Apple Pulls Problematic Safari 14 and Security Updates for macOS Mojave [Updated]

[rlhamil]

I know, right? It's like some people feel the need to say (for me, I'm not seeing problems). That's an anecdotal sample of 1. With any issue, even if it's widespread, there's going to be some people who don't have it. That's a given. So hearing about a one-off case of someone who has no issues offers nothing to the conversation.

This one is tricky. One site said it's only a problem if you first install Safari 14 and then 2020-005; but not if you don't have both, and not if you install them in the opposite order. So some people will have either or both and be perfectly fine, and some won't.

edit: there are of course problems that affect everyone (although perhaps not everyone notices). But those are likelier to get caught in testing than one that doesn't affect everyone. Coming up with tests to cover different non-whole-system update combinations (which should usually be ok, but sometimes won't be) is crazy, because the number of combinations goes up very fast relative to the number of separately installable updates. But smaller updates are faster, and people like that. Solaris 11 has a good (IMO) approach: a package management system that ensures all update sets are consistent, and as needed (or optionally if requested even for minor updates where it wouldn't do it automatically) takes snapshots so one can roll back updates with one command and a reboot.

 

[TheSpiritBaby]

I guess I'm the only one who's not had any issues with macOS Catalina. I'm gonna stay on Catalina the next version after Big Sur comes out. Then upgrade to Big Sur and repeat that way.

 

[JimmyBanks6]

Because that has always solved problems.

When a person repeatedly fails at their role, replacing them with somebody competent does in fact solve the problem.

 

[Natzoo]

Why are folks still on Mojave?

Have you used catalina at all? Literally a new bug is found every week and its not even minor ones. Im glad I didnt update to Catalina and especially this safari 14 update.

 

[Apple430+]

Mojave is awful compared to Catalina. Best way to fix all the issues years later is to get off that version!

 

[Zwhaler]

Why are folks still on Mojave?

Mac Pro 5,1

 

[Sugarcubes]

Why are folks still on Mojave?

Ask anyone using Logic Pro, some of us still have ancient plugins that won't run under Catalina

 

[Realityck]

About four months ago, I got to a point on Catalina where everything just about works, albeit sometimes slowly. Not touching any new Apple update with a barge pole until I'm certain it's stable and reliable. I used to look forward to new software releases, not anymore. Big Sur better be good when it's finally released or I'm going nowhere.

The worst of Catalina was the release of 10.15.6. Sometime in the early beta cycle Apple switched to a more recent Darwin Kernel with memory sandbox issues which as observed as making VM's crash, and on my computer randomly OS would crash. I provided feedback about this several times, still it ended up going official? 10.15.6 supplement was Apple going back to a earlier Darwin Kernel. Please note only a few Mac configs saw this.
10.15.7 is OK.

I am now on Big Sur beta 9 and I prefer it because of stability, also Safari 14 supports 4K/8K with VP9 playback better then Firefox could ever do.

 

[Midwestern1575]

Because Catalina.

Because I have several external devices (scansnap S1300 and a DYMO label printer) that were never updated to 64-bit.

 

[PhillyGuy72]

Yeah this was a mess.

I installed this last week and came back to a total nightmare. I didn't even know it was RAM involved, thought it was a messed up install??

Constant spinning beach ball, nothing was opening, basically a frozen iMac (Couldn't get Disk Utility/Processes) to even load to see. PRAM/SMC no go...

ANYWAY, after 45min, I was about to completely reinstall OS in Recovery Mode, noticed Mac OS internal HD took a "snapshot" just before this update. I tried it and was successful, reverted back to PRE-update mode.

(Of course Mac immediately stated "Updates Available - Want to install them?" NO...NO NO! )

 

[Natzoo]

I am now on Big Sur beta 9 and I prefer it because of stability, also Safari 14 supports 4K/8K with VP9 playback better then Firefox could ever do.

Overall, how would you rate big sur? I would like to update from mojave and try out features such as sidecar.

 

[rumorguy]

El Capitan no longer receives updates or security updates. Which is why I use it: Apple will not muck it up.

 

[Maconplasma]

I still have Mojave on my MBP because I play a 32bit game that won't get a 64-bit update.

Well then you're gonna be on Mojave forever then because Big Sur and moving forward won't support 32bit. I find it bizarre that people will ignore an entire OS upgrade complete with better security just for a game. I can't see why some here will support lazy developers and give them that much power on their computing life.

 

[Natzoo]

Well then you're gonna be on Mojave forever then because Big Sur and moving forward won't support 32bit. I find it bizarre that people will ignore an entire OS upgrade complete with better security just for a game. I can't see why some here will support lazy developers and give them that much power on their computing life.

Others have more valid reasons for not upgrading to newer OS, I do agree that a 32 bit game is not a good reason to hold off. I held off in the begining (still on mojave) because of the major bugs in initial release, but never felt confident to update. Will update to Big Sur once that is out.

 

[northernmunky]

Why are folks still on Mojave?

Because we're still using good old Mac Pro 5,1s and a lot of software we rely on for business have been abandoned by the developers and theres no alternatives.

