(Credit: René Ramos; Apple)
Mac users are discussing macOS Sequoia, and many of them aren't happy. For power users and professionals who rely on a Mac, Sequoia is more obnoxious to use than past iterations of the operating system. Windows 11 is comparatively looking pretty good right now.
In 2010, Steve Jobs famously compared laptops and desktops with trucks and tablets with cars. In other words, Macs and Windows PCs were tools for power users. With the latest release—and despite the touted benefits of Sequoia—Apple is losing its way, and macOS is becoming increasingly similar to iPadOS. That's not something power users want to hear.
Read on for five ways Sequoia is inferior to Windows 11.
(Credit: Apple)1. Apple Makes Running Unapproved Apps Burdensome
macOS Sequoia requires many more clicks to run applications that Apple hasn't officially approved.
Macs have a feature called Gatekeeper. If you get an application from outside the Mac App Store, Gatekeeper checks if the program is from an identified developer and that it has been "notarized," meaning reviewed by Apple to make sure it's not malware.
Power users must often bypass Gatekeeper to install unsigned applications. In macOS Sequoia, Apple makes this process much more annoying because you can no longer just press Ctrl while you launch an application to get around it. You can't disable Gatekeeper system-wide with a terminal command anymore, either. Instead, power users must open the System Settings > Privacy & Security every time they want to run an application that isn't notarized.
As John Gruber points out, many Mac users hoped this was a bug or a glitch. But Apple has confirmed it's intentional.
It's a big difference compared with Windows, which doesn't have anything like this. Even the SmartScreen feature on Windows, which warns you before you run rarely used applications, is easy to bypass.
2. Macs Get Annoying Permission Prompts Every Week
macOS doesn't just make it more difficult to run applications Apple hasn't given a thumbs-up to. It also makes it more annoying to run certain applications Apple has approved.
You may have seen a whole mess of permissions prompts when you first launch certain apps. It's a tad hypocritical since Apple famously made fun of Windows Vista's numerous permission prompts in its Mac vs. PC ads nearly two decades ago. Now, Apple is doing the very thing it mocked.
It gets worse in macOS Sequoia. Now, certain types of applications—screen recorders, for example—don't let you permanently grant permission. Instead, macOS pops up a permission prompt every week, and the best you can do is select Allow for One Week.
No doubt, these prompts make people more aware of privacy and security threats. But they also make Macs more annoying to use for many people. Jason Snell, who writes about Apple at Six Colors, pointed out that he'll now get this weekly prompt for an application he's been using since the early 1990s.
Windows PCs surface some permission prompts (but not as many as Macs), and none come back week after week.
3. Mac's Tiling Still Can't Match Snap
(Credit: Apple)My gripe with the macOS desktop experience has always been the lack of easy window-positioning solutions like Snap on Windows. You could use third-party solutions on Mac, but having something baked into the OS is better.
With macOS Sequoia, Apple finally offers something similar to the new Window Tiling feature. The problem is that it still isn't on par with the Snap experience, especially on a Windows 11 PC. You can set up a two-by-two grid of windows at most. You can't snap windows in three columns either, as you can on a Windows PC with a wide enough monitor. There's no Snap Assist to quickly choose an application you want snapped by clicking its thumbnail. And that's only a few examples of how Windows is still ahead on window management.
4. Mac Gaming Continues to Fall Behind
(Credit: Apple)Apple is talking more about gaming on Macs these days. Even so, Macs might be falling farther behind PCs here.
Mac usage on Steam has been declining. For gaming, even fewer Steam users run macOS (1.30% as of this writing) than Linux (1.92%), according to the Steam Hardware Survey. Yes, Valve has the Steam Deck, which runs the Linux-based SteamOS, but that's just one niche device compared with Apple's line of laptop and desktop Macs.
Apple's lack of focus on backward compatibility is both a strength and weakness of Macs. When Apple dropped support for 32-bit apps, many games that supported the Mac just stopped functioning. Nothing has ever happened like that on Windows.
There are some great games you can play on a Mac, and Apple's Game Porting Toolkit for porting Windows PC games is leading to more options. macOS Sequoia even has a newer version of the Game Porting Toolkit. But the situation still isn't great.
In some ways, it really used to be better. Take Blizzard, for example. The company was one of the premier developers supporting Mac gaming. More than 20 years ago, Mac users could play games like Diablo II and Warcraft III upon their release. By the release of Overwatch in 2016, Blizzard was done releasing new games for Macs.
5. Macs Are Phasing Out Support for Intel PCs
Apple's transition to ARM-based computers with its M series Macs has been impressive. And Sequoia still supports some of those existing Intel-based Macs. They're not done yet.
However, Apple stopped selling Intel Macs in 2022. It's possible Sequoia could be the last release of macOS that runs on them.
There are still so many things you need an Intel x86-based computer for, including connecting to a discrete Nvidia or AMD GPU for more powerful graphics performance.
That's one huge advantage for Windows PCs. Yes, Microsoft is rolling out more competitive ARM-based Windows PCs with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X hardware. But that's an option, not a requirement.
With Sequoia, the PC Is More Essential Than Ever
I'm not unbiased—I am a PC user and write the free Windows Intelligence newsletter, which is focused on Windows. And I'm not here to bash macOS because it certainly has its strengths. However, Apple could stand to pay more attention to how its main competitor handles certain details of the computing experience. I'm glad macOS isn't the only platform out there. Apple is going in some directions that make me very happy to be a Windows PC user.