macOS Sonoma 14.4: Reasons Not to Update

[ThatSomeone]

Safari pins are broken for me since 14.4. They disappear when I start Safari, but if I wait a few minutes or open a new window, they appear on all of them again.

Sonoma has been pretty awful so far. I feel like my 16" 2021 M1 Pro has got significantly slowed down in terms of OS+app starts just from updating. And then there's stuff like this happening in these .X updates... What's going on?

 

[SyrOrange]

M1 Macbook Air owner here, upon reading this, I immediately downgraded from 14.4 to 14.3.1 few broken vulnerabilities vs 15 different broken things plus a serious Java vulnerability. It was no brainer. I will just hold out for 14.4.1 or 14.5.

 

[heroinsmoker]

I gave a down-vote, because surely it can't be _that_ bad, can it? Hundreds of your devices? Are you a corporate IT whiz?

Read it carefully: I said *messages* appeared by the hundreds on several of my devices.

 

[teak421]

So far, so good for me...at least for now.

 

[Realityck]

Shame nothing dropped today against any of the OS's, but still likely this week.

 

[rubyB]

I wish I had waited, but usually do not wait to update in case there are security updates. I was definitely not expecting to lose all my applications in the Finder of my MacBook pro. Cannot find them anywhere. Cannot download anything, such as a VPN, or any of the applications I have lost. This does not seem to be an issue anyone else has reported as yet.

 

[someoldguy]

Just last night I got fed up with 14.4 and wiped the drive , went back to Big Sur for now . 2019 iMac 27 , 1t. ssd changed from Fusion drive a few years back . The machine ran fine on Ventura , but I got 'gifted' the unwanted update to 14.2 in January . Nothing but aggravation since . No idea what happened to Boot Camp ,it's there but won't boot , Time Machine seems broken , slow boot , Mail either won't start or requires a forced quit , Bunch of programs got broken .Checked out the SSD with DriveDX and it's OK , and it runs fine on Big Sur . Would have been a nice gesture for T. Cook &CO. to ship a finished OS . It was just not worth the aggravation to play stupid games with this thing , so it's in the spare bedroom closet doing a 'time out' until I see what's going on re: Intel Macs and MacOS 15 . Just another step pushing me faster in the direction of being all PC rather than dual platform .

 

[Ener Ji]

When's 14.4.1 expected, any guesses?

 

[triptolemus]

CUPS printing has been screwed up for several versions. Sounds like they've borked it further such that more folks have taken notice.

I'm reasonably proficient when it comes to matters of this nature, and I have given up. When I need to print from Mac, I save to pdf and print from Windows. Seriously.

It's 2024. No one should even have to think about printers. It's a solved problem. But CUPS printing on Mac is like printing in 1994.

 

[Agent007]

I left Windows because of this stuff but, over the last decade, the whole Mac experience has gone downhill. During the same time, build quality and battery life in PC laptops has increased. From what I hear, so has the Windows user experience. I have literally 0 apps that require a Mac. I see a PC in my future. It's gonna suck copying my notes from the Notes app one note at a time lol!

 

[murzika]

No issues. Every time I have to update it reminds me how glad I am that I gave Windows the boot. It has always been a smooth experience for me though installing Office was horrible.

Microsoft didn't only port Office to Mac, they also ported the Windows installation experience.

 

[betabeta]

I left Windows because of this stuff but, over the last decade, the whole Mac experience has gone downhill. During the same time, build quality and battery life in PC laptops has increased. From what I hear, so has the Windows user experience. I have literally 0 apps that require a Mac. I see a PC in my future. It's gonna suck copying my notes from the Notes app one note at a time lol!

Yeah, right? I left windows 16 years ago for the same reasons. I was involved in repairing and supporting windows and had to teach people how to use them, it became a pain, I got called all the time with how do I do this? why did my printer stop working? what are these options? etc. My cousin gave me his old iPhone those 16 years ago and said this is just simple run away from windows before you go nuts. That iPhone was my gateway and I fully converted to Apple, less settings, less choices, but it worked and was easy. Still fixing PC's I started to tell my customers to switch, they did and honestly I never heard from them again and I eventually quit the PC repair/support game.

Now Mac/iPhone/iPad options are ridiculous, with way too many settings! now like before with windows I'm getting asked questions from family members that I switched to Apple years ago, where is this option, how do I do this, why is this happening, the update failed, this stopped working. It's like Apple is slowly becoming a mess like windows was, yeah Jobs liked less options and settings because it was easy for the average Joe, he also screamed at employees to get it done, do it right, fix it. obviously that is not happening now.

I think Apple still better, BUT they are on a slippery slope when you hear windows is trying to look like the Apple from the past with streamlined Apple like interface and removing options. I installed Windows 11 for a family member and yea it's a privacy nightmare, I still hate it, but to my surprise it's working for an entire year without any calls for help! printers working, no BSOD, Onedrive even works. Now MS just hired an awesome AI head and grabbed it's assets! it's all got me a little concerned. I'm pulling for Apple to be the best, they can do it.

The next OS has to be on point!

 

[betabeta]

I was selling computers when Vista hit the fan.
The next year was a real fluster cluck for service.
Drove a lot of switchers to the Mac.
I wonder if the reverse will happen now that Window 11 seems like a working alternative?

