macOS Monterey upgrade on MacBoook Air 2017 for flutter and mobile app developer.
What is my current situation?
I am currently running latest macOS Big Sur till date. I have the latest version Xcode, android studio, flutter and VS code during the time of recording this video. I will show the version of macOS, flutter, android studio, VS Code and Xcode here.
What am I scared about upgrading to Monterey ?
To be honest, I do like to update/upgrade my OS whenever it is possible. It allows my machine to be supported by various apps. But with that there are some risk that i might be taking by being on the latest version of OS. I do not recommend being in beta or dev version if you are not particularly testing your app or new features.
I have seen a video where it said that by updating to Monterey in a m1 mac, waking the computer when connected to external display is janky. I do keep my mac docked and use external display and use bluetooth keyboard and mouse to interact with device. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to me.
Tech specs
The test that I am going to perform are restart and app run time. Restart is done when all the apps are closed. Time is recorded from confirming the restart action and till the login window is displayed again.
App run test is done by creating a simple app on Xcode, android studio, flutter project in vs code. Then running the application once in emulator or physical device. Once the run is successfully then the time is recorded after stoping the application.
It is done because while building app, there are sometime use of internet and speed with which we can download from internet very from person to person.
Before I show you the result, all this test are perfomed while connected to external 1080p display of 27" via dispay port.
After completing the test, I could tell that performance wise there is not much have changed.
How I feel after upgrading?
It is a major version update for MacOS. But it doesn’t feel like that much have changed. May be in newer devices you might see the difference. I don’t use the features such as watching movie together, group Facetime or sort. May be to the people who do, this update could be a game changer.
Anyway, I am pleased with new update. The issue of screen not waking when connected to external display has not struck me yet. This update also means that I will get longer software support from the apps at app store and other.
Some might want to know how is the battery life? But my mac is almost 4 years old now. Its battery no way up to the modern standards. Testing battery life wont be fair. And also I use this mac always on charged. If it is not charging then the external display won’t work while the laptop lid is closed.
Conclusion
I recommend this update and don’t find any harm in updating. As a flutter app developer, I will be extensively working on this OS. If something comes up, then I will definitely make a video about. Please leave a comment down below if your experience different or same as mine.
