For those of you with older MBPs, like a mid-2014 model, what is the recommended OS, besides what it was released with? Thanks
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Older MBP, recommended OS
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Depends on what software you run and whether you want security updates. At a minimum I would go with High Sierra. If you have 32 bit apps then Mojave will be the highest you want to use. You can run Big Sur but not Monterey.
I just upgraded a 2012 Mac Mini from Mojave to Catalina for new software I wanted to run. No issues so far.
I just upgraded a 2012 Mac Mini from Mojave to Catalina for new software I wanted to run. No issues so far.
I will only be running Office applications, and web based items. Currently, I have Big Sur on it. But, when running Office sometimes, I feel it is a little slow. Hence, my question.
I do have a Mac Mini M1, too. And, me thinking Office is running slow, might simply be because of what am used to on my Mac Mini M1.
Then again, am not 100% sure what is equivalent to fast on a mid-2014 model.
Keeping Bug Sur on your 2014 would probably be best unless you really need an earlier version. Catalina is a mixed bag for me on my 2012 MBP. The M1 came with Big Sur or Monterey and so keeping Big Sur on the 2014 keeps your muscle memory when switching between machines versus jumping back and forth between Catalina and Big Sur/Monterey. Just my 2¢.
PS - Yes, everything will probably seem a bit pokier on your 2014. I’m so used to my M1 MBP that moving back to my 2016 MBP drives me a little nuts. It feel like it’s in swimming in molasses.
I vote for Mojave.
If you have trouble downloading it from Apple, try downloading dosdude1's "Mojave Patcher".
That has an option in the "Tools" menu which will download a good copy of the installer for you.
(you don't need to use the Patcher utility for anything other than to download the installer)
If you have trouble downloading it from Apple, try downloading dosdude1's "Mojave Patcher".
That has an option in the "Tools" menu which will download a good copy of the installer for you.
(you don't need to use the Patcher utility for anything other than to download the installer)
I usually recommend the last supported OS, at least if your machine has enough memory.
I see no advantage to going with anything older than Big Sur on a 2014 model MacBook Pro, unless you need to run legacy 32-bit applications. We have a 2015 13" dual-core 2.7 GHz i5 MacBook Pro and it runs very well with 8 GB RAM on Monterey.
As for Office... well... it's just slow. It's gonna be slow on older OSes too. The way to make it faster is to get a much faster machine or else to run an older version of Office.
I see no advantage to going with anything older than Big Sur on a 2014 model MacBook Pro, unless you need to run legacy 32-bit applications. We have a 2015 13" dual-core 2.7 GHz i5 MacBook Pro and it runs very well with 8 GB RAM on Monterey.
As for Office... well... it's just slow. It's gonna be slow on older OSes too. The way to make it faster is to get a much faster machine or else to run an older version of Office.
I do wish my model MBP, supported Monterey. I use that OS on my Mac Mini M1, and quite like the experience…
Why? Monterey really is no better than Catalina or Big Sur, I really prefer the older macOS look personally.
No really useful functions have been introduced in Monterey. I have used Live Text once as it saved a bit of time from having to type the text manually from a photo, but that's it.
I'm never going to like this new design they introduced with Big Sur. I'm afraid to think about what they'll come up with next.
I thought it was ugly in the beginning but have gotten used to it over time, but still like the old look better.
Really hope they won't present big changes in version 13.
Yeah, I've gotten used to it I guess. But it's just less appealing in every single way to me. And they haven't even really added any great features that I care about.
I wish I had any level of confidence that future changes will be an improvement, but my guess is they will somehow find a way to make it even worse. More monotone colors, fewer features, no contrasting elements, etc.