Anyone using OS X Mavericks?

[Xcaliber]

I need to upgrade my recording Macbook Pro from Snow Leopard and I have the option to upgrade to Lion or Mavericks. I'm wondering if others have upgraded to Mavericks and how it's working out? I've read quite a few things saying it had issues in the past and I wonder if those have been worked out.

Here's the gear I'm using (and I will make sure to look up compatibility on the manufacturers websites, but I'm looking for real world perspectives as well):

TASCAM US-1800
Presonus Audiobox USB
Presonus Faderport
Akai LPK25 USB keyboard controller
Arturia Beatstep USB/midi controller/sequencer (which is the reason I need to upgrade)
Akai MPD16 pad controller (though I won't use this much when I get the Beatstep set up)
Studio One 2.6.3

Thanks in advance.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey,
The first thing to do is check for driver support for all your peripherals.
Everything you listed plus anything non-audio..Printers, cameras, etc.
Second thing is to make sure all your apps and programs are supported.

If you have a massive storage drive then make a clone dmg of you current hard drive on the storage disc.
The way space is these days there's no real reason not to. I'm sure you know apple don't offer an OS roll-back option without reinstall,
but a clone can be restored in minutes.

If you're interested but not familiar with the process, PM me. It's safe and very straight forward.

That said, Mavericks has treated me pretty well so far.
I'm aware of one glitch when using quick-look to audition photographs.
The preview fails to display if you return to an image that you've already seen.
Sounds like no big deal but it means you can't A/B two images in preview.

Once in a while I get an audio stutter which seems to be a recognised issue, allegedly fixed in 10.9.2.
I'm getting it on 10.9.4.
It's not of consequence though. It's literally just a half second stutter.
It's never happened whilst recording. Someone wrote that it's a playback issue relating to, you guessed it, flash!


Other than that, it's been pretty plain sailing over here as usual.

Hope that helps.

 

[Xcaliber]

Thanks Steen. I only use this computer for recording so I don't have to worry about cameras and printers and such. I planned to look into the drivers for my devices and will do that. I'd like to upgrade to Mavericks if possible so this is very helpful.

I wonder how it will run on my very old MacBook Pro though too?

 

[Steenamaroo]

How old? I don't think you mentioned?

If it's a supported macbook pro (age wise) you'll be fine.
I've never really found any apple OS upgrade to be significantly more intensive than any other, unless you make use of all the bells and whistles.


IIRC, Snow Leopard actually performed better than Leopard on like-for-like systems.

 

[Xcaliber]

I've done all of the things necessary to find out what year my Macbook Pro is and all I can find is that it's a 15" Macbook Pro, Core 2 Duo model. It doesn't list the year for that one like it does the others.

I'm upgrading to Lion right now and we'll see how that goes. I'm looking to buy a new Mac for the studio in the near future so I'll wait to go to Mavericks with that I think.

 

[Steenamaroo]

The 'about this mac' -> 'more info' summary window should say 'early 2009' or whatever.
Failing that, system profiler should say Macbook Pro 2,1/3,1./4,1 etc.
Failing that, pop the serial number into one of the online spec finders.

Mid 2007 models and later are supported. They did make core2duo models in 2006, so it's worth checking.


If you're running 10.6.8 or later you should be able to do a free Mavericks upgrade in the app store.
I'm pretty sure it won't even let you near it if your mac is too old.

 

[Xcaliber]

The 'about this mac' -> 'more info' summary window should say 'early 2009' or whatever.
Failing that, system profiler should say Macbook Pro 2,1/3,1./4,1 etc.
Failing that, pop the serial number into one of the online spec finders.

Mid 2007 models and later are supported. They did make core2duo models in 2006, so it's worth checking.


If you're running 10.6.8 or later you should be able to do a free Mavericks upgrade in the app store.
I'm pretty sure it won't even let you near it if your mac is too old.

Yep, I did all of those things and every one says "Core 2 Duo" where the year usually is.

 

[Steenamaroo]

You did all of those things?
There's a field for 'model identifier' in system profiler->hardware.
It should definitely say macbook pro 5,1, or whatever it is.

Here's what it should look like.


Either that or put your serial number in here.

 

[Michael4bass]

Looks like it was introduced in October 2006 and discontinued in June 2007. According to Apple, Mavericks system requirements are a MacBook Pro (15-inch or 17-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later) with OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard v10.6.8 already installed.

Bassically, Michael

 

[Steenamaroo]

LOL. Didn't see that in his signature.

Yeah, OP. The 2.33 model seems to be late 2006 so it's not going to be supported.
I mean, check and make sure to satisfy yourself, but I'm pretty sure that's it.

 

[Xcaliber]

Looks like it was introduced in October 2006 and discontinued in June 2007. According to Apple, Mavericks system requirements are a MacBook Pro (15-inch or 17-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later) with OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard v10.6.8 already installed.

Bassically, Michael

Thanks for the info. How did you find that? I tried putting the serial number in and looking in the system settings and everything I could find searching the net and couldn't come up with a date.

---------- Update ----------

LOL. Didn't see that in his signature.

Yeah, OP. The 2.33 model seems to be late 2006 so it's not going to be supported.
I mean, check and make sure to satisfy yourself, but I'm pretty sure that's it.

Thanks. I wasn't sure so I just upgraded to Lion. My new hardware is working fine, but now I'm running into a limitation on the number of tracks I can work with and the number of plug-ins I can have open. I think it's time to upgrade...