Mac Ventura Compatibility

[sw rec]

Loaded question, but gotta ask. Fired up my Mac Studio M1 Max for the first time today, and it shipped with OS Ventura. I’m not in a HUGE hurry to make the switch from my functional Windoze unit, and it’s a good thing. UA says they’re Ventura-compatible, but the bulk of my plugin manufacturers say “hold off til we say so.”
In particular, Lexicon, Softube, Eventide, Antares, and WaveArts. And my old tried & true Presonus 1st gen Faderport apparently isn’t compatible either.
Has anybody jumped in & tried any of these anyway? Should I see if I can downgrade to Monterey? Or just wait it out?

[JFreak]

Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura is pretty much the same. As you have Apple Silicon, I would say just go for it with the latest. Intel hardware I have recently downgraded back to Catalina.

^ only exception to this is if you have some driver that is not compatible.

[bradch00]

Originally Posted by sw rec

Loaded question, but gotta ask. Fired up my Mac Studio M1 Max for the first time today, and it shipped with OS Ventura. I’m not in a HUGE hurry to make the switch from my functional Windoze unit, and it’s a good thing. UA says they’re Ventura-compatible, but the bulk of my plugin manufacturers say “hold off til we say so.”
In particular, Lexicon, Softube, Eventide, Antares, and WaveArts. And my old tried & true Presonus 1st gen Faderport apparently isn’t compatible either.
Has anybody jumped in & tried any of these anyway? Should I see if I can downgrade to Monterey? Or just wait it out?

Downgrading a Mac to something earlier than what is factory installed is difficult (and not recommended). FWIW I am using an original Faderport on a Ventura/Mac Studio Max system with Studio One, I’ll try it with PT in the morning.

[JFreak]

Downgrading is not so much more difficult than any other upgrade, but you cannot (and should not even try) to downgrade to earlier OS your computer was first shipped from factory.

[sw rec]

Bill at WaveArts is testing on Ventura today. I’ll let fellow WaveArts fans know what he finds.

[Eric Lambert]

If it were me I'd downgrade to Monterey. There's no disadvantage to this, and with Murphy's Law and the known issues from certain developers you'll be running a risk of some unforeseen issue with Ventura, at a time when it's least welcome, of course.

[itsjustmeee123]

I’m always super cautious when it comes to upgrading my os. As a matter of fact, I just moved up to Monterey a couple of weeks ago. I always have a backup of my Mac with the last os on a SSD and the one before that on a storage drive. Also it really comes down to the new os itself. Is it that much different than the previous as far as features go? Jumping up to Monterey had enough advantages for to do it (like being able to upgrade Logic Pro to the latest version) but I don’t see enough with Ventura for the headaches it might bring.

[GuitarSlinger]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Downgrading is not so much more difficult than any other upgrade, but you cannot (and should not even try) to downgrade to earlier OS your computer was first shipped from factory.

Oh boy. Why is that true? Is that opinion or backed up somewhere? Not dissing you, I just need to know because....

Support just told me to downgrade from Ventura to Monterey because my SPDIF is acting weird and he was guessing that was the issue. I also have a Mac Studio M1 that came with Ventura

[itsjustmeee123]

Originally Posted by GuitarSlinger

Oh boy. Why is that true? Is that opinion or backed up somewhere? Not dissing you, I just need to know because....

Support just told me to downgrade from Ventura to Monterey because my SPDIF is acting weird and he was guessing that was the issue. I also have a Mac Studio M1 that came with Ventura

I’ve seen that as well. For example, Sweetwater’s Downgrade Guide says “If your Mac originally shipped with macOS 12 Monterey, then that is its default version of macOS, and no earlier versions can be installed. If you’ve upgraded to macOS 12 Monterey from another version, then you can go back.”

[JFreak]

Now this ^ does not mean yout mac specifically but the model instead. If the drivers needed for the model are available in previous OS then your example can be downgraded too.