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For now I rolled back to Mojave 10.14.6 with no Security Updates (SU), + Safari 14. I guess I'll let it like that, or maybe I should install the SU 2020-003? (the latest before RAM issue?)

After updating to 2020-005, I suffered from many of the issues described in this thread, as well as in Safari 14.0 + Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Causing Major Problems! So after much reading, own testing and deliberation, I did exactly as you did: I went back to the glorious, unspoiled, vanilla Mojave GM experience (18G103), installing it in-place over the existing, broken installation with 2020-005 and Safari 14, and finally everything is running fine like it's supposed to.

The reason I went as far back as GM, without any "security updates", you might ask? Here's a small summary of the glorious Mojave security updates so far:
2019-001: Data loss on T2 Macs
2019-002: HW-accelerated video freezing
2020-003: Removed ability to get rid of Catalina update notifications without hacking the OS
2020-004: Several users report increased RAM usage with only 004 installed, with none of the above issues fixed
2020-005: The current complete & utter disaster

Security? What use is a theoretically improved security when everything else is broken? I'd rather think and pay attention to what I click on in emails and on the web, and what SW I download, than deal with this horrible mess.

What a sad travesty this once so glorious and rock-stable OS has developed into is simply mind-boggling. And with its lack of support for 32-bit apps, Read-Only System Volume that prevents installing many useful tools, and its automatic snapshots that spread like cancer, filling up more & more disk space, Catalina is even worse. Things won't get any better with Big Sur's cryptographically signed ROSV. And the new UI design of Big Sur makes me puke when I see it from 10 miles away already - if I wanted iOS on my Mac, I'd buy an iPad and keyboard!

I thought I'd NEVER say this in my life, but in its current state, I'd much rather deal with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC than with macOS... or switch to Linux. Which, after my much beloved mid-2015 rMPB dies someday - the last good laptop Apple ever made, without the horrible keyboard, utterly oversized touchpad, infuriatingly annoying and useless Touch Bar, and the option not to constantly live a dongle life, but with the fantastic, secure MagSafe, and the cutest illuminated Apple logo ever to boot - I'll sadly do with a broken heart. Until that day comes, though, it's pure, blazingly fast & stable Mojave GM bliss. ;-)
 
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Can you clarify that link to Safari 13.1.2? Can't see it.
You won't get the link if you have Safari 14 installed. You'd need to re-run the base Mojave installer to get back to the old versions, then you'd be offered Safari 13.1.2 and Security Update 2020-004.
 
You won't get the link if you have Safari 14 installed. You'd need to re-run the base Mojave installer to get back to the old versions, then you'd be offered Safari 13.1.2 and Security Update 2020-004.
I do not mind safari 14, actually I like the fact it’s stopping trackers . By itself and Security Update 2020-004 everything works just fine and it’s even faster.
 
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Another update: Apple has removed the web placeholder for Security Update 2020-005 (Mojave) and its download. To be clear, up until today the link and page were still visible, but only the download was disabled.

2020-004 is still up, though.

I did mention to them that putting 2020-004 on top of G103 drove my RAM up but that may be because I had installed Safari 14 before 004.
 
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Can you clarify that link to Safari 13.1.2? Can't see it.

Sure, here it is! You'll get the .pkg directly:

Of course your current Safari must be <= 13.1.2 to install this pkg.

[edit] and currently this update (13.1.2) is back on the Mac App Store (aka. Update tab of Pref. Pane in that case), pops up only if Safari is < 13.1.2 of course.

But I recommend downloading the Safari 13.1.2 pkg above, and keep it as a backup somewhere, in case this bad story happens again in the future.
 
I can also confirm, when i go to software update after internet recovery i did 5 days ago
i only get 2020-004 and Safari 13.1.2.
Anyone tried that combo?
 
i only get 2020-004 and Safari 13.1.2.
Anyone tried that combo?
This combination is what was working prior to the release of Safari 14. It will be fine as the issue comes in when Safari 14 is installed.
 
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Sure, here it is! You'll get the .pkg directly:

Of course your current Safari must be <= 13.1.2 to install this pkg.

[edit] and currently this update (13.1.2) is back on the Mac App Store (aka. Update tab of Pref. Pane in that case), pops up only if Safari is < 13.1.2 of course.

