I need to upgrade from OS X 10.9.5. Can I go directly to Catalina, or must I do it intermediate steps?
I need to upgrade from OS X 10.9.5. Can I go directly to Catalina, or must I do it in intermediate steps?
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Apples official line is that you can upgrade directly from Maverick to Catalina in one go
but in practice has been reported that the installation stalls.
This is probably due to the installation converting the older HFS+ file system to the newer
APFS file system.
Therefore I would suggest doing an intermediary installation of macOS High Sierra,
at the beginning of the installation there should be instructions on upgrading the firmware
so the conversion to APFS can be applied, follow the instructions carefully.
Open Safari, do not use Firefox and click on the link below.
How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra - Apple Support
Go to Section 4 and click on Get macOS High Sierra.
This will redirect you to the App Store High Sierra download page
it should say Get or Download.
Before upgrading make a full back up of your Mac.
Check that third party apps you use have updates available for the new OS.
Check that your printers/ scanners etc have updated drivers and software available for the new OS.
Connect your mac to your router via cable rather than rely on WiFi.
Do not use your mac while it is downloading
and do not use any other devices that share the same internet connection.
If the App Store says ‘Open’ then it is detecting a previous download of the install app
go to the Applications folder locate Install macOS High Sierra.app.
Move it to the Trash, empty the Trash.
Restart, click on the link again, the App Store should say ‘Get' or 'Download'.
If you are considering upgrading to Catalina be warned that it does not support 32bit apps.
Your Mac is probably running 32bit apps and these will need to be updated to 64bit apps,
some updates may be free, some may be paid. Use this app to discover which apps you have
are 32bit, https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/. Once the list has been created you can then
contact the developers of the apps to see if they provide 64bit updates.
