The declining quality of Apple OS

[hifivoice]

I've been a devoted Apple user since 1986, kickstarting my journey with a custom Apple Plus assembled from swapped 128k Mac boards, decked out with memory upgrades and more. Over the years, I've cherished the seamless workflow and couldn't fathom why others opted for cheaper alternatives, plagued by constant blue screens.

However, the recent decline in OS quality has left me disheartened. Numerous bugs and irksome issues have surfaced, particularly within the Music app, now a sluggish disaster compared to its former self. Safari, too, displays intermittent red backgrounds, occasionally enveloping the entire menu bar, or outright refusing to scroll certain pages. The pinnacle of frustration came with the recent OS 14.2 update.

Pre-update, I freed up a substantial 75GB on my hard drive, only to find the liberated space stubbornly absent. A reboot attempt led to an unresponsive desktop background, forcing me to resort to the iMac's power button. Bluetooth mouse acting up? A tedious search for three mice ensued, resolved only by toggling the mouse off and on. Even after a safe boot, the elusive disk space refused to materialize. Undeterred, I decided to embark on the OS-X 14.2 update journey.

Why did the update demand four seemingly interminable cycles, often providing no indication of progress or potential hang-ups? The frustration peaked as disks refused to mount post-installation, leading to an endless loop. Attempts to restart Finder were futile, and subsequent reboots faced the same desktop-hanging dilemma. Even the trusty "sudo shutdown -r now" command in Terminal rejected its duty. Disk Utility checks showed no issues, and then, out of the blue, my missing 75GB reappeared.

After disconnecting peripherals, powering down all devices, and enduring a ten-minute hiatus, I cautiously reconnected everything. Miraculously, the system booted up without a hitch. A marathon of over ten reboots and an hour later, I finally reclaimed the disk space from those deleted files.

Welcome to Macintosh 2023.

 

[Bazza1]

Be prepared for the Apple apologists to blame you for the issues you had...

 

[fisherking]

Be prepared for the Apple apologists to blame you for the issues you had...

or to point out that this isn't everyone's experience, so perhaps not a 'declining quality of Apple OS', but issues related to the OP's particular setup. which mac? which version of sonoma?

just my 2 cents, but getting help with issues is probably more useful than venting.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"However, the recent decline in OS quality has left me disheartened. Numerous bugs and irksome issues have surfaced, particularly within the Music app, now a sluggish disaster compared to its former self."

Have you tried "Retroactive"?
It will let you install iTunes on the latest OS's.

Give it a try (it's free):

Release Retroactive 2.0 · cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive

Retroactive 2.0 improves compatibility with macOS Ventura and macOS Monterey: Resolves a problem where iPhoto quits unexpectedly on macOS Monterey 12.3 or later Fixes an issue where Full Disk Acce...

github.com

I don't use "Music", either -- because Apple chose to drop the internet radio tuner that let you access the free streaming music channels "out there".

iTunes (via Retroactive) brought them back for me.
If you're using Sonoma, the version above may put up a "not tested with Sonoma" alert (or something like that). Ignore it. I continued and it installed just fine.

 

[Bazza1]

So remember when Apple (and its users) used to make fun of Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesdays'?

14.2.1 out now. See also iOS / iPad.

Of course, it's not a Patch. Its an 'Update'. But it is on a Tuesday. And past experience suggests its bi-weekly.

 

[MBAir2010]

Every os upgrade was incredible since Monterey on my M1 processors.

 

[hifivoice]

or to point out that this isn't everyone's experience, so perhaps not a 'declining quality of Apple OS', but issues related to the OP's particular setup. which mac? which version of sonoma?

just my 2 cents, but getting help with issues is probably more useful than venting.

Sonoma 14.2 (see OP), iMac 2019 8-core i9. But that is irrelevant. The update was also very slow on my MacBook Air M1.

The declining quality is a trend since the last 3 OS-X, it's not just this specific case. Sonoma is the one where I suffer structurally the most annoying issues, that require multiple reboots and manual interference. In my almost 40 years of experience with MacOS and OS-X, that is not just a matter of a support request. It's a lack of decent verification of use cases, which for a multi-billion company with a limited amount of computer instances shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[greyeyezz]

Perhaps address instability issues before embarking on an update.

Exactly what is an unresponsive desktop background?

