MacOS Sequoia, MacOS Tahoe and Why I’m Downgrading to MacOS Sonoma

Apple has been selling M-Series Macs since 2020, moving its landmark computer series away from the retina intel chip and into the world of in-house processors.

As a result, Macs are now a lot faster, with Mac users seeing better performance, whether they be exporting videos, running development programs, creating music or podcast shows and more. Today Mac computers are even considered as being on a level playing field with Non-Apple computers (you know the ones).

But new hardware isn’t the complete story, as we’ve also seen our fair share of new MacOS software — with features that keep on growing smarter, while also taking us to new horizons.

The last three releases — MacOS Sonoma, MacOS Sequoia, and now the brand new MacOS Tahoe — are examples of this, with all of them introducing new smart features, while others have also started to integrate AI.

In this blog, I’m going to outline and review all three of them, before detailing why, despite all of this, I’m going to be downgrading my M1 Pro MacBook Pro to MacOS Sonoma.

Here we go.

MacOS Sequoia and What it offers if you decide to update to it, stick with it or not

Marking Apple’s formal entry into the AI era (beyond everything it has done with Siri over the years) MacOS Sequoia is the software that introduced us to Apple Intelligence, which is capable of generating text, images and even emojis (or at least it is now, thanks to Genmoji, which eventually rolled out) and a lot more.

Beyond this, you can type to Siri (though this feature was available in previous versions of MacOS software, including Sonoma) and tap into ChatGPT directly through an extension instead of through the internet, which does introduce an exciting feature for some.

Other Apple Intelligence in MacOS Sequoia features include:

• A Focus mode that is full of less interruptions and smarter Smart Reply options.
• Smart summaries in Messages and Mail, with Smart Reply also included.
• Audio-to-text transcription summaries in Notes.
• Enhanced photo tools for cleanup and memory creation.
• The ability to generate summaries you get from pages you visit on the Safari app.

So why am I not a big fan of MacOS Sequoia and what would I like to see improved in future versions of MacOS?

Well, if I’m going to be honest, the main reason I’m not a fan of it is because of the constant need to resize windows, whether in split screen mode or not.

Before I gave into the pressure of various tech reviewers and installed 2024’s MacOS software update offering, I would be able to display two applications that were capable of displaying in split-mode beside each other neatly, with no need to resize anything. By all means, Sonoma does limit you to only viewing two split-screen applications in split-screen mode at a time, and you can’t view the dock at the same time, but no matter what, both applications would be displayed perfectly, with no need to resize any of them.

But unfortunately this is something that MacOS Sequoia seems to have completely missed the memo on, as application windows seem incapable of going into Split Screen perfectly. Every time I’ve tried to place one application and another app beside each other, I’ve had to resize both so that they’ll cover half of my screen equally, and to make it worse, the applications may suddenly then turn into a full page if you click in the wrong spot, so you have to start over again.

This can get extremely aggravating at times as someone who regularly multitasks.

However, another reason why I don’t like MacOS Sequoia is because of iPhone Mirroring, or rather, the limits of what it lets you do, as — although it is a concept I love — it falls short on accessibility.

If you’re not aware of what it is, iPhone Mirroring is basically a software that lets you control your iPhone from your Mac, or at least apps on your phone that are actually compatible with it.

To start it up, you only have to click on the iPhone Mirroring option in your dock (or wherever else you keep it if you don’t see it there) then enter your passcode when asked to enter it, after which you’re then able to control your iPhone from your Mac.

From here onwards, you are able to use it for most applications on your phone, whether that be checking and transferring money between your savings accounts in your banking apps, uploading new content to YouTube Shorts or other social networking apps, playing games (although games may vary) and more.

So why, despite all of those features, am I not as big of a fan of it as I could be?

Well, it’s mainly because, while the app works mainly with one click or one swipe, which is a good thing, because these are movements I find easy on a Mac, there are still apps that require you to scroll down using two fingers on the trackpad, which is basically impossible when you’re paralysed from the neck down and can only control a laptop with a stylus or a chopstick in your mouth.

For this reason, while I have been able to use iPhone Mirroring mainly barrier free, there have been times when I’ve had to ask my carers for help to scroll down apps such as food magazines or news articles, and while I know my carers don’t have any problem whatsoever doing that for me, I would prefer to be able to do it myself.

And this is why, as much as I may enjoy the app, I wouldn’t plan to update again until accessibility settings are included in iPhone Mirroring settings or until you have the option to add a scroll bar to the side of it.

However, other than that, I found MacOS Sequoia fairly enjoyable.

The Magic Erase tool in photos worked nicely, and although some aspects in iPhone Mirroring were annoying, it was a handy app. I also found Image Playground easy to use, though it isn’t necessarily an app I would use continuously, especially as it doesn’t seem capable of getting a ventilator tube exactly right, though it did come close.

Now, lets move on to macOS Tahoe.

MacOS Tahoe: an improvement in accessibility and AI for some but a failure for others

Unveiled at WWDC this year and made available for developers and the public more recently, MacOS Tahoe is the latest macOS software to be released and is compatible with every Mac from the 2019 Mac Pro and the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro onwards.

