“Change is the only constant in life” is a true saying. But, when it comes to operating system upgrades, I tend to be far from the bleeding edge.
My attitude is that, as editors, our role in life is to tell stories using moving images, not beta test software. While I tend to update applications within a couple of days after release, I take much more time before upgrading the operating system.
That’s because the operating system is the foundation of everything we do on our computers. It truly is the brains behind the whole operation; the CPU is simply carrying out instructions. If macOS breaks, or has significant bugs, our computers become essentially non-functional.
I don’t need that level of stress.
Like most of us, I read Mac-oriented websites to see what problems other people are having to determine how significant any issues might be. Not all bugs are life-threatening.
Over the years, I’ve developed a personal rule that I don’t update any version of the macOS until Apple releases a .1 update. (In the case of Big Sur, which had a ton of initial problems, I waited until the .2 update was available.)
The good news is that waiting doesn’t hurt anything. There are no new features in Final Cut, Premiere or Resolve that suddenly “appear” with an update.
NOTE: However, that’s not true with the shift to Apple Silicon, where there are features supported in Apple Silicon computers that don’t exist in Intel-based systems.
So, a couple of weeks after Apple released macOS 12.1 (Monterey), I finally upgraded.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve all seem to work OK. I had a few minor problems – detailed in the Notes section below – but haven’t encountered anything major. However, prior to updating the OS, I also updated all my applications to make sure I was running the latest version of everything.
The main reason I’m writing this tutorial is to provide an opportunity for you to add comments discussing any problems you discovered in your upgrade.
NOTE: As with any upgrade, if there is software you absolutely depend upon, be sure to visit the developer’s website to verify it will work properly on macOS Monterey before upgrading.
THE PROCESS
My 2017 iMac – which is my main system until Apple releases the long-rumored 27″ M1 iMac – was running Big Sur 11.6.1.
Go to System Preferences > Software Update to begin the upgrade process.
The initial download is fairly quick and this screen appears. Click Continue.
Specify where you want to install the new software. In virtually all cases, you’ll put this on your internal drive – Macintosh HD.
The full download takes a while, depending upon the speed of your Internet connection and the activity of Apple’s servers. For me, this download took slightly longer than an hour.
After the download was complete, the installation itself started. That took about two hours. There was nothing I needed to do, except check the system every once in a while to see if things were done.
NOTES AFTER THE UPDATE
I noticed several minor things changed after the update.
First, Apple Mail, which I use as my email client, needed to reindex all my emails.
I reset my desktop picture because I don’t particularly like the strong graphics used by macOS Monterey.
I use a FocusRite A/D converter to connect all my analog gear to my computer via USB. It seems that this connection now needs to be reset on a daily basis. (To do this, simply unplug the USB connection into the back of the computer, wait 15 seconds, then reconnect it.)
The update also seemed to reset all my Final Cut Pro preferences.
However, as far as my existing editing software was concerned, everything seems to run the same as always. Which was a great relief.
NOTE: I should mention that I upgraded all my applications as updates became available, in the weeks prior to upgrading to Monterey. There were only a couple apps that needed to be updated after Monterey was installed.
UPDATE – Jan. 11, 2022
Philip Snyder writes:
Just wanted to let you know that since upgrading my 27″ 2019 iMac to 12.1 Monterey, I’m unable to burn a Blu-ray disc. I’m using Compressor 4.6.
My workflow is to export a ProRes 422 file and put that into Compressor to create a Blu-ray Disc Image. After burning, the media is indicated on the disc by the 453.6 MB file size. Yet my Blu-ray Disc player shows a blank disc.
When I burn a DVD with the same ProRes 442 file, it works. In addition, when I burn Blu-ray from a Disc Image made before I upgraded to Monterey, it works too.
I’ve consulted Apple tech support and they’re researching the problem. I know many filmmakers don’t make Blu-rays anymore but I’d still like to have that option.
SUMMARY
From beginning to end, the entire upgrade process took about four hours.
So far, five days after the update, everything seems to be working fine. Please share your experiences in the Comments, below.
