Which OS you guys recommend???

[NSMacGuru]

FWIW, my 27" iMac (5K, 4.2ghz, i7 — 2017 model; purchased new Spring 2019) came with a Fusion drive and Mojave.

It arrived formatted as APFS.

I hadn't heard anything about that file format affecting Fusion drives - do you have an authoritative source you can point me toward?

 

[chscag]

You can do a Google search on the subject. You'll find various responses - some say it's not as fast as a pure SSD, others say it's faster than their old spinner hard drive.

Apple has nothing official to say on the subject, so you will just have to decide for yourself based on your own experience. It is notable, however, that all new models of Macs are equipped with a pure SSD. Apple no longer offers a fusion drive.

Draw your own conclusion.

 

[NSMacGuru]

I had heard that a few years back there were performance issues, but that those had been addressed as of Mojave.

The one thing that could be of actual concern lies in data recovery, as the SSD/HDD merge could lead to files being written across the drives (?) and if one of the two drives dies, without it's "partner" data recovery is essentially impossible (yay frequent backups!).

But are there actual *problems*?

From a review of the articles online, pretty much all are from 2017 and earlier, and deal with the transition from Sierra to High Sierra as Fusion drives were being introduced.

 

[MacInWin]

The one thing that could be of actual concern lies in data recovery, as the SSD/HDD merge could lead to files being written across the drives (?) and if one of the two drives dies, without it's "partner" data recovery is essentially impossible (yay frequent backups!).

It is not that a file gets written across the drives. What is risky is that the drives are "fused" into one logical drive, so if you have hardware issues with either, you lose both. That is the same as when you have a single drive (SSD or HDD) and it has hardware issues, but the risk of that happening is roughly doubled by having two bits of hardware that might fail. The way the fusion is supposed to work is that the SSD is used for volatile files, including the boot files, and then the volatile files are transferred to the HDD when the system is idle and the file not in use. So you could get almost the performance of an SSD, but at the cost of an HDD. Like all compromises, it has some weaknesses.

 

[Jim40]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I have an iMac with OS X Capitan. I think it's a 2015 model but i'm not sure. When I click on about this mac it doesn't say. and when I click on support > specifications it says Safari can't open the page. My thoughts are maybe it's time to upgrade the OS. I'm about to start a very big video editing project and I think it would be wise to decide this before I start. Right now I'm not sure whether to use the USB 3.0 or 3.1 cable for my project hard drive because I don't know how to find out what my mac supports. I also have no idea what OS to upgrade to (and if I should at all) because there seems to be a lot of mixed info and I'm not even really sure what year my mac is. Any advice or help is appreciated.

I switched from PC to Mac in 2011 and I've been so impressed since. I still use my Macbook Pro from 2011. I really can't believe it's lasted this long! I've done so many huge video projects on both my 2011 macbook and 2015 (maybe) iMac with Final Cut Pro and I've been so happy with the performance, reliability and what I can do. Neither apple machine has ever let me down while PCs and Microsoft have continued to frustrate me to no end.

Thanks!
Martin

As a Mac user since 1994, my first Mac was an LC111 (Performa) with 2MB Ram, 160 MB of hard drive running on System 7.6. It depends what OS your'e comfortable with. I have have kept up to date with OS, so am now on Catalina macOS 10.15.6. Apple always recommends that you use the latest software because each OS brings new features. I usually wait to upgrade after letting others try it. For example I didn't upgrade until about the third release, i.e. I didn't upgrade to Catalina until osMac !0.15.3. I had to run two upgrades to install it properly, but it's fine now. In my humble opinion FWIW, I think Apple upgrade too often, for example I know sooner got familiar with Mojave, when Catalina is released.. Your iMac will support Catalina and at osMac 10.15.6, I think it's OK if you bite the bullet.

 

[pm-r]

High Sierra it is thank you so much! One last thing are my USB ports 3.0 or 3.1?

@martinresi
Select your particular model from here and see all its specific specs and details:

Apple iMac Specs (All iMac Tech Specs): EveryMac.com

Tech specs for all Apple iMac models from the original to the current. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, prices and more.

everymac.com

- Patrick
=======

 

[chscag]

Patrick:

Already answered in Post # 9.

But EveryMac.com would be a good bookmark for him.

 

[Petesmac]

A lot depends on what type of drive is in your 2015 iMac. If it's a Fusion drive (combo HDD and small SSD) I would not upgrade past High Sierra. If your machine has a pure SSD, then you can go to the latest version of macOS Catalina.

