On working Mojave, skipped Catalina, any reason to get Big Sur?

[SalisburySam]

TL;DR - Big Sur update, worth it? Worth it if you're happy on Mojave on iMac?

So, any compelling reason to update to Big Sur? For me, I haven’t found any from Apple’s marketing pitch on their website. Have you? I’m using a 2017 27” iMac 18,3 on Mojave 10.14.6 and working well. Here are my thoughts on Apple’s advertised benefits:

• “Doing it all, in all new ways” - is this ever a good thing?
• “Bold new experience. Same Mac magic” -
  • “Unparalleled power” - how will BS give me more power?
  • “Legendary ease of use” - if it’s legendary, don’t I already have it?
  • “Limitless creativity” - never been accused of being a creative, is therapy/coaching involved?
  • “New design…more…things you love about Mac” - anyone care to elaborate what those things might be that I already love? And if there are any, don’t I have them already?
  • “Streamlined apps…full-height sidebars…refreshed toolbars…clean new design…content…front and center” - Whoo! Whoo! So something different to get used to for what enhanced purpose other than to be different?
  • “Refreshed Dock…getting to favorite apps easier” - Er, OK. Not sure how a design change makes getting to something easier, but whatev.
  • “New uniform shape for app icons adds consistency…letting personality of Mac shine through” - OMG, some marketing writer might just have seen an angel, or found some acid leftover from the ’70’s. Not sure I want, nor need, to see my Mac’s personality, but I would like a better keyboard. Doubt the app icon shape affects that however.
  • “Control Center for Mac” - admittedly handy, as it is for iOS and iPadOS, but I use the Control Center only to turn on/off the flashlight…not applicable to the iMac.
  • “Notification Center” - In using MacOS and its predecessors since 2008, I’ve yet to use NC for anything.
  • “Redesigned widgets come in THREE DIFFERENT SIZES” (emphasis mine) - Like Notification Center, I’ve not used widgets in years, on any Apple device.
• “Safari has…brand-new customizations,…battery life…privacy” - OK then, 1 for 3 (privacy) of value to me, but I use a VPN for everything so likely unneeded. And I mostly use the DuckDuckGo browser. Also in fairness, I have most if not all of these features in Safari v14.0.2 on Mojave so not even a Big Sur thing.
  • “Customizable start page” - oh be still, my heart.
  • “Safari extension in the App Store” - as opposed to?
  • “Improved tab design” - too many designers, too few substantive improvements. The page preview is admittedly a nice feature but I already have it on Mojave with Safari 14.0.2.
  • “Translation” - nice feature. I might be able to think of an actual need to do this. Or not.
  • “Password monitoring” - OK…if it works…all the time…every time.
  • “Privacy Report” - good feature, and a step in the right direction.
  • “Fastest desktop browser” - Er, OK. I don’t see any practical difference on my current set up, hard to believe it’d be different in BS but maybe so.
  • “Improved power efficiency” - don’t care…it’s an iMac. It's plugged in. All the time. Always.
• “Messages on Mac…all the tools…to stay in control of the conversation” - Really? It’s a text messaging front end. What conversation control am I lacking in my life?
  • “Pin conversations, inline replies, group photos, mentions, trending images, Memoji” - Oh boy. Actually, ho hum. No interest for my needs.
• “Redesigned maps” - new ways to navigate, curated Guides, cycling routes, EV charging stops, immersive 3D look-around, airport interiors, mall interiors all nice features, not sufficiently compelling to move to BS. And both my EV’s show charging stops very well. And I'm not going anywhere anyway until a much higher vaccination percentage is achieved.
• “And even more” - yeah, sorta.
  • Photo editing - nice, will likely never use.
  • AirPods device switching - don’t have/want AirPods so no use.
  • HomeKit Video notifications - nice, but HomeKit rarely works for me in the base case on any Apple device.
  • Listen Now - um, ok. I’m more of a ripped-from-CD-to-iTunes or Spotify streaming fan than a buy-a-tune-at-a-time-from-Apple listener.
  • Faster updates - um, ok. Don’t these usually happen in the wee hours of the morning anyway?
  • Deeper web knowledge for Siri - Siri has been the weakest of the available voice-actuated helper apps, and still seems to be that way on iOS even on v14.3. I’ve not used Siri on any device other than my iPhone where she continues to disappoint, and never on the iMac, and likely won’t, so not a factor in BS adoption.