 

[fisherking]

The declining quality is a trend since the last 3 OS-X, it's not just this specific case. Sonoma is the one where I suffer structurally the most annoying issues, that require multiple reboots and manual interference. In my almost 40 years of experience with MacOS and OS-X, that is not just a matter of a support request. It's a lack of decent verification of use cases, which for a multi-billion company with a limited amount of computer instances shouldn't be a big deal.

so, the point is... you're having some issues on sonoma. the rest of that is just classic "back in the day, things were better" ranting. anyway, hope you sort your issues out. call apple! they can help...

 

[hifivoice]

Perhaps address instability issues before embarking on an update.

Exactly what is an unresponsive desktop background?

You Shut Down (or Restart) the computer, you end up seeing your Desktop image infinitely, and you need to press the power button to proceed. It hangs.

Typing "sudo shutdown -r new" makes the computer hang immediately.

ONLY happened after installing OS-X Sonoma.

 

[hifivoice]

call apple! they can help...

(1) "Sir, do you have AppleCare on your 4 years old computer?"
(2) Please do a fresh re-install of the OS (takes more than 3 full days to get everything back in place)
(3) Sign out of the Cloud (lost all my Notes and Links because of that; had to do some magic with Time Machine to get it back). When warning that this could happen: "Sir, if you don't want to take our advice, you are on your own". When it happened: "Sir, if loosing years of work to get the problem resolved, it is what it is"
(4) Remove all external devices, and try again.

Not a single time, did an Apple support guy open a Terminal, and looked one level deeper than that. I can implement those sort of advices myself.

The correlation is very strong with some processes handing related to the OWC docking station, where my ethernet cable and disks are connected, and attached via a Lightning cable to my Mac. When I unplug/unpower it for a while, the situation resolved (for as long as it takes). Now, explain how such a situation can make an OS stall???

Whether you see my feedback as "ranting" describing a structural increment of problems in the last OS releases, falls in your own described category of "getting help with issues is probably more useful than venting". Do you have a concrete helpful tip besides ones in the category of the 4 already mentioned ones?

 

[fisherking]

(1) "Sir, do you have AppleCare on your 4 years old computer?"
(2) Please do a fresh re-install of the OS (takes more than 3 full days to get everything back in place)
(3) Sign out of the Cloud (lost all my Notes and Links because of that; had to do some magic with Time Machine to get it back). When warning that this could happen: "Sir, if you don't want to take our advice, you are on your own". When it happened: "Sir, if loosing years of work to get the problem resolved, it is what it is"
(4) Remove all external devices, and try again.

Not a single time, did an Apple support guy open a Terminal, and looked one level deeper than that. I can implement those sort of advices myself.

The correlation is very strong with some processes handing related to the OWC docking station, where my ethernet cable and disks are connected, and attached via a Lightning cable to my Mac. When I unplug/unpower it for a while, the situation resolved (for as long as it takes). Now, explain how such a situation can make an OS stall???

Whether you see my feedback as "ranting" describing a structural increment of problems in the last OS releases, falls in your own described category of "getting help with issues is probably more useful than venting". Do you have a concrete helpful tip besides ones in the category of the 4 already mentioned ones?

i've called apple numerous times over the years to get help with out-of-applecare macs, and they've always stepped up. i've even gotten a 'higher-level' tech when it was needed.

anyway, are you saying you called and that's what happened? or are you speculating?

and the 'structural increment of problems' you describe is not universal, but simply your observation based on your own experience. nothing more (and, to be fair, nothing less).

 

[hifivoice]

i've called apple numerous times over the years to get help with out-of-applecare macs, and they've always stepped up. i've even gotten a 'higher-level' tech when it was needed.

anyway, are you saying you called and that's what happened? or are you speculating?

and the 'structural increment of problems' you describe is not universal, but simply your observation based on your own experience. nothing more (and, to be fair, nothing less).

When I post from my individual account, I do post personal experiences. What is your point with that? I didn't start a questionnaire, or claim my assertions are backed by a statistical investigation with zillions of users.

I've called Apple Support tens of times, I've accumulated my experiences. I've managed to solve my issue, but that doesn't change my opinion on the declining stability issues with the latest OS releases.

If you're not interested in personal experiences, the best thing you can do is to stop reacting to them accusing them to be personal experiences.

 

[greyeyezz]

Never rely on cloud for your backups, always backup to an external drives, and never have those drives plugged in when doing an upgrade.

The docking station is obviously causing issues, completely remove it from the equation and go from there.
I will not even use my docking station when booting off one of my external OS's.

 

[Emmanuel.th]

My MacBook Air M2 13inch Random black screen when waking from sleep. This problem I just noticed. Because I usually leave it open and rarely flip it. And I searched on Google for people having this problem since the early this year. Currently, Apple still hasn't fixed it.

