15-09-2021

Upgrade Older Mac To Catalina

  1. Upgrade Older Mac To Catalina Version
  2. How To Get Catalina On Older Mac
  3. Upgrade Older Mac To Catalina Os
  4. How To Upgrade An Old Mac To Catalina

macOS Catalina was the newest operating system by Apple until macOS Big Sur succeeded it in 2020. If your Mac still runs Mojave or an even older macOS version, you'll be amazed by all the new features and improvements in Catalina. So here’s how to upgrade to macOS Catalina.

You’ve now created a bootable macOS Catalina installer on your USB stick - next, you need to install it on your older Mac. Plug the USB stick into your older Mac. Restart your Mac while holding Option/Alt (depending on when it was made) to access Startup Manager. Select the bootable installer and click Enter.

Once there, it takes a couple of steps to upgrade: Log in with your Apple ID. Navigate to Enroll your Mac section and click on “Download the macOS Public Beta Access Utility.”. Once downloaded, run the installer. Open System Preferences. You’ll find the public beta update under Software Update (macOS Catalina beta). Catalina’s quirks don’t appear to be specific to older machines. Reddit user Miguimike reports that Catalina is running “smooth as butter” on a 2012 MacBook Pro: “I was hesitant to. Upgrading from macOS Catalina 10.15 or Mojave 10.14? Go to Software Update in System Preferences to find macOS Big Sur. Click Upgrade Now and follow the onscreen instructions. Upgrading from an older version of macOS? If you’re running any release from macOS 10.13 to 10.9, you can upgrade to macOS Big Sur from the App Store.

First, clear out the junk

When you do a regular upgrade, the installer replaces some files on your Mac with others, but leaves most untouched. That means that all the system junk your Mac has accumulated over the years stays there. And as you upgrade year after year, you accumulate more and more. As you can imagine, upgrading your operating system on a junk-filled Mac is rather like putting one layer of wallpaper on top of another — eventually you have to scrape it off and start again.

Likewise, it’s always a good idea to clear out the clutter before you upgrade. My recommendation, after years of experience upgrading Macs, is that you use CleanMyMac X. It’s very quick and easy to use and will get rid of clutter, making your Mac run more smoothly and freeing up tens of gigabytes of disk space. You can either let it decide what to remove or go through its scan results yourself and decide what to trash and what to keep.

Then, backup your Mac

As you will see below, there are a couple of different ways you can upgrade to Catalina, but before you decide, and certainly before you upgrade, you should make a full backup of your current Mac setup. Upgrading one OS on top of another carries very few risks, but they are not non-existent so be safe now rather than sorry later. If you use Time Machine you can make a backup with that. But the best idea is to make a complete bootable clone of your current startup disk on an external drive.

To clean install or not to clean install

Remember I said you had a couple of options for upgrading? Here they are:

  1. Regular install
  2. Clean install

A regular install places Catalina files on your startup disk over the top of whatever OS you’re currently running. It doesn’t overwrite anything else. So all your applications, documents, settings, photos, movies, and music stay where they are. Unfortunately, all the junk files your Mac has accumulated also remain there. This option is quicker in the short-term, but your Mac won’t run as smoothly in the long-term. If you choose this option, I’d definitely recommend you use CleanMyMac X to clear out the clutter, before you upgrade.

A clean install erases your startup disk completely and then installs macOS Catalina on a completely clean disk. It takes longer, but in the long run your Mac will run more quickly and more smoothly. You will have to clone your startup disk before you start, and then spend time reinstalling applications and setting them up afterwards, however.

How to do a regular install of macOS Catalina

  1. Check that your Mac can run Catalina. Here’s the list of compatible Macs:

MacBook 2015 and later

MacBook Air 2012 and later

MacBook Pro 2012 and later

IMac 2012 and later

IMac Pro 2017 and later

Mac Pro 2013 and later

2. Make sure you’re connected to the internet and have a reliable connection. If you’re using a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, plug it into mains power.

3. Launch the App Store app on your Mac and search for 'macOS Catalina.'

4. When you find it, click 'Get.'

5. Wait for Catalina to download and when it’s ready to install, click Continue. Type in your admin username and password, if necessary.

6. Wait for Catalina to install. Your Mac will restart several times and it may take a while, so be patient! If you are using a laptop, don’t close the lid.

