flirted with Big Sur, went back to Catalina
“The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin’ on like a bird that flew”
(1975) “Tangled Up In Blue” – Bob Dylan
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tl;dr Updated 2015 MacBook Pro to Big Sur, regretted, restored Catalina from Time Machine, will probably get M1 MacBook (Air or Pro?) soon
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Tuesday’s “One More Thing” seemed one of the most significant, post-Jobs, introducing the initial Apple M1 (ARM) processor Macs and illuminating Big Sur, the macOS version that integrates Mac and iOS apps, amongst other things.
History of ‘One More Thing…’ [Compilation]
Though Big Sur had been announced at WWDC 20, it wasn’t until Tuesday that it was fully revealed and Thursday when it became available.
I got a warning during the day Thursday from Steinberg, the source of the Cubase DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software I use when Audacity is insufficient, to beware of updating to Big Sur before potential problems were resolved.
However, I was eager to see Big Sur in action. I discovered that the automatic update to Big Sur was failing on my 2015 MacBook Pro (MBP) because there wasn’t enough storage available. I have the 128G model. That had been enough storage for me for several years, but last year I had to abandon Xcode for lack of storage.
I did a Time Machine backup, removed Cubase 10.5 and other stuff to get enough free space for Big Sur, and proceeded. In the middle of the night, I looked to check on status, but reboot was waiting for me to really exit XQuartz.
By then I already had remorse about removing Cubase, remembering how hard it was to get it working with their license manager, and wondering if I really want Big Sur on this MBP. When I woke in the morning to find Big Sur waiting, I did some cursory exploration, puzzled at the abstract desktop image of the real Big Sur vs. the photos of Catalina Island, etc., and started to restore Catalina from Time Machine.
My MBP has served me well over almost 5 years, and I’ve liked it better than I expected to after disastrous experience with the iBook I got in 2004, after I accidentally dropped it in ABIA. After that experience, I stuck to Mac desktops until the MBP. However, the MBP system board failed about 6 months out of warranty, and the MBP seems a bit mechanically creaky now. I’m assuming I’ll keep it for Cubase and other stuff, but get an M1 MacBook (Air or Pro?) with more storage. I’m thinking I will wait to see some reviews to see if the Pro is really worth $300 more to me than the Air.
I had been thinking I might get a new Windows laptop, and explore Windows Subsystem for Linux more thoroughly, but that doesn’t really feel like fun and seems unnecessary when I spend so much time with Linux running natively. Getting engaged with Big Sur is more enticing.
A few more citations:
Jeffrey Paul suggests that Apple’s most recent security provisions are too onerous to accept: Your Computer Isn’t Yours
Malcolm Owen disputes Jeffrey’s article: macOS Big Sur telling Apple what app you’ve opened isn’t a security or privacy issue
Apparently Apple wishes to quell the controversy: Apple Responds to macOS Privacy Concerns, Explains Why Apps Were Slow to Launch
macOS 11.0 Big Sur: The Ars Technica review
The new MacBook Air is amazing — but I’m buying the MacBook Pro