More problem Picture in Picture mode in safari video has The picture is jerky and frozen. Where the sound goes first, have to click on PiP video to fix it. I have reported since sonoma dev beta, currently this problem is still there.

So tired

 

[fisherking]

When I post from my individual account, I do post personal experiences. What is your point with that? I didn't start a questionnaire, or claim my assertions are backed by a statistical investigation with zillions of users.

I've called Apple Support tens of times, I've accumulated my experiences. I've managed to solve my issue, but that doesn't change my opinion on the declining stability issues with the latest OS releases.

If you're not interested in personal experiences, the best thing you can do is to stop reacting to them accusing them to be personal experiences.

you've expressed your personal opinions; noted 👍

 

[thebart]

One thing I can def relate to: every time it does an update, there's a point where nothing seems to be happening for a while and I always think uh oh did the update corrupt something and it's DOA. I'm a relative noob who's never had to reset or reinstall Mac OS so it's not a pleasant thought

 

[MBAir2010]

There were 3 problems in Tuesday upgrade that carried over from the last upgrade.
i figured 2 out and need to hope the third gets fixed by itself.
yes this is annoying, but to chastise apple is not fair.
how may time have we burnt food we cooked for many years
left a door open by mistake
rob from Peter to give to Paul…
Yes this is annoying and e clenched fist at apple today
but just be happy we are not using windows!

i hope this shown a light or some clarification and appeased those who were apple users since the 1980s as me.

 

[hifivoice]

you've expressed your personal opinions; noted 👍

Add another tickbox for yourself please 😉

 

[Iwavvns]

If you are no longer happy with the operating system, then perhaps it’s in your best interest to try a different one? Just saying.. Linux and BSD are quite nice.

 

[hifivoice]

Also "just a Sonoma glitch"; on occasional basis mails don't render properly in the Apple Mail app, forcing me to open them in the web browser.

I don't use any extension, and when I watch the RAW source the mail does contain content.

 

[MBAir2010]

If you are no longer happy with the operating system, then perhaps it’s in your best interest to try a different one? Just saying.. Linux and BSD are quite nice.

nice advice to those who do not have a:
iphone
watch
iPad
macbook
mini
pencil
airtags
HomePods mini
software like pages, number music etc....
accessories made by
(oops can't use "made" anymore)
Satechi.

what linux disco shall I switch to today?

 

[Iwavvns]

nice advice to those who do not have a:
iphone
watch
iPad
macbook
mini
pencil
airtags
HomePods mini
software like pages, number music etc....
accessories made by
(oops can't use "made" anymore)
Satechi.

what linux disco shall I switch to today?

That is exactly why we don't allow ourselves to get locked into a certain ecosystem.. that's not Apple's fault, that's the user's fault. Yes, I own some Apple products, but I make it a point to never get so trapped into a certain system that I can't switch over to another system in a few hours if need be. Never allow technology to control you.

 

[fisherking]

That is exactly why we don't allow ourselves to get locked into a certain ecosystem.. that's not Apple's fault, that's the user's fault. Yes, I own some Apple products, but I make it a point to never get so trapped into a certain system that I can't switch over to another system in a few hours if need be. Never allow technology to control you.

i don't consider myself 'locked into' apples ecosystem (i use spotify over apple music, don't have an apple watch or apple tv). but i do love how my macs & iphone work together... and have never found a reason to switch to 'another system'. we can each do what works best for us 👍

 

[MBAir2010]

That is exactly why we don't allow ourselves to get locked into a certain ecosystem.

for me personally this all happened within a month or so last year.

im 90% happy over this improvement since i can perform more work tasks, like typing anywhere,
drawing and colorizing comics on 3 devices and listening to real music on those as well.
sometimes they fight each other to see who get that AirPods attention,
but figuring out how to control this barrage of tech is my obligation.

the 10% understands that Im hooked, but not a slave to these devices
since they all serve a purpose to make my work load better more effect and productive
along with my health, which is much better with the watch.
we dreamt and were taught of this tech and mannerism in the early 80's, and finally this is a reality.

furthermore, I shredded 65 gallons worth of artwork and papers in September
since everything now is digital from scanning to production as no more paper, plastic rulers, tape, staples, 3 hole punching and freight to ship these art supplies I need ever two months for that craft.

but I dont see this lasting, using a MacBook or Mac mini, then an iPad as the next ting is AI vision,
scary tho how AI will infuse made dangerously into our lives were that is getting out of control.


there is no turning back and I have control of these devices
for they are tools to improve the way I create and entertain.

thanks for reading all this!