and 4K H.264 support.

Another serious threat is the use of modern AVX2 Intel CPU instructions available only on Late 2013 and newer Mac hardware. The Metal rendering framework is in the middle between this, but without any documentation one would have to write device drivers for other GPUs to achieve support. This is beyond this project.

iPhone mirroring needs a T2 chip, so all older Macs will never get it. And to make things worse: Macs with T2 have currently no OCLP support.

So a lot of features like AirDrop, Universal Control need BT4.0 and WiFi ac, modern Apple and third party apps using the metal framework, recent Adobe software using AVX2 with Ventura+ will simple break your Mac in a way OCLP cannot ever fix it. Even if installing and booting of a recent macOS works fine some or a lot of apps will not work properly.

We had this clearly defined Metal border which puts all non-upgradable hardware released until late 2011 into the big non-Metal camp. Now we have a 2nd group of 2012-2013 Macs including the MacPro6,1, Metal GPU upgraded MacPro3,1-4,1-5,1 and iMac10,1-12.2 all lacking AVX2 support and a third group of legacy Metal systems from late 2013-2015 - either with AMD GCN 1-3 and Nvidia Kepler dGPU, Intel HD4000 and Haswell iGPUs with different and difficult to address issues.

The most compatible but unsupported Intel Macs with dGPU have AMD GCN4 models and were released after 2016/2017.

Spoiler: How to revert back to the last or former supported macOS?

You read the “Necessary Preparations” section before starting the OCLP adventure? So you have a backup and can continue.

If you want to go back to High Sierra or older you need to wipe the disk, now. HS uses a different version of APFS not compatible with any version used on Big Sur an later.

If you have no backup and the new target macOS is Mojave or later and if your SSD is big enough and your new target macOS will run on APFS you may get around this mess. Install the new macOS in parallel. Look up Apple support pages how to manage and create multiple parallel macOS installations using APFS volumes. After booting it you can migrate your user data over. Finally delete the Sonoma volume group using Disk Utility, again.

In general:
To revert back to the last supported (by Apple) macOS version you must erase your disk or the Sequoia volume group on APFS as there is no uninstall option provided by Apple and there is no way around this. You should follow Apple supported methods to get back, but create a user data backup before starting to erase the internal disk! Restore user data without settings, these are in general not compatible when going back.

Ok, I have a problem...

I have a 2020 M1 Mac Mini. I have updated it from Big Sur (11) to Monterey (12) and then to Sequoia 15.3. And it's been perfectly fine. Then, I tried updating to 15.4 and... it refused (well, it didn't "stick", even after the entire update procedure). I was stuck at 15.3. I figured, "whatever" and forgot about it. Well, then, last night, I noticed that WD Discovery (which I was using for my external My Passport (500GB), which I use as my boot drive) was now crashing, when it worked before. After a lot of fussing, including trying to install the latest version (every copy crashed and wouldn't run), I said "screw it" and deleted everything (figured I'd just stop using WD Discovery) and went on with my life... until I tried running Epson Scan. Now IT was crashing! And it worked fine just the last time I used it! This was unacceptable... ok, my macOS install is somehow hosed and I gotta reformat and reinstall (running Onyx didn't solve the problem)... ugh... been so long, I forgot how to do it.

So I finally figured out how to do it and I go through all the steps and... it isn't authorized or something. Ok, so I've gone from a working (in a fashion) system, to a bricked one. Oh, sure, I still have my internal (Big Sur 11.x install), but... I don't want to screw THAT up and have a completely unusable system! I fuss here and there (erase, partition, etc.) and finally it suggests trying to reinstall Sonoma (instead of Sequoia)! Huh? Where'd that come from? Well, any macOS version is better than none, so I say ok... and it installed... so now I have a clean, working install of macOS Sonoma (14.x.x). Great... now, let's try to go from that to Sequoia 15.4!

Uh, how about.... NOT? After the entire install process... I end up with... Sonoma! It apparently crashed and didn't install it or whatever. Same thing as before, with my Sequoia 15.3 update!

