Apple MacBook Pro 2017. (Photo by James Sheppard/iCreate Magazine/Future via Getty Images)
Apple’s latest update for macOS Sonoma fixed several bugs and issues, but millions of MacBook, iMac, and Mac users are still waiting for Apple to fix a series of bugs on their computers.
The latest macOS Ventura update has several issues that have made Macs difficult to use. Reported issues include connectivity issues with Wi-Fi and BlueTooth, Time Machine backup failures, UI lag, TouchID issues, and various issues in first- and third-party apps.
Ventura is not the latest version of macOS, but it is the last version that will work on millions of Macs and MacBooks that are still within their support window. If you have an Intel-based Mac from 2017 or earlier, macOS Ventura is as good as it gets, which is why Apple continues to release code updates and security patches.
Apple continued to sell Intel-based Mac hardware until June 2023, when it launched the first Mac Pro powered by ARM-based Apple Silicon. Going back to 2017, Apple shipped 19.7 million Macs, up slightly from 18.6 million in 2016, the vast majority of them MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro laptops.
There is a general consensus that a MacBook will be used for 5-8 years on average (with a desktop Mac averaging slightly longer). Even though some users will have upgraded their hardware in the intervening years, millions of active Macs could be affected by the latest issues introduced in macOS Venutra 13.6.6.
This week, Apple moved new versions of iOS 17.5, watchOS 10.5, and macOS Sonoma 14.5 to beta, which would mean a full public release a few weeks later. With macOS Ventura updates typically launching alongside macOS Sonoma updates, it will be until May before potential fixes for the millions of affected Macs can arrive, and that’s assuming the next release can fix All the problems.
In the meantime, if you still have the option to update to macOS Venutra 13.6.6, consider this option carefully. It will offer the latest security fixes, but it has a significant number of issues.
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