Upgrading from Ventura to Sequoia: Direct or via Sonoma?

" MacBook Air Apple chip M2 Memory 8 GB Currently running Ventura 13.6.9 "

Always make a Time Machine Backup  before doing any upGrades 

This machine is designed and built by Apple and has probably been tested by Apple to work just fine in macOS 14 Sonoma and or macOS 15 Sequoia

That is, as long as there is at least 50 GB of Empty Space

It will allow the Full Version ( about 12.xx GB ) to download, then expand and then commence to install.

If there is Third Party Security Software installed - remove it.

It will interfere with both the download and installation process.

Also, 8 GB Unified RAM is the bare minimum required.

Unfortunately, both RAM and the Internal SSD Drive are both soldered to the Logicboard and can't be replaced / upgraded.

dialabrain wrote:

Servant of Cats wrote:

It is no longer possible for CCC or SuperDuper to actually clone all of the macOS code on a startup disk themselves – and have that disk work.

FWIW, I used SuperDuper! to make a bootable clone of Sequoia from my iMac Pro.

This is what I was referring to:

Bombich (CCC) Knowledge Base – Cloning macOS System volumes with Apple Software Restore

"Starting in macOS Big Sur (11.0), the system resides on a cryptographically sealed "Signed System Volume". That seal can only be applied by Apple; ordinary copies of the System volume are non-bootable without Apple's seal. To create a functional copy of the macOS 11 System volume, we have to use an Apple tool to copy the system, or install macOS onto the backup. CCC cannot use its own file copier to establish an initial bootable backup of your Mac's startup disk."

Related:

Bombich (CCC) Knowledge Base – Creating legacy bootable copies of macOS

"Note for Apple Silicon Mac users: You will not be able to create legacy bootable copies of macOS if your Mac is running Sequoia 15.2. This functionality was restored in macOS 15.3. 

Copying Apple's system is an Apple-proprietary endeavor; we can only offer "best effort" support for making an external bootable device on macOS … External boot is not a reliable partner in a back up and recovery strategy. We do not recommend that you rely on it for that purpose …

In the past, a "bootable backup" was an indispensable troubleshooting device that even novice users could rely upon in case their production startup disk failed. Unfortunately, however, the creation of bootable backups is fundamentally incompatible with platform security. Further, Apple Silicon Macs will not start up (at all) if the internal storage is damaged or otherwise incapacitated, so there is very little value, if any, to maintaining a bootable rescue device for those Macs."

There's not much of a learning curve. You plug in an external drive and assign it to Time Machine in System Settings > General > Time Machine. After that, it's automatic.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

FWIW, I guarantee the vast majority of Macs users which number about 100 million in 2024 use Time Machine as their backup system without issue. So if you've read a few posts about some problem, most likely it was user error. It's also unlikely even .0001% (being generous) have had any problem.

remidywriter wrote:

Thank you for your responses. From what I've seen on this community, a number of people far more experienced than I, have had problems with Time Machine in terms of non-recovery, permanently lost items, etc. I get that many of you are quite experienced and therefore may not relate to my difficulties--especially how to fix any glitches I or the app may cause.. Before Time Machine, how did people back up their computers before upgrading? I'm remembering cloud backup but I could be wrong. In any case it would be nice to hear alternatives--especially from others similarly hesitant.

An alternative to making a Time Machine backup would be to make a clone backup, using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! . This was especially attractive in the days when it was easy to make bootable clone backups, since you could use those backups as startup disks if need be (during recovery).

The changes that Apple has made to harden recent versions of macOS against possible malware attack have also made life more difficult as far as recovery is concerned. It is no longer possible for CCC or SuperDuper to actually clone all of the macOS code on a startup disk themselves – and have that disk work. While there are still ways of creating a bootable backup by having macOS fill in the backup's "sealed system volume", CCC's developers have "seen the handwriting on the wall" and the default in CCC is now to create a NON-bootable backup.

With one of those, to restore a startup disk, you'd first need to use Apple's Recovery tools to reinstall macOS on the startup disk – then use CCC to restore the CCC backup.

remidywriter wrote:

I'm remembering cloud backup but I could be wrong.

Cloud backup might be something you want to throw into your mix - but I would not want to rely on it as the only type of backup when doing a macOS upgrade. Uploading or downloading a lot of data can take a very long time. That is why some cloud backup services will let you mail in data on a hard drive, or will offer the option of mailing you your data on a hard drive.

If I was updating macOS on my computer, and something went wrong, and I needed to recover from a backup, I think I'd want a backup on a local disk that I could recover from as quickly as possible.

remidywriter wrote:

Before Time Machine, how did people back up their computers before upgrading?

FWIW, before Time Machine would have been in 2006 and earlier.

As noted, Carbon Copy Cloner & SuperDuper! are reasonable alternatives. Personally I've used Time Machine on all of my Macs since 2007, and still do.

Servant of Cats wrote:

It is no longer possible for CCC or SuperDuper to actually clone all of the macOS code on a startup disk themselves – and have that disk work.

FWIW, I used SuperDuper! to make a bootable clone of Sequoia from my iMac Pro.

dialabrain wrote:

Yes well, an iMac Pro is not an Apple Silicon Mac.

Most of the stuff that the CCC developers are talking about applies to all Macs running Big Sur or later, including Intel-based iMac Pros.

dialabrain wrote:

And again, I used SuperDuper!

And to quote the developers of SuperDuper!, "tools like SuperDuper can no longer make bootable copies on their own."

ShirtPocket – Blog – That's Big SIR To You!

"So, as of Big Sur, 3rd party tools like SuperDuper can no longer make bootable copies on their own. For that, it's asr or nothing."

ShirtPocket – Blog – You're a Mean One

"Since Apple took away the ability for 3rd parties (eg, us) to copy the OS …"

Welcome

Personally I use both Time Machine and augment ( not replace TM Backup ) with Carbon Copy Cloner

Each is done to Dedicated / Separate External Drive(S)

One backup and it fails two backups less likely

You can upgrade directly to Sequoia.

Just to add, you should definitely back up with Time Machine, or another alternative. You cannot back up to iCloud.

As the other contributor was first to make suggestion including the usage of Time Machine Backup

Best I let them answer ALL you seemingly misplaced fears