2

I have a 2019 MBP that still has MacOS Catalina installed (10.15.7). Until recently, this has suited me fine. But now, one of my 3rd party apps (Adobe Lightroom) has discontinued updates & upgrades for Catalina. I'm not ready to buy a new MBP, and in all other respects I am still happy with my 2019 MBP & Catalina.

As you know, the Software Update app offers only an upgrade to the latest version of MacOS; now MacOS Ventura. I feel that an automated upgrade of three versions may be riskier than a single-version upgrade, but I have no real basis for that conclusion.

Beyond the Adobe Lightroom app, other 3rd party apps that I use frequently are BBEdit, MacPorts, Launch Control and Microsoft Office. I assume that all of these apps will require re-installation following an OS upgrade. This looks to be a rather time-consuming effort, and so the prospect of repeating this upgrade procedure 2 or 3 times is not particularly appealing.

And so that's my question: Am I less likely to run afoul of entanglements by adopting a "single-version-upgrade-at-a-time" approach, or does a "multi-version-upgrade" impose an insufficiently smaller risk to warrant the additional time & effort?

One other item: I maintain current Time Machine backups. It is my plan to make a final update to the Time Machine backup for Catalina before embarking on either upgrade path. Is it safe to assume this would be sufficient to allow me to "back out" of either upgrade process, and restore my system to its current Catalina state?

Improve this question
7
  • Time machine - yes - but do not update it so you can use it in Catalina. Reinstall apps - you don't need top do that for each macOS version. I also suspect that most don't need reinstalling ie they are the same version across macOS versions (see the developers support for details) except Macports which is macOS version dependent. The macOS upgrade will not delete these.
    – mmmmmm
    Mar 12 at 18:12
  • Strictly speaking, you are correct that there is more risk. However that risk is negligible. If you have a Time Machine backup you should proceed with the recommended Ventura upgrade.
    – Ezekiel
    Mar 12 at 19:54
  • @mmmmmm: "Time machine - yes - but do not update it so you can use it in Catalina." Sorry, but you've lost me on this comment. Are you referring to the fact that TimeMachine for Catalina was the last version to use HFS+?
    – Seamus
    Mar 13 at 20:13
  • I mean don't ley your new system write to the time machine disks ie don't tun TM on until the upgrade has worked
    – mmmmmm
    Mar 13 at 21:12
  • @Seamus I recently upgraded two machines from Catalina up to Ventura. I recommend Time Machine backups, and also a second, Carbon Copy Cloner backup. No issues with either upgrade in my case. The thing to be wary of is application compatibility .. spend the time to make sure your software will either run in Ventura or there's an update available for it that will make it so. Generally these days the OS upgrades seem to be pretty seamless.
    – Harv
    Mar 14 at 22:16

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

I assume that all of these apps will require re-installation following an OS upgrade.

No, that's not true. Normally, an OS upgrade alters the OS, but leaves your apps and data in place.

I feel that an automated upgrade of three versions may be riskier than a single-version upgrade, but I have no real basis for that conclusion.

The only risk is that a larger delta (e.g. jumping 3 years worth of OSes) might affect the compatibility of your apps, if they themselves are older versions. Ideally, you'll need to check whether the versions of the third-party apps you use are compatible with Ventura, or whether you need an update -- and whether that update will cost you anything.

However, because Catalina was a 'cut-off' -- removing old 32-bit support -- it's likely that most software running on Catalina will work on future versions; though there may be updates for minor bugs.

Something like BBEdit is quite painless to update: you get an alert saying there's a new version, you press OK, it downloads, you click again to install (possibly supplying your password); and it relaunches.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .