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Upgrading? Incremental or Big Bang ?

I'm on Catalina (10.15.7) and it's time to upgrade. Is it best to upgrade to MacOS 11 > MacOS 12 > MacOS 13 etc or 10.15.7 to, say, MacOS 13 or higher in one step ?


TIA

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 12, 2024 9:21 AM

Reply
4 replies

Nov 12, 2024 9:27 AM in response to Roger Sinden

There are no particular advantages to upgrading incrementally. You may, for example, find that a particular app, system modification or workflow breaks upon upgrading from Catalina to Big Sur, or to anything later. That won't change the fact the app or workflow will need modification, updating or some similar inconvenience.


The one unequivocal necessity is the need to create a backup prior to upgrading, which Apple makes prominent mention of just about everywhere:


Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

Nov 12, 2024 10:43 AM in response to Roger Sinden

Whenever you upgrade OS's this puts a lot of strain on the system. If you have an older Mac (2019 or older) then it likely has a spinning HD installed, the spinning HD is the achilles heal of older computers. They get a BIG workout when upgrading OS's, it would kind of be like putting an 80 year old man on a treadmill and having him run, meaning it's very stressful for the poor guy and anything could happen.


This being said, if you want to upgrade Mac OS, take it in 1 step to the latest version of Mac OS it will run. As we do not know the model year of your iMac we cannot tell you the latest version of Mac OS it will run.

Upgrading? Incremental or Big Bang ?

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