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adp-20

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2020
40
7
I'm wondering if it's safe to update to Big Sur by now, because a while ago there were huge problems with older Macbooks completely bricking in the process. I have a very old Macbook, mid-2014, with Catalina. Has Apple fixed this issue? Are they even going to?
 

appltech

macrumors 6502a
Apr 23, 2020
688
167
I say don't. There's still many bugs and imperfections with all sorts of stuff on BigSur (just look at the number of threads here).
And there's not that many benefits in upgrading anyway.
 
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DJLC

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2005
959
404
North Carolina
For me personally? I'd probably go for it. I like shiny, and it's been fine on my 2015 MacBook Pro and 2019 mini.

If I'm advising you, OP, who I know nothing about? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,251
5,560
ny somewhere
it's an impossible question. safe? if you upgrade, and all is well... then it's 'safe'. if you have issues, then... probably not. lots of people have upgraded and are happy. some are not (i'm fine on both of my macs).

if catalina works for you, you can play it safe, and stay with that. if you decide to upgrade, back up everything first. and then, as with all of us, you hope for the best, because no one here can guarantee anything (good or bad).
 

MRrainer

macrumors 68000
Aug 8, 2008
1,534
1,115
Zurich, Switzerland
I'd stay on Catalina on that hardware, if it works.

I've got a 2018 Mini and after the release of 11.3, I upgraded.

I recently had one unexpected reboot (full crash with automatic reboot) and it seems that sometimes, after the displays come back from powersave-mode, all the open application-windows aren't visible anymore.
I do suspect this is more a problem with the Opera Browser.

I do like the look, but I miss the widgets :(
 
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Monotremata

macrumors 6502
Apr 11, 2019
369
217
Fontana, CA
No problems here either on a "2020" i7 Mac mini.. I bought it with Catalina installed, 'upgraded' to the public beta and then the release, all the way up to 11.3.1. Was kind of surprised that nothing happened along the way to require a reinstall and its still running great.
 

ewu

macrumors regular
Apr 14, 2020
113
74
I have message lots of time, but I still message it again.

use an external SSD such as Samsung T7 1TB, and try to install Big Sur into external ssd.

if Big Sur in external ssd runs very well in your hardware, then you could format ssd and upgrade.
 

Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
I'm wondering if it's safe to update to Big Sur by now, because a while ago there were huge problems with older Macbooks completely bricking in the process. I have a very old Macbook, mid-2014, with Catalina. Has Apple fixed this issue? Are they even going to?
I recently upgraded my Early 2013 15-inch Retina MBP to Big Sur using OCLP vers 0.1.4 and have not had any issues. In fact when I installed Big Sur I installed vers 11.3.1 then today updated my Big Sur install to vers 11.4 Beta 3 with no issue to report. My laptop updated normally so as long as you follow the install guide you shouldn't have any issue.

Here is the link to the OCLP install guide that I followed...

Yeah, I find it safe to update my laptops to Big Sur.
 

gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,017
2,305
I'd stay on Catalina on that hardware, if it works.

I've got a 2018 Mini and after the release of 11.3, I upgraded.

I recently had one unexpected reboot (full crash with automatic reboot) and it seems that sometimes, after the displays come back from powersave-mode, all the open application-windows aren't visible anymore.
I do suspect this is more a problem with the Opera Browser.

I do like the look, but I miss the widgets :(
Also just upgraded my 2018 mini to 11.3.1 after holding off 9 months. Now my 4K monitor isn’t recognised at all and my speakers constantly crackle with no apparent fix. Apple’s software is hilariously bad these days. Even my W10 gaming pc is flawless by comparison…. Very very disappointing.
 

gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,017
2,305
I have message lots of time, but I still message it again.

use an external SSD such as Samsung T7 1TB, and try to install Big Sur into external ssd.

if Big Sur in external ssd runs very well in your hardware, then you could format ssd and upgrade.
Good idea. I will be doing this going forward as I’ve been burnt so many times now (I need to learn).
 

MRrainer

macrumors 68000
Aug 8, 2008
1,534
1,115
Zurich, Switzerland
Also just upgraded my 2018 mini to 11.3.1 after holding off 9 months. Now my 4K monitor isn’t recognised at all and my speakers constantly crackle with no apparent fix. Apple’s software is hilariously bad these days. Even my W10 gaming pc is flawless by comparison…. Very very disappointing.

I have 2 Eizo 3285 4K displays on the Mini (via USB C) - the problems with USB C and 4K displays were the reason I held off updating. They are supposed to be fixed in 11.3…
 
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gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,017
2,305
I have 2 Eizo 3285 4K displays on the Mini (via USB C) - the problems with USB C and 4K displays were the reason I held off updating. They are supposed to be fixed in 11.3…
Continue holding off for as long as you can imo. Apple haven’t learnt their lesson.
 

gusping

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2012
2,017
2,305
Update: my mini fails to wake from sleep every 1 in 5 times and crashes, requiring a full reboot. This is as bad as when i picked up my mini in December 2018. Speechless....
 

jk73

macrumors 65816
Jul 19, 2012
1,321
1,286
I wouldn’t do it. I updated my late-2016 MBP and, as of last week, it’s stuck in a kernel panic reboot loop after a weird Safari crash/kernel panic while playing a YouTube video. Might be a coincidence, but I didn’t have kernel panics pre-Big Sur.
 

TiggrToo

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2017
4,205
8,838
I wouldn’t do it. I updated my late-2016 MBP and, as of last week, it’s stuck in a kernel panic reboot loop after a weird Safari crash/kernel panic while playing a YouTube video. Might be a coincidence, but I didn’t have kernel panics pre-Big Sur.

So, your personal experience should now dictate everyone’s experience?

Neither my 2015 nor 2020 MBPs have issues like that. We just updated the 12th corporate MBP to Big Sur and not one has had kernel panics.
 

jk73

macrumors 65816
Jul 19, 2012
1,321
1,286
So, your personal experience should now dictate everyone’s experience?

Neither my 2015 nor 2020 MBPs have issues like that. We just updated the 12th corporate MBP to Big Sur and not one has had kernel panics.

I didn’t try to “dictate” anything. The OP, who is using a 7-year-old machine, asked for feedback and I gave some.
 
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