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Big Sur
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Chongo
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Oct 5, 2020, 12:28 PM
 
$&*&$#! Well I just discovered my late 2013 27” iMac did not make the Big Sur cut. How long does Apple support previous OS versions? A new iMac Pro would be nice, but not needed at the moment.
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OreoCookie
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Nov 10, 2020, 04:11 AM
 
Typically about 7 years, so the cutoff is in line with that. It always sucks, but if I were you, I'd wait until Apple releases an ARM-based iMac. That'll run circles around your current machine.
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reader50
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Nov 10, 2020, 12:13 PM
 
The usual hackers are trying to patch Big Sur to run on earlier Macs. I think they're taking longer than usual, not sure why.

Anyway though, your late-2013 iMac can run Big Sur without modification. If you have a fusion drive setup, that will experience a performance hit, but no other known issues.

You just need to bypass the installer blocks. Easiest way is to install to an external drive on a supported Mac, then boot your iMac from that drive.
     
Chongo  (op)
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Nov 11, 2020, 10:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Typically about 7 years, so the cutoff is in line with that. It always sucks, but if I were you, I'd wait until Apple releases an ARM-based iMac. That'll run circles around your current machine.
I’m going to wait until the new iMacs are released. I’ll donate my current Mac to my mother. My last donation, 20” 2007, has been limping along on an external hard drive. The backlighting is starting to die. Hopefully it will last until the new ARM iMac arrives. She will be happy with the jump to a 27” screen.
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Laminar
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Nov 13, 2020, 02:46 PM
 
How much of a drag is Big Sur going to be on my 2013 MBA? I upgraded from High Sierra to Mojave pretty soon after it came out and it turned the thing into a dog. It's gotten better (or my standards have dropped?) but I haven't bothered going to Catalina. Is Big Sur going to be more of a resource hog or will it be optimized for better performance?

I suppose I should double check for any 32 bit programs I'll lose access to if I ditch Mojave. The thing is mostly for web browsing and running various flavors of Windows in VirtualBox.
     
ghporter
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Nov 14, 2020, 06:59 PM
 
I’m still on Mojave on my MBP; it is still pretty snappy, what with the SSD and everything.

I didn’t go to High Sierra, basically because I didn’t see anything in it I “needed,” and it was almost certain to break some of the apps I still use from them olden days.

So what is the draw for Big Sur? “What’s in it for me?”

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Doc HM
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Nov 25, 2020, 05:51 AM
 
Sorry posted the in wrong thread. Should have been in here as its Big Sur related.

So far I have migrated 2 customer machines using Big Sur. The process was horrendous on both machines in identical ways.
On both Migration assistant spent literally hours indexing read receipts followed by a long pause where it indicated it would take 17 hours to migrate the data. (around 700MB in case 1 and 1.2TB in case 2 - both using external Ssd's over USB 3 to an internal SSD). Both machines revised this to 47 minutes (why the same figure?) after an hour or so and then hung there for about a day while the files copied count ticked up. Both migration paused every time the iMac screen went to sleep and both finished with the proud boast "Your files have been successfully migrated" before going on to make both the now migrated machine hang on boot.

Nice!
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Brien
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Nov 25, 2020, 01:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
I’m still on Mojave on my MBP; it is still pretty snappy, what with the SSD and everything.

I didn’t go to High Sierra, basically because I didn’t see anything in it I “needed,” and it was almost certain to break some of the apps I still use from them olden days.

So what is the draw for Big Sur? “What’s in it for me?”
It looks like a iPad
     
ghporter
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Nov 26, 2020, 12:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
It looks like a iPad
I have an iPad. I want a computer that “feels” more full-featured than an iPad. And the new OS obviously won’t turn my MBP into a touch screen machine, nor magically give it Touch ID either...

So... I still don’t see a need to move away from Mojave on my MBP.

Now, if/when I buy a new Mac, Big Sur is what’s expected, and is what the new machine will be built for. But for what I have (all Intel silicon), I’m holding pat.

{insert “get off my lawn” meme here if appropriate}

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Thorzdad
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Dec 18, 2020, 03:57 PM
 
In case you're having trouble updating Big Sur to 11.1, you're not alone.
Your Mac may be requesting 11.0.1 instead of 11.1.

There is no fix at this time. Well, other than completely reinstalling Big Sur from the App Store.
     
Doc HM
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Dec 21, 2020, 05:28 PM
 
So far I hate Big Sur more than ANY previous Mac OS update. Oh, sure it works ok, it looks ok (if you like iOS) but f**k me, Apple's quality assurance seems to have exited the building.

I HATE migration assistant. It works at about a tenth of the speed of previous versions. It take an age to prepare to migrate, it gets stuck on various times that bear no relation to the amount of time it will eventually take. The progress bar data is pure fantasy. AND it fails to actually migrate half the time.

In the last two weeks the number of customers who have migrated to BS and promptly had massive and fatal hard drive failures once they have installed BS is in frightening.

