Patience is a must when it comes to system upgrades
Last month Apple released public betas of its next-generation operating systems — macOS Sierra and iOS 10 — and I advised you not to install them on devices you depend upon.
I explained that beta software always has the expected issues, such as bugs and crashes, but it also may render your favorite third-party applications unusable; require a firmware update or new driver for your hardware devices; or remove a feature you use or change it for the worse.
So while we’ve established that it’s probably a bad idea to install a beta operating system on a Mac or iOS device you depend on, we have yet to talk about how long to wait before you install them once they’re released, which should be soon.
How soon? Nobody knows and Apple will say no more than, “Available this fall.” I predict we’ll see them in September or October, but I recommend you read the rest of this column before you even think of clicking Upgrade.
In my experience, the first nonbeta release, often called the “point-zero” release, usually contains bugs and crashes that weren’t caught during the beta testing period. That’s why I always advise skipping the first release of an operating system upgrade and wait for the inevitable “point-one” to come out before pulling the trigger.
We won’t know if macOS Sierra 10.12.0 or iOS 10.0 have significant flaws until after they’re released, but my experience tells me it’s more likely than not. So, when your Mac or iDevice dangles a system software upgrade in front of you next month, just say no. If you don’t believe me that it’s safer to wait, search the internet for “macOS Sierra issues” and “iOS 10 issues” a few days after the release.
One more thing before you do say yes: Visit Roaring Apps (https:// roaringapps.com), the crowd-sourced application compatibility database and check if the apps you depend on work properly with the new OS.
If you like to live dangerously, install Sierra and iOS 10 when they come out. Before you do something you might regret, may I remind you that it’s never as easy to downgrade as it was to upgrade? If you want to regress to the previous version of the operating system after an upgrade, you’ll have to erase the device, install a previous version of the OS and then restore your data from a backup.
The bottom line is that when macOS Sierra 10.12.0 and iOS 10.0 finally arrive, the safe bet is to wait for the first bug-fix update before you install either one.