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User profile for user: betternews
betternews Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

How can I find High Sierra 10.13 to update my mid-2012 Mac air?

For reasons I can't recall, I didn't update to High Sierra when it was available and now I get a 'no updates' message on the App Store. I need it to be able to run new windows programmes from my employer. and it says I need High Sierra. I am NOT techie at all and not sure what to do. I'm wary of downloading from a 3rd party site. I've read various things which require using disk utilities and other things I simply don't understand (that's why I bought a mac, to make it simple). Can anyone tell me the best thing to do. My Mac air runs a 1.7 ghz Intel core i5, has 4gb memory. Thanks for any advice.

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Mar 21, 2021 4:44 AM

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User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
116,501 points

Posted on Mar 21, 2021 5:03 AM

Upgrades are when you move from one major version of macOS to another. Updates are incremental releases of the same operating system.


Using only the Safari browser, visit How to get old versions of macOS, check your hardware compatibility, and then click the link to the version of macOS that you want to get from the Mac App Store. The High Sierra installer will be in your /Applications folder when finally downloaded.


Your mid-2012 MacBook Air can upgrade all the way to Catalina (which only supports 64-bit applications). High Sierra is no longer supported by Apple, so you might consider Mojave which still supports compatible 32/64-bit applications and will remain supported through this Fall.


Before you start any upgrade, first perform a Time Machine backup of the existing operating system, and verify that your printer/scanner vendors have current driver support for the intended upgrade operating system. Should you decide on Catalina, that means that you want to use the free Go64 application to get a list of your 32-bit applications and check with those application developers for proper 64-bit support on Catalina.


You also want to thoroughly remove any anti-virus software, if applicable, using the vendor's uninstall instructions before any upgrade.



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User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
116,501 points

Mar 21, 2021 5:03 AM in response to betternews

Upgrades are when you move from one major version of macOS to another. Updates are incremental releases of the same operating system.


Using only the Safari browser, visit How to get old versions of macOS, check your hardware compatibility, and then click the link to the version of macOS that you want to get from the Mac App Store. The High Sierra installer will be in your /Applications folder when finally downloaded.


Your mid-2012 MacBook Air can upgrade all the way to Catalina (which only supports 64-bit applications). High Sierra is no longer supported by Apple, so you might consider Mojave which still supports compatible 32/64-bit applications and will remain supported through this Fall.


Before you start any upgrade, first perform a Time Machine backup of the existing operating system, and verify that your printer/scanner vendors have current driver support for the intended upgrade operating system. Should you decide on Catalina, that means that you want to use the free Go64 application to get a list of your 32-bit applications and check with those application developers for proper 64-bit support on Catalina.


You also want to thoroughly remove any anti-virus software, if applicable, using the vendor's uninstall instructions before any upgrade.



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How can I find High Sierra 10.13 to update my mid-2012 Mac air?

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