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Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems. |
I am starting to consider upgrading my 2017 MBA from Catalina to Big Sur or Monterey. I have previously upgraded from Mojave to Catalina.
I am unsure how “safe” it is to skip over Big Sur and go straight to Monterey. I am not a power user so don’t need the latest and greatest. I will probably upgrade sometime in August.
Any advice would be appreciated.
This doesn’t really answer your question about safety, but I was in an analogous situation with an iMAC running High Sierra. I had intended to upgrade to Mojave (the next step up just as Big Sur is the next step up from Catalina). Try as I might, I couldn’t do it. In Launchpad I had the “Install Mojave” icon so I thought I’d be all set to do what I wanted. Ha! The icon was basically non functional; I don’t remember whether it was basically a dead link or whether I got some kind of error message, but in any case it was worthless. I found an Apple web site that claimed I could download Mojave and then install it. I tried to do that from Firefox and the link was totally dead. Tried Safari and the link came alive but again, IIRC, the Mojave .dmg file downloaded but wouldn’t install. I thought maybe I just had a corrupt download so I trashed it and tried again. Same result. Tried downloading it to another MAC and transferring it to the iMAC with a flash drive. Same result. Tried downloading to a Windows computer and to a Linux computer. Couldn’t do either one. Tried a few more times on the iMAC at various times of day, etc., making sure I had trashed any previously downloaded files, emptying the trash, and then shutting down and starting. After getting back from the emergency room being treated for blood loss from banging my head against a brick wall, and being an obstinate you know what, I tried twice more. Same result. Then tried to install Catalina, and it went right in. That makes it sound like it took 10 minutes, but it took more like an hour. But at least it worked.
Long story short, be prepared to be unable to install Big Sur and being forced to install Monterey. My plan, FWIW, is to just install Monterey on my iMAC and MBA, both of which are mid 2017 models. I figure that will give me 2 more years for each and probably by that time they won’t be supported by Apple anyway, and I’ll say good riddance to both. That’s a bit harsh as the MBA has been OK but the iMAC has been a low grade headache with migraine spikes since day one.
If you want Big Sur, I hope you have better luck than I did with Mojave.
bassmanzam: One thing to take into account: how badly Apple was at updating Catalina and Big Sur, when it took Apple several weeks, from April 1st through May 16th to release all the security updates for these two still fully supported versions of macOS, so these could be protected from two zero-day bugs. But instead how quickly it released the patches for Monterey, in March 31st, almost as soon as the bugs were found to be circulating “in the wild.”
https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-big-sur-11-6-6-update-20g623-whats-new/
That pushed me to upgrade from Big Sur to Monterey after I got tired of waiting for the never-arriving security update for Big Sur. My plan, as usual, before the “still there is no zero-day update” fiasco, was going to be to wait until next year before updating from Big Sur to Monterey, to have time to learn more about people experiences with it and also to let the developers remove more bugs and iron more wrinkles. As it was, I had to jump ship much earlier.
The great delay of those security updates to arrive for Catalina and Big Sur, while they were made almost right away available for Monterey, might have been inevitable, who knows? But the fact is that Apple did not explain what was going on nor did anything to reassure Catalina and Big Sur users that waiting was a good idea, and that is why I recommend to upgrade directly to Monterey and forget about Big Sur. In this way, maybe, avoiding more unnecessary problems, because Apple seems to have shown it cares more about Monterey than about Catalina or Big Sur.
I do not know for sure if there is any significant difference in the result of upgrading from Catalina to Monterey , compared to upgrading from Big Sur, as in my case. But I’ll be surprised if there is one.
Whatever way you chose to go, best of luck to you.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
bassmanzam: “I know my 2017 MBA will not be able to upgrade to Ventura.”
Same here, with my mid-2015 MacBook Pro (*). And one good reason for me to upgrade to Monterey, just not expecting that I would be doing it this soon. And “this soon”, thanks to the unexpectedly vigorous, if silent, encouragement from Apple.
(*) A mid-2015 still supported? Yes: this particular model, one of the longest on sale, last sold on 12 July 2018, and one counts five years from when last sold to find out when a Mac goes “vintage” and is no longer fully supported in hardware, or allowed to install newer versions of macOS. But the already installed one is still supported until this version’s EOL. In the case of Monterey, that will be around October of 2024. By then, this Mac (that I bought in mid-2017) shall be close to seven and a half years old. In this fast-changing times, that is a good, long useful run for a personal computer.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
Just a thought you could always wipe the lot and fresh install either Monterey or Big Sur.