Introducing new features such as Liquid Glass (a dynamic desktop effect that blends wallpapers and windows with a translucent glow), new updated app icons, personalised controls and options in the menu bar and new looks for apps, macOS Tahoe is meant to give you a more personalised and customisable experience on Mac, for anyone who wants more of that.

Beyond this, Tahoe is also able to automatically translate messages you send in Messages, as well as summarising text, creating images or tapping directly into Apple Intelligence, even though this is something that macOS Sequoia can equally do.

You also get:

• The ability to monitor Live Activities from your phone in the menu bar on your Mac.
• A new Phone app for your Mac, that allows you to make and take calls from your Mac, while also giving you access to your Recents, Contacts and VoiceMail, just like you have on your iPhone app.
• Call Screening and Hold Assist, to help you manage calls you get on mac.
• A new version of Spotlight and Launchpad.
• The ability to create new automations in Shortcuts that lets you run shortcuts automatically.
• New Accessibility features, including Accessibility Reader, which provides a systemwide, customised reading and listening experience, that is capable of understanding numerous minority languages, including Braille.
• New parental controls to help parents keep kids safe, including new communication limits, communication safety and controls relating to the App Store.
• The Journal app for Mac, after it was only previously available on the iPhone and iPad.
• Another new design on the photos app, including options that let you filter and customise the size of Collection tiles.
• The ability to create Contact Posters for the people in your contacts.
• The ability for Reminders to suggest tasks, shopping lists and follow up emails or texts you need to send, using Apple Intelligence.
• A new Games app that gathers all your gaming apps together, with options to adjust system settings and to chat with friends without leaving the game.
• The ability to create polls and personalise conversations with backgrounds in Messages.
• The ability to easily refer to changes you’ve made to passwords in the Passwords app.
• The ability to capture conversations in the phone app then export them to a note in Notes.

So what do I think about macOS Tahoe overall and what are my overall feelings towards it?

Well, unfortunately the way I view macOS Tahoe is as the most unnecessary software update in the history of Mac software I have tried.

Most of the features, I honestly believe offer you so little extra that they’re basically pointless unless you’re part of a niche audience, or give you access to features that previous software updates just did better.

Take Apple’s claim that this software update offers more customisation and the redesign of Spotlight and Launchpad as an example.

On Apple’s website, Apple brag about how Tahoe gives you more ways to personalise your Mac than any software before. But why would they then discontinue and effectively blend what was the Launchpad app and Spotlight together, thus creating a non-customisable experience, which seems to be the opposite of where Apple seems to want to go.

However, that isn’t the only thing that annoys me about macOS Tahoe, because something else that annoys me is Liquid Glass, which, in my opinion, basically sacrifices privacy.

I’m not writing this for any creepy reasons, but I am the type of person who values having a private screensaver experience. By all means, I understand why you don’t want anyone to have an inappropriate screensaver, but I equally believe people have the right to keep their screensaver private if they want to, which I basically believe Apple’s Liquid Glass makes it harder to do.

Now, by all means, there are some things macOS Tahoe does do well, and one of the features I am a particularly big fan of is the Games app. This app gives you good suggestions and challenge ideas that help keep you in the gaming loop, but that is the only thing I can say about it after testing it out for a week. But I also like how you’re alerted of how low your Mac’s battery is getting, with the percentage also shown, especially as you no longer have to click your Mac’s battery to find out how low your Mac’s battery is getting, because Tahoe continuously reminds you.

And of course, it is brilliant that Apple now offers an Accessibility Read option that understands Braille, though I don’t necessarily need that option.

But these are the only positive pointers I can currently give the software, as the rest feels like change for the point of change and without a lot of clear planning.

so with this all said, why have I decided to Downgrade to macOS Sonoma?

Well, if I’m being completely honest about it, it’s because, after trying macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe out, I now view Sonoma as the sweet spot that offers just the right amount of smart features and stability, while also not forcing cautious people into a world of AI, including when it’s not necessarily needed.

By choosing to downgrade to macOS Sonoma, I will still have access to a lot of handy features, including:

• Apple’s Dynamic Screen Savers.
• Widgets (including iPhone Widgets and Interactive Widgets).
• Presenter Overlays when video conferencing (as well as reactions and the ability to use my iPhone 13 as my webcam).
• Private Browsing (as well as the ability to create web apps and to share passwords and passkeys — should I want to).
• Searching via filters for people, keywords and content in Messages, as well as swiping to reply.
• Game Mode.

And a lot more.

Plus, I’ll be able to enjoy enough up to date and retro technology using it, and be able to make YouTube Shorts in the version of Final Cut Pro that is compatible with it, as well as enjoying other creative apps.

Now, by all means there will be some useful apps I won’t have access to — such as iPhone Mirroring — but as I’ve pointed out, that app isn’t accessible enough in it’s current state for me to even consider staying with one of the latest software updates, making it a fair trade. And although I had an ok experience using Image Playground, it isn’t amazing enough for me to continuously use it.

However, I will continue to experiment with AI via websites it is currently hosted on, which is what I feel is best for me at the minute.

But that’s my reasons for deciding to downgrade, so now I’m away to do just that.