Sequoia: So Far, So Good

[Marrk]

A couple of days ago, I updated from OS 12.7.4 Monterey to OS 15.3.1 Sequoia. Everything seems to be running smoothly and with no problems. I'm happy.

 

[Rod]

Wow, big jump. Nice to get positive feedback though. Do get back if you have any questions. Stage Manager has been a bit of a headache for some.

 

[IWT]

Well done, Marrk. As Rod says, it's big jump, not just for you, but for the Mac. I'm impressed that the Mac handles the "new bits" so well. Good luck to you. As already stated; Problem? Ask!

Ian

 

[toMACsh]

Well done, Marrk. As Rod says, it's big jump, … for the Mac. I'm impressed that the Mac handles the "new bits" so well.

Absolutely! I bricked my old Mini making such a jump once. (From Snow Leopard to El Capitan)

 

[Marrk]

Follow-Up: I was a happy lad for a while, and thought I had a new friend in Sequoia, but Sequoia has kicked my butt on a couple of issues, and at times when I really needed it to work. Zoom was one, and my banking software was the other. Evidently, things stopped working because of a "Privacy & Security" issue. The frustrating thing (Did I just say "frustrating"? I meant to say, "enraging to the point of wanting to commit a homicide.") is that, after I "fix" the issue, things work for a day or two, and then I'm back to calling Tech Support and swearing a lot.

Example: Go to Privacy & Security. Go to App Management. Go to Allow the applications below to update or delete other applications. If I follow these steps, my apps. work . . . for a day or two. Then, I have to remove the mis-functioning app and Reinstall it. Only then does it work. But . . . I have to Reinstall it three times, and say a rosary, and hope that God still loves me. Even after all that, as I have said, it stops working after a day or two. It's a little ridiculous, as you can imagine.

So, any thoughts, gentlemen?

 

[ferrarr]

What app needs this authorization? We need more information in order to offer suggestions?

 

[Marrk]

What app needs this authorization? We need more information in order to offer suggestions?

zoom and thinkorswim

 

[Randy B. Singer]

zoom and thinkorswim

It's probably not a coincidence that the two apps that you have mentioned are from companies that, if you called them, the first three people you talk to there might not even be aware that they have a Macintosh version of their application. (i.e. these are not companies that specialize in making apps for the Macintosh.)

Software often needs to be updated for the latest version of the OS. Especially if that software does low level things. It's one of the reasons that I usually don't recommend upgrading to a new version of the Mac OS until AT LEAST the point-two version of that release. That gives other users time to find all the new bugs, and Apple time to fix them, and developers time to update their apps.

That said, RoaringApps (a popular site that tracks how well applications work under various versions of the Macintosh OS) says that Zoom "works fine" under Sequoia:

https://roaringapps.com/app/zoom-443

The ThinkOrSwim site, at first glance, doesn't seem to even mention the Macintosh.

It might be worth seeing if there is a discussion area for users of the mentioned apps on the developers' Web sites, and see what others have to say about getting their apps to work under Sequoia.

 

[Marrk]

@Randy B. Singer I'm so glad that you said that, Randy. My impression (as a complete computer amateur) has always been that apps. are written for PC, and that every Mac-appropriate "version" is just a workaround. I could be wrong; however, every tech support person (for any app.) that I have ever spoken to has groaned a bit when I told them I'm on an Apple computer.

It's worth noting that I was having acceptable performance using these apps. with Monterey, so, you may be wright about waiting. Unfortunately, TurboTax would not work without an OS update. They held a gun to my head.

 

[MacInWin]

Randy, Sequoia is up to 15.3.1 release, so by your criteria, it should be OK.

I can't help wth either app, as I don't use them myself, sorry.

 

[Marrk]

@MacInWin Good point. What's the consensus on this forum? Are people having notable problems with 15.3.1?

 

[Rod]

I suppose this is why I always encourage people to upgrade macOS incrementally, in other words update/upgrade as soon as the bugs are ironed out. Upgrading from Monterey to Sequoia simply means apart from all the changes and new additions to the macOS you have to contend with, all the app adaptions and updates have to be tackled at the same time.
This is why Apple encourages us to update/upgrade regularly and ensure all apps are updated before upgrading your macOS.

Marrk, you are probably only having to do what you would have done had you upgraded/updated your macOS each year, you're just doing it all at once.