The reason is that once you upgrade to Mojave, that will cause your drive to be reformatted to APFS from HFS+. APFS is designed for SSDs although it will work on any drive. A spinning HDD or combo drive (Fusion) will be stressed and likely run slower than if left at HFS+.

Yes, you have a Fusion drive. Combo 2TB HDD and a 128GB SSD. I recommend going to High Sierra and leave it there. As we stated, upgrading to Mojave will reformat the drive(s) to APFS and can cause slow downs and other problems for the drive.

It sounds like my 27" iMac is very similar if not the same. I bought mine new in 2016 but its build date is late 2015. Mine is a fusion drive also, with similar specs as above, except that the hard drive is 1TB.

Upon booting up for the first time, the system automatically upgraded to High Sierra. After about a year or so, I decided to install Parallels to run Windows 10. With this in mind, I upgraded the RAM from 8 GB to 24 GB. The system literally flew along quite happily.

After another year or so, I decided to get rid of Parallels (I found it more trouble than it is worth) and buy a cheap pc laptop. Mojave came along and after a few months went by, I upgraded to it. Then along came Catalina, with all the warnings about not being able to use 32 bit whatever. After a few months went by, I decided that I could live without the 32 bit thing so upgraded to Catalina, which is where we are at now. Mine is currently version 10.15.6

I don't really understand why you folks say some people may have difficulty by upgrading to Mojave or Catalina. My iMac is still sailing along smoothly and more than quick enough. Maybe it's because I upgraded the RAM to 24GB. ??

 

[IWT]

@Petesmac

We are advising people to be cautious, that's all. For many with Fusion Drives, macOS Catalina suits their needs and works as competently and swiftly as they desire.

But there are other reports of slowness, crashes and spinning balls mainly because the APFS was designed to work with SSDs preferentially. High-demanding tasks, others that need fast responses and, of course, the inability to use 32bit apps have forced users to downgrade (if they can - going back to HFS+ from APFS can be extremely troublesome).

You're happy; that's great. Enjoy.

For others, that has not been the case. So we simply spell out the potential difficulties and let them decide. Better safe than sorry.

Ian

 

[chscag]

I don't really understand why you folks say some people may have difficulty by upgrading to Mojave or Catalina. My iMac is still sailing along smoothly and more than quick enough. Maybe it's because I upgraded the RAM to 24GB. ??

As Ian pointed out, we advise about the pitfalls. If the user wishes to press on and has no problems, great. If you're happy with the way your system is performing, that's fine with us.

Thanks for your response and welcome to our forums.

 

[pm-r]

Patrick:

Already answered in Post # 9.

But EveryMac.com would be a good bookmark for him.

OK, so now they should know, and maybe even have a reference for other details and specs about their I they might want to know about.


- Patrick
=======

 

[Jim40]

Excuse me if another thread has been started on macOS 11.1, but install it at your peril based on my experience. I had to install it three times to get it. My own fault I usually leave it to third version. One, it stopped my Malwarebytes Privacy from working. I get Malwarebytes free for all my Macs from my bank RBS for digital banking which I use all the time as no RBS branches or Nat West for 60 miles. Two, I have BT as my IP, and you get 2 copies of McCafee BT Virus Protect free.
I lost that as it saw osMac 11.1 as a new installation. Have downgraded my wife's MacBook Pro Retina and it's OK now. I didn't upgrade my 27" iMac, so no problems with that.
Anyone else who've upgraded to Big Sur, be glad to hear from them.

With Mac mail incoming mails are still not going in their proper folders and Apple UK even after allowing them remote access. Think I'll buy a cheap Windows PC, as I've never used Windows.

 

[chscag]

I believe you're referring to macOS 11.0.1 as macOS 11.1 has not been released yet.

In any event, consider yourself fortunate that your McAfee Virus protection is not working. It's one of the worst resource hogs and does absolutely nothing but perhaps find Windows viruses as there are none for the Mac.

If you're using Malwarebytes, that's all you need to find and remove any Mac malware. You do not need virus protection.

 

[Rod]

I think you will find as I did that prior to installing the Big Sur Upgrade all antivirus software must be disabled or removed. In one article I read it advised using Safe Mode for instal to be absolutely sure.
I agree with chscag on the McAfee software, completely unnecessary. If you had the Malwarebytes helper app running in the background that may have been partly responsible for your difficulty you had with the upgrade.

