Updates have flaws

Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
143
Reaction score
22
Points
18
Location
South Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
2021 iMac running Sonoma. 1TB SSD, 16 gigs RAM. iPhone 15 Max Pro, iPad Air
Somewhat disappointed with Apple. All these new software upgrades don’t seem to have fully been tested. I have a late 2015 iMac. When I upgrade to Mojave there are flaws. For example, I purchased a new cd drive from the Apple store. 45 mins away. When I got home it wouldn’t work. Needed something similar to formatting so the IMac would recognize it. Thinking the drive was defective, I took it back to the store. Brought another one home and had the same results. Back to the Apple store. This time I insisted that another drive be tested in the store. They couldn’t get it to work either. Finally had a guy from the Genius Bar come out. He couldn’t get it to work. After more than an hour of trying everything he could think of, he brought out an older laptop that was running Sierra. Bingo! That solved the problem. Even called Apple Support on another issue and they weren’t aware of that problem. Disappointing.

When the computer upgraded to Catalina the flaws continued. My desktop icons and files were gone. My computer settings were gone. Apple support couldn’t figure it out and suggested I restore through Time Machine toa date before the Catalina install. That got my desktop back but I have an e-mail program under Outlook for work. (I work out of the house as a consultant for them.) This program doesn’t work now. Called the IT guy at work to have him try to fix it. He couldn’t and also can’t remotely login to my computer like he used to.

Hard to say if anyone else is having issues, but I don’t understand why Apple is in such a hurry to get these new upgrades out. They aren’t being fully tested. Starting to remind me of Microsoft which is one of the reasons I switched to Apple years ago.

Sorry for the rant, but it really bothers me.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Somewhat disappointed with Apple.

Completely understand your feelings...but at the same time...there hasn't been an OS version released EVER...that didn't contain some bugs/glitches. Most of the time they don't teffect us personally...thus we don't get upset about it. But when they do effect us...of course not happy.

That's what OS updates are for...for hopefully correcting the bugs.:) This is why it's always a little extra risky to be an early adopter of any new OS version.

Starting to remind me of Microsoft which is one of the reasons I switched to Apple years ago.

Hopefully the macOS is still way ahead of Windows in this department. No OS is perfect.

- Nick
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
What brand was the CD Drive? I ask because if it was Apple branded, they should have tested it. A third party drive is up to the builder to make it compatible and/or notify Apple if it is not. When you said it "didn't work" what did that mean, exactly? Just curious, not that I have any "fix" for it. CD Drives are pretty old technology and therefore pretty well established, so I am surprised that it didn't work for you.
Needed something similar to formatting so the IMac would recognize it.
Sorry, but that makes no sense to me at all. One does not "format" a CD drive at all. A blank CD is initialized when it is written to and normally you cannot "format" a CD after it has been written to. So that sentence just doesn't sound right at all. Maybe you can clear that up?

Sorry about the problems you had with the upgrade to Catalina. My experience was entirely different as the upgrade went pretty much flawlessly. And I suspect most of the upgrades did as well or there would be a huge uproar. Your issues may well have been associated with your particular iMac and how it is set up, including any third party software you may have installed on it.
They aren’t being fully tested.
No software of anything but trivial complexity is "fully tested." And no release of any software was ever bug-free (and won't be). Bugs are a fact of life. About the only way to avoid them is to wait until the software is 2-3 releases in it's life when most of the bugs are sorted out. Not all, just most.
 
OP
exncite
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
143
Reaction score
22
Points
18
Location
South Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
2021 iMac running Sonoma. 1TB SSD, 16 gigs RAM. iPhone 15 Max Pro, iPad Air
What brand was the CD Drive? I ask because if it was Apple branded, they should have tested it. A third party drive is up to the builder to make it compatible and/or notify Apple if it is not. When you said it "didn't work" what did that mean, exactly? Just curious, not that I have any "fix" for it. CD Drives are pretty old technology and therefore pretty well established, so I am surprised that it didn't work for you.Sorry, but that makes no sense to me at all. One does not "format" a CD drive at all. A blank CD is initialized when it is written to and normally you cannot "format" a CD after it has been written to. So that sentence just doesn't sound right at all. Maybe you can clear that up?

Sorry about the problems you had with the upgrade to Catalina. My experience was entirely different as the upgrade went pretty much flawlessly. And I suspect most of the upgrades did as well or there would be a huge uproar. Your issues may well have been associated with your particular iMac and how it is set up, including any third party software you may have installed on it. No software of anything but trivial complexity is "fully tested." And no release of any software was ever bug-free (and won't be). Bugs are a fact of life. About the only way to avoid them is to wait until the software is 2-3 releases in it's life when most of the bugs are sorted out. Not all, just most.

I know I was ranting and I apologize for that. I bought an Apple USB SuperDrive at the Apple store. I used the term “format” because I couldn’t think of another analogy. The computer would recognize that something was plugged in but it wouldn’t work. Sorry I don’t remember all the details but definitely couldn’t set it up with Mohave. As mentioned the store had the same issue until it plugged it into a laptop that still ran Sierra and it was able to “synch” or “verify” the drive. Brought it home and works fine. IN MOJAVE AND NOW IN CATALINA. That tells me it’s not my computer. It’s not all that old. The fact that something as simple as plugging in an Apple product into another Apple product and not having it work is pretty lame. Surely the developers could have been more diligent or don’t release it yet! Still don’t understand what the big hurry was.
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
Again, that makes zero sense. Not doubting it happened to you, just that it makes no sense, given the technology involved. Drives don't need to be synced or verified to work. They just work. There isn't any real intelligence in the drive, just the tech to read/write the drive and pass the data to the computer through the USB interface. It's not rocket science, it should be plug and play. The Apple SuperDrive has issues with connecting to a Mac with an internal CD drive because of how Apple interface software in the machine with the internal drive is configured, but your iMac doesn't have an internal CD drive, so that should not be the issue. I have a SuperDrive and use it in an external enclosure with no problems at all, but I'm on a MBP with no internal CD drive, so the software is configured to allow the SD to work. Mystery.

That said, it's good that it got sorted and you have a working CD drive.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
A peculiar thing about the Apple Super Drive is that many folks install it upside down and it won't work that way. The drive has an Apple on it and users assume the Apple must be upright and visible but it actually needs to be facing down to work.

However, I can't imagine that the Apple store people did not know that.
 

krs


Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
3,555
Reaction score
610
Points
113
Location
Canada
I assume the issue with the USB SuperDrive is not the obvious one - that the Mac will not actually detect the drive itself, but only the CD/DVD that is loaded.
Just plugging in a USB drive will do absolutely nothing as far as the Mac is concerned - there has to be media in the drive for anything to show up on the desktop or in Disk Utilities.

But staff at the Apple store would have known that.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top