Intel Mac Pro- should I jump straight from Monterey to Sonoma?

[Killahurts]

Hi everyone!

I have a 2019 16-core Mac Pro (Intel), currently running Monterey. My interface is an RME MADI FX PCIe card, with 192 channels I/O. I also have 12 year old UAD Quad card that still works! My drives are PCIe also, Accelsior 4M2's.

I generally don't like to get too far behind with Mac OS. I was thinking about making the jump, straight up to Sonoma, bypassing Ventura altogether. I'm kind of in between projects, so it's a good time to do it. I think my PCIe gear will be OK, but it's the software I'm concerned about most, especially plugins, as I have about 400. The main software I use on this machine is DP, Pro Tools, and all the Dolby Atmos software.

I've seen a lot of growing pains here and elsewhere with the Apple Silicon machines, over the last year or two, especially with plugins.. but I don't see a lot of reports about Sonoma and Intel machines. I know I just updated our video machine, a Mac Studio M2 from Ventura to Sonoma and I really like the OS, but I don't know what it will do with my 2019 Intel, a computer Apple no doubt considers a relic from a forgotten era.

So what say you guys, should I take the plunge? Anything fundamental I forgot about, any learned experiences? Thanks in advance!

[nk_e]

Following…

[bayswater]

Is there any good reason to update the OS, other than for the sake of updating? Is there a function in the later versions you’d like to have that isn’t in your current version?

At the very least, set up a test volume with the new OS version and try it out first.

[mikehalloran]

It depends on your plug-ins and certain other apps.

Kontakt has issues with Sonoma on the M2/M3 Macs that should be resolved in the next macoS 14.5 release. It doesn't appear to be an issue with the M1 but I have no idea about Intel—I'm guessing it's ok but you should test.

Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017 and 2020 have major issues over Sonoma—the Text Tool does not work. The DC (subscription) version is fine which annoys the hell out of us with 2020 since it is still supported. I got a full refund on my 2020 license yesterday over this and have moved to DC.

Antares plug-ins are not supported over Sonoma — their license manager cannot be read.

As has been suggested, create an APFS Volume so that you can test. Easy to create and even easier to delete wen you are done.

[Killahurts]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses! I didn't forget about this thread, I've just been dealing with a very sticky issue with DP. I'm trying to pull up files from 3.5 years ago to create stems for Atmos, and many of these projects will not load. I very much suspect Kontakt (speak of the devil), with all its different versions and incompatibilities and what not, but it could also be different versions of DP, still testing.. so updating the OS is absolutely out of the question right now anyway.

Bays, the reason I wanted to update is so I don't fall too far behind. For instance I don't use Logic as a DAW, but I would like to access a feature on it, that I can't because the newer versions that have it won't install on my machine. Not too big a deal, but there are others. I noticed DaVinci Resolve Studio has their new beta at Ventura or higher. I'm OK now, but that's coming. This is (or rather was) a good time because I'm in between long projects, and Sonoma has a few point releases now, so it might be relatively stable, especially on my Intel.

As far as trying it out on another volume, To be honest I don't remember how to do that.. I do remember years ago when I did try it, and somehow created an unholy mess for myself. I ended up having to start over with the drive. It took weeks to get everything working again. I guess I didn't know what I was doing, but it was hardware drivers, plugins, everything.

[bayswater]

Bays, the reason I wanted to update is so I don't fall too far behind. For instance I don't use Logic as a DAW, but I would like to access a feature on it, that I can't because the newer versions that have it won't install on my machine.

I get that. I have a Monterey startup volume with a later version of Logic installed, and will probably start using that regularly for most things. It took a very long time to get everything installed and organized on that volume, but aside from the fact that it can run a newer version of Logic and Mojave can’t nothing I have works better. I did try the next two versions of macOS and found a lot of stuff I use regularly stopped working and required a lot of paid updates.