 

[Jim40]

I believe you're referring to macOS 11.0.1 as macOS 11.1 has not been released yet.

In any event, consider yourself fortunate that your McAfee Virus protection is not working. It's one of the worst resource hogs and does absolutely nothing but perhaps find Windows viruses as there are none for the Mac.

If you're using Malwarebytes, that's all you need to find and remove any Mac malware. You do not need virus protection.

I beg your pardon it was of course macOS 11.0.1. As I said I only use McCafee Virus Protection as my Internet Provider provides 2 free copies. My bank provides Malwarebytes free as part of it's security for online digital banking. I am pretty much housebound these days so do all banking online so I use Malwarebytes Privacy which I bought in August 2020 and the activation code doesn't expire until August 2021, but it stopped working about 3 weeks ago, so I am claiming a refund from my bank. Whilst on about Malwarebytes products their Tech Support in the UK is more than useless, although Malwarebytes never gives me any trouble.At my age, I want to keep what's in my bank account safe and I thought a VPN was the answer as you will know you can be at home, but virtually in the US or other European country with a different IP address. Any advice on the need for a VPN would be most welcome. If in agreement which VPN is the best.

 

[krs]

Excuse me if another thread has been started on macOS 11.1, but install it at your peril based on my experience. I had to install it three times to get it. My own fault I usually leave it to third version. One, it stopped my Malwarebytes Privacy from working. I get Malwarebytes free for all my Macs from my bank RBS for digital banking which I use all the time as no RBS branches or Nat West for 60 miles. Two, I have BT as my IP, and you get 2 copies of McCafee BT Virus Protect free.
I lost that as it saw osMac 11.1 as a new installation. Have downgraded my wife's MacBook Pro Retina and it's OK now. I didn't upgrade my 27" iMac, so no problems with that.
Anyone else who've upgraded to Big Sur, be glad to hear from them.

With Mac mail incoming mails are still not going in their proper folders and Apple UK even after allowing them remote access. Think I'll buy a cheap Windows PC, as I've never used Windows.

I'm wondering why you installed macOS 11.x at all. What was wrong with the macOS you were running?
And you should really get rid of that McCafee BT Virus Protection completely.

 

[Rod]

I suppose our exposure to industry opinions and Mac user's problems colours our opinions about early adopters when it comes to macOS upgrades. When you get a notification from Apple stating a new version of macOS is available, promoting all the new features and encouraging you to upgrade now by clicking a button they don't tell you about the problems you might face. They don't tell you that it might be dangerous, or even fatal to your device. Of course that information is available if you search for it but not everybody does. Even if you do there may not be enough users out there that have had time to report their problems yet. The general rule of thumb is to wait. Wait until enough people have tried it and had time to report their issues and experiences and Apple has had time to fix them.

Anyway, back to topic: I use ExpressVPN, it is not the cheapest but after trying many of the top rating alternatives I found it to be the best supported, easiest to set up and maintain, most reliable and flexible package for my needs. There are lots of comparison sites out there so have a look around for the service that fits your needs. When you spread the cost across several devices it's not all that expensive.

 

[MacInWin]

I use NordVPN, which I find works well and has a simple interface. And for @Jim40, the real reason for a VPN is for the encryption of the link, for security, not necessarily the change of IP. Change of IP can be handy if you want to visit some website that has regional restrictions, but it doesn't always work for that purpose, in my experience.

 

[IWT]

Pathetic, I guess; but I have 3 VPNs. Bought at different times following the advice at that time.

ExpressVPN has good support, is fast and covers Macs and iDevices.

PIA was my first and with recent developments, has once again reached the top of the pile. It has 256 AES encryption, lots of preferences to suit most needs and is fast enough for me. Macs & iDevices. Bit slow to respond to customer enquiries.

NordVPN is probably the fastest and has a wide net covering most of the world, especially the Southern Hemisphere which is often neglected. Macs & iDevices. Good support.

I have to declare that I have no financial, business or any other interest in any of these. I paid for them all, as I said, at different times over the last few years.

Personal experience.

Ian

 

[Rod]

I have the same disclaimer for ExpressVPN but I should add that it also works across platforms. Apart from our collective MBP's, iPad's and iPhones it also works on Android devices which is particularly useful for us in Indonesia. I have it installed on a HDMI MiBox to TV which we use to watch Australian content via iView, SBS On Demand and others.
See; https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-vpn