Updating from MacOS Catalina 10 ---> Sonoma 14

April 17, 2024 8:45 PM

I have been (perhaps overly) conservative regarding system updates on my 2017 Intel Core5 iMac with a 1TB onboard SSD and 8GB of RAM, but am now finding some issues cropping up such as Safari not functioning entirely properly. I am currently running Catalina 10.15.7 and am considering updating to the current system Sonoma 14. Are there any potential issues or advice I should be aware of before I proceed?

Back-up wise, I continuously run Time Machine on a separate HDD and weekly run Carbon Copy Cloner on a another pair of SSD's (one kept offsite).

posted by fairmettle to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Looks like your iMac won't run Sonoma, which requires a 2019 or later iMac. I believe it can run Ventura (macOS 13). No real issues with Ventura, other than more Apple Silicon code, but it's definitely fully compatible with your Intel iMac.

I would upgrade using System Preferences > Software Update to the latest offered macOS, after running a full backup on both Time Machine and CCC.
posted by dubious_dude at 9:12 PM on April 17 [3 favorites]

Do you have any remaining 32-bit software? I think you are crossing the line where it no longer runs.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:32 AM on April 18 [4 favorites]

Mojave was the last edition with 32-bit support, Catalina already culled that capability.

The other way to get to macOS Sonoma for your hardware is OpenCore Legacy Patcher, which takes extra steps, will need you to restore apps and data from a Time Machine backup, and will be require delicate care when making further updates.
posted by k3ninho at 5:37 AM on April 18 [3 favorites]

More on OpenCore Legacy Patcher, here a wonderful YT tutorial that helped me upgrade my mid-2015 iMac to Sonoma with no problems
posted by queue_strategy at 6:02 AM on April 18 [1 favorite]