So, question is... WHY?!? Is the 2020 M1 Mac Mini no longer supported? Is 15.4 a glitched version? Does macOS no longer support/allow external boot drives? Do I need to install it from a flash drive or something (i.e. the cloud install process procedure is bonked)?

Anyone else with a 2020 M1 Mac Mini (16/512 configuration) having a similar issue? HELP!!!

 

[Bigwaff]

Is the 2020 M1 Mac Mini no longer supported?

It is supported and this in the Sequoia on unsupported Macs thread. You should post or review this thread instead...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macos-sequoia-15-4-bug-fixes-changes-and-more.2454381/

 

[ronton3]

Ok, I have a problem...

I have a 2020 M1 Mac Mini. I have updated it from Big Sur (11) to Monterey (12) and then to Sequoia 15.3. And it's been perfectly fine. Then, I tried updating to 15.4 and... it refused (well, it didn't "stick", even after the entire update procedure). I was stuck at 15.3. I figured, "whatever" and forgot about it. Well, then, last night, I noticed that WD Discovery (which I was using for my external My Passport (500GB), which I use as my boot drive) was now crashing, when it worked before. After a lot of fussing, including trying to install the latest version (every copy crashed and wouldn't run), I said "screw it" and deleted everything (figured I'd just stop using WD Discovery) and went on with my life... until I tried running Epson Scan. Now IT was crashing! And it worked fine just the last time I used it! This was unacceptable... ok, my macOS install is somehow hosed and I gotta reformat and reinstall (running Onyx didn't solve the problem)... ugh... been so long, I forgot how to do it.

So I finally figured out how to do it and I go through all the steps and... it isn't authorized or something. Ok, so I've gone from a working (in a fashion) system, to a bricked one. Oh, sure, I still have my internal (Big Sur 11.x install), but... I don't want to screw THAT up and have a completely unusable system! I fuss here and there (erase, partition, etc.) and finally it suggests trying to reinstall Sonoma (instead of Sequoia)! Huh? Where'd that come from? Well, any macOS version is better than none, so I say ok... and it installed... so now I have a clean, working install of macOS Sonoma (14.x.x). Great... now, let's try to go from that to Sequoia 15.4!

Uh, how about.... NOT? After the entire install process... I end up with... Sonoma! It apparently crashed and didn't install it or whatever. Same thing as before, with my Sequoia 15.3 update!

So, question is... WHY?!? Is the 2020 M1 Mac Mini no longer supported? Is 15.4 a glitched version? Does macOS no longer support/allow external boot drives? Do I need to install it from a flash drive or something (i.e. the cloud install process procedure is bonked)?

Anyone else with a 2020 M1 Mac Mini (16/512 configuration) having a similar issue? HELP!!!

There have been many OCLP updates since 7/24. The info is still Germain. Why not update to 15.5 (24F5042g)Dev/b, it fixed a number of problems for me.

 

[TigerA]

So, question is... WHY?!? Is the 2020 M1 Mac Mini no longer supported? Is 15.4 a glitched version? Does macOS no longer support/allow external boot drives? Do I need to install it from a flash drive or something (i.e. the cloud install process procedure is bonked)?

1. This thread is for UNSUPPORTED" Macs. Your M1 Mac mini is supported with the latest macOS.
2. I have a M1 MacBook Air, running the latest 15.4 without any issue.
3. Starting from 15,3, moving your entire home folders including the Library to external SSD has become very tricky and still doable (search YouTube for tutorials).
4. Running the latest Sequoia macOS on external SSD is a bad idea, particularly for the supported Macs. However, you can put your data on external HD instead (also search YouTube for tutorials: the key is to not change the default home folders' location but use Symbol_Link to point some home folders like Downloads / Documents / Pictures to external drive).
5. Big Sur is no longer supported. It's time to upgrade to the latest Sequoia on your internal SSD.

 

[Luposian]

There have been many OCLP updates since 7/24. Why not update to 15.5 (24F5042g)Dev/b, it fixed a number of problems for me.

I tend to avoid "beta" (dev build) versions of Windows or macOS. I'd rather wait for the full (retail) version. However, if I were to do that, does the dev build of 15.5 update to the retail version of 15.5 or...? And, if so, how do I go about getting 15.5?

