So the topic says it already.

I am on a Macbook Pro late 2013 and using High Sierra.
I want to get the newest update for final cut pro x that's why I need to upgrade.

My main DAW is Ableton Live 11
I'm using a mixture of legit and not-so-legit plugins (all 64 bit) so I was wondering if there is a clear recommendation what mac OS version is best right now.

And yes I will of course do a carbon copy clone before doing anything.

 

Check your plugins if they don't support bigsur stick with mojave or catalina.But i always recommend to use the latest update possible.

Because latest softwares will be more focused on newest updated os like finalcut.

 

it depends what you want and need to run. for instance, you cannot update to Logic 10.6 from Mojave.
so you would have to check the minimum requirements for each version of Final Cut and then figure out what OS you can run to match that.
for plugins, Mojave will be easiest and compatible with the most of the three. and there really are none that you cannot run from Mojave.

 

you won't get good performance from 8 years old laptop when you run latest MacOS....
that said, always go for "final" MacOS release, which is Catalina right now, or Big Sur in few months

 

just keep the OS version as low as possible (ok maybe not snow leopard...) and you are good to go, if your final cut version doesn't support mojave you have to say bye bye to natively your 64 bit stuff (or honestly just use an older final cut version, i finally upgraded to catalina because of the logic PDC fix update)

 

I don't recommend anything lower than mojave, it's kind of a sweet spot. Specially for a macbook of 2013.

 

I have a 2011 Macbook (The defective model. I soldered "cmizapper" onto the logicboard to disable the faulty GPU) and it's running Mojave flawlessly. The last update was High Sierra so I used Dosdudes patcher to upgrade to Mojave. http://dosdude1.com/software.html
I'm running Ableton 11 with Nexus 3 etc no issue. I upgraded the SATA to SSD and it boots in under 30 secs.

 

Windows 10.

 

If you want to keep 32bit software, I'd rather go with Mojave (at least from 2012 to 2018 Mac).
If you work with 64 bit only sw just upgrade. Nowadays almost every legit software is working fine on both Catalina and Big Sur imho.
If you are using old k'd software which needs 32 lives or jbridge just stick to Mojave.

Cheers

 

I agree with Valnar. If we're talking about old Macs is the best option.
Of course you must look carefully for the software compatibility.

 

it's not even really just about MacOS. it's not common for new operating systems to run much faster using the same hardware. I know this can be achieved by the programmers writing more optimized and efficient code. but it's not usually the case where Apple or MS are re-writing massive sections of the OS coding. instead, the newer versions often just add more bloat; and of course, they do sometimes introduce very useful and great new things.

I have asked this often about Catalina, and I only get one reply which most agree is a nice new feature. Sidecar. After that, you can hear the winds whispering.

No-one has yet suggested it runs anything any faster or more efficiently, and actually displayed convincing results of this. Security is another issue, and a bit more complicated. Newer OS do introduce new code, which has been tested by MS or Apple; however, it has not been exposed to the scrutiny of the white/grey hat penetration testers/bughunters and outright hackers. These new OS builds always contain more interesting things to find during initial auditing, and always make them much more targeted/given additional scrutiny. A (within reason) older, more tested, and well patched OS is generally more secure; because the more easily identified and remotely exploitable coding errors are found "quickly" upon release, and then patched. In many cases, such exploitable coding remains into further builds of the OS until reported, patched and then disclosed by the software vendor.

imho, Catalina is the OS equivalent of "New Coke". No-one needed it, or wanted it; particularly other software vendors who had to do all the additional work for compatibility, and for almost NO new product sales. It is a solution to a problem which did not exist. Unless of course; you are Apple, and your problem is convincing users they need to buy new hardware; all the while fully knowing the M1 processors are right around the corner.

 

I do not recommend this and from a lot of experience. Mojave consumes 30% more graphic resources (dark mode, metal 2 ...) and for audio things it does not matter but if for video editing that they remove almost a third of your GPU since you start the system it is ugly. Also if for High Sierra the last FCPX is 10.4.6 and for Mojave it is 10.4.10
There is no major update since 10.5.2 which is the last one currently requires Catalina

 

I rather use 32 bit software than having Sidecar but it's a cool feature imho (I would use it to place my meters in my iPad instead of buying TC Clarity for example for the same price)

 

gleep glorp

 

Last edited: May 31, 2021

no reason to NOT go catalina at this time

everything works flawlessly, with a few very old exceptions

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210222

I am solid on High Sierra; not budging.. FCPX 10.4.6, LPX 10.4.8
What features are driving your decision? Is it worth it? You'll probably lose stability, some plugins, etc.. Weigh it carefully

 

Just did a full backup of exactly the same MBP and out of curiosity, I'm going to try 11.4 soon.
I'm very aware of its limitations though and why it's no option for many musicians who depend on their machine.
Anyway, as we know, installing every available MacOS update has never been a good idea.

 

Big Sur and M1 > rest of humanity.

Everything (99.9%) works perfectly and 10x times better/faster.

 

Mojave. Definitely Mojave. I reinstalled Catalina twice on my mid 2015 15" (i7 4980HQ, 16GB, M370X) and I kept getting odd stutters, slowdowns, very long bootup times (on an Intel 660p. Not the worst but nowhere near the best) and just odd behaviors all around. Mojave is running flawlessly for me and I'm glad to have 32 bit plugins back. I don't care if "hurrdurr tHeY'rE oLd!1!!1!!", if they work they work. Live 11 is very prone to crashing on both my windows machines and my macbook so idk if keeping it on Mojave will help with that.
You won't find the newest update for FCPX on Mojave though, they moved to Catalina and Big Suck exclusively, same for Logic.

 

I am running OSX Big Sur 11.5 beta 1 without any issues, it runs great and feels very snappy (on Intel Mac Mini 2018).
No probs with my DAW's and plugins ( i don't use 32bit plugins).

I always do a CLEAN install of a major OSX update, so i did that when the first official version of BS came out.
After such a clean install, i re-install everything from scratch (DAW's, plugins, etc.)
I never used Migration Assistant.
I know this is a very timeconsuming process but imho totally worth it for the least chance on any issues.
Actually, i love this process of setting up a clean system from scratch.(Call me crazy).
I have done this process for many years, everytime when a major OSX update version was released.
It never let me down.