Sequoia cannot be installed on M5 Macbook. Silly me.

[ForkHandles]

Its not distrust, but rather preference and concern.

Its great that its working well for you, but that doesn't negate the legions of people having compatibility and performance issues. Then there's the UI, and how it gets in the way for some people, making it harder or they just don't like what how it works.

Finally, the idea of fixing something that isn't broken. If Sequoia is working well, no issues, what does Tahoe give you? The major feature of Tahoe is the Glass UI, and if that doesn't interest you, why bother.

I think we must take solace from the fact that this platform has gone through months of beta testing, by a similar number of legions, reporting bugs which then get addressed. Apple have the stats and it’s highly unlikely that they released the os before it reached minimum standards.
The vast majority of users experience are overwhelmingly positive.

When it comes to change, people love to moan don’t they? On iOS at least what’s brilliant is that it completely gets out of your way, minimising things that have no urgent need of being front and centre.

On Mac, not a great deal has changed to be honest. I can still get my work done.

 

[rb2112]

This is and has been the case for many years, when new HW is released at the same time as a new OS, it only runs on the new OS... like and iPhone 17 requires iOS 26, nothing new...

OP, I do remember this happening with 2011 MBP 17". Wanted OS X 10.6...but no way around needing to use 10.7. I think I tried using a 13" MBP install disk to no avail. IIRC it was close except for maybe the display drivers. Oh well, in the end it did not matter due to GPU death., but yeah, what you are seeing is normal.

 

[zenmacx]

From the early response, MacOS 26 doesn't seem ready for primetime and was rushed out the door with myriad of stability issues. Great that it's working well for you but Safari 26 is super laggy on my M4 Pro MBP 14. I reverted Safari and am sticking to Sequoia for now.

I look forward to upgrading to the redesigned MBP 16 in a year and hopefully Apple will have worked out their OS kinks by then or else they're not getting (any more of) my money. Apple has really regressed from a software quality standpoint lately.

Well said!

I too find macOS 26 super laggy on my 16” M4 Max MacBook Pro. Their are a plethora of smaller annoyances as well. As my much loved primary computer this is very disappointing.

As a long time PowerBook / MacBook / MacBook Air / MacBook Pro user this is far less than Apples best work and I dare say incredibly discouraging.

 

[maflynn]

I too find macOS 26 super laggy

I was hoping that 26.1 was going to improve upon that

 

[brilliantthings]

I was hoping that 26.1 was going to improve upon that

I think it has improved but it's still laggy and unreliable.

 

[maxoakland]

What would be the point to return the M5 Macbook for a M4 with Sequoia? What if you don’t like macOS 27 either? Then you have a fantastic modern device that remains stuck on an old OS.

If Apple keeps making the Mac worse, I’m moving to Linux. We’re not locked in no matter how much they want us to be

 

[zenmacx]

If Apple keeps making the Mac worse, I’m moving to Linux. We’re not locked in no matter how much they want us to be

Ironically I have a MacBook Pro running Linux which I’ve been holding off using as my primary laptop. Currently dedicated to work only tasks it will be fast and easy to make the switch.

 

[JanetTheGreat]

I really don't understand people who downgrade or who have an issue with the new OS to the point they will consider returning or not getting something. If you don't like the new OS, don't upgrade to it.

 

[NeonNights]

I really don't understand people who downgrade or who have an issue with the new OS to the point they will consider returning or not getting something. If you don't like the new OS, don't upgrade to it.

Can you please rewrite this so it makes sense? It sounds like you don't understand why someone would downgrade or upgrade.

1. New Macs come with the latest OS and can't be downgraded. Why keep it beyond the return period if it isn't working for you?

2. Some folks upgraded in good faith or were interested in new features but then encountered issues with v26, thus needing to downgrade. How else are you gonna know it doesn’t work until you try it?

3. I fall into this last group, heeding the advice of others and avoiding the headaches altogether. Maybe once the dust settles then I will upgrade to v26 or skip it entirely.

 

[JanetTheGreat]

Can you please rewrite this so it makes sense? It sounds like you don't understand why someone would downgrade or upgrade.

1. New Macs come with the latest OS and can't be downgraded. Why keep it beyond the return period if it isn't working for you?

