Should an old guy like me update from Catalina to Sequoia?

[heycal]

I'm no longer young, not very tech savvy, and usually hate change. I'm currently using Catalina 10.15.7 on a 2020 Macbrook Pro. For some time now, certain websites and things don't display like they used to, and I occcasionally get prompts saying I should upgrade. The thought of that has been so traumatizing I've been resisting, but perhaps I just need to take the plunge. After all, I presumably survived previous upgrades to have made it up to Catalina, and will likely survive this one after initial panic and dismay if/when things look different.

So my questions for you fine folks are:

A) Should I bite the bullet and go ahead and do this?
B) If so, what should I do beforehand, if anything, before I start the process beyond a Time Machine upgrade?
C) Is there anything else I should know?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner your internal to an external drive so you have a complete way back.

WAIT until Sequoia is near the END of its updates (.5, .6, .7) vs. jumping in "early. Target the months AFTER WWDC. If you burn to do it right now, consider the last generation of the PRIOR tier: Sonoma 14.7.3. And then you can enjoy almost everything that is new and WAIT on Sequoia to get much more debugged, polished & refined.

If you update and like it, great. If you don't use Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner to downgrade back to "as is."

 

[heycal]

Thanks, HobeSoundDarryl. I should have pointed out that I don't know what the hell things like "Super Duper, carbon copy, and WWDC" mean.

If I were to update to Sonoma first, wouldn't that mean I'd be in store for two potentially traumatizing upgrades, first Sequoia then Sonoma, instead of just one?

 

[Miles Fu]

I'm no longer young, not very tech savvy, and usually hate change. I'm currently using Catalina 10.15.7 on a 2020 Macbrook Pro. For some time now, certain websites and things don't display like they used to, and I occcasionally get prompts saying I should upgrade. The thought of that has been so traumatizing I've been resisting, but perhaps I just need to take the plunge. After all, I presumably survived previous upgrades to have made it up to Catalina, and will likely survive this one after initial panic and dismay if/when things look different.

So my questions for you fine folks are:

A) Should I bite the bullet and go ahead and do this?
B) If so, what should I do beforehand, if anything, before I start the process beyond a Time Machine upgrade?
C) Is there anything else I should know?

is your 2020 MBP an intel chip MBP? I leave my 2019 16' intel MBP with MACOS 14.7.2, it's quite stable while can enjoy the latest apps.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Thanks, HobeSoundDarryl. I should have pointed out that I don't know what the hell things like "Super Duper, carbon copy, and WWDC" mean.

If I were to update to Sonoma first, wouldn't that mean I'd be in store for two potentially traumatizing upgrades, first Sequoia then Sonoma, instead of just one?

Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner are both free apps that completely duplicate the boot drive. The idea with using either to duplicate the boot drive is a complete way back. Time Machine is not that kind of backup.

WWDC is Apple's big developer conference held in June. Usually by about WWDC, macOS is at about the .5 version of updates or so.

Sequoia is full of bugs. Sonoma has some too but that last version is a pretty good version. The trauma will likely be less to jump to a fairly stable Sonoma 14.7.3 vs. Sequoia if you want to make the jump immediately. Else, be patient and Sequoia will eventually be .5, .6 or .7 update at which time the direct hop may make better sense.

Dual trauma: the big leap of macOS updates and the choice to leap into a more or less buggy version.
Single trauma: the big leap of macOS

Sonoma will run just about everything just like Sequoia (but less bugs) so stuff like Safari browsing and such will be up to date. The hop from Sonoma to Sequoia this Summer or Fall would not seem to be so large (except all the A.I. stuff)... so less "trauma."

 

[heycal]

is your 2020 MBP an intel chip MBP? I leave my 2019 16' intel MBP with MACOS 14.7.2, it's quite stable while can enjoy the latest apps.

It says Intel, yes. But I'm not sure what you are advising me to to do here -- switch to Sonoma and stop there, or something else?

