I just installed Sonoma on my old 2015 13" MacBook Pro using Open Core Legacy Patcher. It’s all working really well so far…
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I need to look at my Mac Book Air… think it’s a 2014… running Catalina. Yeah - I know….
Just had a frustrating week doing a slideshow/video using Photos cos I couldn’t get any version of iMovie to run.
Open Core Legacy Patcher should work fine with it. It supports some models going back to 2008 now. I was a bit surprised with Sonoma. It seems to run quite bit faster on this old thing than Ventura did. It’s a bit of a pain to install but it goes quite smoothly. Search on YouTube for MrMacintosh for more info.
Got it my 2012 MacBook Pro - running pretty well!! This is the 4th unsupported major release I’ve run on my Mac - If people programming for a hobby on the side can support Apple’s hardware, Apple should also be able to. Grateful to the people who make OCLP happen!
Sonoma has been a great release so far for me. And I agree - it feels like there’s been a bunch of optimism work done since Ventura which is very welcome!
The 2015 15" I bought from @jaysee is still going strong as my main machine. I have a work issued 2020 13" but I hate it. Too small. Keyboard is too thin. And I have bad eyes, and so the screen real estate just isn’t enough. I managed to get ahold of a smashed screen parts machine, too, so I should be able to keep it going.
I usually don’t install .0 releases, so I’ll wait until Sonoma 14.1 or perhaps even later, but a fresh install of Ventura 13.6 cleared out some issues with the fans running ridiculously fast and loud. I also installed Windows and Linux and I’m triple booting, Windows is for the rare work requirement to test things on both MacOS and Windows, and I couldn’t get Bootcamp to work on the 2020.
I cannot begin to thank the OpenCore team (and before that, the folks working with Dosdude). It’s looking likely that this machine will continue to be my main machine through my goal of ten years. Eventually though, once we’re about 5 years or so from the start of the Apple Silicon era, OpenCore is going to hit a brick wall. At that point, I’m switching fully to Linux on personal devices. If work wants to buy me an M-series MacBook, cool, but I’m not buying one. No DIY path.
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I have to say I think that is a bit odd. The Apple Silicon Macs are outstanding. And it’s like your phone. I bet your phone doesn’t have a DIY path! There is a thriving 2nd hand market. Anyway, just my thoughts…
Actually, I’m thinking seriously about switching to a Framework phone or similar repairable smartphone for my next phone.
Half the fun of MacBooks was the ability to upgrade and repair them yourselves. Now MacBook logic boards are essentially solid pieces of silicon and if a component dies, the entire system needs to be replaced. It’s anti-environment, anti-consumer, and expensive.
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I havent upgraded my 2012 MBP (non retina) beyond Catalina but am thinking I should probably take the plunge and do OCLP. Which OS though? Sonoma or Ventura?
I tried putting Sonoma on my 2011 i7, and… Well, this is for another thread and it appeared to work, but I noticed that the keyboard’s Y wasn’t work, and it appears to be a fault in the actual keyboard, and those are difficult to replace. I think my 2010 keyboard is actually identical (it appears from 2009-2012, all the models share the same keyboard for the same language), but the work involved… sadtrombone.wav
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I’d go for Sonoma. It seems to me to be better on my MacBook Pro. Make sure you make several backups first. If you decide you don’t like it, you can install Ventura instead.
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That’s a good question. I think Sonoma actually might be a touch faster than Ventura was.
It mostly all works bar a couple of minute things (The Memoji picker doesn’t work). Updating takes a bit more time as you have to repatch the system after each MacOS update, but it’s fairly intuitive.
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Meh. Too much trouble for me. Looks like its Catalina or Linux.
Where is your sense of adventure?!? I think it’s definitely worth it, if only for the security updates. And OCLP does all the work for you.
It’s pretty easy! Once you update the patcher opens and offers to do it itself - I even have my mum on it and she’s not into tech at all.
No more difficult than installing Linux IMHO.
Oh well, maybe I’ll get round to it. Linux isnt difficult to install if you use Balena Etcher to do it. I guess OCLP would be similar
Sonoma 14.1 is out today so time to update my main computer from Ventura…
Done!
I have to say that the standard desk top picture for Sonoma is a lot easier on the eyes than the Ventura one.
I’ve just installed it for the first time not on launch day since I was in Melbourne for work when it launched and didn’t want to derail myself if something went wrong.
Is it just me or have they modified the blinking text cursor? I keep feeling like it’s in the wrong spot so move it with the arrow keys only to find it wasn’t… I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but it’s flipping me out!
In other features, I’ve still got Stage Manager turned off and very quickly disabled “click on desktop”… That’s what Hot Corners are for!
I found Click on desktop so annoying. It was quickly disabled.
As for Stage Manager,
- I cannot identify why it is even needed on the Mac
- It is too much for an 11” iPad Pro. The two windows available from the old multi-window solution is all I can use on the small screen.
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