pros and cons of Sequoia

[Kristin]

Hey everyone, 

I would appreciate thoughts about Sequoia. I am actually somehow still on Ventura and accidentally bi-passed Sonoma. 

 

From my understanding, a lot of people are on Sequoia without it being a problem (for Accordance or otherwise). However, I am kind of fuzzy on what the advantage is, given that I despise AI. Are there advantages?

 

Also, concerning AI, I assume that during set up it will actually ask me to turn it on, and I can easily disable it before it is activated. Is that correct?

 

Thanks for any thoughts anyone has.

 

Kristin

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

In terms of Accordance, you can upgrade to Sequoia without issues (you'll need to be on Accordance 14). 

 

The main "benefit" is you'll have is Apple's latest operating system version, so it'll get the most attention in terms of security patches, etc. Apple still patches some previous versions of macOS, but they're always the quickest about patching "the latest and greatest".

 

Here's a list of features in macOS Sequoia:

 

https://www.apple.com/macos/macos-sequoia/

 

Plus you'll get everything you "missed" from Sonoma:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Sonoma

 

Here's a rundown of Apple Intelligence. Note that it only runs on Apple Silicon Macs. If you're on Intel, you won't even get the opportunity to use it:

 

https://www.apple.com/apple-intelligence/

 

With the exceptions of having the fastest security patches, and the fact that I need to run the latest version of macOS for Accordance testing purposes, there isn't much in Sequoia that would have convinced me to upgrade. Window tiling is helpful, but I liked Moom better. I'm already using another Password Manager, so I likely won't switch to their Passwords app, but I may play with it. 

 

On Sonoma's features, pinning widgets to the desktop has been handy, although I've paired my widgets down to a couple anyway. Web apps are neat, but I haven't used them as much as I thought I would. 

 

In terms of Apple Intelligence, if your Mac even supports it (and it won't be released to the public until an upcoming update), it is 100% opt in. It'll either prompt you at update, or there's a toggle in System Settings.

 

I've played around with it, but not sure I'll really use it. Only some of the features are available at the moment. Writing tools I wouldn't likely use, Priority Notifications I could take or leave, Priority inbox in Mail and Mail suggested replies I've found to me more annoying than anything. Image creation, new Siri, and ChatGPT integration aren't here yet. I like the "Text to Siri" interface better than a voice Siri interface on my Mac, but that's even possible without Apple Intelligence enabled if you dig around in Accessibility Settings. 

 

Hopefully the above will help you make an informed decision about when to upgrade to Sequoia.

[Kristin]

46 minutes ago, Dr. Nathan Parker said:

n terms of Accordance, you can upgrade to Sequoia without issues (you'll need to be on Accordance 14). 

 

Oh wow! I didn't know that.  Is v.14 still the chaos it was when it was released or is it actually working now? 

[Kristin]

@Dr. Nathan Parker,

Is v.14 required for Sonoma?

[Michael J. Bolesta]

@Kristin I have been using Accordance 14.0.x for over a year without any issues. The initial release was problematic, and I reverted to 13.x. I gave it a go after a few revisions, and it has been smooth sailing. The big new features of synching and Accordance web are still vaporware, but core functions have been solid (which is not to say that issues you have had with user notes and highlighting have been resolved 😪).

 

Accordance for Mac 14.0.10, [macOS Sequoia 15.0.1, 16 inch 2021 MacBook Pro, Apple M1 Pro, 16 GB]

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

14 is required for Sonoma 14.3 or higher and recommended for Sonoma.

 

I've been solely running on 14, and overall it has been smooth sailing. I used it to finish up my PhD program and publish my PhD dissertation, so I've used it for "mission critical work".

 

I'm trying to spend more time in Accordance across both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs and Windows just so I'm living the same experience that many of our customers are using. So far overall running well.

[David Voth]

I am not a heavy user of Accordance, but v. 13 still works for me on Sonoma. The last update was a minor update for compatibility when Sonoma came out.

[David Voth]

This is about when Accordance 13 was last updated.

 

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Some users on 13 can successfully run it on Sonoma, but others have had issues with Sonoma 14.3 and higher and Accordance 13. That's why we highly recommend 14 for Sonoma and later users.

