Apple – Big Sur big problem?

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Apple has released Big Sur and already I’m seeing vendors urge you to not upgrade at this time. Furthermore I’ve seen several posts about issues bypas
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Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Elly

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macOS Big Sur update is reportedly bricking some older 13-inch MacBook Pros, such as those from 2013 and 2014, along with some other reported issues: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/11/16/early-macos-big-sur-adopters-running-into-teething-issues

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Nathan Parker

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Bricking?

Part of me thinks this is as much of a coïncidence as my iPhone starting to tell me my battery needs servicing right after a major iOS upgrade *twice*.

Happened on my iPhone 6s on iOS 12.x and 14.1… I got the “We are sorry about the bad batteries so we reduced the replacement price due to a Class action” battery the 1st time. It had about 200 cycles.

The phone still works great for me otherwise!

Martin

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It looks like the ‘bricking’ issue may not be an isolated issue … reported here also with 23 ‘pages’ of comments already: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/15/macos-big-sur-update-bricking-some-macbook-pros/

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Nathan Parker

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[Alex5723]

howardagoldberg wrote:

reported here also with 23 ‘pages’ of comments already:

I have seen only 2 posts ! (I may have skipped one or two) of bricked Macs in the 23 pages.
Most of the rest is whining.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by Alex5723.

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Nathan Parker

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There is always whining on such forums, but there were certainly more than 2 reports of bricked machines or machines that are no longer behaving correctly.

Also, there is a thread on Apple’s support forum > https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252033190 > and there are clearly a good number of individuals who are running into serious problems.

To be clear, I am not an active MacOS user. I have three W10 machines presently; although two of my sons have Macs – both upgraded their machines this week, and the only (serious) issue they seem to have encountered is that ESET had not updated and they got a warning about some functionality not being active until they update ESET (which was done automatically shortly after the upgrade concluded).

Unlike Windows, Apple controls the hardware and software. If there are systems that are ‘too old,’ etc. to be upgraded reliably, then Apple should not have pushed the upgrade to those users, as it would/should be relatively easy for Apple to test and determine issues. So, looks like a pretty serious issue from my end …

 

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Nathan Parker

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First of all, Apple does not “push” any OS updates, and is not “pushing” Big Sur, the latest one, on people’s Macs. I have a Mac myself and I have a reminder in my dock (the equivalent of the Windows screen tasklbar) in the form of a red dot on the icon for updates, that there is something waiting to be updated. On further inquiry, this something turns out to be the OS and the update for it is Big Sur.

As I have done invariably in the past, I am waiting at least until the first incremental update to Big Sur,  macOS 11.1, comes out before I even consider making any moves towards installing Big Sur. In the mean time, that red dot stays there, unheeded.

But the precaution I am taken with Big Sur is not just because I am using an Apple machine. It is a precaution to be taken when a new version of any OS for any kind of computer comes out: wait and see what happens. Expect things to be problematic for a while. When the reports of initial issues having been fixed and an absence of new reports of significant problems becomes the norm, then it is time to go ahead and update. The alternative is to be an early adopter, with all the usual bad consequences that tend to come along with that.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Many problems with all kinds of software, including Photoshop and Microsoft Office. Big Sur is a bit of a mess, hanging on to completely different technologies under one roof. Indeed, even Apple’s helpdesk advices cautiousness. If you use your Mac for production, it might even be best to skip this version completely and wait until the next version which will hopefully have ironed out all the shortcomings. Luckily in macOS you have that freedom of choice. But Apple-fan or not: Big Sur for now is just a Big Fail and should never have been released in ghe wild… 😕

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Nathan Parker, OscarCP

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I’ll be upgrading my iMac Pro to Big Sur in December. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

Nathan Parker

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OscarCP

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A new Big Sur version 11.1 dev is out.

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Nathan Parker

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I recently upgraded my Macbook Pro to Big-Sur and experienced no problems with the upgrade.  But, let me qualify that upgrade.  I’m a 70+ year old former software developer who wants to keep his mind active.  I bought my machine, a Mid-2014 15″ i7 512gb ssd machine some years ago to learn Swift and to develop an iPad app I had in mind.  All my other systems are Windows 10 machines and I’m not an Apple aficionado by any means.  All my apps are Apple standard apps with the exception of Microsoft’s Office 365.  I mostly run XCode to practice my programming skills, such as they are.

So I think my experience represents the upgrade to a fairly clean machine which went without a hitch.  Your mileage may/will vary.

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[kreela]

I absolutely love Big Sur in some ways and hate it in others.  I signed up for the Beta program and have had to wipe my macbook pro 2020 3 times because my LG monitor, connected through thunderbolt/USB-C, was incompatible with upgrades, and so was my Plugable dock.  At first it would keep the settings for auto-shutdown and auto-start.  BUT….

Software-wise, I have installed a number of third-party programs.  Wondershare DVD Creator survived the upgrades, NTFS for Windows survived, my Quickwatch (our own Antivirus through Quickfix) broke but was fixable.  CCC works, but Apple now uses Signed files, so creating a bootable backup requires installing Big Sur directly to the backup drive.

El Gato’s VHS to DVD software no longer works, and I had to use a Windows computer to back up my old VHS (still working on those).

The extra security, APFS file system…I have no love for these.  I wish I could keep High Sierra.

However, I expected problems with the Beta version, and gave feedback.  Big Sur now asks you up front what kind of Accessibility options you would like to use: I chose visual accommodations for my developing cataract, and I was so grateful they listened to my requests.  And the iPad-like icons are sweet.  Safari has more options to change the background and icons you see when it starts.  I love that.

And handoff between devices just seems smoother and seamless.  If I take a note or picture and send it to another device, it just seems faster.  Sites I visit on my iPad show up on my Mac.  That is the real reason you want to upgrade.

The one real fault I find is Siri maps.  I can type in an address, but say, “Hey, Siri, give me directions to….” and it fails every single time.

The system really has been stable, after the first hickups. Just make a backup with Time Machine or CCC and give it a try.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by kreela.

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Harv

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Big Sur has caught allot of vendors out. Sloppy work on upgrading their software has meant that they work but only with perseverance.

After the upgrade on one of my Macbook Pro 2016 15inch i found Timemachine would no longer work so thought Acronis True Image 2021 would still be ok.

it was until it told my it needed to upgrade my version to Big Sur compatible version – then died. Did a complete fresh reinstall of Big Sur snd Timemachine now worked. Acronis True image 2021 didn’t work still do gave up.
Then i had issues with Paragon NTFS for Mac. This took allot of effort to get it working properly.

Happy Parallel For Mac worked without a hitch.

On my Macbook Pro 13 upgrade went well, Parallel for Mac problem installing needed persuasion, Acronis True Image 2021 had the same problem – now abandoned, Parallel for Mac working well

Nick

 

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