Not a fan.
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OreoCookie
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Dec 22, 2020, 03:01 AM
 
I'm having persistent trouble with the window manager: it seems to (partially?) crash so that I am no longer able to use Exposé or make windows full screen. Very annoying.

Plugging in or unplugging a monitor or external power also leads to hick-ups. Sometimes it takes 30 seconds or longer until the windows have stopped dancing and I can work again. Not great. And I am using a current-gen machine (16" MacBook Pro from 2019). Ugh.

I agree with you on quality control, this is very annoying.
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ghporter
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May 1, 2021, 06:23 PM
 
I know this thread has been dead for some time, but I now have an issue related to it.

I didn't upgrade from Mojave to Catalina way back when because I was just getting used to Mojave and at the time Catalina had some issues. That was then...

Now that Big Sur is the current OS, there are features that it offers that Mojave didn't. Some of them are related to my Apple Watch, others to other stuff. And there were things Catalina wouldn't do, but I never ran into areas where I needed those things with Mojave.

So here I am, two OS versions behind, and I pretty much want to upgrade.

Does Big Sur rewrite the hardware so that I would not be able to downgrade, the way all the other OS upgrades have?

Should I find a way to first upgrade to Catalina, and then to Big Sur, or has this two-version jump gone well for people?

Input is requested, and will be very much appreciated.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 2, 2021, 09:56 AM
 
I can’t help with your question, but I hear reports 11.3 killed Apple Thunderbolt to 10G Ethernet adapters.

This would be deadly for my Studio hardware, just as I was considering upgrading from Catalina.
     
reader50
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May 2, 2021, 11:20 AM
 
It's rare for an OS update to include firmware that prevents going back. Driver removal is a thing though.

Do it like I do - create a new partition. If you're stuck with an embedded (not upgradable) SSD, clone your OS install to an external partition. In either case, keep a full working backup of your old system, so you can go back if/when needed.
     
ghporter
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May 2, 2021, 04:01 PM
 
The “full working backup” is a great idea. I’m talking about a MBP, so yes it’s got an embedded SSD that isn’t upgradable. But I have a bunch of physical hard drives on hand, so I can clone the whole SSD, then upgrade as I want.

I assume that there’s no real issue with moving straight from Mojave to Big Sur, without going though Catalina?

Not that I’m going to be doing any of this very soon. I want to have things planned out before I start moving on it. I don’t think of this as “avoiding Murphy.” It’s more “making it as rough on Murphy as possible.”

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Chongo  (op)
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May 3, 2021, 01:27 PM
 
If I remember correctly, Catalina will disable any 32 bit apps you have. It killed off my free Amazon Final Cut, and my good ole iDVD.
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ghporter
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May 3, 2021, 04:37 PM
 
As far as I can tell, I don’t have any 32 bit apps. I didn’t upgrade to Catalina because I wasn’t sure about some of my apps. It turns out that I either couldn’t migrate some apps (very old MS Office, for example), or I didn’t need the old apps, so they were left behind. I just never got around to the upgrade until POOF there was Big Sur.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 4, 2021, 08:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
As far as I can tell, I don’t have any 32 bit apps.
The System Profiler will tell you. :-)

(also, you're aware that you *can* still upgrade to Catalina, right? - Apple Support pages still have a link to the previous system upgrade)
     
ghporter
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May 4, 2021, 10:26 AM
 
I know I can go to Catalina, but I don’t know that Catalina has any advantages over Big Sur. Except for maybe making the transition more stepwise than a big jump, what negatives are waiting for me with Big Sur?

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
ghporter
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Jun 24, 2021, 05:15 PM
 
So far, I haven’t found anything that “hinders” me in Mojave, but there are some added nice-to-have items in Catalina and Big Sur that make it feel that it’s time to upgrade.

Has anyone jumped from Mojave to Big Sur without Catalina in the middle? I wonder if there are any tricks or traps that I should watch out for.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
ghporter
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Oct 11, 2021, 08:59 PM
 
Well I just upgraded to Big Sur. Aside from the bright and colorful desktop installed by default, I'm pretty happy with it.

I decided this after yet another "our next application update will require OS Catalina or higher" email today. The upgrade was painless, and not terribly tedious.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Ebtysamkhan
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Oct 30, 2021, 02:50 AM
 
I have issue in instalation , How i upgrade to big sur
     
Waragainstsleep
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Oct 30, 2021, 04:53 PM
 
Not thrilled with Big Sur thus far. Ever since update I've had network issues. Web pages will load slower and slower until eventually it can take several minutes to load a page. It actually just takes ages to start loading. Once it starts, its mostly ok. My torrent client is also slow or useless. Downloads are iffy on Safari. Its independent of network interface. Reboot fixes it for a bit but eventually it seems to go again. Very irritating on what was a flagship MacBook Pro until last week.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
   
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