Sonoma is making me hate Apple

[donblanco]

I've been on Sonoma since beta, and originally I was one of the 'it all just works for me I don't know why you are complaining' reply guys. However, almost unnoticed, little things have gone haywire, bit by bit, until I am forced to realize that Sonoma represents some fundamental shifts in how Apple approaches software and hardware. I can recall a few examples but here are the ones that have caused the most problems, at least the ones I can remember:

• Keychron K3 - had to find/use a 3rd party app to be able to use the function key row for brightness, volume etc. with external HDMI monitor
• External drives - multiple issues
  • USB read/write speeds being throttled - no fix
  • ExFAT drives disconnecting any time you try to copy to them - no fix
  • SanDisk USB flash drives completely inop - no fixes yet
  • mostly resolved by switching out to an external SSD drive - but gave up 1TB of space
• HP Printers - had an old Samsung laser printer that gave up the ghost (some circuit board according to error code) and I replaced it w/ an HP Smart Tank inkjet (USB, no WiFi). Although I finally got it working by using the drivers from a completely different model (Deskjet) I had to sacrifice the scan functionality. HP Smart App does not see this printer connected by USB, will only work for WiFi models.
• Other - this is the stuff I spent hours on to either find workarounds or fixes. I either make an adjustment or find a fix of some sort and then forget about it. But it has been a *constant* all this time.
• Just to add, most of this has happened after it came out of beta.
• Latest issue was game controllers w/ Steam. Finally found a model that works, but only when plugged in, not with bluetooth.

In each of these cases the problem started with some MacOS update and the vendor has been unable to fix their software to match, or has taken a long time to do so. I *refuse* to believe that software and hardware developers don't *want* to fix these things, but the only other option is that Apple has made it either very difficult or impossible for them to do so.

Of course I could roll back but not only is that an extreme hassle but I will then start running into end-of-life support timeframes.

I'm just extremely frustrated right now. I can't believe Apple is actually making me consider moving back to Windoze! I can think of many reasons why I should not do that, but the balance is shifting. I can feel it...

 

[fisherking]

not everyone is having the problems you're experiencing. so it's worth posting here, asking for help, getting perspective. also might be worth calling apple. and which mac is this?

getting help might be more rewarding than ranting; the OS is not an issue for everyone. and apple isn't making your 'consider moving back to Windoze'... your experience is.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

SanDisk USB flash drives completely inop - no fixes yet

Not disputing you having issues but I had 2 older SanDisk USB-A I just tried and both mount for me on a M2 MBP. One's a Cruzer Edge and the other a Cruzer Blade formatted as Ext Journaled and FAT32, quite old, I know. I generally nowadays use Samsung thumb drives, sata and NVMe's SSD's.

 

[donblanco]

not everyone is having the problems you're experiencing. so it's worth posting here, asking for help, getting perspective. also might be worth calling apple. and which mac is this?

Well of *course* not everyone is having these problems. Not everyone has my specific hardware/software combo. Also, that is not a claim I made. But there are a significant number of people affected for most of the things I mentioned. I found workarounds for most, but usually involving a sacrifice of some functionality or convenience.

getting help might be more rewarding than ranting; the OS is not an issue for everyone. and apple isn't making your 'consider moving back to Windoze'... your experience is.

I'm not sure why you presume I have not sought help...

Let me reword this for you. Technically, no -- Apple does not want anyone to move to Windows. But they do pursue a hardware/software strategy, they always have. My experience with this strategy, primarily since the rollout of Sonoma, has shifted negatively. It is my negative perception that causes me to reconsider my platforms of choice.

Which is the same thing I originally said but with more nuance.

 

[donblanco]

Not disputing you having issues but I had 2 older SanDisk USB-A I just tried and both mount for me on a M2 MBP. One's a Cruzer Edge and the other a Cruzer Blade formatted as Ext Journaled and FAT32, quite old, I know. I generally nowadays use Samsung thumb drives, sata and NVMe's SSD's.

