Apple released macOS 14 Sonoma today, and as is our custom, we’re warning you to upgrade with care. Everyone is always excited to be running the best Mac OS possible, but there can be pitfalls, especially if you’re installing Sonoma as soon as it’s released. It’s not a bad idea to wait a few days, and it’s not wrong to wait a week or a month or not upgrade at all if it’s not needed.
1. Are you in the middle of a big project? If so, wait until your project is complete BEFORE you start your upgrade. Getting your Mac OS upgraded, especially if you’re jumping a version, is a mini project all by itself. Don’t start until you have time to completely re-do your system in case something goes really wrong during the upgrade! A complete system rebuild could take all day!
2. Don’t upgrade without a fully working and vetted Time Machine backup! It’s easy and free, and if you are having issues getting your Time Machine backup plan off the ground, we’ll do it for you for free! You might have a Time Machine drive, but have you ever tested it? Most likely not, and how old is it? You don’t want to mess up your Mac and then find out your Time Machine and/or Mac are not working correctly. Has your current Time Machine drive been used for more than five years? Get a second one and have TWO Time Machine drives working for you!
3. Ensure you have enough free space to perform the upgrade. On Macs with only a 128GB hard drive and regular data use, there’s not usually enough free space to perform a software upgrade. The installer for macOS Sonoma is only around 12GB in size, but you’ll need approximately 25GB free and clear to install.
P. S. Check that Time Machine backup, folks! Also, for Macs with an embedded hard drive, I am recommending extra backups. You can listen to me talk about this in my best radio voice: https://macmedics.com/time-machine/
