Is the current version of Sonoma 14.3 stable?

Nothing but problems with Sonoma that my new 2023 MBP had shipped with, including after doing all the Sonoma updates at the time.

Have owned Apple computers since 1983. Yes, 1984. Have owned dozens of them. Am a website designer/developer... not a novice.

For the first time in all of those years, migration from my 2019 MBP, which was working perfectly running Ventura, to my newly purchased 2023 MBP that had shipped with Sonoma, failed.

And my mail files were corrupted. And other files were corrupted and lost. Yes, I had upgraded my 2019 MBP to Sonoma before doing that migration. Thankfully, I made backups so I could restore it to Ventura.

2 weeks+ of my time was wasted on Apple support calls, trips to the Apple store, wiping and clean installing the OS (plus all of my software) 2x on the 2023 MBP that has Sonoma on it... and still had massive issues with indexing failing, client emails lost, files lost with Sonoma.

Finally went back to the Apple store and basically demanded that they wipe it AGAIN, and do their own clean install of Ventura. Did the Ventura updates. It's been working fine since. Was able to get my lost email files restored.

Moral of the story... always wait about a year before installing a new Apple OS if you use your computer for work. Otherwise you end up with a LOT of lost productivity and time while you are an unwilling beta tester for the new Apple OS. Because in all of my years, I've seen this happen too many times.

In my experience Sonoma has been rock solid since release. There now. That's useless information for you, even though it's true. The problem is the question. What possible answer would you accept? Are you waiting until no one reports a problem? Or is there a critical mass of people saying 'it's fine' that will trigger the decision for you? And if there, is what is that magic number? Think about it: If you keep asking that question you will never update anything.

No matter what version of the OS you run there is someone, somewhere having a problem. And millions of others not having one. But those folks having an issue will be far more visible than the millions having none, because no one comes online and posts here that "everything's fine". It's in the nature of things. If you don't want to update/upgrade... then don't. If you do, make a back up or even two, and do it. If you have a problem then roll back with your back ups. If you don't have a problem - and like millions of others you probably won't - then good, get on with your life.

Moral of the story... always wait about a year before installing a new Apple OS if you use your computer for work. Otherwise you end up with a LOT of lost productivity and time while you are an unwilling beta tester for the new Apple OS.

Why a year? Why not 15 months? why not 9? It's just a random number with no sense to it. At the end of the year a new OS is released. And then you update to the older one and then what? It's not getting developed any more, so the problems that might be there won't be getting fixed. How does that help you?

It's all voodoo. If you want to update/upgrade then do it after making back ups. If you don't want to then don't. But picking random time intervals or random .3 or.5 or .7 versions is like "cleaning caches", the voodoo ** jour.

FWIW - have updated 3 machines from Sonoma 14.2.1 to 14.3 without issues or instabilities

Make Time Machine Backup  before doing any upDates

If one this that concerned

Use the 3 - 2 - 1 Rescue Plan

3 Backups using 2 different methods and 1 kept off site incase of natural disaster or non natural disaster

14.3 is stable, as was 14.2, 14.1, and 14.0.

One option, is to create a bootable external drive with macOS Sonoma installed so you can "test" out how it performs with your Mac.

Ref: Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community

It's been stable since its release.

As my learned Colleague as mentioned - Stable

The Mail issue seems to have appeared only since Sonoma 14.3

Otherwise all is good here on 3 different machines I own and operate

Chris Winkler1 wrote:

Is this current 14.3 version fairly stable for the holdouts that like to wait until initial bug fixes are in?

How do you define "stable"?

You can expect regular updates to Sonoma until macOS 15 is announced sometime in June, and maybe one or two after that.

I recommend that you honestly evaluate what you need the computer for and what any new features will provide you, and/or cost you. Personally, I'm still running Monterey. Apple even forced an upgrade to Sonoma recently and it's taken me a couple of weeks to get it back on Monterey. I'm a developer, so my only interest is what version of Xcode I can use. It's not my job to test Apple's software for them and file bug reports that will be ignored. And I don't want upgrade my computer as that would require me to re-test all my software. So, for me, "stable" means I don't have to do a bunch of extra work for someone else without compensation.

No. Mail is not working properly now. My flagged emails are not showing up in the flagged folder and when you type, words and phrases are getting superimposed on the text, which is very irritating and not helpful.

After the 14.2 update my i5 MacBook Pro would randomly turn off and most of the time it was several days before it would power up. 14.3 was worse. After two weeks and two trips to the genius bar I gave up and traded it in.

Yer_Man wrote:

If you keep asking that question you will never update anything.

Not necessarily. There are always external factors that can require an upgrade. An older computer could fail. A newer iDevice could require an upgrade. Apple releases a new lines of products that is simply irresistible.

If you don't want to update/upgrade... then don't.

But this also requires a steadfast self-confidence that many people lack. There is heavy pressure to upgrade from all fronts - corporate IT admins to social media influencers. If you don't upgrade your computer today, the North Koreans will hack you tomorrow. And we all know how bad that would be.

Sure, it's fun to make jokes, but the pressure's real. Lots of people do succumb to the pressure, upgrade, and then experience problems. And if you think about it, it seems reasonable that people who are most likely to be influenced by the upgrade pressure are likely to be influenced by scamware, "security researchers", and other influencers.

If you do, make a back up or even two, and do it. If you have a problem then roll back with your back ups. If you don't have a problem - and like millions of others you probably won't - then good, get on with your life.

For people who use the Macs for work, especially self-employed, I recommend regularly buying a new computer during that early fall timeframe and testing out the latest (or perhaps the previous 😄 ) version. That way, you know exactly what you'll get. If disaster strikes, you don't need to worry about restoring, you've got another computer. Someone could use this system to camp out on last year's stable OS version for all eternity.

Why a year? Why not 15 months? why not 9? It's just a random number with no sense to it.

It's not random at all. Apple releases a new version of the OS every year. It's definitely worth paying attention to what's going on, even if one doesn't choose to upgrade. That information can inform one's decision and planning. For example, any computer purchased in early Fall is not going to be running the next, buggy OS version, yet it will be capable of running whatever the fancy new version might bring.

At the end of the year a new OS is released. And then you update to the older one and then what? It's not getting developed any more, so the problems that might be there won't be getting fixed. How does that help you?

But you'll know what those problems are. There might be workarounds that people have developed in the past year to ameliorate the problems. You won't be getting any new features, but you are also significantly less likely to get any new bugs.

Sonoma 14.4 had serious problems. Apple only fixed those problems literally the day before the official kick off of macOS 15.

NO! It freezes my computer & won't accept a 3rd party app.

Just did three Macs, one Intel, two M1 units and no issues.

SlippySlope wrote:

I'm beginning to wonder...my MBA Retina 2020 been doing frequent auto shutdowns and reboots...(which is why I just searched the topic).

You should start your own post and include one of the panic logs in the Additional Text area (document icon).

SlippySlope wrote:

I'm beginning to wonder...my MBA Retina 2020 been doing frequent auto shutdowns and reboots...(which is why I just searched the topic).

That sounds like a kernel panic. If the computer is still under warranty, you want to get that checked out immediately.