Capture One DOES NOT currently support OS 11 Big Sur

 In Capture One Pro, News, Special Tech Alerts

Just in case you were thinking about an operating system update…. DON’T. No Sur, sir.

As of the date of this publication, there is no Capture One product currently compliant with OS 11

Edit 12/08/20: Capture One 21 brings Big Sur support, but there is still no version of Capture One 20 that supports Big Sur

Tethering via FireWire in Capture One is not supported with macOS 11 (Big Sur)!!*

(*in fact, NONE of your legacy Firewire devices will work at all in Big Sur. Scanners, hard drives, digital backs are all affected by this.)


*As the Capture Integration Tech Support Manager, I highly recommend that you always read the release notes of any new software platform that you install. With increases in speed, supposed stability and features comes eliminations of older computers and peripheral support.

Please do your due diligence to make sure your computer specifications are compatible and that your necessary workflow software and connected peripherals is also compatible.  Launch every program, check through the use of your printer / scanner / tethered camera / calibrators etc. to make sure that you’re able to work at full capacity when you need to.


A general word to the wise for professional workflows:  I do not recommend upgrading operating systems until at least a .1 version is available, if not a .2 version when the bugs have been sufficiently sorted by others who don’t need fully operational and compatible computer systems like you do, giving time not only to the OS coders but also the individual application developers to respond to what are sometimes unknown difficulties. 

Make sure to TURN AUTO UPDATE OFF in your system preferences, what Apple thinks is best for you isn’t necessarily so. 

When you upgrade operating systems, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND cloning your entire existing system with a robust utility like Carbon Copy Cloner (free 30-day Trial, I’ve been using it for a decade+) to an external hard drive / different internal drive / different internal partition of one of your drives before updating the Operating System.

By having a bootable clone, you can test the new OS and if you find problems, simply boot from your backup and be back to 100% while the bugs shake themselves loose over time until you have time to test again when updates/improvements are made.

 – Brad Kaye

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