How do I safely update my MacBook Air (M1, 2020) from Big Sur to Sonoma?

MacLc12 wrote:

Some background. I used to have a 2012 iMac until 2021 which I lost when I updated the OS. I still have no idea what happened as the desktop was still functioning well, and not even my local computer shop could fix the issue. It essentially wiped my whole computer which meant I had to buy a new one.

I have an M1, 2020 MacBook Air and because of my past issue of updating the OS, I haven't updated it yet. I use my laptop daily for work and was just really nervous to update in case the same thing happened. But my time machine backup is no longer working and I know I need to update the OS for the MacBook now.

My question is, how do I do this safely? It's giving me the Sonoma OS update as an option but would it be wiser to update to a previous version first or just update straight to Sonoma?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Stop right there and before considering a jump from macOS 11 Big Sur to any newer version of macOS

Purchase 2 or more External Drives ( hopefully SSD Drives ) with at least 3x the Drive Capacity of your Internal Drive

Step up a Backup Routine that is kept current and always up to date

You can use Time Machine Backup and even add a second External Drive for redundancy purposes

Once all is done

You can jump from Big Sur ( suggested most recent version 11.7.10 ) directly to current Sonoma 14.5

Just be sure the computer has at least 50 GB of Empty Space

If the computer has any Third Party Security Software - Remove as per the Developers instructions

On this specific issue.

I will defer to a more expert Contributor @a brody

Time Machine did not finish backing up wi… - Apple Community

Personally, to augment Apple Time Machine Backups

I use https://bombich.com/ which does offer a 30 Free Trial or a Paid Version, there after

MacLc12 wrote:

I've just double checked and it says the battery is fully charged and on hold and the power source is the power adapter. So it was running from the wall socket with the charger. I just tried backing up again and it came up with the same message.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/cc4c42b6-fa23-4a5c-9e47-dab255067807

That may be another user account on the Mac interfering with the backup. Do you have more than one user account?

There is also another similar error dealing with iCloud still in the middle of syncing, but it specifically addresses that. These two may be related. Do you use DropBox or OneDrive? Have they completed syncing.

You are Welcome

Was the computer running off of the Battery ?

Was the computer running from the Wall Socket with the Charger when this happened ?

You are welcome

Though, @Barney-15E does bring up a good point and worth considering