On Catalina, move to Big Sur?

[James Lugo]

I have an iMac i9 running PT2021 HDX. Is it cool to move to Big Sur? Everything run good? Should I stay where I’m at?

[Eric Lambert]

Hard to know the answer without knowing all the associated hardware/software, but from ProTools' perspective you're good to go!

[James Lugo]

I have the Avid hd io. It’s been a year for Big Sur. I’ll look into it but I can’t imagine any software not being compatible at this point. Thanks man.

[JFreak]

Intel systems better stay put with Catalina for now.

[James Lugo]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Intel systems better stay put with Catalina for now.

Why is that? Just curious.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Intel systems better stay put with Catalina for now.

My entire company (PT and Logic users) has moved to Big Sur and there have been no downsides. I'm also curious why you'd advise that Catalina is a better option. Big Sur feels more complete and solid than its predecessor.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

My entire company (PT and Logic users) has moved to Big Sur and there have been no downsides. I'm also curious why you'd advise that Catalina is a better option. Big Sur feels more complete and solid than its predecessor.

Just my opinion, take it as it is. I have been testing Catalina and Big Sur on Intel, then Big Sur and Monterey on Apple Silicon. My opinion is Intels should stay put at Catalina and Apple Silicon hardware it is not so much different between Big sur or Monterey (work in progress anyway, both Avid/PACE and third party plugins).

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Just my opinion, take it as it is. I have been testing Catalina and Big Sur on Intel, then Big Sur and Monterey on Apple Silicon. My opinion is Intels should stay put at Catalina and Apple Silicon hardware it is not so much different between Big sur or Monterey (work in progress anyway, both Avid/PACE and third party plugins).

I understand that but why do you find Catalina to be better than Big Sur on Intel? Or, how does Big Sur fall short of Catalina?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

I understand that but why do you find Catalina to be better than Big Sur on Intel? Or, how does Big Sur fall short of Catalina?

Catalina was the big thing regarding transition to Apple Silicon. It laid the foundation by being 64-bit only. And the last OS that was Intel-only.

After that it has been clear Apple has been working on Apple Silicon and the benefits of new OS have been for Apple Silicon only.

So in case there is a feature in Big Sur or Monterey which you absolutely need, you would be better stuck with Catalina on your Intel hardware.

[Eric Lambert]

I don't follow. Big Sur takes Catalina and improves upon it. It is smoother and more refined than Catalina, and it's even the minimum OS for certain apps (like Logic 10.7). Some apps simply will not work on Catalina. Apple's resources aren't such that working on Monterey hinders other projects.

As mentioned, we've all moved to Big Sur, use it with PT and Logic, and find it smooth as butter. Catalina had some quirks.