It is not even that I think macOS 26 is unusable (though it certainly looks terrible, and judging by the amount of bugs that still persist in iOS 26 it is likely glitchy as well), and I would eventually migrate, but this is not the time. Being forced to adopt a new tool on somebody else’s terms, while under deadlines, is not great. It is a time- and energy-intensive process. I knew what parts would be replaced, nothing in work authorization or my prolonged discussion with the tech guy before I dropped off my machine indicated that I would get a different OS back (and pay for it, too).
Anyone had a similar experience? What would you do?
I am reading that if hardware came with Tahoe, downgrading may send me into a world of pain due to firmware mismatch. However, Apple Store staff said they updated the OS after the unit was put together (for testing purposes), which presumably means hardware came with Sequoia-compatible firmware.
Switching the ecosystem over this is on the cards (I am being handed a different machine, after all), but wondering if anyone had success forcing Apple to hand you a repaired machine with the same OS, or successfully manually downgraded an originally Sequoia but post-upgrade Tahoe machine.
Tahoe is buggier than Sequoia, but Sequoia was rather buggy already. You'll see a lot of new annoyances in Tahoe, but then it will just feel like typically modern Apple software, just with more and more iPhone UI everywhere.
The one outstanding benefit is that it will now autocomplete codes sent via text messages, just like iOS.