I have macOS Big Sur, version 11.6.2 - can I upgrade to macOS Monterey 12.2

snr146 wrote:

I currently have macOS Big Sur, Version 11.6.2; I am getting message to upgrade to macOS Monterey 12.2 -

Also getting message to update to 11.6.3 and update Safari to 15.3. Can I skip this upgrade & update and

download another upgrade available now - macOS Monterey? So confusing. Thanks for any suggestions.

It is always good to stay current ...

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/get-macos-updates-mchlpx1065/mac

the stable release is a point update of Big Sur macOS 11.6.3 (20G415) (January 26, 2022)

You can upgrade to macOS 12.2 (21D49) (January 26, 2022)

There is no harm going straight to macOS 12.2 in this case

Always advised to have current backup...

If doing the update as presented on Software Update applet and get a NULL error - suggest doing the Big Sur 11.6.2 and Safari updates first. Then it should present the Monterey upGrade once again at a later time.

Do you have a Rescue Plan In-Place. This comprises having 3 Backups using 2 methods and 1 Off Site incase of Theft, Loss or Natural Disasters. A Time Machine Backup  is very useful and can be used to Revert to Previous Working macOS. 

For addition purposes - two Tested Bootable Clones each to separate external drives. This is insurance incase the upgrades goes sideways. At least one Tested Clone and / or Time Machine Backup should be Off - Site

I'm on Monterey (12.2) but also have a skeleton installation of Big Sur on an external disk. I recently updated it from Big Sur 11.6.2 to Big Sur 11.6.3 / Safari 15.3 to stay current and to have the Safari privacy fix.

- Pie Lover

Some users have had problems upgrading to Monterey when they did not install 11.6.3 first. They tried upgrading to Monterey from 11.6.2 but the upgrade failed but then installing 11.6.3 allowed the to go to Monterey.

You can try going directly and it fails update to 11.6.3 and then try Monterey again.

If you did replace the SSD (Not knowing the hardware in your system, later ones you cannot) Monterey requires an Apple-original SSD to update the system firmware. You would have to put the Apple-original in your system. Once Monterey installed on anything (including an external drive) you can go back to your non-Apple internal SSD.

You can upgrade to Monterey, or you can update Big Sur. You don’t have to do both.