 

[heycal]

Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner are both free apps that completely duplicate the boot drive. The idea with using either to duplicate the boot drive is a complete way back. Time Machine is not that kind of backup.

Sequoia is full of bugs. Sonoma has some too but that last version is a pretty good version. The trauma will likely be less to jump to a fairly stable Sonoma 14.7.3 vs. Sequoia if you want to make the jump immediately. Else, be patient and Sequoia will eventually be .5, .6 or .7 update at which time the direct hop may make better sense.

Dual trauma: the big leap of macOS updates and the choice to leap into a more or less buggy version.

You lost me at "boot drive"

I suppose I don't need to make the jump immediately, do I? When do you think one can expect the stable Sequoia you speak of?

 

[Miles Fu]

It says Intel, yes. But I'm not sure what you are advising me to to do here -- switch to Sonoma and stop there, or something else?

switch to Sonoma and stop there----Yes, this is my suggestion.

You don't need a fresh installation, just to do upgrade should be fine, that will be pretty easy step.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Boot drive is the drive inside your MBpro. When you turn it on or wake it, it has Catalina on it and runs your apps, stores your files, etc. When you upgrade to either Sonoma or Sequoia, Catalina files and various apps on it are going to get replaced with Sonoma or Sequoia files & apps. That's where the "upgrade" is applied.

By first Super Duper or CCC'ing a duplicate of that drive, you'd have a near perfect copy of it... and thus a way back if you upgrade to either and hate it, wanting to go back to Catalina. Else, if you just upgrade, it's much harder to go back if you are unhappy with either.

I would expect Sequoia to be at version .5 by about WWDC in about mid-June, .6 in about July-Aug, .7 in about Sep. Given the rolling release of A.I., this year might have a .8, .9 or higher too... and all of those might come faster than my guesses. Last formal version would hit close to when the NEXT version after Sequoia is to be released, which is probably in October or maybe November.

 

[Snowlover]

Have you tried using firefox browser? It is still getting updates on Catalina and should help with your website's being displayed properly.
You should forgo using Safari as it is long out of update support.
Just switching to firefox may be enough to keep you going without overwhelming you.

 

[Sciuriware]

I'm no longer young, not very tech savvy, and usually hate change. I'm currently using Catalina 10.15.7 on a 2020 Macbrook Pro. For some time now, certain websites and things don't display like they used to, and I occcasionally get prompts saying I should upgrade. The thought of that has been so traumatizing I've been resisting, but perhaps I just need to take the plunge. After all, I presumably survived previous upgrades to have made it up to Catalina, and will likely survive this one after initial panic and dismay if/when things look different.

So my questions for you fine folks are:

A) Should I bite the bullet and go ahead and do this?
B) If so, what should I do beforehand, if anything, before I start the process beyond a Time Machine upgrade?
C) Is there anything else I should know?

I'm 77 and still updating like I was 20 ....
;JOOP!

 

[heycal]

Thanks for the help, folks. To get around the Safari issues on Catalina, I often resort to Chrome, and I suppose I could try Firefox.

Seems the best choices for me are either hold on for a few more months and do nothing, or go with Sonoma. If I do the latter, I would likely just stay there instead of updating again anytime soon after that.

 

[Ifti]

As long as you have a backup as @HobeSoundDarryl has rightly suggested, I don't see the issue in moving straight to Sequoia. I bit the bullet a month or so back, and it has been perfectly fine on all 3 of my systems. No issues to report (maybe I'm just lucky!).

 

[heycal]

As long as you have a backup as @HobeSoundDarryl has rightly suggested, I don't see the issue in moving straight to Sequoia. I bit the bullet a month or so back, and it has been perfectly fine on all 3 of my systems. No issues to report (maybe I'm just lucky!).

That's what I was inclined to do before I began this thread, but now I'm hesitant. When people talk about issues or bugs with Sequoia, what do they mean specifically?

