It’s been over 6 months now since the release of Apple’s major new macOS Big Sur. And maybe you’ve held off on updating your Mac. But you’re itching to see what Big Sur is all about.
So… is it safe yet for you to update your macOS?
Every year Apple releases a new macOS. And every year we’re treated to new features and tools.
But Big Sur signaled a significant change for Macs. It was a complete departure from the look and feel of past macOS generations. With Big Sur, the iOS experience and Mac experiences finally converged.
Pretty exciting stuff!
But when Big Sur first dropped, I released a video and post titled “Should You Update To Big Sur? How to Make the Right Upgrade Decision.”
And in that post I highly recommended that you *not* update to Big Sur.
But how come? A new OS means better features. Why would anyone choose to not update?
For most Apple users updating is a no-brainer. But for us creatives relying on 3rd party hardware and plugins?
Well, it’s a bit different.
The last several macOS updates have caused quite a stir for Apple’s pro app users. Apple pushes technology forward for everyone. And developers have had to catch up with the changes in macOS architecture.
Meaning when Big Sur came out, many developers plugins and hardware might not have been compatible with the new macOS. So if you downloaded Big Sur on Day 1, you may have found some of your gear and plugins might not have worked as expected (or at all).
This can be a major workflow killer. Worst still, if you hadn’t created a backup of your Mac, you couldn’t revert back to your Mac before downloading Big Sur.
Instead you may have had to wait for developers to release software updates. Some developers quickly cranked out updates for their users. While other developers have been slow to release updates.
But it’s been 6 months since Big Sur’s release. Surely it should be safe for you to update your Mac now?
That’s what today’s video is all about.
But to save you some trouble, here’s what I recommend:
1. Check this link to see if your Mac is able to update to Big Sur:
https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/
2. Click on the resources below to see if your plugins and hardware are compatible with Big Sur:
Sweetwater Big Sur Compatibility Guide For Plugins & Hardware
Production Expert Big Sur Compatibility Database For Plugins & Hardware
3. PLEASE – Create a Time Machine backup of your Mac before updating. The link below will walk you through how to create a Time Machine backup:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
Running Logic on M1 Mac. Scarlett 2i2, Arturia controllers, Waves plugins, Brainworx plugins, and a bunch of other plugins are all working.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing your experiences Morten 🙂
It’s so interesting, I was chatting with a user over email, and she said for her on her M1 Macbook Pro that Waves plugins were completely unusable. I’ve heard conflicting accounts from a number of sources. I wonder why that is?
But again, thank you. I’m really excited to take the leap once my hardware is ready to go.
Arturia software as well: Analog Lab V, Pigment, Piano, etc …
bought a late 202 iMac 27″ back in Nov that had Big Sur preinstalled so I had no choice! I ordered it with Logic Pro preinstalled. I later added Studio 1 and Waveform. I have a Presonus ioStation24c for my interface and I am also using an old Behringer Xenyx x1204usb as an aggregate interface. All of that works fine. I am running Waves, Slate, Izotope, and Kilohearts plugins and they also work fine. In fact, I never had issues with any of the DAWs that I run. That being said, my iMac would crash on a regular basis at least 2-3 times a week. Sometimes I would experience multiple crashes in a single day. But over time and with every update the crashes have become few and far between (knock on wood).
*2020
Hi there 😉 It’s now October and finally made the decision to upgrade to Big Sur…I also have a late 2020 iMac…How is the crashing going for you now?