Home Forums Mac Software Mac Operating Systems Best OS version for older MacBook Pro 15?

Hello All. I'm still operating an older MacBook Pro (late 2013) with Catalina ver 10.15.7 as current OS. I've had to back out of Big Sir when it was initially offered as a "software update" due to degraded performance. As I've updated software the pinwheel of death has shown up more often that I rememberer in the past. Has Mac improved the compatibility of Big Sir and older MacBook Pro's like mine? Will Big Sur update help with performance of my MacBook? Thanks in advance for any guidance you may share.

I see that Mactracker says that an early 2013 won't even run Big Sur, so maybe your late 2013 is pushing the upgrade envelope?

Do you ever have to run 32-bit apps? I've got a real soft spot for Mojave. I still keep a boot partition on my iMac for when I need to run some of my legacy apps.

I never bothered with Big Sur, I jumped from Mojave to Monterey when I was forced to update. Mojave is solid, though I am liking Monterey now.

Your MacBook Pro (Retina, 15", Late 2013) would have been vintage when Big Sur was initially released in 2020 and obsolete probably sometime in 2021. The implication is Apple would not have been intentionally targeting your machine in OS performance upgrades.

That said, as I recall, when I installed Big Sur, it was a bit doggy for at least a few days after the initial install and then, after a lot of processing, and data shuffling that had been going on in the background completed finally finished, everything settled down and either I became accustomed to the new normal performance or actually returned to the old normal. Admittedly, I am addicted to the latest and greatest(?) but I would encourage you to give Big Sur another try and be patient with it for at least a week or two before making any decision on its usability.