ive been rocking Big Sur with relatively no problem with various software from here and other places, but there are things im missing out on and im considering doing the smallest os upgrade that will rock the boat the least as i dont want to break anything in my set up plugins wise. Now i know as time goes on that becomes less than likely etc but i want to know how many things you think would break if i was to go to OS Ventura. Its predominately for later versions of Kontakt 7 Kontakt 8 as support on Big Sur stopped. Now i know most of the stuff i use are fine as is but i'm starting to miss out on some cool new libraries. Any one have experience? Also is there a way to see which plugins would require work and attention after upgrade etc?

 

None of them would break probably, I started on Monterey and was day 1 on everything up to Sonoma, had no issues with any of the plugins I use, at this point in time most developed plugins shouldn't have any issues on Ventura either.

 

did you have to find new versions of some of the vst's and au's? like older ones for example? or did everything just continue fine after a scan?

 

What Mac do you have? I would tend to agree with @Melodic Reality's post, and the hobbyist producer would just go right ahead with it and just do a backup first in Time Machine if you want to play it safe. But some of these "in-between" versions of MacOS can have some quirks you might not be able to just assume will work. So I asked AI to avoid lots of typing

Spoiler

Here’s the honest reality for that situation.

Going from Big Sur to Ventura is not a “small nudge,” it’s a real compatibility jump. Not catastrophic, but definitely enough that you need to treat it like a controlled system change, not a casual update.

Kontakt 7/8 is actually a good reason to move. Native Instruments tends to anchor newer libraries and updates to newer macOS versions, so that part of your motivation is solid.

What typically breaks or needs attention going Big Sur → Ventura:

Older plugins with no recent updates (especially anything 32-bit legacy or abandoned devs). Even some early Intel-era VST/AU builds can start misbehaving.

Copy protection systems. iLok stuff is usually fine, but older auth wrappers or offline license managers sometimes need reactivation.

Installers and plugin managers. Some older NI or third-party installers don’t behave properly on newer macOS permission systems.

DAW rescans. Logic itself is fine, but you’ll almost certainly get a full AU validation pass and possibly a few plugins quarantined on first launch.

What usually survives unchanged:

Modern plugin suites that are still actively maintained (FabFilter, Soundtoys, UAD, Waves current versions, etc.).

Anything already running cleanly on Apple Silicon or updated Intel builds from the last few years.

How to check what will break before you upgrade:

There isn’t a perfect “predictive scanner,” but you can get close:

Run a full plugin inventory using a tool that lists AU/VST versions and last modified dates. Anything not updated since ~2020 is a candidate for trouble.

Check each developer’s official “macOS Ventura compatibility” page. This is boring but it’s the only reliable source.

Look at your AU validation logs in Logic (Audio Units Manager / crash logs). Anything already borderline on Big Sur is likely to fail first on Ventura.

Do a staged approach if you’re serious about minimizing risk:

Clone your system drive or install Ventura on an external SSD first. Boot from it and run Logic there. That gives you a real-world test without touching your working setup.

Bluntly: Ventura is a reasonable upgrade target for your goal (Kontakt 7/8 access), but it’s not “safe by default.” It’s safe only if you assume you’ll spend a day or two fixing plugin edge cases afterward.

If you want, I can map a “lowest-risk macOS jump path” based on what DAW + plugin ecosystem they’re running.

I've been doing this same kind of migration, but from my Mac Pro 5,1 on Catalina to new ARM Mac on Tahoe. If you do decide to switch, ask for more specific issues or fixes and workarounds before you jump back to the backup image. My main concern would be if Kontakt is going to be loading session correct if you do update, and. I would check to see what is going to happen with your old projects. Wether that means new version of Kontakt will be ignored by Logic, in which case it will say you are missing plugins from that project file. That would be my biggest concern if I was in your boat, but I cannot say as I am not a very heavy Kontakt user.

 

Last edited: May 23, 2026 at 7:42 PM

When I moved to macOS from Windows/Linux, every developer updated plugins to work on M1, so I was at home immediately, over this time I didn't encountered any issues with those same plugins, they would just work on next macOS without issues and they kept updating them. But again, I have really minimalist setup and my experience should be taken with grain of salt, I don't use AU's either, don't rely heavily on warez and "legacy" plugins, use handful of legit iLok ones, don't use Native Instruments or Kontakt, so yeah, take this with grain of salt.

 

Congrats on new machine, hope you will have least issues and amazing time using it.

 

Absolutely congratulations on the new machine!

(obvious still love for the 5,1's... but jeebus, just the electricity bill alone almost justifies the price... ;) )