So again, for my iMac and needs, I’m not seeing Big Sur as a compelling update. From the many of you in Mac-land who have updated, what am I overlooking?

 

[Yebubbleman]

Big Sur is a massive improvement in stability over Catalina. I won't tell you it's Mojave levels of amazing. But, to be fair, I haven't used it anywhere near as extensively. Certainly, I have yet to experience anything even remotely close to the levels of glitchiness on Big Sur (even while I was beta testing it over the summer) that I have in every version of Catalina that I've ever used (up to and including 10.15.7).

The only reason why I might consider is if you lean heavily into iWork or Apple's Pro Apps where there are frequent version updates that require newer versions of macOS. Mojave stops getting security patches as soon as Big Sur's successor comes out. At that point, I'd strongly consider limiting your online activity on that Mac or upgrading to whatever comes after (either on that Mac or a newer Mac).

Messages IS better on Big Sur than it is on Mojave. That much I can safely say. Not for the features as much as the better interoperability with it on iPadOS and iOS (which is pretty much garbage on anything earlier than Big Sur). Yay for Catalyst. Safari 14 is also stellar, but, so long as you're keeping Mojave up to date on patches, you get to experience that there too.

Otherwise, I never put much stock into Apple's marketing for the new OSes. There hasn't been anything terribly noteworthy since they became free upgrades; plus, let's be real, the marquee features are not what ultimately matter. It's all the changes to things under the hood and all of the needless interface changes they make to existing apps that really matter when it comes to these big releases.

 

[sprague.rod]

Personally I really liked Mojave with its 32bit app capability and overall stability.
The reason for upgrading to me is not just for the shiny new features but to retain cross platform compatibility with peripheral and portable devices as well as third party software.
There is only so long that one can remain on one macOS before encountering issues with updates or the lack of as your macOS becomes unsupported.
It's been my experience that performing incremental updates and upgrades causes less headaches than not and in the end it's inevitable.
I know people who never upgraded their macOS between devices. It makes for a pretty steep learning curve when they buy a new device with a macOS 4 years later than the one they had.

 

[TechRunner]

I jumped from Mojave to Big Sur on my 2015 MBA, but only because I recently added an M1 Mini to my desk, and wanted both machines on the same OS. Apart from that, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the upgrade at this point.

 

[Colstan]

I've got a base model 2018 Mac mini that I upgraded with an eGPU and 64GB of system memory. It functions perfectly with Mojave, does everything I want, and has no stability or compatibility issues. I've tried both Catalina and Big Sur briefly, but then restored Mojave from Time Machine.

Both have issues with displaying fonts on non-retina standard definition monitors where font smoothing isn't as ideal as it once was. I have a 32-bit app or two that I'd like to keep using, but they are optional. I found Big Sur to look a bit too cartoony for my tastes, as well.

If Mojave is doing everything that you need it to do, then there is no reason to switch. Apple will still provide security updates for another year. You can then evaluate the next version of the macOS. Apple often tones down some of the excesses of versions that revamp the UI and iron out other issues. Remember, macOS 11 is a massive overhaul, both internally and visually, as well as introducing support for Apple Silicon. Those are substantial changes. The next release will probably be less dramatic.

Finally, at some point we will all have to upgrade. There are a couple of future computer games that I'd like to play that require Big Sur, and of course security updates will come to an end. At that point, it would probably be best to upgrade to whatever follows Big Sur.

 

[MBAir2010]

Mojave is great, even on a late 2010 MacBook air. If i can have only 1 feature that would be air drop between the ipad and macbook, therefore i might purchase a mid 201? Macbook just for that feature.
my concern is how many more years will our friends at apple support icloud on mojave, i guess 7 more.

 

[SalisburySam]

Thanks to all who shared their experiences, wisdom, and recommendations. Sounds like, for me, no need to rush to Big Sur but likely a concern when its replacement comes out should Mojave be jettisoned from support. Seems reasonable to me, and likely the path I’ll take at least until 11.5 or so comes out and is reviewed.

 

[k-hawinkler]

While awaiting end of January delivery of an M1 Mac mini with 16GB, 2TB, I am using my late 2013 “trashcan” Mac Pro.

On three different SSDs I keep Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur so that I can easily switch between OSs.
Catalina gives me the option to easily switch to Mojave or to Big Sur using the Preferences Startup Disk panel.

