Big Sur Nightmare

[ryan101]

I haven't been keeping up with Apple news recently. Anyway, I upgraded to Big Sur from Catalina not thinking about it too much. I have a 2014 MacBook Air with the highest spec's. I have kept it in pristine condition, and it performs really well with Adobe Creasuite and Parallels loaded, so its not a slow machine. After installing the Big Sur, my MacBook Air no longer sees the battery and the trackpad, although the trackpad works. But it won't work on battery. Worse still, it's extremely slow. Even opening Safari involves a spinning wheel.

I quickly realised it was a big mistake, so I tried to do a time machine restore. Which failed. I had my iMac back up, so now I am using my iMac backup to put Catalina back on. It's still doing it, so I don't know if I am going to be successful.

Can anyone tell me if anyone else has had issues with Big Sur and if there are other people facing issues?

I find Apple is now slowly becoming the new Microsoft. I expect most MacBooks to last at least 10 years, and most used to. But I do not know if it's on purpose or not (and I could be very wrong), but with 2014 machine Apple knows most people won’t repair it because a replacement would cost £300-£500 and most repairs would be in the £200-£300 mark. Thereby twisting peoples arms to buy a new one. Just my opinion.

Thank you.

Ryan

 

[mhd2100]

Rule number 1 of upgrading macOS: don't do it until it reaches update version .1 or, even better, .2. The first release is always buggy for users, especially those that are upgrading rather than installing a fresh copy. Wait until the bugs are ironed out then upgrade.

 

[Quackers]

Did you upgrade through the normal Apple updates procedure?
Most 2013 and 2014 machines were blocked from upgrading recently because they have had big problems - some got bricked.

 

[macsorcery]

Rule number 1 of upgrading macOS: don't do it until it reaches update version .1 or, even better, .2. The first release is always buggy for users, especially those that are upgrading rather than installing a fresh copy. Wait until the bugs are ironed out then upgrade.

your rule #1 you mean..

my rule #1 is to upgrade macOS in September of the year following release.. a year of post-release beta testing by everyone chasing a shiny new penny always makes my upgrade experience pleasant 11 months later. the M1 throws a monkey wrench into my rule this year, as I had no choice with the Air.

 

[Ruggy]

Did you try resetting the SMC (system management controller)?
There have been some issues with the SMC and machines of that age.
Usually, it's black screen or start up issues , but the SMC controls the battery and charging, USB ports things like that so it does sound like that's your problem?
It sounds like your install was bad. It was very slow and took a long time for a lot of people and I've found when an install stops and starts, loses connection it can give problems so it might have been that?
Info about the SMC

Reset the SMC of your Mac

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.

support.apple.com

 

[Audit13]

Not sure why Big Sur is so slow. I have an early 2015 13" Air i5 8 GB and it runs quite well.

The 2014 Air is not much different from the 2015 Air.