Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/ When Should You Upgrade to Apple's 2024 OS Releases Adam Engst As promised, Apple has released the initial versions of all its 2024 operating systems. If you aren't already running a beta of the X.1 releases that support Apple Intelligence (see '[1]Examining Apple Intelligence,' 17 June 2024), you could consider upgrading. But should you? Let's look at a few broad classes of users. * Early adopters: You know who you are. Early adopters are undoubtedly well into their installation process now, and that's fine. The betas have been stable in my testing, and while specific compatibility issues remain, such as with [2]Drafts dictation and transcription and [3]external Thunderbolt SATA enclosures on a 2019 Mac Pro, it's unlikely that anyone upgrading today will find themselves dead in the water. * Enthusiastic users: Those who want to play with the latest features but aren't willing to tolerate significant problems can likely upgrade everything but macOS within the next few days. A brief delay will give Apple time to address any early issues with overloaded download servers. However, I recommend waiting a little longer with macOS to let the early adopters report bugs that slipped through beta testing. If you use your Mac to earn your living, the stakes are higher, and more caution is warranted. * Cautious users: Those for whom Apple devices are just tools should wait a few weeks or until the X.1 releases scheduled for October. [4]As Howard Oakley notes, they'll likely contain fixes for the highest-profile bugs that have appeared between now and then. Even then, it's safer to update everything but macOS. Anyone who feels trepidation about installing Sequoia could wait until macOS 15.2 comes out, likely in mid-December. The added benefit of upgrading after macOS 15.2 comes out is that you can do it over the holiday break when you may have more time to install carefully (after making at least two separate backups) and recover from any issues that arise. For full details and help with upgrading from my friends at Take Control, read [5]Take Control of Sequoia by Joe Kissell and [6]Take Control of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 by Josh Centers. * Reluctant upgraders: Even those with no interest in new features should upgrade eventually, perhaps in the last set of releases before Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in June. After that, the only bugs likely to be fixed are security vulnerabilities, so all that waiting longer does is ensure you can't take advantage of any new features or platform compatibility. While you can put off macOS upgrades for as long as two years, thanks to Apple releasing security updates for the last two versions of macOS, my experience is that the longer you wait, the more likely you will have installation problems. You can't generally delay iOS and iPadOS upgrades for too long because Apple releases security updates only for the latest versions of those operating systems, along with older versions for obsolete devices that can't upgrade. We'll be writing about new features in all these operating systems, as will many other Apple-focused publications, websites, and bloggers. For now, though, these links should whet your appetite for what's new: * macOS 15 Sequoia * + [7]Announcement + [8]Product page + [9]Feature list PDF + [10]Release notes + [11]Enterprise notes + [12]Security notes * iOS 18 * + [13]Announcement + [14]Product page + [15]Feature list PDF + [16]Release notes + [17]Enterprise notes + [18]Security notes * iPadOS 18 * + [19]Announcement + [20]Product page + [21]Feature list PDF + [22]Release notes + [23]Enterprise notes + [24]Security notes * watchOS 11 * + [25]Announcement + [26]Product page + [27]Release notes + [28]Security notes * visionOS 2 * + [29]Announcement + [30]Product page + [31]Release notes + [32]Enterprise notes + [33]Security notes * tvOS 18 * + [34]Announcement + [35]Release notes + [36]Security notes * HomePod Software 18 * + [37]Release notes I particularly recommend the PDF feature lists for Sequoia, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18 because they're easier to scan than Apple's otherwise lovely product pages. Plus, they may be more comprehensive, and I often most appreciate the little features that don't merit mention on the product pages. Finally, congratulations to our friends Jason Snell and Dan Moren of [38]Six Colors on their site's [39]tenth anniversary. To celebrate, allow me to recommend their reviews of [40]macOS 15 Sequoia, [41]iOS 18, [42]iPadOS 18, and [43]Collections in Photos. References 1. https://tidbits.com/2024/06/17/examining-apple-intelligence/ 2. https://forums.getdrafts.com/t/warning-ios-18-and-macos-15-dictation-transcription-issue/15398 3. https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/96473-macos-15-sequoia-2019-mac-pro/ 4. https://eclecticlight.co/2024/09/16/looking-ahead-to-sequoias-updates/ 5. https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/sequoia/?pt=TIDBITS 6. https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/ios-18-ipados-18/?pt=TIDBITS 7. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/macos-sequoia-is-available-today/ 8. https://www.apple.com/macos/macos-sequoia/ 9. https://www.apple.com/macos/macos-sequoia/pdf/macOS_All_New_Features_Sept_2024.pdf 10. https://support.apple.com/120283 11. https://support.apple.com/121011 12. https://support.apple.com/121238 13. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/ios-18-is-available-today-making-iphone-more-personal-and-capable-than-ever/ 14. https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-18/ 15. https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-18/pdf/iOS_18_All_New_Features_Sept_2024.pdf 16. https://support.apple.com/121161 17. https://support.apple.com/121158 18. https://support.apple.com/121250 19. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/ipados-18-is-now-available-taking-ipad-to-the-next-level/ 20. https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-18/ 21. https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-18/pdf/iPadOS_18_All_New_Features_Sept_2024.pdf 22. https://support.apple.com/121162 23. https://support.apple.com/121159 24. https://support.apple.com/121250 25. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/watchos-11-is-available-today/ 26. https://www.apple.com/watchos/watchos-11/ 27. https://support.apple.com/121163 28. https://support.apple.com/121240 29. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/visionos-2-for-apple-vision-pro-is-available-today/ 30. https://www.apple.com/visionos/visionos-2/ 31. https://support.apple.com/121164 32. https://support.apple.com/121160 33. https://support.apple.com/121249 34. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/tvos-18-is-now-available/ 35. https://support.apple.com/106336 36. https://support.apple.com/121248 37. https://support.apple.com/108045 38. https://sixcolors.com/ 39. https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/09/ten/ 40. https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/09/macos-sequoia-review/ 41. https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/09/ios-18-review/ 42. https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/09/ipados-18-review-ish-math-notes-calculator-and-weird-tab-bars/ 43. https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/09/in-ios-18-photos-brings-collections-to-the-fore/ .