As you have found out reinstalling an app gives you the options to set preferences and permissions. For that reason when doing a "clean" instal or skip several OS's I don't attempt to transfer my 3rd party apps except the "free standing" ones like Coconut Battery . All of the others like the MS Office suite and complex apps that come with their own installers I install as new from the developers.

Dare I say, this where a password manager comes in handy.

 

[MacInWin]

@MacInWin Good point. What's the consensus on this forum? Are people having notable problems with 15.3.1?

Zero problems for me, but as has been pointed out, I was not jumping multiple versions when I installed it.

 

[ferrarr]

With a clean install and installing apps as needed I have not had any issues*.

* Only issues were user created, not macOS or Apple devices.

 

[snubby]

It’s been about 10 days since I went from Catalina to Sequoia. Everything is running good. A much deserved hat tip to the Apple tech rep. who guided me thru the wipe and install.

 

[Marrk]

I suppose this is why I always encourage people to upgrade macOS incrementally, in other words update/upgrade as soon as the bugs are ironed out. Upgrading from Monterey to Sequoia simply means apart from all the changes and new additions to the macOS you have to contend with, all the app adaptions and updates have to be tackled at the same time.
This is why Apple encourages us to update/upgrade regularly and ensure all apps are updated before upgrading your macOS.

Marrk, you are probably only having to do what you would have done had you upgraded/updated your macOS each year, you're just doing it all at once.

As you have found out reinstalling an app gives you the options to set preferences and permissions. For that reason when doing a "clean" instal or skip several OS's I don't attempt to transfer my 3rd party apps except the "free standing" ones like Coconut Battery . All of the others like the MS Office suite and complex apps that come with their own installers I install as new from the developers.

Dare I say, this where a password manager comes in handy.

Good advice. I'll be sure and do those regular updates from now on. Thanks.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Randy, Sequoia is up to 15.3.1 release, so by your criteria, it should be OK.

It's not a hard and fast rule. It's a "wait until the time is finally right" rule.

What I usually do is I install a new version of the OS on an external drive, and occassionally boot from it. That way I can leisurely get aquainted with the new OS, see if it is compatible (yet) with all of my mission critical apps, update those that need it, etc. When I'm confident that the new OS is ready to be relied upon, I upgrade my main drive and most of my other Macs.

 

[MacInWin]

It's not a hard and fast rule. It's a "wait until the time is finally right" rule.

What I usually do is I install a new version of the OS on an external drive, and occassionally boot from it. That way I can leisurely get aquainted with the new OS, see if it is compatible (yet) with all of my mission critical apps, update those that need it, etc. When I'm confident that the new OS is ready to be relied upon, I upgrade my main drive and most of my other Macs.

That is an interesting way to ease into it. I've got nothing critical, and lots of backups/clones/etc, so I just install as it comes along and if I have issues I can roll back. Never had to do that, though. I just work through the glitches.

Right now, 15.3.1 is very solid for me. The only issue is that the Xprotect upgrades are, for some unknown reason, slower to apply than they used to be. For the average user, it's not a big deal, but I do keep track and it's a glitch that I hope Apple sorts out soon.

 

[Rod]

Being a bit of an early adopter I upgraded when Sequoia came out. I usually do this but I do my homework beforehand, reading up on the beta reviews, ensuring all my apps and OS are up to date, have two full backups of my device (Time Machine and a clone) and that my current macOS is running as expected.
So, I installed Sequoia the day after it was released and have had no issues with the OS.
A couple of apps requested updates over the following days usually when launched.

Despite all of that I have had problems from time to time. Upgrading to macOS Big Sur on Intel MBP was a disaster. I still don't know precisely what went wrong the upgrade failed to load and it seemed as though something had corrupted my backups (both of them) so that my attempts to perform a clean reinstall by booting from my bootable clone failed. Cutting a long story short I had to rebuild from scratch but my data was safe even if not bootable. Made a bootable USB macOS installer on my wife's MBP erased my HD and installed Big Sur, installing my data via iCloud and drag an drop from my clone.
Then there's that confusing step in Migration Assistant where you are given the option to create a new account or same account on your new device. That had me thinking for a while.

Nothing is perfect and I'm no genius, I look up stuff I don't understand until I do and or seek advice. I follow directions where practical to avoid problems and that works for me.

 

[IWT]

For the record, I Upgraded to Mac OS Sequoia 15.3.1 today and I've not yet found any fault or difficulty. Time will tell.

My approach to new Upgrades has always been to wait till it settles down. Offered in September/October and I upgrade in February/March as a general rule.

Ian