2. Some folks upgraded in good faith or were interested in new features but then encountered issues with v26, thus needing to downgrade. How else are you gonna know it doesn’t work until you try it?

3. I fall into this last group, heeding the advice of others and avoiding the headaches altogether. Maybe once the dust settles then I will upgrade to v26 or skip it entirely.

It is clear to me that you are misunderstanding what I am saying, so I will explain again. If someone wants to buy a brand new computer, only to try to installing an older version of something that the newer computer wasn't intended for, what else are they to expect? Why would it work the way they want it to, when it isn't designed that way?

For me I've been on beta updates for v26. I haven't noticed any significant issues, other than the Mac being slow during the first or second rollouts.

 

[Yebubbleman]

As others have said, the oldest version of macOS that a given Mac can run is a custom build of the version of macOS that was current when the Mac was released. It's been that way since well before the Intel era. The M5 MacBook Pro came out during macOS Tahoe's reign as the current OS. Therefore, it being able to run macOS Sequoia or earlier isn't something one ought to expect.

They DO allow this sort of thing in the Windows PC world, however.

 

[Timpetus]

This is one of the primary reasons I've so rarely bought a new Mac right when it came out. MacOS major version updates require some working out, and I require my machines to work as reliably as the machine I'm upgrading from. Buying new Macs when they go on a really good sale about 6 months after they are released is a great way to keep access to an older, proven macOS version, save money on an upgraded configuration, and ensure my workflow is not ruined by being locked into some major bug.

 

[northernmunky]

Theres genuine reasons why this can be really annoying sometimes. I'm refreshing kit for a media agency with all new Macs, problem is we use specialist editing tools that the software developers qualify for each OS.
To this day the software simply doesnt run at all on Tahoe so I've had a few occasions where my brand new Mac Studio is essentially a paperweight until the software developers can catch up.

 

[RSmith2023]

I'm glad you cannot be killed by regret. Bought a brand new M5 Macbook Pro and for the third time I really tried to use Tahoe. Gave up. Erased everything and voilà, you cannot clean install anything but Tahoe. Thanks, Apple. Really silly, but I guess stupidity is on me for not asking first at the Apple Store. Should have sticked with a basic M4 Pro. Man, this is really, really silly.

View attachment 2576253

This is nothing new. They don’t develop NEW hardware on an older OS. THAT would be silly. Same reason you cannot install iOS 18 on the iPhone 17’s…

 

[RSmith2023]

Theres genuine reasons why this can be really annoying sometimes. I'm refreshing kit for a media agency with all new Macs, problem is we use specialist editing tools that the software developers qualify for each OS.
To this day the software simply doesnt run at all on Tahoe so I've had a few occasions where my brand new Mac Studio is essentially a paperweight until the software developers can catch up.

Sounds like you need better developers who know the importance of using the beta cycle of an OS to test applications against.

 

[northernmunky]

Sounds like you need better developers who know the importance of using the beta cycle of an OS to test applications against.

They're not my developers. Thats well out of my control.

 

[rb2112]

Ironically I have a MacBook Pro running Linux which I’ve been holding off using as my primary laptop. Currently dedicated to work only tasks it will be fast and easy to make the switch.

Is that an Intel or an M1/M2? IIRC the Asahi Linux was developed for M1 and M2, but I am not sure if it was further supported for M3 and M4 (and M5 now)...

 

[dmccloud]

Theres genuine reasons why this can be really annoying sometimes. I'm refreshing kit for a media agency with all new Macs, problem is we use specialist editing tools that the software developers qualify for each OS.
To this day the software simply doesnt run at all on Tahoe so I've had a few occasions where my brand new Mac Studio is essentially a paperweight until the software developers can catch up.

That's the fault of the developers for those apps. Apple provided the tools for developers to update their apps in June, so any delays are entirely on their shoulders. Are there no alternative apps which a) meet the requirements for your projects and b) have been updated for Tahoe?

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

I too find macOS 26 super laggy on my 16” M4 Max MacBook Pro. Their are a plethora of smaller annoyances as well. As my much loved primary computer this is very disappointing.

What's laggy? I've had zero issues on my M2Pro

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

They're not my developers. Thats well out of my control.

They're not Apple's, either.