Can I expect problem issues if I upgrade my 24" iMac to macOS Sonoma?

In my humble opinion, Sonoma is the worst version of macOS since perhaps Lion. It mostly works but some of the problems people are having with, for example, Time Machine and even the Finder are unforgivable when not fixed even after 14.1 and 14.1.1 were released. Mail for me still opens but with the window hidden behind the Finder screen and most other apps as well. (The menu shows that Mail is active and 'on top' but the window is hidden behind other windows until I take action to bring it forward.) If I were you, I would wait until at least 14.2.

Additionally, Ventura should be updated to 13.6.2. It's recommended to update the existing macOS to the most current version before upgrading to a new macOS. As info, I have an 2021 M1 iMac that I updated to 14.1.1 and I'm not having any of the issues many other reported. You should make sure you update all your 3rd party apps to their most up to date versions both before you upgrade as well as after because some apps won't update until they see you're on Sonoma.

Gwen Harold wrote:

Ahhh. Too late. I downloaded/installed it last night. I played around with it…did several tasks and found no issues. If I do my iMac is covered under Apple Care. Thanks for input.

That's what normally happens. The people with issues normally have installed some useless third-party anti-virus, optimization, cleaning, or other maintenance system modification.

There are some who have issues because the upgrade didn't go smoothly. They can possibly recover by reinstalling the OS.

Should you expect problems, no. 99% of the problems people have with an upgrade are because of something they have installed. You should expect the same amount of problems as you had upgrading your MacBook Air.

People have all kinds of 3rd party apps that won't/can't work with the new OS, so they have problems. You can happily update to Sonoma, just like you did with your MBA. 👌

Maybe my problems are related to having the most recent Intel iMac (2020 27"). Sonoma is the first macOS version that has given me problems. For various reasons, I do not intend to move to M1/M2/M3 (some of which have to do with irreplaceable legacy software, some due to cost), so I guess I will have to put up with Apple not wanting me to keep using an Intel Mac.

The OP had updated to Sonoma and doesn't have any problems. So, it's better to open a new thread with your own problem. That way, people would reply to your on going problem, if they can help you in some way.

relh wrote:

I did open a new thread, long before this one. All I did here was to respond to an inquiry in this thread asking for advice about whether to update now or later.

The OP had got the problem solved, so better open your own one.

Randall_2023 wrote:

Additionally, Ventura should be updated to 13.6.2.

Only the 2023 M3 iMac can update to 13.6.2.

relh wrote:

Maybe my problems are related to having the most recent Intel iMac (2020 27").

Actually it has nothing to do with it. I'm running Sonoma on an iMac Pro (2017) without any issue.

I did open a new thread, long before this one. All I did here was to respond to an inquiry in this thread asking for advice about whether to update now or later.