macOS

OS wars and the joy of never debating on the internet

At least in OS wars, the only casualties are your time and probably some of your brain cells.

Ruben Schade made a post on Mastodon that blew up in a predictable way, with a lot of “Well, actually…” replies. He documents what he posted with an update that collectively addresses some of the responses here. He has a longer post expanding on it here.

I generally love discussions of operating systems, because they are such an important part of our lives, yet also something we don’t usually think much about–until they do something that annoys us (or don’t do something, which also annoys us).

This made me think again how I am running three OSes across two machines:

  • Windows 11 on my PC
  • Linux Mint 21.3, also on my PC
  • macOS 14 (Sonoma) on my Mac Studio

I spend most of my time in Windows, a smaller chunk in macOS, and a sliver in Linux Mint. I do this not because of a company mandate or other official requirement, but because of the choices I’ve made in the software I use for the things I do.

There are things I dislike a lot in each OS, and also things I quite like. In the end, it comes down to the software, because that’s all it really is.

They all look fine. They all run relatively well. A lot of software is available on all three platforms, but the gaps are biggest on Linux, and I spend the least amount of time there. I still don’t have a replacement for Ulysses, where I write my fiction, and I prefer editing photos in Pixelmator Photo. Both of those are Mac-only apps.

I may have a replacement for Ulysses sometime this year, and I am continually exploring other options to replace Pixelmator Pro. With the latter, the UI is a big part of why I stick with it. Good UI is important to me, because it reduces friction in using software, it lets it just blend into the background.

While my quest for the perfect OS continues, I am glad that I made a rule to never debate on the internet some years back. I don’t blame Ruben for starting the thread he did–in fact, I think it was almost charmingly naive. But the responses are so utterly predictable. There is always someone waiting to tell you that you’re doing it wrong, then argue with you about it to the point of exhaustion.

People are weird.

I already like macOS Sonoma!

As always, I am a big dumdum and upgraded to the latest version of macOS, Sonoma (version 14) right away, because I love living on the edge, baby.

This is a relatively modest update, so I wasn’t too concerned about breaking things. And so far that has been the case. But the best thing is it allowed me to replace an entire app with a desktop widget (if you’re going to have widgets, let people place them on the desktop where they will actually see and use them. Looking at you, Windows 11). Previously I had used an app called Desktop Clock that, well, you can probably guess what it did. It placed a clock on the desktop, which I kept in the bottom-right corner of the right monitor, making it easy to see the time without having to look a hundred miles up to the menu bar.

In Sonoma, I just dragged the standard clock widget into the same spot and voilà, it does the exact same thing!

Did I mention how Sonoma is a pretty minor update?

But I now have a built-in clock widget on the desktop, and I am pleased.

The widget that please me

I added the weather widget, too, but I am not certain it’s actually updating, or maybe only updating intermittently. If it’s not working properly, there’s about a 50/50 chance it will be fixed by macOS 15.

Apparently voice dictation is better now, thanks to MACHINE LEARNING™ (don’t call it AI, buddy). I may hook up my Yeti mic and try it out later for a laugh. I will update this post if I do.

I’ll also update if I encounter anything else neat/weird/vexing about Sonoma.

Fixing clamshell mode external display issue on an M1 MacBook Air

UPDATE, April 18, 2022: I can confirm that in my own experience, variable refresh rate support is working in macOS Monterey. Since I have switched to using a Mac Studio as my desktop machine, I have found the following:

• Connecting via the Studio's HDMI port to one of my Asus VG27A monitors works with the 144Hz refresh rate
• Connecting via one of the Studio's Thunderbolt ports to HDMI via a USB-C to HDMI cable does not allow for the 144Hz refresh rate, only 60 or 72 (and 72 does not work, as shown below)

Here’s my public service for the week. It happened to me, it could happen to you! (If you have the right combo of hardware).

The problem: When putting my M1 MacBook Air into clamshell mode, the 27″ external monitor it was connected to would go blank. The Air was still on and otherwise running, but was not getting a signal from the monitor.

Attempted fixes included:

  • Updating macOS
  • Swapping cables
  • Swapping HDMI ports
  • Cussing randomly

The fix: I found the fix in this Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/knrcof/m1_macbook_air_in_clamshell_mode/

Unlike the author, I believe the issue isn’t related to the cable, just the fact that macOS does not support variable refresh rates and when closing the lid on a monitor with variable refresh rates, it would switch to a rate it didn’t actually support. In my case, I have an Asus VG27A, which has a max (without overclocking) refresh rate of 144Hz. I run it at 60Hz on the MacBook, but when putting it into clamshell mode, it switched to 72Hz, which doesn’t work, causing the display to go blank.

Step-by-step solution

Here’s my step-by-step for the fix in case something happens to the Reddit link:

What this applies to:

  • Any M1 MacBook connecting to an external monitor with a variable refresh rate (typically a monitor with built-in support for G-sync or FreeSync). I can’t verify if this would apply to the same issue on an Intel-based MacBook, but it might.

What you need:

  • M1 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro
  • Another computer (preferably with its own with display), can be Mac or PC
  • Remote desktop software

The steps:

  1. Install the remote desktop software on the MacBook and the other PC. I used TeamViewer, which is free for personal use, but there are lots of options. NOTE: Make sure the remote desktop software has appropriate permissions in the Mac’s security settings. TeamViewer prompts for this, but some software may not.
  2. Set the MacBook to display on the external display, and keep the lid on the MacBook open
  3. Use the remote desktop software to connect to the MacBook and make sure you can control the MacBook
  4. Close the lid on the MacBook. The external display should now go blank, but you should still be able to see the Mac desktop through the remote connection.
  5. From the other computer, go into Displays under the Mac’s System Preferences and change the refresh rate to 60Hz. Once this is done, you should see the external display work again.
  6. Test the new configuration by closing the lid on the MacBook. If the external display remains on, you are done!

Apple is adding variable refresh rate in macOS Monterey, which is due in Fall 2021 (probably a month or so from now as of this writing, but this will likely continue to be an issue on Big Sur. Story on MacRumors