Upgrade to Monterey at what dot level: 12.6+?

[cfm56d7b]

I upgraded to Catalina at dot 4 and to Big Sur at dot 6. Sharing non-scientific observations: Apple software has gotten more complex (device continuity is one example) and with increasing complexity software quality is under pressure.

I sense the upgrade to Monterey may be possible at dot 6 or later based on Big Sur experience.

Any insights from early Monterey beta users?

 

[fisherking]

there's no simple answer to this. sometimes, for example, beta 3 does well for people, then beta 4 breaks something (& sometimes while fixing something else).

the beta and 'legit' release cycles are never a straight line forward, and everyone does not have the same experiences...

 

[gilby101]

there's no simple answer to this

Agree, though I think the OP was asking about release versions.

I upgraded to Catalina at dot 4 and to Big Sur at dot 6

Catalina macOS 10.15.4 introduced problems for some users - a kernel memory leak. Just goes to show there is no easy answer. Many 'dot' releases introduce new features and nearly all have security and other fixes - and any of them can have bugs and/or unexpected side effects.

If you want to compare complexity of changes in Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey, I suggest that Monterey is a much simpler update regarding the core operating system. The hard changes (getting rid of 32-bit, new macOS disk structure, kernel extension changes, and preparing for Apple Silicon) were completed with Big Sur.

So, whilst there will be issues, I expect the life of Monterey to a bit smoother.

 

[n-evo]

Unless someone develops time travel there is no way to give you a meaningful answer.

 

[rehkram]

Definitely isn't beta 8

 

[majortom67]

IMHO an OS should be installed only if needed and you know it's stable and works fine with all your sw and hw. No matter what release even though latter releases are beter tha earlier. I generally don't like "full" releases such as 11.0 or 12.0. Better 11.1/12.1 or even better 11.1.1/12.1.1 as minor but important fixes are applied. Monterey? Not before 12.1 although for M1 machines like mine is alredy proving to be far longer better than the extremely "driver side" buggy Big Sur. On Bluetooth. Have some doubts on USB ports as said in other post.

 

[fisherking]

IMHO an OS should be installed only if needed and you know it's stable and works fine with all your sw and hw. No matter what release even though latter releases are beter tha earlier. I generally don't like "full" releases such as 11.0 or 12.0. Better 11.1/12.1 or even better 11.1.1/12.1.1 as minor but important fixes are applied. Monterey? Not before 12.1 although for M1 machines like mine is alredy proving to be far longer better than the extremely "driver side" buggy Big Sur. On Bluetooth. Have some doubts on USB ports as said in other post.

you mean, in your opinion you should only install if needed; the rest of us are free make our own choices about what we install, and when.

& how will you know 'it's stable'? one person's experience may not be the same as another's; there's simply no 'finite' point when any OS is stable, and perfect, for everyone.

 

[majortom67]

you mean, in your opinion you should only install if needed; the rest of us are free make our own choices about what we install, and when.

& how will you know 'it's stable'? one person's experience may not be the same as another's; there's simply no 'finite' point when any OS is stable, and perfect, for everyone.

"There's no simply finite point"... true. If there was a finite point there was no such a question. Unfortunately, as you surely know, most if times t's a matter of trial and error. How can you youn know if a version fit's to you? Following other's experience and surely or at least not installing new version which, we all know, are mostly richer of bugs than following versions assuming the same hardware. For example: Big Sur 11.6 on M1s is not the same as Big Sur 11.6 on Intel. Variables are many, there's no single and simple answer to this question. As a consultant I always advice my costumers not to upgrade until needed (why Big Sur if you're working well with Catalina and you don't need new features?). It's in any case a complex matter if you don't want to cope with minor (ir sometimes major) problens as I do. But I'm always on conditions to revert in simple way.

 

[Jack Neill]

As others have pointed out it really depends. I thought 10.14 was rock solid from .0 to .6 and I thought 10.15 was trash until .4 or .5. 11 has been fine with very minimal problems on Intel/M1 for my use. I haven't tried any 12 betas. I will probably jump on 12 at .0 on at least one of my 2020 Air's just because I want the shiny.

 

[AlteMac]

One thing for sure is that I no longer update to the .0 release. I wait for reports of issues when a new version is released, especially with key programs I use (like Photoshop), and for reports on peripherals like printers and scanners. I have been burned a couple of times by printers or scanners that were orphaned by a new Mac OS. In today's mixed interface environment (USB 2, 3, 3.1 C, TB2, 3 4 etc), I also want to make sure as best I can than I can continue to access devices as well as data on extranl storage devices. For the laast couple of OS's, I have been able to upgrade at the .1 release.

 

[Bodhitree]

While I was using macs professionally the rule was “only update if needed.” Nowadays on my personal iMac I will probably succumb to running .1 or .2 updates regularly, it’s just nice to have a refresh and some new features.