7. Once it has finished installing, you can continue to use your Mac as normal.

How to clean install macOS Catalina

We have covered clean installing Catalina in more detail in this article How to Clean Install macOS Catalina but here’s a summary.

Upgrade Older Mac To Catalina Version

  1. Make a full bootable clone of your Mac, just in case the worst happens.
  2. Grab a USB stick that’s at least 16GB capacity, or an external hard drive or USB stick.
  3. Erase and re-format the USB stick or external disk.
  4. Create a bootable installer on the disk.
  5. Boot from the new install disk and use Disk Utility in macOS Utilities to erase your startup disk.
  6. Go back to macOS Utilities and choose install macOS, with your startup disk as the location for the install.

Once it’s finished, set up your Mac, reinstall applications and restore your settings.

Mac

My apps are slow or stopped working on macOS Catalina

Okay, you’ve successfully installed macOS 10.15 Catalina. But some of your apps are no longer available. That’s a heavy blow from macOS Catalina as it no longer supports 32-bit apps. According to Apple, 64-bit apps are more memory-efficient than 32-bit ones. But for most of us it means we will lose many favorite games and applications, including Photoshop CS. To minimize the damage, you should first check how many 32-bit apps you have. It's possible to do with the same Mac maintenance app we've mentioned above.

  • Run CleanMyMac X — you can download a free edition here.
  • Click the Uninstaller tab.
  • Now, by clicking on the 32-bit tab, you will see the list of 32-bit apps on your Mac.

Next up, click the Updater tab.
Here you can update your 32-apps (and all the rest of apps) to newer versions. Many developers have already optimized their software for 64-bit architecture. With this method you’ll update all your software in one-go to make it Catalina-friendly. As you can see, I can update 17 apps with just one button.

Thanks for reading this article. Hope you will like it on Catalina!

5/5(12 votes )

So many of you are in confusion that should I upgrade my MacBook Air or MacBook Pro or I Mac to latest Catlina OS by Apple.
MacOS Catalina will be the next major version of the Mac operating system. Versioned as MacOS 10.15, Catalina includes a variety of new features, improvements to bundled apps like Safari, Photos, Reminders, and Notes, the splitting of iTunes into several new apps, and some intriguing new features and capabilities that bundle well with iOS 13 on iPad (now called iPadOS).

Apple continues to roll out small updates to macOS Catalina months after the initial release. These small updates include important fixes and small new features. In most cases, the small updates are worth installing soon after release, but you may still want to wait a few days, just to make sure everything is working fine with the upgrade. This guide can help you decide if it is worth installing right now.

Apple.

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Install macOS Catalina 10.15

  1. Don’t Install if You Aren’t Prepared
  2. Don’t Install if You Are Worried About macOS Mojave Problems
  3. Don’t Install if You Use a Really old Mac
  4. Don’t Install if You’re Traveling
  5. If you are a Developer and having lots of dependencies installed in your system.
  6. Dashboard support is removed from Catalina os.

How To Get Catalina On Older Mac

Here’s Why You Should Update to macOS Catalina 10.15

  1. Install for Dark Mode & Upgrades
  2. Screen Time on Mac.
  3. Increased Security
  4. Find My Mac
  5. Voice Control
  6. Install for MacBook Pro Audio and Other Fixes
  7. Install for Apple News+
  8. Install for Easy Logins in Safari
  9. Install for Group FaceTime
  10. Install for New Emoji
  11. Install for New Mac Apps
  12. Install for Desktop Upgrades
  13. Install for Security Fixes
  14. Install for Continuity Camera & New ScreenShots
  15. Install for Privacy Upgrades
  16. Install for Emoji in Mail and Siri Upgrades
  17. Install if You Have macOS High Sierra Problems
  18. New iTunes app split into multiple apps.
    And the list goes on.

You can downgrade to macOS Mojave from macOS Catalina if you don’t like it. There is no time limit like on iOS 13, but it is a process and takes some time so do your research before you upgrade.

Upgrade Older Mac To Catalina Os

Find out if your Mac can run macOS Catalina Here

How To Upgrade An Old Mac To Catalina

There are many good reasons to install macOS Catalina on your Mac today or to install the macOS Catalina 10.15 update. Before you start, you need to consider these reasons you shouldn’t upgrade yet. If you are already on macOS 10.15, it’s a good idea to install the supplemental update.