I format all new HDDs and SSDs on Mojave, first with HFS+, then with APFS to avoid problems, except for drives I use with SoftRAID version 6 beta. There HFS+ seems to be the right choice and I have not had any issues with RAID 0 or RAID 5 on Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter cable connected OWC 8-bay Thunderbolt 3 enclosures.

Under Big Sur 11.1 I have also successfully made a Time Machine backup to an APFS volume.

It certainly has been an interesting learning experience dealing with these systems.

Under Mojave all my tools work.
Under Catalina I lose 32 bit apps like PS CS6 ( although 64 bit it has a 32 bit component)
Under Big Sur I lose my Firmtek enclosures with their out of date driver.

Oh well, so it goes. After my M1 Mac mini arrives I will be using both systems as needed.

 

[SalisburySam]

Under Mojave all my tools work.

So, I think I’ll keep Mojave, at least until Big Sur’s successor hits the scene.

 

[Bazza1]

Eventually, the support to any product (be it hardware or software) comes to a halt, but as long as your Mac still works and the software you use does what you want it to do, why tempt fate? You seem happy enough with what you have, or you wouldn't ask 'why upgrade?'
Full disclosure - I am running a 2017 Air that came with High Sierra, and while I have upgraded (Mojave, Catalina and now to Big Sur), in the bog-standard, day-to-day needs of my Mac, I've not really experienced a vast improvement to my use.

Oh sure, there will those enthusiastic Macolytes who will say, 'Yeah, but what about...' and point out some feature, spiffy new icon or other bell and whistle with each OS update, and while they might be nice, none of them are truly 'one more thing' worthy that has changed computing as I use it.

So again, it mostly comes down to support - and in the long run, how much more money you'll need to pay out to keep your 3rd Party apps (and peripherals like printers) operational with any new OS.

 

[geekiemac]

For me it's about keeping up with the technology. I was running a very stable Mojave on my personal Mac (a late 2015 iMac 5K) and therefore skipped "Catastrophe Lina". So when 11.1 came along, and feedback seemed overall mostly positive, I thought it was time for me to take the leap, which I did a couple days ago by means of a clean install of, well, everything.

So far, I'm loving the new look & feel, it's fast, it's stable, and it feels like the mac OS UI got a nice makeover.

 

[incline design group]

I think the new OS looks beautiful and I appreciate a lot of the updated UI.

However, a day or so after updating my MacBook Pro it bricked my battery... I am guessing this is an SMC or Battery firmware issue that came along with the Big Sur Update but I'm not sure yet.

I posted about it here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/big-sur-dead-macbook-pro-battery.2277651/
with a link in that post to the Developers Forum thread on the same issue (where a lot of people are having the same problem).

 

[Natzoo]

Thanks to all who shared their experiences, wisdom, and recommendations. Sounds like, for me, no need to rush to Big Sur but likely a concern when its replacement comes out should Mojave be jettisoned from support. Seems reasonable to me, and likely the path I’ll take at least until 11.5 or so comes out and is reviewed.

I updated from Mojave to Catalina last week and so far it’s been ok. On Mojave, safari would use the dgpu all the time but on Catalina, maps is constantly tracking my location (i just disabled it). So far I like Catalina a bit better but Mojave might be the best bet considering there’s alot of potential bugs. I just wanted to try sidecar which was the reason for the “upgrade”. But yea, I’m not gonna update to Big Sur, way too ugly and not practical.

 

[Vauxhall]

I installed Catalina and then regretted it as I lost access to Word 2008, Canon printer/scanner, plus others. I went back to Mojave for peace of mind and not having to spend $$ on new equipment. Based on this experience I will stick with Mojave. Apple glorifies Big Sur beyond most users needs and at my age I certainly do not want to have to relearn how to accomplish things I am already familiar with.

 

[Bazza1]

I installed Catalina and then regretted it as I lost access to Word 2008, Canon printer/scanner, plus others. I went back to Mojave for peace of mind and not having to spend $$ on new equipment. Based on this experience I will stick with Mojave. Apple glorifies Big Sur beyond most users needs and at my age I certainly do not want to have to relearn how to accomplish things I am already familiar with.

Yes, a 'free' OS update is great - as long as it doesn't permanently make obsolete software or peripherals that previously worked just fine, thank you very much - but now require replacement, at some cost. 'Free', huh?

 

[Geepaw]

I just upgraded to Mojave from High Sierra. It has been great so far and I will keep it as long as it remains supported. There is no substitute for a completely stable OS.

