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High Sierra To Big Sur Upgrade?

I am using latest High Sierra OS. Should I upgrade asap to Catalina then later to Big Sur OR upgrade direct to Big Sur? Pros & Cons for each choice?
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Ronald Hinson

Comments: 6 Responses to “High Sierra To Big Sur Upgrade?”

    4 years ago

    Up to you. We don't know for sure, but I'd assume that you'll be able to upgrade in a single step.

    But why do it that way? Why skip Mojave and Catalina, but then feel the urge to jump to Big Sur right away? There are a lot of features added with each one. An argument for going to Catalina right now is so that there won't be 3 versions of new features to learn all in one go. You can learn Mojave and Catalina now, and then it will be less of a shock to go to Big Sur in the fall.

    Also, with Catalina, you can no longer run old 32-bit apps. The same would be true for Big Sur, of course. So updating now and dealing with issues would be better than waiting. For instance, if you have an out-of-date version of an app (Word, Photoshop, etc) then you'd find out while updating to Catalina and deal with it now rather than later.

    I'm always on the latest version of macOS. Not only do I want the features I paid for when I originally bought the Mac (since the price includes all future macOS updates) but I want bug fixes, optimizations and security updates too. Remaining on an old version of macOS when you can update to a newer one definitely goes against the MacMost motto: "Get the most from your Mac."

    John M. Hammer
    4 years ago

    One thing to keep in mind is old 32-bit applications that are never going to be upgraded and for which there are no good alternatives. Favorite old games fall into this category. If you want to play Diablo 2 online with your friends during quarantine or have at it in Rome: Total War then you need to keep a bootable volume of Mojave (or earlier) on hand. I'm currently running Catalina, have no issues with it, and like what it adds on top of Mojave. But I boot into Mojave to run old 32-bit apps.

    Mark Curry
    4 years ago

    Replaced my 2012 iMac with a 2017 Retina 4K, but got the one with fixed 8 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 memory. Not easily upgradable by the user like my older iMac which I upgraded to 16 GB. I wish I'd sprung for the iMac with more memory. Is it at all possible to upgrade? Is it safe? Is it worth it? I seem to always have limited memory left. We don't stream, try to limit open files, etc. On the old Mac the upgrade made a huge difference! Any advice?

    4 years ago

    A 2017 Retina iMac? Sure. Apple has a guide right here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201191

    Roy thompson
    3 years ago

    Connecting to wifi causes MacBook air /high Sierra to switch off/crash Vodafone router. Is upgrading to Big Sur the answer?

    3 years ago

    Roy: That sounds like an issue with your router, not your Mac. I wouldn't expect upgrading your Mac would fix a problem in your router. But there are a lot of other good reasons to upgrade -- you pay for annual macOS updates when you buy your Mac, so why refuse them and remain years behind. As for your router, do you own it? If it is owned by your ISP, call them for support. Maybe there is an update for the router, or they can send you a newer model.

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