Cubase compatibility with older MacOS

Cubase
1

It’s frustrating that Steinberg doesn’t support older versions of Cubase on new Mac OS…

Cubase 12 is plenty for me, I don’t need more features. This software is already amazing. (Being not compatible with Sequoia)

One day, I’ll have to spend $$$ just so I can upgrade my OS.

I try to hold as much as I can before upgrading an OS, but at one point I have no choice.

I wish they would support older versions just a little longer.

For my personal use, I abandonned Cubase for this particular reason. But at work I still have to use it.

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

2

Hi,

Why do you need to update your OS, if you don’t need to update Cubase? Isn’t macOS 14 OK for you?

Keeping compatibility means to keep the development of the given version, which costs lots of money.

3

At work I have Cubase 12.

At home Cubase 10.5

It would’nt make sense that I had to stay on OSX 11 - Big Sur premanently… (Last os Cubase 10.5 is compatible with)

4

I would rephrase this to say “It’s frustrating that software, any software, can’t be supported on newer OSs when the OS developer makes core changes decommissioning functions, features, and APIs that render previously written code unusable.” Same for perfectly good hardware being rendered unusable by OSs that stipulate new requirements (e.g. TPM).

That I would agree with.

You’re not alone in your frustration of how the software and hardware industry works, and that you feel like you’re getting the Triple Whammy having to buy new Hardware to get a new OS and then new software. I think you would be more isolated if you think this was an SB problem, though.

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5

I agree with you, but if I fall on SB, it’s because they offer less support than other companies.

Cubase 12.0 was released March 2, 2022

No more support for this version

Live 11 was released 23 February 2021

And supported on Sequoia.

6

This isn’t true - it’s supported on the OSs it was developed for as of the last update in 2023. This is to be expected.
Live is actually a good example. Live 11 was still in production and got a final update this year, so of course it’s supported on current versions of Sequoia. But 10 isn’t. Its last update was in 2020, and it’s not supported. Live 11 will most likely NOT be supported on MacOS 16. It may not even be supported on Sequoia iterations going forward - no one knows. Going by release year doesn’t really tell you anything - it’s the last supported update. and the release cadence of the company. Ableton and SB are no where near the same cadence for releases, so it’s different.

Once software versions are depreciated, dev stops, and focus shifts to the new version. That’s just the way it is, and it’s that way for everyone.

This is a repeating conversation every time a new OS comes out, particularly on Mac. If UAD had their way, they wouldn’t allow anyone to upgrade unless they were good an ready, even if it takes years. They STILL haven’t gotten their drivers fully updated for Sequoia and Apple Silicon. When you update their components, MacOS still gives you a warning that “these people are using depreciated components which will stop working in a later version of the OS” (paraphrased).

I get it, but you don’t have to update your OS. You can if you want to, and if you want to be supported, you should plan for updating your software to follow suit. You can cherry-pick examples of companies that do things differently, better, worse, or whatever, but if you’re really concerned about this, then the solution is “plan for updates.”

In some cases, this even means new hardware. Were you aware that if you’ve purchased/upgraded to Logic Pro 11, that you don’t get all the features unless you’re running Apple Silicon? Pretty amazing requirement. Same for MacOS Sequoia itself - if you want all the features of the OS, Apple forces you to purchase an M-series chip.

Now, if Apple decides to shift a core audio component feature-set or development library to M-only in a future iteration, that means that ALL DAWs on MacOS would have to change their code or simply not be able to run on Intel. That probably won’t happen (at least all at once) but it’s the same thing.

Anyway, good luck out there. Have a good one.

7

Reaper supports OS versions from 10.5 to 14. There are two versions for older and later OS , which have the same features. Reaper is comparable sophisticated as Cubase, Logic or Live and has a very small development team, much smaller than the Steinberg team. So, it is possible to build a DAW, which supports old and new OS versions.

8

This is why I should just stop replying to these threads. I never said “it’s not possible.” I said when the development model is designed to depreciate version iterations and cease dev on the previous versions, you can’t go back and change the code to meet the requirements of OSs that haven’t been produced yet.

Regarding “Reaper” being anywhere near the same complexity of Cubase we’ll agree to disagree on that.

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