Mine was an Ultra Fit 128GB.

 

[Bigwaff]

Not everyone has my specific hardware/software combo

Which you still have not specified.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Mind was an Ultra Fit 128GB.

Oh I see, similar to the FitPlus in Samsung's range. Tbh, with the exception of SD cards for photography, I gave up on SanDisk after an internal SATA SSD suddenly gave up the ghost BUT in all fairness, it was pretty much a first gen product back in the day. So I switched my external memory exclusively to Samsung now and especially the DuoPlus USB-A+C has been incredible for read/write speeds and is used on the M2 MBP and a 2009 MBP. Not sure why your Ultra Fit is misbehaving.

 

[donblanco]

Which you still have not specified.

M1 Mac Mini
M1 MacBook Air

 

[svenmany]

I do have issues with my SanDisk drives, but those started before Sonoma. I've had issues with external drives for years.

MonitorControl is a free app that I use to control the brightness on my displays; it also handles volume. It's free so needing a third-party app for that functionality doesn't frustrate me.

I'm also frustrated at times by troubling issues. But, I've just learned to just try to relax and work around them. I find Windows more frustrating.

I don't have a problem with rants. Although I'd call it an opinion piece rather than a rant. You're not looking for technical support; you're looking for a sympathetic ear.

 

[AlumaMac]

M1 Mac Mini
M1 MacBook Air

FYI, Bluetooth on the Mac Mini has been flaky for years and Apple doesn't care to address it.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

HP Printers - had an old Samsung laser printer that gave up the ghost (some circuit board according to error code) and I replaced it w/ an HP Smart Tank inkjet (USB, no WiFi). Although I finally got it working by using the drivers from a completely different model (Deskjet) I had to sacrifice the scan functionality. HP Smart App does not see this printer connected by USB, will only work for WiFi models.

Dropped printer support has to be one of the most infuriating things when the hardware is still fully functional. This is going back 10 yrs plus but I had a nice Canon MP "something" multi function inkjet model with 6 or 7 (can't recall exactly) cartridges. It would print gorgeous photos, print direct onto CD's, scan slides, etc., until an OS X update and poof, gone was the Canon scanning software use. Off course Canon blamed Apple and Apple blamed Canon and the customer blamed everyone but was ultimately screwed.

 

[apostolosdt]

Base Mini M1 has been my all-round unit for quite some time now, and yes, occasional issues with some WD external platter disks do occur, but not at an annoying rate. I don’t see them as specifically “Mac” faults.

 

[donblanco]

FYI, Bluetooth on the Mac Mini has been flaky for years and Apple doesn't care to address it.

In an ultra-connected world that relies *heavily* on Bluetooth, I find this attitude especially frustrating! No excuse.

Dropped printer support has to be one of the most infuriating things when the hardware is still fully functional. This is going back 10 yrs plus but I had a nice Canon MP "something" multi function inkjet model with 6 or 7 (can't recall exactly) cartridges. It would print gorgeous photos, print direct onto CD's, scan slides, etc., until an OS X update and poof, gone was the Canon scanning software use. Off course Canon blamed Apple and Apple blamed Canon and the customer blamed everyone but was ultimately screwed.

To this date, Apple HP drivers are available up through MacOS 11 - nothing for 12, 13 or 14! From the HP side the advise seems to be centered around AirPrint - which is cool, except my printer does not have WiFi... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Base Mini M1 has been my all-round unit for quite some time now, and yes, occasional issues with some WD external platter disks do occur, but not at an annoying rate. I don’t see them as specifically “Mac” faults.

And yet the changes occurred only after the Sonoma update - hard to see how that's *not* a Mac fault...

 

[apostolosdt]

[...] And yet the changes occurred only after the Sonoma update - hard to see how that's *not* a Mac fault...

I don't dispute your posts; I'm saying it all sounds like a problem with your machines, not universally for all Sonoma users.

 

[donblanco]

I don't dispute your posts; I'm saying it all sounds like a problem with your machines, not universally for all Sonoma users.

