Any reason to update: 10 to 11??

[menotu]

I have a 2016 13" MacBook Pro, running Mojave 10.14.6. I kept my last Macbook for 9 years, and I am hoping this one lasts as long. I do not have an iPhone, I have zero interest in streaming with Apple Music, and I have about 100 gb of MP3's (which I actively use in my phone and at work). Is there any coherent reason why I should consider upgrading to Big Sur? I see zero benefits of losing iTunes in favor of Apple Music, and my other computer is a PC with iTunes on it. I was just wondering if there was any real hidden benefit that I was missing out on?

I am tired of being reminded constantly to upgrade my OS. I imagine there is a way of disabling the notifications without forgoing other necessary updates, but I have been too lazy to look into it.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

It should also be asked if there is any coherent reason to NOT upgrade to Big Sur. If you are running any 32-bit apps that you rely on and cannot or will not replace with 64-bit alternatives, then that right there is a good reason. As for iTunes vs Apple Music... don't confuse Music the app with Music the streaming service. I know early on there was a sorting feature that DJs relied on that went away in Music, but I believe Apple addressed that. Functionally, it's the same otherwise.

As for why you should upgrade.... well keeping up with security updates is the widely-cited big one. It's not THAT big of a deal in the grand scheme of things as long as you keep up with the updates that Mojave should still get for a short while longer yet and otherwise are smart enough to avoid bad software and gnerally use "safe" browsing practices. But do you really want to stay on Mojave indefinitely? Eh, if you do, it's your choice and again, not really the end of the world. Some people stick with older version of OS X and do just fine. Big Sur is widely seen as a much smoother upgrade vs what Catalina was, though waiting it out until at least now with the 11.1 update was still a good thing to do since some people did have issues with the initial release.

You could always consider making yourself a clone of your current installation to an external drive, then upgrade to Big Sur and try it out for a day or two. If it doesn't work out, restore your clone. But if you want to stay on Mojave, like I said, it's not the end of the world and you should be fine.

 

[menotu]

I haven't added any new apps to the computer in at least a year, and only use a handful fo different programs to begin with. Given the lack of responses, I shall assume I am not missing out on anything beyond potential security updates. I will continue to hold out until they officially abandon this OS, which probably won't be much longer.

 

[IWT]

@menotu

On New Year's Day, having nothing better to do, I upgraded from macOS Mojave to macOS 11 Big Sur (BS).

The download took 25 minutes. I stopped the Installation at this point. I copied the Installer to an External Hard Drive (EHD) and I made a USB-bootable-installer from the downloaded BS Installer; both sensible precautions for the future.

Then I ran the Installer. In total, it took a touch under 45 minutes. I have to admit that, despite my concerns about BS, the new OS is working like a charm (for now ) . There was no "drama' about the whole process.

Sure, there have been big changes, but intuition and patience have got me through these. There's plenty to learn, but take it an app at a time, and a day at a time and it's not long before it all seems kind of familiar.

Ian

 

[Brian1230]

I just got a MacBook Air 11 inch early 2015, that when the person I bought it from erased the hard drive, he upgraded it to macOS Big Sur, I have to say it is an awesome operating system, I was occasionally using my boyfriends MacBook Pro that is running macOS Catalina, and I liked that as well, I was a little worried when the person I got my Air from suggested upgrading it to Big Sur, worried I would not like the version, and with this alleged pandemic, I do not think I could walk into an Apple store to have it reset if I didn't like Big Sur, but so far Big Sur works awesome. Still getting used to the newest, since the last Mac I used ran El Capitan, but it appears to function pretty much the same with cool added features.