33 Responses to I Just Upgraded to Monterey – Here’s What I Learned
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Gloria Messer says:
January 1, 2022 at 11:10 am
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Jari Miettinen says:
January 3, 2022 at 5:00 am
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Richard Austin says:
January 3, 2022 at 5:16 am
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Lisa Holloway says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:02 am
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Larry says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:10 am
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Ed Cilley says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:10 am
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Larry says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:15 am
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Frank Maxwell says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:28 am
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Larry Jordan says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:52 am
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Gerry says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:44 am
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Larry says:
January 3, 2022 at 7:55 am
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Mark V. Fusco says:
January 3, 2022 at 10:48 am
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Larry says:
January 3, 2022 at 12:09 pm
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David Gaudio says:
January 3, 2022 at 11:51 am
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Larry says:
January 3, 2022 at 12:08 pm
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Yurie Manning says:
January 3, 2022 at 2:04 pm
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Larry says:
January 3, 2022 at 2:09 pm
Newer Comments →Thanx so much Larry. Finally found an adisor at Apple (Brad). Brad has stated that there may be problem with the video card???? I am about to purchase a new back up drive. Probably G-tech, Erase my my entire system, and now that you have given me the go, to install Monterey. Will keep you up to date. Happy New Year. xxo glo
Hi there
I have been told that my mac needs only 16 Mbs Ram, when I use Final cut. I saw that you have 40 Mbs ram on your system. I ask this because lately Final Cut, Phoshop star very slow, but when they have started they work well.
Regards
Jari
Thanks Larry, I was waiting for your Monterrey report. Time for me to upgrade now 🙂
I bought a new MacBook pro M1 max in November. The biggest problem for me is that I can no longer search my calendar. This is a problem as I use iCal to log my time on projects. I used to be able to put in the client name and it would pull up every entry. Now it doesn’t work at all. Been on the phone with 3 different Apple senior advisors for at least an hour each time to no avail. Then they say they will call you back and the call never comes, but an email saying they are trying to reach you comes instead. No call ever came through and I checked all my settings. All the spam calls can get through, but theirs can’t??? I am so frustrated. I gave it up over the holiday, but will be back at resolving it this week. It’s an issue that is on all the forums too. Definitely a bug. Very frustrating.
Any suggestions, Larry?
Lisa:
Good to know. Personally, I use BusyCal and haven’t had this problem.
Larry
Always appreciate your insight Larry!
The only software issue I’ve run into (on 12.0.1) is a failure with the QuickLook function. I use it all the time to preview a file (movie, photo, Excel, whatever) by hitting the spacebar. Occasionally, I’ve had to dive into the Activity Monitor and force quit all QuickLookUIService (or restart). Hoping 12.1 will fix that issue.
Side note: I was sad to see that my CalDigit RAID isn’t supported for M1 chips. One upgrade leads to another…and so on.
Ed:
“One [technological] upgrade lead to another,” is a law equally as important as Moore’s Law. We spend way too much time getting all our software upgraded and in sync.
Larry
All this update is fine, but what about those people who work with older system to bring into FCP, like camcorder footage, 8mm tape, VHS tape.
If I upgrade I wont be able to import the above working tools.
Frank:
You are absolutely correct. If you need to work with older software then you cannot upgrade to Monterey.
Larry
I am still afraid to update to Monterey as I had a terrible experience when i first down loaded it. FCP would not work. Cannot go through that again.
Gerry:
I understand your reluctance. This is a key reason behind why I wait so long to update. There’s no rush to upgrade. If your system is running fine now, leave it alone.
Larry
I upgraded to Monterey on my main system (Late 2015 27″ iMac) about a month ago. I upgraded my 2017 13″ MBP pretty soon after Monterey came out. I haven’t experienced any major issues on either system. I intentionally waited on the iMac to make sure I wouldn’t have any issues with FCP. the .1 update did make some visual changes to buttons here and there, but nothing major.
Mark:
Thanks for adding your thoughts. Big Sur to Monterey isn’t too bad. But earlier versions to Monterey are, ah, challenging.
Larry
Hi Larry – I had a terrible upgrading experience! Mind you, I was going from Mojave to Monterey, so that’s a big leap, but I lost the functionality of my secondary display (apparently, a known issue with Monterey), and the video inside my Premiere Pro app wasn’t working! Fortunately, I had my Carbon Copy Cloner backup drive, so back to Mojave I went, but not before having to call Apple about my backup drive being an “Incompatible disk.” Got that sorted out, fortunately. I’ll be waiting on the new iMac with the M2 chip that’s supposed to come out this new year, but I’m never upgrading this 2017 5K Retina iMac again!
David:
Sigh… I’m sorry for all the hassle. Upgrading can be traumatic. Going from Big Sur to Monterey wasn’t a big deal. But going from Mavericks to whatever following I thought was going to kill me. All those 32-bit apps that needed to be tracked down and updated, along with 32-bit media. What a mess.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Larry
Thank you, Larry.
Until I read your article, I was not sure about updates because I have many works with adobe creative cloud.
I think it’s time to update.
Yurie:
Everyone’s situation is different. However, if you are moving from Big Sur to Monterey, it should be OK. Its moving from earlier version of macOS to Monterey that cause problems.
Larry