I'm not sure why anytime someone posts a question about macs, it turns into an OS bashing session (which really isn't helpful). I find this interesting considering those casting aspersions don't actually seem to be qualified to do so.
You're also supposing that a person wouldn't have these problems if they ran Windows (they'd have more problems).
Quite a bit of research has been done in this area of mac vs. PC stability, security, total cost of ownership, etc. The mac wins ... and usually by quite a wide margin.
Some of this is Apple's corporate culture of being fanatical about quality. But there's also a lot to be said for the fact that it runs a Unix variant (Unix is inherently a lot more stable.)
With all the bashing, nobody actually knew enough to offer helpful advice.
I've been running Mac OS X since version 10.2 (2002). I have never had an upgrade break a system nor any software. This includes when Apple switched from using IBM 'POWER' processers to Intel processors and yet still continued to support "universal binaries".
Apple has had all 64-bit hardware and software for many years. There are application developers who have really lagged at rebuilding for 64-bit (often that just ammounts to a recomplile). Apple has announced the end of 32-bit support. Apple announced in 10.13 (High Sierra) that they'll be ending support for 32-bit apps (10.13 and 10.14 still support it) but they promise that 10.15 will NOT support 32-bit apps (which is fair considering developers have had a couple of years of notice.)
Canon's mac software is all 64-bit as long as you've been keeping up with updates ... and it should be working fine. If not, make sure you update to the latest versions. macOS Mojave wants everything to be 64-bit (although it is possible to run 32-bit ... it is no longer recommended.)
There are some simple tests to debug issues with problematic software on a Mac.
Macs don't really have a concept of a "registry" like Windows PCs (where a single file maintains configuration of everything). Instead, each application uses something called a ".plist" file. It is possible for an application to corrupt a plist. Unofrunately applications don't really tell you the name(s) of the files they use (but you can figure it out). The nice thing about these being separate files is that it's easy to reset the file without impacting any other application (on Windows, where all these settings are in the global registry, this is much more difficult problem to solve.)
The easiest thing to do is to create a temporary user on the machine, log in as that user, and test the software. If it works fine on a different user account, that tells you there's nothing wrong with the mac, there's nothing wrong with the application... the issue is either (a) a corrupt plist file or (b) some *other* software running at the same time which is creating a conflict.
plist files are generally located in the /Users/<your_username>/Library/Preferences (plist means "property list" ... it's the "settings" file for the application.)
On my own mac (under the user's ~/Library/Preferences folder), I see:
com.canon.Digital Photo Professional Batch.plist
com.canon.Digital Photo Professional.LSSharedFileList.plist
com.canon.Digital Photo Professional.plist
com.canon.Digital-Photo-Professional-4-Batch.plist
com.canon.Digital-Photo-Professional-4.plist
com.canon.EOS Utility 2.plist
com.canon.EOS-Utility-3.plist
com.canon.EOS-Utility.plist
com.canon.EOSMOVIEUtility.plist
com.canon.GpsDeviceSetter.plist
com.canon.GpsLogFileImporter.plist
com.canon.MapUtility.plist
com.canon.PhotoStitch.plist
com.canon.PictureStyleEditor.plist
jp.co.canon.CNPSPMAIN.plist
jp.co.canon.Easy-PhotoPrint EX.plist
jp.co.canon.IJNetworkTool.plist
jp.co.canon.PluginInstallerforPrintStudioPro.plist
jp.co.canon.ic.camerasurveyprogram.plist
jp.co.canon.ij.easy-guide-viewer.plist
An easy way to get the list is to launch the "Terminal" utility, then type
cd ~/Library/Preferences
ls *canon*
The names give away the app they are associated with. I've highlighted the EOS Utility related files in red. You can (a) make sure the applications that use these files aren't running (quit out of EOS Utility), (b) drag these files out of the folder (e.g. drag them to the desktop, etc.) then (c) re-launch the application. This will force the application to create a new replacement plist file with all default settings.
Most of the time that fixes the problem... but if you see no difference in behavior, you can drag the originals back into the folder. If it does fix the problem, you know the old plist file was the problem and can just delete the old files (no need to save them.)
Applications *can* put important configuration files elsewhere and, just occasionally, I run into that (in other words clearing the plist files in the "preferences" folder doesn't clear the problem even though it is a problem local to that user -- the developer just used a different location to keep their files.)
Sometimes a different application can create a problem (e.g. when more than one application tries to grab the same device). You would want to make sure no other camera-related software is running nor will be auto-launched when you connect the device.
There are a few more advanced troubleshooting techniques which I'll skip for now. Since the Mac is a Unix system, there are lots of Unix utilities that can help track down what the system is doing.
I should add... anytime there is an issue with a device connected via USB (PC or Mac), make sure there is no "USB hub" involved. Connect the device directly to the computer. While you would think using a hub shouldn't be a problem (and if it's a good hub, it wont be a problem), there are a lot of flakey USB hubs that cause problems.
Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da
