Apple Update - Big Sur V 11.1 - Feedback anyone?

[alarmguy]

Hey, well, after hesitating for almost a month, I took the plunge and let Apple update my Mac mini to Big Sur.
I am very happy to report that I have not experienced any issues. System is still fast as lighting, printer working fine, ummm ... boot up times the same, like 15 seconds.
Over all, so far very good. I was really cringing after the update hoping for the best, as only been in the Apple world for just over a year now and decades of Windows experiences were not pleasant.

Anyway, still exploring, haven't got to much into things yet. AS far as the look, I would say, well, its just a look, Ill get used to it, small things, like more rounded buttons ect. Guess they had to make it different enough to look different.

Some good things are some needed short cuts in the task bar for bluetooth, wifi ect, also in photos, finally have a photo editor. Which I REALLY am happy about.
I haven't taken the tour and I am sure much more new stuff, the biggest thing for me was no performance hit.
Thank you Apple.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Apple products are solid. Period.

 

[jeepman3071]

My Macbook Air has been updated to it, no issues to report. Granted I don't use that one every day, as I primarily use my Windows laptop for work, but it seems to work well.

 

[jeepman3071]

Apple products are solid. Period.

There have been a few updates particularly with my iPhone a few years ago that caused some issues, but for the most part you are right. I've used Windows PCs most of my life, and it's all we use at work. I hated Windows 8/8.1, and after Windows 10 my opinion of Windows has gone downhill greatly. Windows 10 is constantly updating and breaking stuff, and it has caused a lot of issues in the schools which my company works in. Most of this is to account for security threats that will only become more plentiful, but with my Mac it always just works.

 

[bunnspecial]

macOS ended at Mojave for me, but with that said I installed Beta 1 on my 2015 Retina on a second partition and have kept it up to date.

Nothing really bad to say about it, and I'm glad they tweaked some ugly UI stuff that people hated on the first betas(like the battery condom). Seems solid, though-just missing important things like Dashboard and 32-bit app support.

 

[OVERKILL]

Broke my printer at work (Lexmark X748) so I had to use the generic postscript driver to get it going again.

Other than that, it works fine. I'm still on Mojave at home for Photoshop and a few other apps that get broken when you go beyond that. However, I've considered putting Fedora on this box as its lack of support on current MacOS versions is bugging me, what's holding me back is AirPlay and a few of the "nice" apple features. Yes, I can use some patches to get even Big Sur on this box, but NVidia support is also an issue I believe and there are some USB bugs, so it's far from perfect going that route.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Go to Catalina. Pretty nice there...

 

[Kuato]

Just updated/upgraded earlier today. No issues, I like the clean appearance on the windows and text. The bubble gum background's going to have to go, though...

 

[OVERKILL]

Go to Catalina. Pretty nice there...

I was running that prior to Big Sur on my MBP, but it broke Photoshop too, lol.

 

[Skippy722]

No issues on my non-touch bar MacBook Pro.

 

[nthach]

Supposedly the bricking issue with 2013-2015 rMBPs has been fixed. I briefly ran it on mine after installing an NVMe SSD but rolled back to Catalina. I’m on a late 2013 rMBP - the EFI update enables aftermarket SSDs to sleep.

l’ll install Big Sur this weekend.

 

[alarmguy]

No issues on my non-touch bar MacBook Pro.

You know ... now that I am in the Apple world, I was really wanting a MacBook Air or iPad Air (basic no upgrades) to compliment my Mac mini and iPhone.
the notebook or tablet is just used for laying around on the sofa or whatever. We have a Home Office that I prefer when I am not because of my nice 27 inch screen with my Mac mini. More or less the iPad or notebook is a secondary device not used as much.

Anyway, told my wife I want the iPad Air for xmas. Then saw they were clearing out the Intel Mac Air (notebook) for something like 750 at one point at Best Buy (basic model), it was killing me if my wife was buying an iPad for the same price as a MacBook Air. But my problem is with what you typed, since for me its a secondary device, I need and want a touch screen. Coming from a Windows laptop I cant imagine not being able to swipe, being new to Apple I was surprised that they are not offered. BTW I have a very old iPad already, so old it barely is capable of rendering websites and am excited for a new model (and keyboard) even though I think is was more money then the notebook on sale.

(I know your MacBook Pro is much more expensive)

 

[Skippy722]

You know ... now that I am in the Apple world, I was really wanting a MacBook Air or iPad Air (basic no upgrades) to compliment my Mac mini and iPhone.
the notebook or tablet is just used for laying around on the sofa or whatever. We have a Home Office that I prefer when I am not because of my nice 27 inch screen with my Mac mini. More or less the iPad or notebook is a secondary device not used as much.

Anyway, told my wife I want the iPad Air for xmas. Then saw they were clearing out the Intel Mac Air (notebook) for something like 750 at one point at Best Buy (basic model), it was killing me if my wife was buying an iPad for the same price as a MacBook Air. But my problem is with what you typed, since for me its a secondary device, I need and want a touch screen. Coming from a Windows laptop I cant imagine not being able to swipe, being new to Apple I was surprised that they are not offered. BTW I have a very old iPad already, so old it barely is capable of rendering websites and am excited for a new model (and keyboard) even though I think is was more money then the notebook on sale.

(I know your MacBook Pro is much more expensive)

I got mine for $899, but it’s the base spec model... dual core i5, 8gb RAM, 128gb NVMe SSD. The trackpad on the MacBooks is simply amazing. Has all the same functionality as say the touch screen on an iPad (swiping, pinch to zoom, various other gestures), with the bonus of a mouse cursor.

