Timpetus
macrumors 6502a
Happily using Sonoma. I'm always several major versions behind, because unless there's some major problem solved by a new version I'm not gonna add needless friction to my life. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Which macOS Operating System are you using as of July 2026?
- Thread starter Red29359
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Timpetus
macrumors 6502a
I need to do the same on my 2016 15" MBP. I updated it to Catalina before I realized how many things that would break. Haven't gotten around to it since I replaced it with a M1 Max 14" MBP.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
This is my same outlook. As long as I can do what I need/want to do, then I'm good.
Once, long ago (2001) I updated OS9 while I was on a deadline day for the weekly newspaper I worked for. That had the result of crippling the Mac I was using and it made it quite difficult to do my job in getting my part of the newspaper out on time.
After that incident, I do NOT immediately update/upgrade whenever there is a newly released OS or version of OS. At least on important and/or critical devices. And there is always a backup.
capamac
macrumors 6502a
Pleased to see Sequoia in a healthy second place here (currently at 33% Sequoia on the poll vs 43% Tahoe). A testament to how huge a failure Liquid Glass is.
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conmee
macrumors 65816
Agreed. It looks like this particular issue has been thoroughly discussed but will add my experience. Wife dropped phone in Lake Tahoe (so I’m sure distant future humans or aliens will be happy to find it). Obviously no one will hack it at the moment but I sent an Erase command to it from my iPhone Find My. Then we went to the local Apple Store in Reno, got an identical iPhone, restored from iCloud backup, and with the exception of a handful of photos that hadn’t synced yet, back up and running in half and hour give or take. Unlike losing a wallet or having a purse stolen, a lost or stolen iPhone seems to be a much less stressful experience than getting a new license, canceling cards, etc. Of course, if you are a person of interest with a three letter agency or Mossad, then you should be using a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS and Linux at home. 😉
I have two active machines. I'm running Tahoe on my M4 MBA and System 6.0.8 on my SE. My B&W G3 is running Tiger, but it's not actively used.
Sequoia for me. Didn’t fancy Tahoe after iOS26 though I might be tempted with golden gate. Can anyone tell me if launchpad is back in that?
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
I maintain a 2TB shared sub with Apple for the primary reason of quickly restoring a backup. It's convenient and my children appreciate that they have access to the storage for their own backups. We have yet to come anywhere near the full amount.
But, as I said, it's largely for convenience. Everything else on my phone has a backup source from somewhere else (except messages, which I do not care about). The first time I used the subscription for an iPhone restore it went well. But, unfortunately, it didn't recover all my photos - the primary reason I got the subscription. So, I spent several minutes dumping all my photos from backup into the Photos app on my Mac - where they synced back to my iPhone.
Never figured out why the restore didn't put them all back. But something like that is precisely why I have backups.
Yup, Tahoe with LG is the biggest debacle in Mac OSes in the last decade.
ClaraStahlbaum
macrumors 6502a
Seems like most people upgrade to the new one when the full public release is out. Is this the case for most MacOS users?
Happy_John
macrumors 68000
I’d imagine so. The vast majority of users are not following threads on MR or obsessing about new features or UI elements.
They’ll update when their Mac nags them to, and incremental updates will be automatic.
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ClaraStahlbaum
macrumors 6502a
Seems like previous versions like Ventura, Sonoma, etc aren't really used that much anymore by the general userbase.
progx
macrumors 65816
For my primary Mac mini M4, I’m running macOS 26 on it with no issues. Same with my work MacBook Pro M4.
The mini M4 server is still running macOS 15.7.7 since it’s not being used for anything that requires the latest. Plex and all the other items I’m using still run fine on it.
Of course, my iMac SE is running Mac OS X 10.4 after I redid the hard drive on it 4 years ago. The original drive made it 20 years before dying. Now, this SSD will easily outlive the rest of it.
The mini M4 server is still running macOS 15.7.7 since it’s not being used for anything that requires the latest. Plex and all the other items I’m using still run fine on it.
Of course, my iMac SE is running Mac OS X 10.4 after I redid the hard drive on it 4 years ago. The original drive made it 20 years before dying. Now, this SSD will easily outlive the rest of it.
conmee
macrumors 65816
Hold that thought until Golden Gate releases. Agree Sequoia is preferred right now. But the GG beta I've been playing with on a separate volume seems to be addressing both aesthetic and performance complaints of Tahoe. Looking forward to GG release in the Fall.
retta283
macrumors 68040
The answer varies throughout the day or week as I use multiple Apple computers of varying age, but my M4 MBP is running Sequoia still. I am impressed with Golden Gate so far however, and if the final release is relatively bugfree it will be time to upgrade.
My other Macs run varying OSes but mostly a combination of OS X Mavericks and Sierra, as I still do have a number of 32-bit apps and games that I like to use. For PowerPC I usually run a combo of Tiger and Leopard, and sometimes other OSes find use, mainly Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion, but these are more hobbyist things than anything I am absolutely reliant on.
For those curious I use Sierra instead of High Sierra or Mojave because there are already a number of 32-bit apps which stopped working for me in HS, and the calculator widget isn't bugged in Sierra. Sierra has been as rock-solid as anything for me, though there were already 32-bit apps that broke in Sierra that had worked fine in El Capitan... It's all so old now that it barely matters.
My other Macs run varying OSes but mostly a combination of OS X Mavericks and Sierra, as I still do have a number of 32-bit apps and games that I like to use. For PowerPC I usually run a combo of Tiger and Leopard, and sometimes other OSes find use, mainly Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion, but these are more hobbyist things than anything I am absolutely reliant on.
For those curious I use Sierra instead of High Sierra or Mojave because there are already a number of 32-bit apps which stopped working for me in HS, and the calculator widget isn't bugged in Sierra. Sierra has been as rock-solid as anything for me, though there were already 32-bit apps that broke in Sierra that had worked fine in El Capitan... It's all so old now that it barely matters.