If you have a Windows Bootcamp installation then just remove the MacOS partition, carefully and leave the Windows Partition intact, MacOS will find it as normal after.
You should have a good solid Time Machine what ever you do (check all the files and folders, settings that you need are checked in Time Machine, System preferences) backup and just copy your former files etc over during the setup process.
I have both Big Sur and Monterey on different Machines, never had a Problem either upgrading or clean install, you could always do them Sequentially i.e. Big Sur then Monterey and see how it works out for you, pause for a couple of weeks on Big Sur to try it out, basically I have never “Skipped” a version for an upgrade.
Whats your system updates offering? if its Big Sur you can go with that, because pretty soon after you’ll get offered Monterey. You can always take a look at MrMacintoshs Web site theres lots of info and how to’s over there a wealth of info.
Curious I appear to have lost the ability to post even when logged in on a Mac or Windows.
I upgraded my macbook air from Catalina to Monterey 12.5.1 last night. Naturally, I got the infamous spinning gear when I went to System Preferences/Software Update (a couple of restarts didn’t fix that), but there was an “Install macOS Monterey” icon in Launchpad. I clicked on that and away it went. Took about 51 minutes start to finish. Everything works fine and all programs and data appear to have carried over. I spent a good hour checking that. The latest Safari version came along with the upgrade.
All in all a very smooth upgrade. But I must say I’m really tired of the spinning gear nonsense, which I frankly think is inexcusable.
Now to deal with the spinning gear on the cantankerous iMAC.
DrBonzo, Good for you. I have not noticed any problems in the two months since I upgraded from Big Sur to Monterey, and already have installed updates since along with Safari’s, except the one issue with a browser I have mentioned already elsewhere, and have found a workaround for it.
I do not have the problem of the endlessly spinning wheel either. It used to happen to me, but not for some months now. I wonder why you still have it: it does not make sense, at least not right away and without knowing a lot more about what Mac is yours and what you have in this Mac, probably more than one would really want to know. So: “good luck with that, and I hope that either you find a workaround or it goes away”, is all I can really say about it.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
I finally had time today to upgrade my 2017 MBA from Catalina to Monterey 12.5.1. It took just under an hour to complete. I did have an issue with the mysterious spinning gear but rebooted and I was good to go. Everything “seems” to be okay but will monitor things for a little while.
One small issue I’ve noticed, is that the Apple Mail app seemed to change to displaying the mail header as well as the mail body. I had set it up in Mojave to just show the mail header. I can’t seem to figure out how to just show the mail header?
Glad it worked out. I really wish they would fix the spinning gear thing. You shouldn’t have to reboot to make it work.
I’ve never used Apple Mail, so I don’t know what to tell you. Might be something in System Preferences, or Finder Preferences; don’t know if there’s a preferences menu item in Apple Mail itself.
you could try Mail Preferences->Viewing->List Preview (try the options in drop down menu)
Apple Mail in Big Sur and Monterey is a little different so (sorry Apple Devotees) I use Outlook, as the main Mail app only occasionally Apple mail.
bassmanzam, I wonder if this might help:
One can turn the headers in full or in part as explained here:
https://support.apple.com/guide/mail/show-detailed-email-headers-mlhlp1089/mac
But only one email at the time, not as a general thing that will display all headers every time one opens an email. I know this, because I tried.
I only look at the full headers now and the, when am not really sure where is the email coming from, or to look for signs that it may be spiked with some malware venom.
One can also show part of a header, for example: Mail>Preferences>Viewing>Show Message Headers> Default/Custom by choosing “Custom” and then entering what one wants to see in the field of the windows this opens. “Default” means “No Headers” (or so it looks like).
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
It seems I was able to hide the message body by selecting the divider between header and message body leaving only the message header visible. I sort of remember doing this in Mojave.
My next issue is trying to block images from being displayed when opening an email. I found 2 ways to accomplish this but both don’t work.
The first one is to goto Preferences > View > Load remote content. That option isn’t available to me.
The second is Preferences > Privacy > Block External data. This is already checked but I still get the images loaded.
I don’t know why there is such a difference from Catalina and Mojave.
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