On November 12, 2020, Apple released the next version of the Mac operating system (macOS). It’s name is macOS Big Sur. Like all major operating system upgrades, it’s prone to have some significant bugs and/or will make some of your older applications incompatible, so please hold off on installing this major upgrade for a while. If you’re a customer and you subscribe to my remote monitoring, maintenance and support service (RMMS), you don’t need to worry about accidentally installing macOS Big Sur since I’m able to remotely block this major upgrade from being installed on your Mac.
[Update May 2021: If you’re one of my RMMS clients, you’re now able to upgrade to macOS 11 Big Sur if you’d like. I have removed my blocking mechanism. Before you upgrade, please be aware of the significant changes Apple made to the user-interface and follow my suggestions in this article to try to proceed cautiously. ]
I’m not the only one who recommends holding off on installing macOS Big Sur. Check out Tidbits’ article titled, Big Sur Is Here, but We Suggest You Say “No Sir” for Now. This article provides a good overview of the problems reported by early adopters of macOS Big Sur. It also highlights many of the changes introduced by BigSur. Tidbit wrote another good article, back in June, which previewed a number of the changes that were introduced in macOS Big Sur. Are you ready for the learning curve? [Update March 2021: Tidbits updates their guidance about how safe it is to upgrade to Big Sur.]
If you’re a subscriber of my RMMS service and you try to install macOS Big Sur, you will see a notification like the one below. This image indicates that I’m blocking the installation of macOS Big Sur. My remote management tools will also remove the macOS Big Sur installer from your Mac. If you have a compelling reason to install macOS Big Sur or you’re doing it on a spare Mac, please contact me so I can unblock your installation.
For advice on when you should install macOS Big Sur, check out my previous article, When Should You Install Major macOS or iOS Updates?