It's been so long since I've updated I've forgotten what it is like. My big fears are that everything looks radically different, and behaves differently, and certain things I didn't realized I like about Catalina are no longer available.

I do have much experience and memory of updating my iphone OS, which I do pretty much anytime it's offered, and invariably I've found the new system to be inferior in some way to the previous one and -- sometimes -- better in some other way. One or two steps forward while taking one step back. I could probably come up with a decent sized list of the all the things that used to be better with older versions of the phone's software and still miss. Maybe everyone feels this way, but I don't recall ever doing an update on laptop or phone and going "Everything is bettter than it used to be!"

 

[shadowboi]

Always better to perform clean install so it won’t feel slow after updates. But I am myself still on Monterey, one version newer than yours. Probably I will get same warnings as you next year. But I don’t use Safari, my browser has been Firefox since maybe day one because of actually working adblock.

When you do fresh install you also can control which features you have enabled so they do not automatically enable with each update.

Also Time Machine is useless… I thought it copies your OS and files “as is” and it turned out that nope, it does only copy files. I’ve heard there are lots of pricey programs for carbon cloning the drive into ISO file but I had not ever tried these, as well as cloning to .dmg in built-in disk utility.

Before updating onto your main drive you can also use a clean SSD, connect it to your Macbook and install new macOS on it to test out

 

[heycal]

Always better to perform clean install so it won’t feel slow after updates. But I am myself still on Monterey, one version newer than yours. Probably I will get same warnings as you next year. But I don’t use Safari, my browser has been Firefox since maybe day one because of actually working adblock.

When you do fresh install you also can control which features you have enabled so they do not automatically enable with each update.

Also Time Machine is useless… I thought it copies your OS and files “as is” and it turned out that nope, it does only copy files. I’ve heard there are lots of pricey programs for carbon cloning the drive into ISO file but I had not ever tried these, as well as cloning to .dmg in built-in disk utility.

Before updating onto your main drive you can also use a clean SSD, connect it to your Macbook and install new macOS on it to test out

What do you mean by a clean install? Is that something different from hitting the update button in my settings and following whatever instructions follow?

 

[shadowboi]

What do you mean by a clean install? Is that something different from hitting the update button in my settings and following whatever instructions follow?

If you have lots of apps I wouldn’t recommend it since you will need to install them all again. Clean install requires you to start your mac in recovery mode and wipe the disk so mac will download fresh macOS version, sort of complicated but still works

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

That's what I was inclined to do before I began this thread, but now I'm hesitant. When people talk about issues or bugs with Sequoia, what do they mean specifically?

Look around the many threads about Sequoia and this site is quite Apple friendly. Do a search for "macOS Sequoia Bugs" in a browser and start clicking the links and reading. You'll find many lists. Review those and consider if they apply much to your Mac use. However, don't let so many freak you out. Sequoia is still new and Apple is still glomming on A.I. features. As point upgrades keep rolling out, some Sequoia bugs will be fixed. That's why I offered the .5, .6 or .7 suggestion over doing it right now... OR going with the latest Sonoma version which was a .7 "final."

It's been so long since I've updated I've forgotten what it is like. My big fears are that everything looks radically different,

Not true. Everything will seem pretty similar/same.

and behaves differently,

Partially true- some things have changed. Perhaps the most dramatic is Settings, which looks much more like iPhone settings than Catalina Mac settings. Various things that used to be visible on the "home" page of settings are now packaged inside of other things. Sometimes it's a few clicks in to get to something that used to be one click. The intuitiveness of the old ways is not necessarily as intuitive in the new way.

and certain things I didn't realized I like about Catalina are no longer available.

Most will still be available but may be in different Apple apps/settings... unless you mean third party apps and then you may want to check with each App developers website to see how well their apps work with Sequoia.

If these are your primary worries, backup first with SuperDuper or CCC and then you can confidently proceed. Again, the backup with those apps give you a way BACK without a lot of complications.