 

[zangd]

I was happy enough with Mojave, but in a recent "security" update they restored the startup noise which for me is a deal breaker. I refused to buy a new Mac for years until they finally got rid of the noise a couple of years back. Now it's back to being kicked out of libraries and waking up babies for me until I upgrade to Big Sur which allows it to be turned off. The 'connected to the power supply' noise is another thing they need to get rid of, I hope that can be controlled in BS. At least that one is not quite so loud.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Have a M1 mini, obviously with Big Sur, and a MBP 2015 still on Mojave. So far, I do not feel the need to have the same OS on both machines. MBP runs stable. I think I will upgrade when Mojave is no longer supported.

 

[SalisburySam]

I was happy enough with Mojave, but in a recent "security" update they restored the startup noise which for me is a deal breaker. I refused to buy a new Mac for years until they finally got rid of the noise a couple of years back. Now it's back to being kicked out of libraries and waking up babies for me until I upgrade to Big Sur which allows it to be turned off. The 'connected to the power supply' noise is another thing they need to get rid of, I hope that can be controlled in BS. At least that one is not quite so loud.

I haven’t noticed this on my 2017 iMac, but I keep the sound on mute almost all the time to avoid the other annoying beepage produced by things like deleting a file. Is there any option to keep this off?

 

[pshufd]

One of my systems was updated to Big Sur last night. I accepted an update and it took a while. I thought it was one of the small security updates. The most annoying thing about Big Sur is the pauses moving from operation to operation. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not but it is annoying.

I tested Big Sur in a virtual machine several months ago and ran into the same thing and thought that it was an issue running the virtual machine but it appears that it's part of the behavior of the operating system. I am giving some consideration to restoring from Time Machine backup. Is there a fix for the pauses?

 

[Vauxhall]

I haven’t noticed this on my 2017 iMac, but I keep the sound on mute almost all the time to avoid the other annoying beepage produced by things like deleting a file. Is there any option to keep this off?

As a general rule I always have the sound OFF until specifically needed, I know what you mean, these sounds are both unnecessary and so intrusive.

 

[Ritsuka]

There is an option in System Preferences -> Sound to disable the UI sounds.

 

[Vauxhall]

Best way to disable sound is to simply turn down the volume controls, key F11 for down and F12 for up.

 

[pshufd]

My plan for today: backup Big Sur system to SSD using Time Machine.

Restore Mojave from WD Time Machine disk (I have three of them as I'm paranoid about backup).

Figure out how to disable updates to Big Sur without disabling security updates. I have two MacBook Pros on Mojave, an iMac on High Sierra and a Virtual Machine on Mojave. I'm guessing that Big Sur is fine on the M1 Macs (I checked with my daughter), but it is buggy or quirky with older Macs. I thought that I'd give it a day. I have and it's annoying enough for me to downgrade.

I'm sure that Big Sur will be a lot better in a year and may upgrade then. For now, if I need Big Sur, or Catalina, I'll just run it in a Virtual Machine. I will need Big Sur next year as TurboTax will require at least Catalina next year.

 

[txtx]

TL;DR - Big Sur update, worth it? Worth it if you're happy on Mojave on iMac?

Not sure if this is too late to help or means much, but...

It was definitely not worth it for me. I liked Mojave very much. When Catalina was 9 months old, I thought it would be solid. I had no clue about the separation of the data and system volumes. The Catalina firmware on my late 2012 MacBook Pro 10,2 (best computer I've ever owned), prevents CCC & SuperDuper from encrypting bootable clones. Eh, not an issue for most people--if you have a newer Mac it's no issue (unless you have Big Sur*). But my laptop contains private data for work, so any clone I have with me for an emergency must be encrypted as well. I'm sure there are many in the medical community in the same boat. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling of security to have 2 Time Machine backups and 2 bootable clones in 2 different places, all encrypted.

When I wanted to then move "down" to Mojave, that's when I found out you can't migrate your data down from a clone made on Catalina, so I was stuck (I should have kept a Mojave clone for longer than 2 months).

*Big Sur is even more of a problem with bootable clones. They're difficult to create, and if your internal SSD (hardware) dies, it's a prime situation to boot from your clone, but you can't, because that process is dependent on the internal SSD being alive. It is POSSIBLE Apple repairs this issue, but I'm not holding my breath.

Shirt Pocket Watch

I should say: if you want to clone your data as a backup with CCC or SuperDuper to restore from, you still can. And I've never had an Apple internal SSD die on me.