6mo ago

macOS Sequoia is so buggy

I don't know if I just need to resinstall macOS 15 or if its part of a larger issue. I've used my MBP since Ventura with really no issues. Compared to being on Windows its been very painless.

However since upgrading to Sequoia, my experience has been absolutely horrible. From applications loading then going non-responsive with an invisible window to Spotlight search absolutely shitting itself and locking up the laptop for minutes at a time, I've gone from enjoying my MBP to coming very very close to throwing Asahi on it and calling it a day.

Has anyone else had major issues with macOS 15?

20 comments

I cannot get over just how many bug fix releases have come out in the past six months. It's nothing like the Apple I used to recommend to clients.
As soon as I'm able I'll be factory resetting my MacBook and passing it on.
- Hopefully you can run Linux because Windows is just as bad if not worse.
  
  I've been running Debian for over 25 years. I ran my primary desktop as a VMware virtual machine on a Mac since 2009, before that on bare metal. My late 2015 iMac died in June. I can no longer run my Debian desktop and bought a MacBook to use as a portable terminal it's not been a good experience.
  I'm currently evaluating proxmox. It's not feature complete and I'm not yet prepared to build my future on it.
  I might go back to bare metal for a while, but that's a big step backwards.
- I first noticed this when I picked the iPad 2020 years back and despite the 120hz screen the experience feeling choppy at random times. It took like 6 months for bugs to finally be worked out.
  It was jarring due to expecting more polished bug free experience out the gate as opposed to Android or Windows type bugs.
- Same with iOS
Been solid so far, but I’m on pretty new hardware too…
- Same here, I think my MacBook is a 2023 model.
- I’m running it on a 2019 MBP and haven’t had issues.
I use it daily on my M1 MBP without any issues at all. Runs like a champ.
I would suggest you wipe the drive and reinstall the os fresh. The experience you describe is not typical at all. I would also run some hardware diagnostics while you were at it.
Sure there are bugs here and there, of which I complain about a lot. But this is something else.
With the boot volume signed and sealed, it’s theoretically not possible for the OS to become corrupted in the ways that used to be common, but who knows?
Create a test account and run it for a bit. If the issues resolve, you need to troubleshoot your ~/Library.
If the issues aren’t improved by running a clean user account, it’s worth rolling back to 14.x. You can still download the installer and run an erase and install to enjoy MacOS again rather than switching entirely. If you need to find a URL to download it, Mr Macintosh publishes them. I also recently saw a GitHub project for an app that lets you download and version still shipping. It’s called Mist.app.
If you have specific bugs/crashes that you can reproduce consistently please consider reporting them to https://www.apple.com/feedback/. This creates a bug report that an Apple developer will look at.
Been fine on my Apple silicon machines. Both systems have fresh installs.
I waited until they had two minor updates before jumping in, it's been pretty good and solid.
The first few months after any major apple release are super bumpy and best avoided
My users and myself haven’t had any specific issues with Sequoia like you describe.
What Mac are you using?
It’s always important to consider the possibility of a hardware issue and diagnose accordingly.
Could be related to trying to push out a new OS every year on four different platforms. Apple used to have a “tick/tock” release schedule where they’d push out iOS updates one year and MacOS updates the next. This allowed plenty of time for development, and good overlap for trying new things and porting them back to the other platform.
Anyone else remember “Back To The Mac”?
Mainly having issues with Sequoia's software firewall, but there are other annoyances as well. The latest iOS update all but broke my Mail app too. I'm tolerating the macOS issues for now, but about to replace my iphone with a Pixel running LineageOS. I've about had it with the big apple lately.
I’ve had the invisible window issue, today for the first time, but not the other issues you’ve listed. iOS 18 on the other hand, holy fucking shit has it been a nightmare.
I'm with you, last time an update was this rough for me was like 6+ years ago. That last rough experience had me avoiding major updates until at least 6 months after launch, the only reason I updated was some shitty policy change my corporate IT implemented that wouldn't stop popping up about it.
If you haven't already, force a full rebuild of your spotlight index, https://support.apple.com/en-us/102321 . The only other advice aside from rollback or reinstall is to create a new user profile.

20 comments