Well, I mean there has *never* been an OS changed that affected *all* users, right? Not possible, nor expected. But if it was just my machines I wouldn't find dozens of threads on Mac forums (like MacRumors) and Reddit discussing the same issues...

 

[fisherking]

Well, I mean there has *never* been an OS changed that affected *all* users, right? Not possible, nor expected. But if it was just my machines I wouldn't find dozens of threads on Mac forums (like MacRumors) and Reddit discussing the same issues...

you can find dozens of threads of people hating (or at least, complaining) about every mac OS since forever. it just proves that there are always bugs, issues... some common, some less common.

for many (myself included), sonoma is a banner OS for apple. if not for you, you can get help, or... as you've mentioned, move to windows (where all is perfect, and there are no bugs). 🤔

 

[donblanco]

you can find dozens of threads of people hating (or at least, complaining) about every mac OS since forever. it just proves that there are always bugs, issues... some common, some less common.

for many (myself included), sonoma is a banner OS for apple. if not for you, you can get help, or... as you've mentioned, move to windows (where all is perfect, and there are no bugs). 🤔

Allow me to quote myself from the original post:

"originally I was one of the 'it all just works for me I don't know why you are complaining' reply guys"

So I understand where you're coming from, it just stopped applying to me at some point.

Ecosystem switches are not to be taken lightly. I supported 98% Windows in my IT career and have used Macs and other Apple devices since the early 2000's. Lots of other linux/chromebook experimentation in between. I just really thought I had settled on Mac and am 'unsettled' that it might not be true any longer...

 

[fisherking]

Allow me to quote myself from the original post:

So I understand where you're coming from, it just stopped applying to me at some point.

Ecosystem switches are not to be taken lightly. I supported 98% Windows in my IT career and have used Macs and other Apple devices since the early 2000's. Lots of other linux/chromebook experimentation in between. I just really thought I had settled on Mac and am 'unsettled' that it might not be true any longer...

so, again, sorry you are having issues, and hope you either get them resolved, or find a platform that works better for you. 👍

 

[chevyboy60013]

I do have issues with my SanDisk drives, but those started before Sonoma. I've had issues with external drives for years.

MonitorControl is a free app that I use to control the brightness on my displays; it also handles volume. It's free so needing a third-party app for that functionality doesn't frustrate me.

I'm also frustrated at times by troubling issues. But, I've just learned to just try to relax and work around them. I find Windows more frustrating.

I don't have a problem with rants. Although I'd call it an opinion piece rather than a rant. You're not looking for technical support; you're looking for a sympathetic ear.

Windows is much more frustrating than macOS, I am running Sonoma on a very much so unsupported mid 2010 MacBook Pro as now my daily laptop for work and pleasure instead of my much newer Dell laptop that runs windows 11 pro. Just did the oclp update and updated to 14.4.1 without any issues and it just works. 99% of the time any windows update would break something and require hours of trying to fix that issue and not just working. I switched to Apple around the time Snow Leopard was released after fighting with a brand new HP windows vista laptop that gave me fits just trying to look at email, ended up buying my friends white MacBook think it was an a1181 model since he just bought a MacBook pro because he liked the silver color better plus the lit up keyboard, and did not look at windows until late last year when I needed a laptop for the job. Got the dell with windows 11 pro and touch screen, why on earth a laptop has touch screen when it is not a convertible or can be totally folded over is beyond me, and after having to deal with windows stupidity and finding out I can use a mac, I got this mid 2010 MacBook pro, did the oclp patch and installed sonoma on it and guess what..... the MacBook pro running unsupported sonoma JUST WORKS.