 

[Luposian]

1. This thread is for UNSUPPORTED" Macs. Your M1 Mac mini is supported with the latest macOS.
2. I have a M1 MacBook Air, running the latest 15.4 without any issue.
3. Starting from 15,3, moving your home folders to external SSD has become very tricky and still doable (search YouTube for tutorials).
4. Running the latest Sequoia on external SSD is a bad idea. However, you can still put your data on external HD (also search YouTube for tutorials: the key is to not change the home folders but use Symbol_Link to point some home folders like Downloads / Documents / Pictures to external drive).
5. Big Sur is no longer supported. It's time to upgrade to the latest Sequoia on your internal SSD.

1) Since I'm having issues, I thought maybe... just maybe... this problem was a "slight of hand" way for Apple to coax people to upgrade to M2 or higher Macs (subtle way of "unsupporting" older Macs), before they make it an absolute statement.
2) Great...
3) I'm not moving anything anywhere. I'm simply installing (or updating) macOS to the external drive from the external drive. I'm not running from the Internal SSD at all.
4) Why? If it boots and runs, I'm not concerned with ultimate speed.
5) Yeah, I kinda know that (it's only 4 versions behind, now), but I'm trying to preserve the most life possible on the internal SSD (it's only got a couple hours in total on it!) by not using it, except when absolutely necessary. I'll update it when I'm ready to sell my M1 Mac Mini. It may not matter, but I like to think it might.

 

[TigerA]

4) Why? If it boots and runs, I'm not concerned with ultimate speed.
5) Yeah, I kinda know that (it's only 4 versions behind, now), but I'm trying to preserve the most life possible on the internal SSD (it's only got a couple hours in total on it!) by not using it, except when absolutely necessary. I'll update it when I'm ready to sell my M1 Mac Mini. It may not matter, but I like to think it might.

4. Apple AI won't work, even though it's not a big deal. Indexing may not work neither.
5. Your internal SSD will last a long time based on normal usage. The M1 will become obsolete way before the internal SSD wear out. Right now I'm using my 2012 iMac for posting here. The original 128GB SSD still works fine after 13 years!

 

[ronton3]

I tend to avoid "beta" (dev build) versions of Windows or macOS. I'd rather wait for the full (retail) version. However, if I were to do that, does the dev build of 15.5 update to the retail version of 15.5 or...? And, if so, how do I go about getting 15.5?

If you signup for beta's with Apple it will be in SW update, I leave auto off.

 

[Luposian]

If you signup for beta's with Apple it will be in SW update, I leave auto off.

So, does Sequoia 15.5 beta update to 15.5 retail (release) or...?

 

[dictoresno]

I was able to upgrade my following machines to Sequoia 15.4 (24E248) from the betas using OCLP 2.3.2 OTA without an issue..

Late 2015 iMac 21.5 (iMac 16,2)
Late 2014 Mac mini (Mini 7,1)

 

[nekton1]

Ok, I have a problem...

I have a 2020 M1 Mac Mini. I have updated it from Big Sur (11) to Monterey (12) and then to Sequoia 15.3. And it's been perfectly fine. Then, I tried updating to 15.4 and... it refused (well, it didn't "stick", even after the entire update procedure). I was stuck at 15.3. I figured, "whatever" and forgot about it. Well, then, last night, I noticed that WD Discovery (which I was using for my external My Passport (500GB), which I use as my boot drive) was now crashing, when it worked before. After a lot of fussing, including trying to install the latest version (every copy crashed and wouldn't run), I said "screw it" and deleted everything (figured I'd just stop using WD Discovery) and went on with my life... until I tried running Epson Scan. Now IT was crashing! And it worked fine just the last time I used it! This was unacceptable... ok, my macOS install is somehow hosed and I gotta reformat and reinstall (running Onyx didn't solve the problem)... ugh... been so long, I forgot how to do it.

