The problem is the OS X annual release cycle is tied to the iOS annual release cycle, which is tied to the annual iPhone upgrade cycle, which is the core part of Apple's business. I wish there was a way to update a module to get whatever iOS-tied goodies Apple wants to offer, without overhauling the whole Mac OS.
They should sell a new generation, with nothing changed except the generation number. It has all the benefits of a new release without the hassle of changes.
I'm still running El Capitan, and not having any issues.
Admittedly, I would have upgraded had my mac been eligible, because I'm just that sort of person, but there's nothing in Sierra or High Sierra that would make a meaningful difference to me.
I disagree with this assertion 100%. They should keep making investment in and improvement to the yearly release process and build the knowledge necessary to do this with fewer errors...
If there was no yearly release deadline, and the project were resourced identically, my experience points to there being even fewer releases of identical quality.
100% agree with this. I can't figure out what they even think the yearly releases schedule is buying for them (particularly on the macOS side) when it's obvious it's costing them on the QC front.
The best strategy seems to be to treat the current release as a beta, and hang back at least one release. If you upgrade to 10.(n-1) just before 10.n is released, you're on a release that's had about two years to mature. Though I skipped Yosemite entirely.
That's been my strategy for the past few update cycles. I just upgraded to Sierra this past July. I'll upgrade to High Sierra next July. Since another major release of iOS seems imminent after the "battery issue" I think I'll hold off on that upgrade for a little while longer, too. Latest and greatest doesn't hold the same appeal to me as reliability.
The issues in 10.12.x get fixed with 10.13, but 10.13 has the same amount of different issues, so it’s a wash. There’s no stable version anymore.