Mac OS advice

[RROY]

I am currently running Sierra. Considering updating to High Sierra or possibly Mojave. I have a mid 2010 Mac Pro. Any suggestions or warnings?
Thanks in advance.

[HCMarkus]

Running my 2010 Mac Pro (dual X5680 hex and RX460 GPU driving 4k TV via HDMI + 1080 display via Display Port), I found I had much better GUI responsiveness in DP9.52 under Mojave than under Sierra. Big improvement; I think it may have largely been due to improved GPU driver in Mojave. And getting two extra years in security updates is a big plus.

Note the Metal GPU requirement. Your firmware will be updated by the Apple Installer, so you need both Apple EFI and Metal GPUs to proceed. Here is a very good guide:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp ... ad.2142418

The additional guides, including GPU and CPU upgrade, at the top of this forum are also potentially beneficial:

https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/mac-pro.1

If you haven't hot rodded your 2010 yet, consider it! I've done a bunch (quad to hex, dual quad to dual hex) and it has always paid off in big performance improvements. Used server pull X5680 CPUs were running two for under $100 last time I checked eBay.

[monkey man]

High Sierra should be sufficient, shouldn't it Sir Markus?

It'd save the graphics-card update at least.

[RROY]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like you have to install High Sierra first which installs the firmware update.
Then if you want to update to Mojave you have to replace the graphics card with a Mac compatible Metal GPU. Some steps involved. This is computer land. I seem to remember some issues with the firmware update, or does this generally go smoothly?

[HCMarkus]

Monkey, although High Sierra may be fine, my take on the matter at present is to move to the last mature officially supported OS right away if going thru the process now; upgrading OS is always interesting and I prefer to steer clear of the old curse "May you live in interesting times" as often as possible.

RRoy, I stayed on Sierra until well after the final build of Mojave was released. I found the upgrade process generally simple, but patience is required, as your Mac may sit for seemingly interminable periods as it updates. I'd carefully follow the instructions provided in the linked MacRumors thread to which I add this recommendation:

Get yourself a brand spankin' new (minimum size 256GB) SSD and do a fresh Sierra install on it.
Remove your known good (Sierra) Boot Drive.
Proceed thru the upgrade process as described in the MacRumors thread until you have your Mac running perfectly under Mojave.
Reinstall your old Boot Drive
Start up under the new Mojave Boot Drive
Usse Apple's Migration Assistant to move your data and apps to your new Boot Drive.

This process worked very well for me and has the significant advantage of NOT DESTROYING YOUR KNOWN GOOD SIERRA BOOT DRIVE should something go wrong. Save the old drive for a rainy day.

And when all is done, consider picking up two X5680 or 90 CPUs and giving your old Mac a shot in the arm!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I updated to High Sierra from Sierra and immediately updated from there to Mojave. No issues to speak of once I got it past the iOS 13 plugin fiasco. Easy fix. Only one freeze in Finale to report. Other Finale issues are long standing bugs. DP and all other apps seem fine. Overall performance seems about the same as Sierra but I do love dark mode. So much easier on my eyes, especially at 3am.

I’d recommend Mojave.

[bongo_x]

I'm in the same position, still using 10.12 (as are most people and studios I know) but it's starting to be that time when new software requires a new OS.

It's been a long time since a new MacOS offered me anything I care about. (tags is all I can think of)I just keep losing compatibility with old software.

One thing I did a while back after I installed 10.12 (which wasn't that long ago) was to do the newer firmware upgrades without doing the OS. I forget how, but I think one way is just to start the OS upgrade and then quit.

[HCMarkus]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp ... ad.2142418

I like Mojave a lot. It improved my AMD RX460 GPU response running DP on a 4k display in a big way and simplified the setup... no more active DP to HDMI adaptor required.

The above link is very helpful; most likely everything you need to know is in the first post.

[bayswater]

I like Mojave too, but for different reasons. Local networking has become steadily less reliable over the years since Snow Leopard, but appears to be on the mend.

Catalina on other hand is still a dog's dinner -- evokes visceral memories of Windows 2000. I've given up on it and will wait to see what the next big thing is. Thousand Islands? Ranch?

[HCMarkus]

...will wait to see what the next big thing is. Thousand Islands? Ranch?

Bleu Cheese on your new Grater?

[bayswater]

...will wait to see what the next big thing is. Thousand Islands? Ranch?

Bleu Cheese on your new Grater?

Le fromage bleu, s'il vous plait.

[Phil O]

Catalina on other hand is still a dog's dinner -- evokes visceral memories of Windows 2000. I've given up on it and will wait to see what the next big thing is. Thousand Islands? Ranch?

What's the general consensus on Catalina? Still not ready for prime time? I'm on Mojave on my 6,1. Been thinking about Catalina but I'm afraid to take the plunge. My wife is getting a new Mac Mini, I'm guessing she's stuck with Catalina, yes?

Your friendly neighborhood Phil

[HCMarkus]

Although I haven't really explored Catalina, or even seriously considered it, the "64 bit only" limitation for apps is a total non-starter for me on any of my computers, much less my studio Mac Pro that doesn't officially support Catalina.

The Mrs. may be able to boot under Mojave, as I'm pretty sure the latest Mini pre-dates Catalina. How to go about doing that is a good question.

[bayswater]

The Mrs. may be able to boot under Mojave, as I'm pretty sure the latest Mini pre-dates Catalina. How to go about doing that is a good question.

Yes, my 2018 mini came with Mojave, and I added a Catalina test volume (volume, not partition). To do this, I suppose you could just create a volume on the internal drive and install Mojave on it, as long as you can get a Mojave download. This will take up about 10G on the internal drive to get a working Mojave startup volume, assuming you can do it at all. With that you might be able to start up from the Mojave volume and install Mojave on the initial Catalina volume. Then, you could just keep the other Mojave volume for testing subsequent updates.

[mikehalloran]

I installed an old 2TB SSD into my 2012 MacBook Pro yesterday. The 500G that was there is clearly not large enough for me to install all the apps I’m still testing. I have yet to install actual work files but most apps have a test file or two. 2TB is the same storage as my iMP so I can use my two VI drives by switching my TB2 dock from one to the other as needed (leaving the TB2–3 adapter plugged into the iMP). The MBP is certainly slower.

I’ve only two apps that aren’t ready for 10.15 and neither is critical. For that matter, Mojave is working fine so I’m not in a hurry. It’s just that I have some time on my hands these days.