The big catch with the potential of stepping back is that if you open things in Apple apps like Pages/Keynote/Numbers/etc, update them, save them and then decide to go back to Catalina, those files won't open in older versions of Apple apps. So be careful about what you decide to update after the hop because those won't be able to go back (except to the last backup from Catalina, which would then require you to do the new editing work again).

 

[JUMA55]

I'm 77 and still updating like I was 20 ....
;JOOP!

Me too, but I'm not quite as old as you are.

 

[MBAir2010]

Hello heycal

as a mac user since 1900 and owner 1998,
this post means a-lot to us, and me!

Perhaps a leap to Monterey, then Sequoia?
im using this on. macbook air M1 with 7 annoyances, 2 on the mac mini.
thought the system is reliable, responsive and fast!

The reason i advice on Monterey is that the system still has Catalina-like features
but with added features live drop off, universal control and added security features.

AND you can always revert to catalina.

in aug 20204 i used Sequoia beta which was fine,
then reverted to Monterey since i needed a personal break from
those annual  OS updates since Snow Leopard.

BTW

"Should an old guy like me...."​

i just purchased a racing bicycle with wireless shifting instead of cables
and that "old guy" thought swarm around my head all week
until i decided to spend the extra and go tech!
hopefully i wont regret that upgrade.

I hoped this helped, good luck!

 

[RUGERMAN]

I'm 77 and still updating like I was 20 ....
;JOOP!

you're just a kid, I'm 84

 

[Miles Fu]

Hello heycal

as a mac user since 1900 and owner 1998,
this post means a-lot to us, and me!

Perhaps a leap to Monterey, then Sequoia?
im using this on. macbook air M1 with 7 annoyances, 2 on the mac mini.
thought the system is reliable, responsive and fast!

The reason i advice on Monterey is that the system still has Catalina-like features
but with added features live drop off, universal control and added security features.

AND you can always revert to catalina.

in aug 20204 i used Sequoia beta which was fine,
then reverted to Monterey since i needed a personal break from
those annual  OS updates since Snow Leopard.

BTW

"Should an old guy like me...."​

i just purchased a racing bicycle with wireless shifting instead of cables
and that "old guy" thought swarm around my head all week
until i decided to spend the extra and go tech!
hopefully i wont regret that upgrade.

I hoped this helped, good luck!

Why I update from Monterey to Sonoma is because my 2019 i9 MBP crashed randomly on Catalina and Monterey when hooked with external monitors. it was really anoy when I got up in the morning and found my Mac rebooted with no reason.


Sonoma has low battery mode which make my MBP very silent most of the time, this is another reason I stay with Sonoma, besides it's stability.

I also have a M4 MBP with 15.3, I'd say I don't find much bug on this system too.

 

[heycal]

Wow, so much to process, just since my last post. I appreciate everyone's input here. There is so much swimming in my head at this point, so many options and things to consider, that I'm inclined to just throw out my laptop all together and call it a day.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Actually, that is yet another option. If you can swing it, consider buying yourself a new laptop and leave that one on Catalina.

Unless you bought the 13" MBpro, 2020 M(ac)B(oak)pros were still Intel based. A new MBpro or perhaps MBair would be quite a leap from the 2020 models. You could leave the one you want "as is" and have a very tangible way back if you need something on it... but technologically leap forward to a 2025 MB running M3 or M4 (or likely this Fall M5).

If you did that an Apple Store, they could help you migrate from the 2020 to the 2025 so that about all of your files would be where you expect them to be on the new one.

 

[heycal]

Buy a new computer? Wowwwww..... I don't think I can afford it, but it's tempting. And not really needed. I mostly just use my computer for the internet and Final Draft screenplay software. The attached screenshot shows you what I'm currently using. (Getting that screenshot reminded me that I still haven't learned how to to do it quickly and easily since I now have the option to "record" the screen. On my previous Mac Air it was simple to me.)