Is it safe to update macOS directly to Ventura from Mojave?

sigs209 wrote:

Is it safe to update a 2019 MacBookPro from Mojave10.14.6 straight to Ventura 13.6 OR should one do it in instalments, like Catalina first, then Big Sur, Monterey and eventually Ventura?

Will each operating system claim the required space, adding up?

Moving from macOS 10.14 Mojave to anything newer and staring in macOS 10.15 Catalina and all subsequent versions of macOS

Everything must be coded as 64 Bit and nothing 32 Bit will be supported

There is no work around

Use the https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/ to check the existing software Before venturing down this road

Further, staring in Catalina the Internal Drive Structure has changed

In Catalina the Macintosh HD maybe presented as a single drive but through Apple's smart engineering there is a Macintosh HD Volume ( not partition ) which is were the Operation System Resides

This is a Read Only Volume

The other Volume is called Macintosh HD - Data which contains the User Account ( Home Folder )

Moving forwards to macOS 11 Big Sur and above.

Apple has gone a step further to Protect the Operating System .

The Macintosh HD ( Operating System Volume ) is now " Sealed and Read Only "

As for jumping from Mojave directly to Ventura

Always make a Time Machine Backup  before doing any upGrades 

For future purposes

To truly protect your non replaceable Data - have a 3-2-1 Rescue Plan in place and always current

3 Backups using 2 methods and 1 off site incase of natural disaster or un-natural disaster.

Each of the above should be done to a Dedicated Single Purposed External Drive 

Since your Mac is currently on Mojave, I'd suggest upgrading to Catalina first, due to the significant changes in APFS logical disk structure between Mojave & Catalina. Once Catalina is up & working, then upgrade to Ventura. It's a more conservative approach that IMHO reduces the risk of problems in the course of upgrading.

When you update or upgrade macOS, the new version overwrites the existing version, so there is no "adding up" every time you upgrade. That said, it is possible that a new version may be somewhat larger than older versions, but not to the level of 2x, 3x or more.

Also, be aware that 32-bit apps won't run on macOS Catalina or later releases.

Yes, it can be done. There will be a lot of differences to get used to and you will likely need to update apps and printer / scanner drivers