What's the FASTEST version of macOS for my Mac?

[h4lp m3]

I produce music with Logic Pro and I want to have the operating system with the best performance for my iMac. I used to run OS X El Capitan on a Mac Pro (trashcan) but when I upgraded to Catalina it was painfully slow, so I sold it and bought this:

I have held off upgrading the OS because historically, my experiences have resulted in loss of performance and I fear that all the new modern features will slow down my workstation. However, I recently read an article suggesting that Big Sur is optimized in a way that could give a performance boost on SOME machines and I'm wondering if my Mac is one of them.

 

[Realityck]

You listed the oldest Mac OS that it runs. But you need to consider what your Logic Pro software requires to run for the version you currently have. Current Logic Pro requires MacOS 11.0 or later. Recent Big Sur update was 11.6.3.

 

[bogdanw]

The fastest is High Sierra by far, but it’s no longer supported. The same for Mojave.
I would suggest Big Sur. It’s fast and stable.

 

[BrianBaughn]

This is a specific question regarding Logic Pro X or Logic Pro. As a "speed" test I suppose someone would have to post something like comparative project bounce times for the highest version of Logic allowed in each version of macOS…and on your specific Mac. Otherwise, there isn't really anything in Logic Pro that could even compare "speed".

The different macOS and Logic versions might also affect CPU performance in something like maximum number of tracks/plugins. This comparison ratio might be similar to the bounce speed comparison.

Personally, I've upgraded my seven year old hackintosh to Monterey but I haven't done enough in Logic Pro to see if I've made a mistake. I tend want the latest, greatest version of things but Logic wasn't really the reason. I wanted Lossless playback in the Music app.

Too bad I didn't note some bounce times in Mojave to compare with Monterey.

 

[Fishrrman]

What kind of DRIVE is inside your 27" iMac?
That will have more to do with "speed" than the version of the OS you're using.

 

[h4lp m3]

You listed the oldest Mac OS that it runs. But you need to consider what your Logic Pro software requires to run for the version you currently have. Current Logic Pro requires MacOS 11.0 or later. Recent Big Sur update was 11.6.3.

I'm currently using Logic 10.4.8 because some people on a music forum said it was the fastest for High Sierra.

 

[MRxROBOT]

Have you thought of creating a partition for a second os? You could try out the newest os and latest update to Logic Pro. If you're not happy, erase and work your way down the list.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I'm currently using Logic 10.4.8 because some people on a music forum said it was the fastest for High Sierra.

And coincidentally Logic Pro X 10.5 requires Mojave.

 

[h4lp m3]

And coincidentally Logic Pro X 10.5 requires Mojave.

I just updated to Mojave and found out the hard way.

 

[h4lp m3]

Now that Monerey has been out for almost a year, how do people feel about it's performance on non-M chip Macs?

 

[Fishrrman]

The "fastest" OS is probably the one that first shipped with your Mac.

What kind of drive do you have inside the iMac now?

 

[Gregg2]

Why the need for speed? If you were comparing one OS that took 2 seconds for a process, and another that took 52 seconds, that would be noticeable. But if the difference is only 1 or 2 seconds, are you really going to save much time?

 

[sgtaylor5]

Now that Monterey has been out for almost a year, how do people feel about it's performance on non-M chip Macs?

I'm quite happy with Monterey on my 2017 MBA. Just don't reveal the processor temps on the MacsFanControl menu bar icon, and I'm fine.