The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.

You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.

We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.

Level 1

4 points

Updates vs upgrade

I have note that Monterey 12.6.3 will update to Monterey 12.6.8 tonight but there's also Note of "macOS Ventura 13.5. UPGRADE NOW". What should be best to do?

MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on Aug 17, 2023 7:59 PM

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

123,805 points

Posted on Aug 18, 2023 2:54 AM

Technically, you could bypass the Monterey 12.6.8 update and go directly to Ventura.

Just be sure you perform a Time Machine Backup Before updating or upGrading

Personally and it may not fit your situation

I would update to 12.6.8 and allow the machine to settle down a day or so before upGrading to Ventura

Reason, a recent update to Ventura to version 13.5.1 was released Thursday

That will mean, everybody will be trying update their machines and the Apple Servers may or may not get slower than normal

View in context

Similar questions

3 replies

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

123,805 points

Aug 18, 2023 2:54 AM in response to gie54

Technically, you could bypass the Monterey 12.6.8 update and go directly to Ventura.

Just be sure you perform a Time Machine Backup Before updating or upGrading

Personally and it may not fit your situation

I would update to 12.6.8 and allow the machine to settle down a day or so before upGrading to Ventura

Reason, a recent update to Ventura to version 13.5.1 was released Thursday

That will mean, everybody will be trying update their machines and the Apple Servers may or may not get slower than normal

Level 10

125,848 points

Aug 18, 2023 4:27 AM in response to gie54

An upgrade is an entirely new major macOS version (macOS 13 vs macOS 12). An update is a patch to the major version, macOS 12.6.3 to 12.6.8.

Level 10

138,595 points

Aug 18, 2023 4:40 AM in response to Barney-15E

+1

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Updates vs upgrade

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more