 

[alarmguy]

I got mine for $899, but it’s the base spec model... dual core i5, 8gb RAM, 128gb NVMe SSD. The trackpad on the MacBooks is simply amazing. Has all the same functionality as say the touch screen on an iPad (swiping, pinch to zoom, various other gestures), with the bonus of a mouse cursor.

Nice deal, yeah with Mac you don’t have to worry about being stuck with a slow computer even if “basic” it a whole other faster world then Windows.

I have read a million reviews about how good their track pad is and it was a tough decision though in my opinion the laptop a better deal it’s more the purpose I need the iPad for, including throwing it in the saddle bag of my Road King.
But who knows, not sure what my wife got me if any one of them until Christmas morning...

 

[alarmguy]

I got mine for $899, but it’s the base spec model... dual core i5, 8gb RAM, 128gb NVMe SSD. The trackpad on the MacBooks is simply amazing. Has all the same functionality as say the touch screen on an iPad (swiping, pinch to zoom, various other gestures), with the bonus of a mouse cursor.

Just an update, thought I would mention it since your post about the trackpad I brought up to my wife.

I got an iPad Air with keyboard for Christmas. Its really what I wanted as far as she knew. I got her a Lenovo Yoga. i5, 512ssd and 12mb (its awesome for a windows machine and price) Beautiful machine too.

Anyway, Christmas night, as much as I thought I wanted the iPad and the purpose I thought I had for it. It wasnt cutting it, watching her on the new laptop with that nice keyboard ... . (keep in mind we both have desktops too)

Soooo ... next day, returned the iPad and bought a MacBook Air (2020 version). i5, 512 8mb
They are getting harder to find now that the M1 chip is in the new late year 2020 models. I didnt want the M1, feel it was premature for the time being, I could've had the base model at the same price as what I got, I just didnt want to be the "experiment" and rather the chip matures, keeping in mind the laptop is not my primary device.

Anyway, boy that was close, bought up your post about the track pad,. I really wanted a touch screen but Mac doesnt have them and if they did, chances are I wouldn't want to spend the extra money.
Anyway, LOVE IT, OMG glad I returned the iPad Air, which is a great device but not for what I want.

 

[Skippy722]

Glad you’re enjoying it!

 

[JHZR2]

Running Catalina on my late 2013 MBP i7. It currently runs great, so I too have been hesitant... On the fence if I upgrade this one or keep it as is and at some point upgrade to a new Apple silicon MBP which will naturally have 11.

 

[alarmguy]

Glad you’re enjoying it!

update ... lol

Ok, so to summarize. Got iPad Air and keyboard for Christmas which is what I wanted since I already have my Mac Desktop and iPhone, the iPad was just an extra to have around with a touch screen.
Next day changed my mind, since they were almost the same price, with my wife we returned the iPad Air and keyboard, bought a MacBook Air i5 with 512 SSD.
Got home, the MacBook has a TINY imperfection on the case (keyboard side) it was driving me nuts, returned MacBook Air the next day for a new one (i5, 512ssd)
WELL, after the i5 MacBook Air updated to the new SUR. Darn thing would not turn on! Called Apple tech support which is awesome and with some keystrokes we reset the "controller" and all was good. that was great, until I turned on the MacBook i5 air later in the day, same thing, would not turn on. Called Apple tech support again, told them to walk me through deleting/erasing the drive so I can return it ASAP.
I returned it because I did not want to miss the return window with Best Buy. Last thing I was going to have is an expensive MacBook that has issues down the road, forget that, it shouldn't happen, sooooo glad I returned it.

I decided for the same price to go with the new MacBook Air M1. Same price just smaller SSD at 256, all I need though. I am THRILLED with my decision. I wanted the older intel i5 because it was proven in the Macs but once I sort of figured out, I think the new SUR os had a bug which is affecting the intel units turning on and if so, no big deal as there will be an update. but after reading more about the M1 processor I am glad I changed my mind and went with it. Blazing fast, 14+ hour battery life, stunning graphics, cool running and no fan! The reason for no fan in the Air is they only use 7 cores, the Pro uses all 8 of the M1 and has a fan.

But the bottom line it, I was shocked at my issues with Apple at first, all good now, will never own a Windows computer again, though my wife does, in fact got her a new Lenovo i5 Yoga for Christmas, AWESOME laptop, really a thing of beauty, then to ease her into Apples world I also gave her a new iPhone 11 which she loves. So maybe by this time next Christmas, I will put a new M1 Mac mini on my list and give her this almost new Mac mini i5 ... )

 

[JHZR2]

I had been hesitant to upgrade mine partially because I had read that Big Sur could brick older intel MBPs line mine. I thought it had been resolved, I read how, but it escapes me at the moment.

For the use you describe, which doesn’t seem to include running windows, going with the new Apple silicon makes total sense.

I have an old iPad keyboard for my personal iPad, and one for my work iPad Pro. I’ve found the keyboard to be of minimal use for personal application, and marginally useful for work.

My personal iPad is generally used for reading and browsing, so a keyboard isn’t very useful for me.

Good choice! I wish you lots of luck. Moist a review sometime!

 

[Andrew1972]

Be really wary if you use your Mac for any business access and do BYOD.

We have too many problems with our corporate infrastructure with VPNs etc not being compatible with it that they have recommended against it.

A casual home user go for it!