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ljuba9988 Author

Level 1

5 points

Should I update to macOS Sonoma 14.6.1?

Hi,

I have been using my Macbook Air with M1 chip for a little less than 6 months, and I am very pleased with the performance. It came preinstalled with the MacOS Ventura 13.6, which I haven't updated to newer OS so far. I know that Apple have improved Sonoma and did some bux-fixing, but I am still not sure is it risky to upgrade to newer MacOS.

I am especially asking this because I use the M1 as a secondary machine for very light video editing and graphic design (using DaVinci Resolve the most, Affinity Photo, Lightroom Classic, FCPX...), so is the update going to decrease the performance (i am also using the 8GB of ram)?

What do you think? Would you recommend installing Sonoma 14.6.1 right now or wait for new MacOS Sequoia when Apple release it officially?

Thanks in advance!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Aug 22, 2024 6:17 AM

Top-ranking reply

Yer_Man

Level 10

164,142 points

Posted on Aug 22, 2024 6:27 AM

Folk will come on and tell you that they never update until at least the .3 version. Some will say the .5 version. I've seen one poster say that he never upgrades the OS until the one after again is released. So he wouldn't go to Mac OS 14 until OS 15 is released. This is all specious logic, and more reflective of the poster's psychology than computer science.

Here's what you do:

Make a back up. Make a second, even.

Update. 99.9% chance that everything will be fine. Go on with your life.

If something does go wrong, then restore from your back up.

Any other approach means you will never upgrade or update as there is no perfect OS, and you'll grow old waiting for the right one to arrive.

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23 replies

Aug 23, 2024 11:37 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I'm talking about noticeable changes such as comparing Mojave with Sonoma (which has a drastic difference on my MacBook Air, also with 8GB of RAM and dual-booting Mojave & Sonoma). I wouldn't expect one macOS release to make a noticeable difference in speeds (which was my point on a previous comment), and if it happens, there would be an underlying problem.

An example of this is the performance hit for multiple users with both newer and older Macs when Big Sur first released. Big Sur was unoptimized for newer Macs and was just too big to handle for older Macs.

Also, optimizing functionality does not mean it will not slow down, just that performance differences will be minimal between updates (although noticeable in the long run).

OP should be able to go from Ventura to Sonoma with absolutely no problems, but the decision of whether staying in Ventura or upgrading to Sonoma is up to what OP prefers.

Aug 23, 2024 11:50 AM in response to yosemiteenjoyer

yosemiteenjoyer wrote:

OP should be able to go from Ventura to Sonoma with absolutely no problems, but the decision of whether staying in Ventura or upgrading to Sonoma is up to what OP prefers.

Exactly. There's no reason not to except for personal preference.

Aug 30, 2024 7:24 AM in response to ljuba9988

ljuba9988 wrote:

Update: I have updated my Mac to Sonoma, and it works pretty smooth, same as Ventura. Even my content creation apps work great!

Thank you for the advices!

Glad to hear everything is working well.

Sep 1, 2024 8:45 AM in response to divinec

I updated and sure wish I had not. I have the same issue on slowing. Have to restart the computer every hour or so. My share screen stopped working. I used to use One keyboard and one mouse for two computers. That no longer works correctly. Now have two mice and two keyboards. I think this upgrade is a definite downgrade. I would not update if I had it to do over again.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yer_Man

Level 10

164,142 points

Sep 1, 2024 9:54 AM in response to hmkconfused

Millions of people have upgraded with no issues. This does not mean your issues are not real, but it does mean they are local to your machine. So rather than assuming your experience is universal - and it isn't - best to try and troubleshoot your problems. Create a new thread, include details of your hardware, and what apps are running when these issues arise. The more information you can give the more likely you are to get a useful response.