 

[Glideslope]

This one is tricky. One site said it's only a problem if you first install Safari 14 and then 2020-005; but not if you don't have both, and not if you install them in the opposite order. So some people will have either or both and be perfectly fine, and some won't.

edit: there are of course problems that affect everyone (although perhaps not everyone notices). But those are likelier to get caught in testing than one that doesn't affect everyone. Coming up with tests to cover different non-whole-system update combinations (which should usually be ok, but sometimes won't be) is crazy, because the number of combinations goes up very fast relative to the number of separately installable updates. But smaller updates are faster, and people like that. Solaris 11 has a good (IMO) approach: a package management system that ensures all update sets are consistent, and as needed (or optionally if requested even for minor updates where it wouldn't do it automatically) takes snapshots so one can roll back updates with one command and a reboot.

Interesting. I updated to Safari 14 and waited a couple days prior to 2020-005. I have no noticeable issues compared to before the process.

No way I’m ever putting Catalina on my 2017 iMac.

 

[MacD]

[retracted]

 

[oldmacs]

Why are folks still on Mojave?

To avoid the Catalina disaster

 

[q64ceo]

Well then you're gonna be on Mojave forever then because Big Sur and moving forward won't support 32bit. I find it bizarre that people will ignore an entire OS upgrade complete with better security just for a game. I can't see why some here will support lazy developers and give them that much power on their computing life.

Mojave is still supported by Apple. It gets regular security updates. And that lazy developer comment isnt accurate; for many on the Mac updating 32bit apps to 64bit isnt worth the money. Mac gaming already is piss-poor. Not only that some companies have went outta business so there wont be an update.

 

[pasamio]

Why are folks still on Mojave?

I have a Mac Pro 5,1 that can't upgrade and I haven't made peace with the Dashboard going away. I have a few latent 32-bit apps that I need to exorcise but on the iMac that I did upgrade to Catalina I still haven't found something that replicates the effectiveness of the Dashboard yet in terms of customisability, widgets and interaction model. There's an app on the App Store that claims to be a Dashboard replacement but it doesn't come close. There wasn't anything that Catalina added to my life that struck me as a must have either, if anything what distinguished Catalina for me was that it took away a bunch of stuff.

When you encounter this, does waking up from sleep summon a momentary black screen with Apple logo and loading bar? Such a weird sequence that began with 10.15.6.

That could be the device resuming from hibernation rather than sleep. Sleep is instant on, hibernation can take a moment to page that in from disk and can trigger that sort of loading bar.

Because I have several external devices (scansnap S1300 and a DYMO label printer) that were never updated to 64-bit.

Doesn't help you for the printer but for the scanner try checking out VueScan.

Well then you're gonna be on Mojave forever then because Big Sur and moving forward won't support 32bit. I find it bizarre that people will ignore an entire OS upgrade complete with better security just for a game. I can't see why some here will support lazy developers and give them that much power on their computing life.

I think they're cognisant that the 32-bit apps are gone for ever otherwise they would have moved in the first place

The computer exists for what the person wants to use it for, in this case to play a game that unfortunately hasn't been updated. A lot of the Windows ports of these PC games were done as 32-bit which is unfortunate but I'm not going to judge a fellow for wanting to use his computer to play games if they're otherwise able to complete everything else they want to achieve at the same time. For the moment Mojave is still getting security patches so until Apple drop security support it's still a relatively safe bet.

In terms of supporting lazy developers, presumably the person paid for the game years ago, maybe even over a decade ago. The developer might have moved on and is likely not going to get any money out of updating a game again, especially for a relatively tiny market of the Mac. I'm not sure that's lazy, video games are much more point in time pieces of software with a limited shelf life.

 

[Maconplasma]

Mojave is still supported by Apple. It gets regular security updates. And that lazy developer comment isnt accurate; for many on the Mac updating 32bit apps to 64bit isnt worth the money. Mac gaming already is piss-poor. Not only that some companies have went outta business so there wont be an update.

I won't change my comment because your post confirms it. And since Mac gaming is so "piss poor" then people shouldn't be holding back on upgrading to a more secure OS in favor of 32bit Mac gaming that is so "piss poor".

 

[Maconplasma]

Because we're still using good old Mac Pro 5,1s and a lot of software we rely on for business have been abandoned by the developers and theres no alternatives.

Well then you should switch to Windows because moving forward you'll never be able to upgrade to newer Macs since you're supporting developers that abandon software development.

 

[Realityck]

Overall, how would you rate big sur? I would like to update from mojave and try out features such as sidecar.

Better than Catalina. The most recent beta 9 is usable with most software. It has full installer rather than a incremental installer available for doing what you want. Check Big Sur - Working / Not Working App to verify your apps are supported.

see https://www.uubyte.com/upgrade-to-macos-big-sur.html

 

[q64ceo]

I won't change my comment because your post confirms it. And since Mac gaming is so "piss poor" then people shouldn't be holding back on upgrading to a more secure OS in favor of 32bit Mac gaming that is so "piss poor".

Oh, please. Mojave is a secure OS. It receives regular updates from Apple for security issues. Do you know what the difference is between Mojave and Catalina when it comes to security? Two terminal commands. One that disables Gatekeeper and the other that mounts /System/Library/* as read/write, which anyone who is writing malware can easily put into their program in any sort of installer that requires an administrator password.

 

[DeadeyeM]

FFS and I've just updated Mojave... thanks Apple you becoming more and more like Microsoft