4 ms·

Got partner a new 16” MacBook Pro, which came with Catalina installed. Tried to update and it spent five hours downloading Big Sur then said “the installer.pkg

Got partner a new 16” MacBook Pro, which came with Catalina installed. Tried to update and it spent five hours downloading Big Sur then said “the installer.pkg has failed gatekeeper verification” and deleted the installer. Tried again, says “1 day” estimated download time. Left overnight and this morning it has a gibberish error. This is a brand new out-of-box machine. Half her games no longer work as 32 bit, and constant crashes from video card driver in games that do. I mean, I like the ecosystem, at least with my Mac still on High Sierra, but have no idea how anyone actually using as a non-technical consumer side manages to deal with stuff like this. It reminds me of obscure setting fiddling in early windows.

barkingcat 6y ago
Ha this is par for course for the Mac ecosystem. And if you say that it doesn't work, the response will be gaslighting: for example: you're holding it wrong, you're using it wrong, you're installing it wrong, you're not supposed to play games, old software are no longer runnable for your own good, etc
- tracer4201 6y ago
  I’m not sure if these issues are widespread. I use a MacBook for work and have a personal one at home. Updates generally just work — I was promoted to install Big Sur. I made sure the charger was plugged in, and then I left it running for a bit while I was doing other stuff around my home. I’m not saying issues don’t exist. Maybe I’m lucky? I wonder what percentage of machines are actually impacted.
  - matwood 6y ago
    I don't think you're lucky. We hear about (and people complain about) these issues because they are the exception. Apple has done a good job to the point where everyone thinks Apple products should just work. And, for the most part they do. I think Apple's problem here is that when they don't just work, Apple has not optimized for that experience. And that lack of optimization is mostly around communication. Lack of communication has bit Apple other times. In the battery slow down case for example. Slowing the phone down was the right move, but not communicating what was happening was the issue.
- m463 6y ago
  This seemed to be better a few years ago. More recent macos versions suffer from more problems due to T2 and all the mess that goes along with that. Have you ever tried to recover a system that is one of the factors of 2fa? People spend hours on this typing in answers to security questions and figuring out how to get around stuff that apple is actively preventing you from doing.
- MichaelZuo 6y ago
  Well, there may be a kernel of truth, perhaps one day Apple will, for example, launch a product that can only be held within say a 350 degree arc for whatever reasons claiming it’s a superior solution. And that may be correct. Hopefully if that’s the case the limitations and conditions of usage will be clear.
nicky0 6y ago
Why ruin a lovely brand new macOS install by transferring an old one on to it? That's like pissing in virgin snow!
- crocbuzz 6y ago
  He said the new Mac came with Catalina (that's the old OS). The new OS that came out a month ago is Big Sur. Thus your comment makes no sense.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
diebeforei485 6y ago
For games, your best option on an Intel Mac is Windows 10 through Boot Camp.
sumanthvepa 6y ago
My general practice with macOS has been to wait about 10 months before upgrading to the latest OS. I upgraded to Catalina just a few months ago. I won't be going to BigSur until late summer next year.
- scrose 6y ago
  I normally follow that pattern too — but Catalina was unbearably slow in comparison to Big Sur for me. My new 16” MBP with maxed cpu and RAM regularly took nearly 2 minutes to boot to my Home Screen on Catalina with no startup apps. Regular apps took over a second. Upgrading to Big Sur made my laptop feel fast again. The only downside right now is that it feels like I’m always charging this thing. My 2014 MBP unfortunately still feels faster running on High Sierra though.
- xyst 6y ago
  I used to follow this same practice as well, however I am going on an indefinite holding pattern until Apple fixes the exceptions they grant their own applications so an application firewall can no longer filter their traffic. Still haven't seen any updates as to whether this problem has been resolved since it broke out in the beta days or in the days preceding the official release.
webmobdev 6y ago
The solution is to DOWNGRADE to macOS Mojave - the last good Intel macOS where no app is discriminated based on their bits, and everything just works fine. :)

barkingcat 6y ago

Ha this is par for course for the Mac ecosystem. And if you say that it doesn't work, the response will be gaslighting: for example: you're holding it wrong, you're using it wrong, you're installing it wrong, you're not supposed to play games, old software are no longer runnable for your own good, etc

tracer4201 6y ago
I’m not sure if these issues are widespread. I use a MacBook for work and have a personal one at home. Updates generally just work — I was promoted to install Big Sur. I made sure the charger was plugged in, and then I left it running for a bit while I was doing other stuff around my home. I’m not saying issues don’t exist. Maybe I’m lucky? I wonder what percentage of machines are actually impacted.
- matwood 6y ago
  I don't think you're lucky. We hear about (and people complain about) these issues because they are the exception. Apple has done a good job to the point where everyone thinks Apple products should just work. And, for the most part they do. I think Apple's problem here is that when they don't just work, Apple has not optimized for that experience. And that lack of optimization is mostly around communication. Lack of communication has bit Apple other times. In the battery slow down case for example. Slowing the phone down was the right move, but not communicating what was happening was the issue.
m463 6y ago
This seemed to be better a few years ago. More recent macos versions suffer from more problems due to T2 and all the mess that goes along with that. Have you ever tried to recover a system that is one of the factors of 2fa? People spend hours on this typing in answers to security questions and figuring out how to get around stuff that apple is actively preventing you from doing.
MichaelZuo 6y ago
Well, there may be a kernel of truth, perhaps one day Apple will, for example, launch a product that can only be held within say a 350 degree arc for whatever reasons claiming it’s a superior solution. And that may be correct. Hopefully if that’s the case the limitations and conditions of usage will be clear.

nicky0 6y ago

Why ruin a lovely brand new macOS install by transferring an old one on to it? That's like pissing in virgin snow!

crocbuzz 6y ago
He said the new Mac came with Catalina (that's the old OS). The new OS that came out a month ago is Big Sur. Thus your comment makes no sense.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

diebeforei485 6y ago

For games, your best option on an Intel Mac is Windows 10 through Boot Camp.

sumanthvepa 6y ago

My general practice with macOS has been to wait about 10 months before upgrading to the latest OS. I upgraded to Catalina just a few months ago. I won't be going to BigSur until late summer next year.

scrose 6y ago
I normally follow that pattern too — but Catalina was unbearably slow in comparison to Big Sur for me. My new 16” MBP with maxed cpu and RAM regularly took nearly 2 minutes to boot to my Home Screen on Catalina with no startup apps. Regular apps took over a second. Upgrading to Big Sur made my laptop feel fast again. The only downside right now is that it feels like I’m always charging this thing. My 2014 MBP unfortunately still feels faster running on High Sierra though.
xyst 6y ago
I used to follow this same practice as well, however I am going on an indefinite holding pattern until Apple fixes the exceptions they grant their own applications so an application firewall can no longer filter their traffic. Still haven't seen any updates as to whether this problem has been resolved since it broke out in the beta days or in the days preceding the official release.

webmobdev 6y ago

The solution is to DOWNGRADE to macOS Mojave - the last good Intel macOS where no app is discriminated based on their bits, and everything just works fine. :)