 

[t122648]

I've been on Sonoma since beta, and originally I was one of the 'it all just works for me I don't know why you are complaining' reply guys. However, almost unnoticed, little things have gone haywire, bit by bit, until I am forced to realize that Sonoma represents some fundamental shifts in how Apple approaches software and hardware. I can recall a few examples but here are the ones that have caused the most problems, at least the ones I can remember:

• Keychron K3 - had to find/use a 3rd party app to be able to use the function key row for brightness, volume etc. with external HDMI monitor
• External drives - multiple issues
  • USB read/write speeds being throttled - no fix
  • ExFAT drives disconnecting any time you try to copy to them - no fix
  • SanDisk USB flash drives completely inop - no fixes yet
  • mostly resolved by switching out to an external SSD drive - but gave up 1TB of space
• HP Printers - had an old Samsung laser printer that gave up the ghost (some circuit board according to error code) and I replaced it w/ an HP Smart Tank inkjet (USB, no WiFi). Although I finally got it working by using the drivers from a completely different model (Deskjet) I had to sacrifice the scan functionality. HP Smart App does not see this printer connected by USB, will only work for WiFi models.
• Other - this is the stuff I spent hours on to either find workarounds or fixes. I either make an adjustment or find a fix of some sort and then forget about it. But it has been a *constant* all this time.
• Just to add, most of this has happened after it came out of beta.
• Latest issue was game controllers w/ Steam. Finally found a model that works, but only when plugged in, not with bluetooth.

In each of these cases the problem started with some MacOS update and the vendor has been unable to fix their software to match, or has taken a long time to do so. I *refuse* to believe that software and hardware developers don't *want* to fix these things, but the only other option is that Apple has made it either very difficult or impossible for them to do so.

Of course I could roll back but not only is that an extreme hassle but I will then start running into end-of-life support timeframes.

I'm just extremely frustrated right now. I can't believe Apple is actually making me consider moving back to Windoze! I can think of many reasons why I should not do that, but the balance is shifting. I can feel it...

I use MacOS and Windows 10/11. Day-to-day use just shows how Microsoft has caught and passed Apple in reliability and usability. It is not really a surprise as IOS is years behind Android. I cringe when I use my Iphone 14 and see how far behind it is to My Samsung S24.

 

[fisherking]

I use MacOS and Windows 10/11. Day-to-day use just shows how Microsoft has caught and passed Apple in reliability and usability. It is not really a surprise as IOS is years behind Android. I cringe when I use my Iphone 14 and see how far behind it is to My Samsung S24.

all of these OSes have their strengths & weaknesses, and we can choose what to use. simple

 

[donblanco]

I use MacOS and Windows 10/11. Day-to-day use just shows how Microsoft has caught and passed Apple in reliability and usability. It is not really a surprise as IOS is years behind Android. I cringe when I use my Iphone 14 and see how far behind it is to My Samsung S24.

Say more...

Re: Windows 11 - what do you see as its strengths/weaknesses vs MacOS? What device do you think is comparable to an M1 MBAir?

Re: Android - My last experience w/ Android was futzing with ROM mods and trying to get a better experience out of a cheap phone. My current phone is an iPhone 13 and has generally been a good experience and cost me $600. What is a comparable Android device that would surprise me with feature improvements?

 

[Moncler]

I thought my machine was slow too, then took a look at Activity Monitor and found a bunch of recipe-related websites I'd checked for recipes were just devouring CPU. I mean, a Serious Eats page was consuming 186% of a core, meaning it was slurping down nearly two cores out of the six in my 2018 i9 MacBook Pro.

Dunno if that's a Safari issue, a Sonoma issue, or some new trickery that recipe websites are playing with-- mining bitcoin or something?

I force-closed those pages, rebooted, and all has been well. Snappy, in fact.

I've had no other issues with Sonoma. Aside from that, it's been smooth sailing.

 

[donblanco]

Hybrid solution in progress. Downgrading Mac Mini to 11, MacBook Air to 12. First time I have ever done this!

 

[biffuz]

My two main issues, on my MBP M1:
- HDMI audio breaks after a few times of disconneting/reconnecting monitors, only fix is a reboot
- Game mode is worse than not, with lags and crackling audio (mostrly depends on the game)
And I'm glad I read the Java issues with 14.4 before updating.