But I recommend downloading the Safari 13.1.2 pkg above, and keep it as a backup somewhere, in case this bad story happens again in the future.
Thanks so much. Got it and I will certainly archive!
Much obliged.
 
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I was able to manually remove Safari 14, then install Safari 13.1.2. Mojave (18G6032) then went back to normal. Memory usage returned to normal. Users and Groups sys pref pane went back to normal functioning (can add users with no issue). And softwareupdate -l will run without error. There may be other things that Safari 14 broke but those are the 3 items that I picked up on.
What memory usage (and total) do you now get....as normal.
 
For those of us who just take the updates as they come, I hope that the next Apple update will check for the problematic Safari and Security Update code and remove it. I seems unreasonable to expect the users to back out the code themselves.
 
From https://mrmacintosh.com/mojave-2020-005-security-update-causing-major-problems-updated/
UPDATE #4 – 9/28 12:30PM – I have reproduced the install problem flow Please read section #5 below for more info. You can install the Mojave 2020-005 Security update WITHOUT Safari 14.0 and not have any issues. You can even Install Safari 14.0 after and not have any issues. It’s only when you install Safari 14.0 first then install 2020-005 after when the problems start! I will continue to test this and post updates.
 
How did you manually remove Safari 14?

booted into recovery mode then in terminal rm -rf a few directories.

Did this on a test machine and did not fully test afterwards but softwareupdate did offer safari 13 which installed ok and seemed to run fine.

I woild not recommend this method but it was an interesting finding.
 
I just checked, Security Update 2020-004 is still there but it's joined by 'macOS Supplemental Update'

here's the description:

macOS Mojave 10.14.6 supplemental update includes Safari 14 and bug fixes for your Mac.

Safari 14

• New tab bar design shows more tabs on screen and displays favicons by default
• Customizable start page allows you to set a background image and add new sections
• Privacy Report shows cross-site trackers that are being blocked by Intelligent Tracking Prevention
• Removes support for Adobe Flash for improved security

This update also includes bug fixes.

• Resolves an issue that could impact app performance
• Addresses a stability issue with Migration Assistant
• Fixes an issue that may prevent user account creation

Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222.

here goes nothing..
 
I just checked, Security Update 2020-004 is still there but it's joined by 'macOS Supplemental Update'

here's the description:

macOS Mojave 10.14.6 supplemental update includes Safari 14 and bug fixes for your Mac.
...
Thanks for the heads up. I just checked and here's what I see
Screen Shot 2020-10-01 at 7.02.53 PM.jpg

Did they fix it or not?!
The link takes you here
macOS 10.14.6 Supplemental Update
Released October 1, 2020
macOS 10.14.6 Supplemental Update for macOS Mojave includes the security content of Safari 14.0.

Feel reassured 🙄.. and consequently holding my updates for now..
 
Okay, let the updates run, then let Spotlight do its post-update rebuild.

Shut down, powered up, and I've got 11.36 GB of RAM free out of the gate, and Safari 14.0..

Looks good so far, will report back if anything bad happens.
 
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Okay, let the updates run, then let Spotlight do its post-update rebuild.

Shut down, powered up, and I've got 11.36 GB of RAM free out of the gate, and Safari 14.0..

Looks good so far, will report back if anything bad happens.

Did you do the new Security update 2020-005 as well?
 
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Apple pulled both Mojave Security Update 2020-005 and Safari 14 for Mojave from distribution yesterday.

Apple is pretending they never existed.
 
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Nope, I had rolled back to the Recovery version of 18G103. Software Update offered up Security 2020-004 and macOS Supplemental Update so that's what I did.

My build is now 18G6020. Safari is 14.0 build 14610.1.28.1.10.

It looks like people were right when they suspected Safari 14.

I rebooted one more time after letting it sit and letting CPU drop to 1% idle, HTML video now clocking at 6-8% CPU, 28% GPU.

Before the reboot, it was 72% CPU and 8% GPU? Probably needed to rebuild just one more cache..

Looks like it works for the most part, you do have to let it do its Spotlight thing for a while and evidently more housekeeping, but I think it's okay for now..

Got about eight other windows open with one playing fullscreen video, no skipping or glitching..
 
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Is it safe to update now? I havent updated to Safari 14 and glad I didnt.
 
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