MacOS Installation Recommendation (based on my experience)

so hi yall guys, some time ago when i get bored of Catalina i decided to switch on to newer macos, i couldnt find any guide or advice that would entirely describe this topic, so im making my own post, about which macOS to install on which macbook, i hope yall find this post insteresting and helpfull, id be happy if some of you gonna share your opinion and write your own advices, also sorry guys if you couldnt understand some thing written by me, my english is kinda crappy.

in my post ill be talking about MacBook Pro A1398 15" (mid-2012 early-2013) DG Maximal Configuration (CPU i7 3720QM, GPU Intel HD 400 and Geforce GT 650m, 16GB RAM) please keep this configuration in mind, cuz its the top end (i guess) in old unsupported mac world, this machine has pretty mid capabilities for now, its almost low end in laptop world, but still me and many others like this machine, cuz of built quality, screen quality and all of kind qualities, so in short this is pretty solid machine but already obsolete.

Lets get to the topic

lil explanation here, im using this machine as my main device, i do all my work (school things and video edition) and I spend all my free time before this mac, so keep in mind that i need really good and solid performance that will satisfy all my needs (for the picture, aint playing any serious games on it, maximum roblox or tanks blitz, also i need good screen, sound and at least mid battery life 2-4 hours, this mac gives me all of these so im pretty much satisfied) so its pretty much ideal machine for me as i mentioned, also by work i mean Microsoft office shi to be in working condition

by the end i made some criteria that MacOS should be capable of:

1. working and not obsolete Safari cuz i hate other browsers
2. capability of installing all the stuff i need from app store (for the picture OneNote, it cant be officially installed if u aint have MacOS Ventura)
3. at least 2-4 hours of battery time
4. CPU/GPU temperature in mid range so it won't catch a fire

(if your demands are pretty much same as mine, this post ill be helpful for you i hope)

Lets get straight to the point.

after i wrote down all my needs i began experimenting, i installed every MacOS Starting from Big Sur till the Sonoma and i got things to say

- First Macos Tested: Big Sur

pretty much bad idea if you are considering using machine with unsupported macos Big Sur on it, it already got obsolete, it lacks performance, overheats compared to Catalina, also it gives almost no big advantages considered to already mentioned Catalina, all the differences is that:

1. it might run some newer programs
2. it has newer look and style
3. its more fresh BUT its not worth it.

sadly, it gives less advantages than it takes, i wouldn't recommend you to use big sur cuz as i mentioned and ill repeat: 1. overheats 2. drains battery 3. doesn't supports new safari versions so u pretty much getting same experience.

with all these said, id recommend you to either stay on Catalina OR! move to the Monterey, that ill be talking about now.

- Second MacOS Tested: Monterey

here its get more interesting, cuz despite the fact that officially monterey got obsolete too and it wont getting any serious updates, its WAY better than Big Sur in every aspect and i would recommend you to switch on it, even if you fear that it could eat more performance that big sur (i mean if you got older device)

1. it eats less battery than big sur, it drains as much as Catalina
2. doesn't heat ups, temperature is in perfect ratio, doesnt has any strange cpu/gpu loads that will unnecessary load ur mac
3. better style and aestethic than big sur, more differences and new details than big sur/catalina that will catch your eye or might be even more helpful
4. new safari versions that can handle any site/load/ and its comfortable for use (for example when visiting aliexpress on catalina or big sur, safari cant load image previews, u might ask why am i talking so much about safari? cuz safari drains less battery than other browsers)
5. better compatibility, it can run way more applications than previous systems

id reccoment you to switch on monterey if youre considering using machine, i already said it, its pretty much better than older systems and also it takes less than Ventura and might have less performance eating system animations, id recommend u installing it on older devices of mac (older than mac 2012 years) attention that mac uses intel hd integrated graphics for system animations, so if you're sure that your mac can handle it, its a great idea, also id say that, i would stay on Monterey too, but it doesnt supports latest versions of garageband and already mentioned onenote, (you cant install older versions of programs, if you hadn't bought them in the past) i was forced to install ventura because of it, ill cover this topic later but now the downsides

i mentioned that Apple music application had laggy animations, it would work perfectly but when scrolling it has strange freezes, also theres this bug when sidebar can just stop working, it happened 2 times to me, in this situation the sidebar button or any action associated w sidebar doesn't works, only restarting the mac has a result.

- third MacOS Tested: Ventura

the macOS Ventura is an ideal system, if your mac can run little more complicated animations than Monterey, as i said the most usable system is Monterey for older macs (classic 13" 15" macs, 2009-2011 years) but i had a reason for this upgrade.

Ventura is pretty much same as Monterey, differences is that it got more messed up system settings (it looks different and finding a feature u need got harder), the animations might be little more laggy (but im not sure, its on the same level) music app lagging got fixed and thats pretty much all (also the stage manager feature)

upsides:

1. same battery drainage as Monterey (i mean a really good performance, i got battery replacement and i can deal with 2-4 hours)
2. no any serious system lags, or performance usage (it works great as Monterey)
3. can install pretty much all apps through app store, cuz macOS Ventura is submitted as lowest compatible system (it was the reason why i made an upgrade)

so, Ventura is pretty much as good as Monterey, it even has less lags in some places, it takes a little bit more space BUT STILL id consider to install a Monterey on older devices, all i needed from Ventura is garage band and onenote (I SAID IT ALREADY) i got those apps but im not considering to downgrade back yo Monterey cuz im lazy.

i got perfect machine for all day use, it consumes small amount of energy and it pretty much ideal for all my needs, lastly i would WARN you to not get in any touch with Sonoma its pretty much the same as Monterey or Ventura, BUT ITS LAGGY, EATS PERFORMANCE A MUCH, it hasn't any advantages before Ventura, and it drains battery too quickly, like fr Ventura is the high end guys.

so in total, share your experience, advices and opinion, what do you think? what experience do u get from any of these systems and what would you say about my post? was it similar to your experience? and what maybe you'd say maybe i got something wrong idk.

cheers guys and remember! keep the old masterpieces alive!