[Kristin]

4 hours ago, Dr. Nathan Parker said:

others have had issues with Sonoma 14.3

 

Hi Nathan,

What kind of issues? 

 

Also, given that notes aren't exportable, highlight and note corruption isn't fixed, there isn't a web version, and syncing isn't done, could you clarify the difference between v.13 and v.14? Is it mainly just under the hood compatibility with Sonoma and higher which users don't directly see?

 

Thanks.

[A. Smith]

I've been using macOS 15 (now 15.1) and iPad/iphoneOS 18 (now 18.1; along with watchOS 11) since the developer betas. I see no drawbacks at all. I consider them genuine quality of life/user experience upgrades. Particularly apples first steps into AI. Could be more. Could be better. But what it is works well and legitimately improves my workflow. And, as you may remember, Accordance is critical for me and I use it every day. I've had no accordance problems related to macOS 15 (aside from some early beta problems). BTW, 15.1 and 18.1 come out next week with the first fruits of apple intelligence. I suggest getting in on the beta program asap so you can go ahead and get on the list for ai. IDK why but there is a waiting period and I don't expect that to go well on launch day of the public release. But in any case it won't affect your use of accordance. 

 

I'll also say that I appreciate apple's approach to AI. Not first but best. It could be better. They could do more. I'm really looking forward to x.2 because that's when the screen-aware Siri comes onboard. But what apple is doing is done well and legitimately improving my experience and saving time. I feel like, between shortcuts and apple intelligence, we're finally at a place where tech is dong what it's promised from the beginning and saving me measurable amounts of time each day. Most important for me, apple intelligence doesn't require online access. 

 

The safari summaries, notification summaries, message prioritization, and reduce distractions focus are now a critical part of my life. I can't go without them lol. The writing tools are basically grammarly, but they work great and I don't pay a subscription. So that's good. 

Edited 11 hours ago by A. Smith

[Kristin]

6 hours ago, A. Smith said:

BTW, 15.1 and 18.1 come out next week with the first fruits of apple intelligence. I suggest getting in on the beta program asap so you can go ahead and get on the list for ai.

 

I think this is a lot of why I have been feeling under pressure to update. If I don't update by next week there will be no way to avoid the AI. I really hope it can be completely turned off in settings. :/ On the other hand though, Ventura really hasn't been giving me issues, so maybe I should just leave it alone.

 

6 hours ago, A. Smith said:

Most important for me, apple intelligence doesn't require online access.

 

This is surprising. I thought that some of the AI stuff was on the device, and other aspects of it used that "Private Cloud Compute" which does access the cloud. There is a way to use it without it ever accessing the cloud?

 

6 hours ago, A. Smith said:

 

The safari summaries, notification summaries, message prioritization, and reduce distractions focus are now a critical part of my life. I can't go without them lol. The writing tools are basically grammarly, but they work great and I don't pay a subscription. So that's good. 

 

I think this is the main reason why I am considering staying on Ventura. I really don't use Safari, I for sure don't need message summaries or prioritization, and I for sure don't need a grammarly substitute.

 

On a side note, the worst aspect is the reduced distractions. Personally, the second something is muted, it becomes remarkably distracting since I get worried about whether or not there is a notification. As long as things are not muted I can ignore them on my own. So I can see this stuff being very helpful for some people, but at least from what I have seen from YouTube, I can't see it as being super helpful for me personally.

 

I guess I have a little under a week to finally decide what to do.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

In terms of the difference between 13 and 14, the "What's New in 14" page shows the feature differences, but I know you've already read it. :-)

 

In terms of the issues some users on Accordance experience with Sonoma or higher, it really depends on each individual's computer, but some common issues have been Accordance 13 either failed to launch or was presented with an error message after launching. Installing Accordance 14 resolved those issues. 

 

In summary, Accordance 14 uses more recent code under-the-hood that is more "future proof" for major macOS changes vs Accordance 13.

 

As mentioned above, even if you go Sequoia, you can 100% go without using AI if you don't want it. It's 100% opt-in. I had to literally flip a switch to enable it just to play with it, and even after opting-in, I was able to re-flip the switch to opt-out again. So people who have been concerned about that can be 100% relieved.

 

I haven't seen a setting that restricts AI to on-device vs Private Cloud Compute yet. Hoping Apple outlines more of that as time progresses. I don't think those features are even out yet.