Yeah, that was right around the time I switched, a little after that mess actually and I switched a lot of people along with me, I mean a lot of people, it changed my career path as well, possibly saved my sanity🤣

But now I'm getting concerned, The big Redmond machine has a solid leadership and they just today added to the AI leadership side BIG time. I'm really hopeful, but Apple is is chasing a lot right now and maybe needs to have a hungry take the bull by the horns leader screaming at people to get it done right! Leadership might just be too relaxed, they don't seem excited or hungry anymore.

Something has to change, and fast.

 

[Shirasaki]

Reason no. 1:

It looks like a toyOS, behaves like a toyOS and now it even works like a broken toyOS.

Even more so by making it even more toyOS than ever.

 

[genexx]

I still have no Probs also with 14.4 running 24/7 and relying on the Mac´s to Administer Clouds and like the fact that it is a Unix OS. I do 100% of my Work with it so....

I updated the Hackintosh Backup Machine first to 14.4 and have 2 USB Hubs in a row @ the MBA M2 with also no Problems as well no Office Probs.

Lucky me i do not Program in Java or use Java based Audio Driver, this bug is serious.

On the other side, i was very warned about this Update and have checked everything before updating my working Horse because the Beta Phase was a mess and it was foreseeable to be not a problem-free update.

I may have also a different approach to think about this, would i have problems my thoughts would be:
"i had to better check before, but no Problem, i just revert because i am prepared"

Just keep in mind that updating is mostly checked against the last previous version.
Many people updating in big steps getting into trouble then.

Also be patience to let MacOS do the Work after Updating and leave the Processes alone is also a good approach.

 

[mvcedgt]

Nope, but it is hardly more than a minor inconvenience, especially in light of the issues some say they are having. Seriously, how long did it take you? Way down on the list. Other issues are preventing some from getting their work done. I don't think reinstalling a printer is close to being on the same level.

You're missing the point entirely. macOS used to 'just work', and now it barely works. It's ludicrous that an OS upgrade would break something so fundamental as printing. My 91-yo mum has been using a MacBook since about 2010 but now barely a day goes by without something else not working as expected or as previously. My ability to do the 340-mile round trip to fix this or fix that is limited - again, a reason why 'just works' was such a great thing, because now the ultra-reliable device that she relies so heavily on for communicating with friends and family lets her down. She's unable to write great screeds of text with a keyboard, so Outlook 365 dictate is an essential part of her usage, and the stuff she writes, prints, puts in an envelope, stamps, and sends, falls down entirely if her printer suddenly stops working. It won't take me minutes to fix, but it might be a while before I get the chance.

As much as I've resisted it until now, I'll need to look for some commercial remote access solution since Apple removed Back To My Mac.

The cumulative effect in this case is hardly a minor inconvenience.

 

[chucker23n1]

You're missing the point entirely. macOS used to 'just work', and now it barely works. It's ludicrous that an OS upgrade would break something so fundamental as printing.

This severe printing bug shouldn't have happened (I don't know the details — was it not noticed in the betas?). But I disagree with "it barely works". Almost everything I do on my Mac works fine.

 

[Torty]

Unfortunately too late for me. Got my new MBA today and I thought it would be a good idea to start the update before setting everything up.

 

[Erniepiet]

I wonder, is it just me that is really annoyed with the previous releases of macOS software being no longer downloadable?
Expensive Mac Studio sitting on my desk; got delivered with 14.2. Main application Pro Tools could use 14.3.1. Only available release 14.4 introduces several bugs... So it I'm basically stuck waiting for a fix.

It used to be possible to at least grab 'm from the developer site. But no longer. It appears that for the moment downloading and keeping a copy of each release is the way to go. What a mess...

 

[uploaded]

I wonder, is it just me that is really annoyed with the previous releases of macOS software being no longer downloadable?
Expensive Mac Studio sitting on my desk; got delivered with 14.2. Main application Pro Tools could use 14.3.1. Only available release 14.4 introduces several bugs... So it I'm basically stuck waiting for a fix.

It used to be possible to at least grab 'm from the developer site. But no longer. It appears that for the moment downloading and keeping a copy of each release is the way to go. What a mess...

Just go to Mr. Macintosh's website - there you will find all macOS installers as well as the IPSW downloads.
The site has saved me many times ;-)

Mr. Macintosh - Apple Mac Enterprise IT Blog - Mac & macOS News

Looking for a place to keep up with the fast paced world of Apple Mac & macOS? Mr. Macintosh will keep you informed of the latest news!

mrmacintosh.com

 

[xgman]

It's surprising that there have been no dev betas since 14.4 dropped. They typically push one out right after each release.

 

[chucker23n1]

It's surprising that there have been no dev betas since 14.4 dropped. They typically push one out right after each release.

There's no iOS 17.5 beta yet either. My guess: they're waiting until they have a beta of Web Distribution ready for iOS; then that will become iOS 17.5 beta 1, and other platforms will receive betas around the same time.

 

[chump]

Finder has been 'not responding' regularly for me since 14.4 Is there any ETA on fixes?

 

[boswald]

This is the first time I’ve seen an article here telling people not to upgrade. That’s sad. I hope Apple fixes things quickly.

 

[endless_universe]

Not mentioned are the problems with Bluetooth speakers audio volume, which has stopped working for me. The volume bar moves, but there's no audio volume change. I also noticed some weird freezes and built-in screen blackouts when external monitor is connected. I am not even mentioning the widely reported white noise over HDMI when you first connect the monitor, you have to physically reconnect the screen to macbook or reset connection via the monitor's OSD itself. Very frustrating.