It won't play out because it can't be done. The new MacBook Pros are shipping with Monterey and can not be downgraded.How do you think downgrading to Big Sur will play out in these machines?
Could you not do a restore from a Big Sur time machine backup onto your new MBP and then you‘re back on Big Sur?
Many people have been bitten in the past by security and other bugs in the first iteration of an OS, and bespoke software will often take at least a few weeks to become authorised/checked on a new platform, particularly as Apple often throw in or remove things in the final iterations compared to beta versions, so it is a legitimate question.Why in the world would you even want to do this?
Why in the world would you even want to do this?
No, that won't work. It will not load Big Sur even from backup. It will tell you that the OS you are backing up from needs to be updated to Monterey before the backup can take place.
But I'd also ask why would you want to do that? Monterey is pretty great especially on these new MacBook Pro's.
Why in the world would you even want to do this?
For the people asking why you would want to do this: For compatibility reasons, obviously. Have you never heard that people in almost all areas of software may need to stay on specific supported versions of some software (e.g. operating systems) in order for other software they need not to break?
If you work in the audio world, for example, like myself, then a bunch of the software you rely on every day currently crashes on Monterey, and the developers of some critical audio software traditionally take ages to release maintenance updates for new macOS versions.
If you have software that has a requirement for Big Sur that won't work properly in Monterrey, then you could always run Big Sur in a VM, VMWare Fusion is your friend here, and it's free now, where you used to have to pay for it.The new MacBook Pro’s are shipping with Monterey.
How do you think downgrading to Big Sur will play out in these machines?
There might be compatibility issues with the notch and other hardware features?
I had a card reader act a little funky as I had to unplug it then plug it back in to be recognized. No big deal and I'm sure an update will resolve that issue.macOS Monterey Users Report Connectivity Issues With USB Hubs
Some Mac users who upgraded to macOS Monterey this week are experiencing problems getting USB hubs and other USB-based devices to work properly with their machines, based on scattered online reports. There have been several reports on Reddit, Apple's Developer Forums, and Apple's Support...forums.macrumors.com
Here's one of the many examples of why.