So I finally figured out how to do it and I go through all the steps and... it isn't authorized or something. Ok, so I've gone from a working (in a fashion) system, to a bricked one. Oh, sure, I still have my internal (Big Sur 11.x install), but... I don't want to screw THAT up and have a completely unusable system! I fuss here and there (erase, partition, etc.) and finally it suggests trying to reinstall Sonoma (instead of Sequoia)! Huh? Where'd that come from? Well, any macOS version is better than none, so I say ok... and it installed... so now I have a clean, working install of macOS Sonoma (14.x.x). Great... now, let's try to go from that to Sequoia 15.4!

Uh, how about.... NOT? After the entire install process... I end up with... Sonoma! It apparently crashed and didn't install it or whatever. Same thing as before, with my Sequoia 15.3 update!

So, question is... WHY?!? Is the 2020 M1 Mac Mini no longer supported? Is 15.4 a glitched version? Does macOS no longer support/allow external boot drives? Do I need to install it from a flash drive or something (i.e. the cloud install process procedure is bonked)?

Anyone else with a 2020 M1 Mac Mini (16/512 configuration) having a similar issue? HELP!!!

There are other reports of M1 MBP units (not M1 MM as fas as I know) not accepting the 15.4 update and it being due to a firmware incompatibility issue. Some solved it by taking unit to Apple Store and getting a "Genius" to handle it. Others by booting into DFU mode using the tricky (use correct USB cable and USB-C port) link with another late Intel or M-series Mac and then restoring. A few got bricked units requiring new mainboard. YMMV.

 

[ronton3]

So, does Sequoia 15.5 beta update to 15.5 retail (release) or...?

I believe the best description is that 15.5 is a beta release to 15.4.

 

[perquesta]

1. This thread is for UNSUPPORTED" Macs. Your M1 Mac mini is supported with the latest macOS.
2. I have a M1 MacBook Air, running the latest 15.4 without any issue.
3. Starting from 15,3, moving your entire home folders including the Library to external SSD has become very tricky and still doable (search YouTube for tutorials).
4. Running the latest Sequoia macOS on external SSD is a bad idea, particularly for the supported Macs. However, you can put your data on external HD instead (also search YouTube for tutorials: the key is to not change the default home folders' location but use Symbol_Link to point some home folders like Downloads / Documents / Pictures to external drive).
5. Big Sur is no longer supported. It's time to upgrade to the latest Sequoia on your internal SSD.

Why is it a bad idea to run Sequoia on an external SSD? I've got an iMac 18.3 with a fusion drive and have installed Sequoia on a separate 2TB SSD drive. It is much faster to boot and seems reliable enough.
Depending on your reasoning I might revert to installing Sequoia on my internal drive and boot from there.

 

[MacinMan]

Why is it a bad idea to run Sequoia on an external SSD? I've got an iMac 18.3 with a fusion drive and have installed Sequoia on a separate 2TB SSD drive. It is much faster to boot and seems reliable enough.
Depending on your reasoning I might revert to installing Sequoia on my internal drive and boot from there.

I believe that statement was geared to M series Macs only. Due to how their security is set up. Some things will not work correctly from anything but the internal drive. I don't' own an M series mac currently, but this is what people who do, have said.

 

[rehkram]

There are other reports of M1 MBP units (not M1 MM as fas as I know) not accepting the 15.4 update and it being due to a firmware incompatibility issue.

Interesting... He could perhaps determine the status of the installed firmware by running SilentKnight, available at The Eclectic Light Company website.

If it was me, and as a solution of last resort, I'd be considering doing a clean install after erasing- and reformatting the disk.

As others have mentioned though, since all M1 Macs are still supported by Apple, he is slightly off topic here.

Why is it a bad idea to run Sequoia on an external SSD? I've got an iMac 18.3 with a fusion drive and have installed Sequoia on a separate 2TB SSD drive. It is much faster to boot and seems reliable enough.
Depending on your reasoning I might revert to installing Sequoia on my internal drive and boot from there.

@TigerA answered your question: research it on YouTube.

 

[xboxbml]

I have (5) 5,1 machines and they all work great with 15.4. See my sig.
I would simply Backup your data and do a clean fresh install after formatting the disk.
cheers

I did that a few times with my MBP a while back. Restoring with TimeMachine on Sequoia was pretty much broken for me. Would never finish. That's why I went back to supported Monterey on it. Not touching it again..