Upgrading from Mac OSX El Capitan to macOS Monterey

[ToTo Man]

There is conflicting info online as to whether it's possible to jump from from El Capitan to Monterey without first upgrading to High Sierra. I've also read that, if making the jump from El Cap to Monterey in one step, you need up to 44GB free space available, whereas if you're going from High Sierra to Monterey you only need 26GB. I currently have 32GB free space on the 120GB SSD in my 2015 MacBook Pro but I could get that up to 44GB if I moved the 12.45GB Monterey installer I just downloaded onto an external drive. Am I taking more of a risk by going from El Cap to Monterey in one step? I'd rather not have more remnants of upgraded OSs hanging around than I need to.

 

[garyi]

I dont know about all this. I installed ElCaptain onto a macbook pro 2015 this week, PITA because there is issues with dates before it will install. From there I had to find a compy of monteray, because apple refuses to give it to me because they are arseholes.

Then I simply installed it over top of elcap and it was fine.

 

[Darth Vader]

You can try but maybe won't be able to go in one step. The High Sierra step is important as it upgrades the NVRAM to support APFS which is required by macOS 10.13 and above.

DV

 

[ToTo Man]

I dont know about all this. I installed ElCaptain onto a macbook pro 2015 this week, PITA because there is issues with dates before it will install. From there I had to find a compy of monteray, because apple refuses to give it to me because they are arseholes.

Then I simply installed it over top of elcap and it was fine.

All of the macOSs / OSXs dating back to Lion are still available for download from Apple at the link below. Is this how you sourced Monterey?

How to download and install macOS – Apple Support (UK)

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

 

[garyi]

Apple do not make that easy to find and nor does google. I got a legitimate copy. I can confirm it will install straight on top of elcap, at least it did for me no bother.

 

[ToTo Man]

I dont know about all this. I installed ElCaptain onto a macbook pro 2015 this week, PITA because there is issues with dates before it will install. From there I had to find a compy of monteray, because apple refuses to give it to me because they are arseholes.

Then I simply installed it over top of elcap and it was fine.

Do you find Monterey runs satisfactory on a 2015 MBP? I was initially going to stick with what I know and put Mojave on it but figured I should stop being a dinosaur and just install the latest OS it's compatible with as I don't need to accomodate any legacy apps etc.

 

[garyi]

Well this is a new install so will feel nippy, but yes very nippy. ElCap is getting to the stage where websites wont load and it thinks there is men in the middle attacks when there isn't.

Swapping the battery on it was a bit nerve wracking, but hopefully the niece will be happy with it. She had my old 2013 macbook pro, but after 11 long years it gave up!

 

[Darth Vader]

Do you find Monterey runs satisfactory on a 2015 MBP? I was initially going to stick with what I know and put Mojave on it but figured I should stop being a dinosaur and just install the latest OS it's compatible with as I don't need to accomodate any legacy apps etc.

Works OK for me on a 2015 i7 Mackbook Air.

DV

 

[Darth Vader]

Why don't you upgrade your SSD and run it as a MacOS and Windows dual boot system.

You'll need an NVMe to Apple adapter like this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07T6L2RJM/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21 and then choose your NVMe SSD. I like Samsung EVO or Pro and they are so cheap today. It takes less than 10mins to do the swap.

Don't forget to do a Time Machine backup first!

DV