Oct 10, 2019 Here’s how you can prepare your Mac for macOS Catalina update. Though quite simple, most of these have been my go-to steps during the past updates as well. And if I may boast, this list shall sail you through all most all issues you may face before, during, and after the update.

When you upgrade to macOS Catalina, you get more of everything you love about Mac. Experience dedicated apps for music, TV, and podcasts. Smart new features in the apps you use every day. And Sidecar, which lets you use iPad as a second Mac display. Best of all, upgrading is free and easy.

Chances are, your Mac can run macOS Catalina.

Mac computers with Metal-capable graphics processors (GPUs) can upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Make sure you’re ready to upgrade.

Before you upgrade, we recommend that you back up your Mac. Then, if your Mac is running OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later, you can upgrade directly to macOS Catalina.

Upgrading is free. And easier than you think.

Upgrading from macOS Mojave?

Go to Software Update in System Preferences to find the macOS Catalina upgrade. Click Upgrade Now and follow the onscreen instructions to begin your upgrade. If you don’t have broadband access, you can upgrade your Mac at any Apple Store.

Upgrading from an older version of macOS?

If you’re running High Sierra (10.13), Sierra (10.12), or El Capitan (10.11), upgrade to macOS Catalina from the App Store. If you’re running Lion (10.7) or Mountain Lion (10.8), you will need to upgrade to El Capitan (10.11) first. If you don’t have broadband access, you can upgrade your Mac at any Apple Store.

• OS X 10.9 or later
• 4GB of memory
• 12.5GB of available storage (OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 or later)*

• Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
• Some features require a compatible internet service provider; fees may apply.

For details about your Mac model, click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen and choose About This Mac. These Mac models are compatible with macOS Catalina:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)

• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

Siri

Requires a broadband internet connection and microphone (built-in or external).

Hey Siri

Supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook Pro (2018 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2018 or newer)
• iMac Pro

Dictation, Voice Control, and Voice Memos

Requires a microphone (built-in or external).

Spotlight Suggestions

Requires a broadband internet connection.

Gestures

Requires a Multi-Touch trackpad, Force Touch trackpad, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse.

Force Touch gestures require a Force Touch trackpad.

VoiceOver gestures require a Multi-Touch trackpad, Force Touch trackpad, or Magic Trackpad.

Photo Booth

Requires a FaceTime or iSight camera (built-in or external), or USB video class (UVC) camera.

FaceTime

Audio calls require a microphone (built-in or external) and broadband internet connection.

Video calls require a built-in FaceTime camera, an iSight camera (built-in or external), or a USB video class (UVC) camera; and broadband internet connection.

Apple TV

High Dynamic Range (HDR) video playback is supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook Pro (2018 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (2019) with Pro Display XDR

Dolby Atmos soundtrack playback is supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook Air (2018 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2018 or newer)

Sidecar

Supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook (2016 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2018 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2016 or newer)
• Mac mini (2018 or newer)
• iMac (late 2015 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2019)

Supported by all iPad models with Apple Pencil support:

• 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 11-inch iPad Pro
• 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro
• iPad (6th generation or later)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad Air (3rd generation)

Continuity Camera

Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 12 or later.

Continuity Sketch and Continuity Markup

Requires an iPhone with iOS 13 or an iPad with iPadOS.

Handoff

Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 8 or later.

Instant Hotspot

Requires an iPhone or iPad with cellular connectivity, a Lightning connector, and iOS 8.1 or later. Requires Personal Hotspot service through your carrier.

Universal Clipboard

Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 10 or later.

Auto Unlock

Supported by Mac models introduced in mid 2013 or later.

Requires an Apple Watch with watchOS 3 or later or an iPhone 5 or later.

Approve with Apple Watch

Supported by Mac models introduced in mid 2013 or later.

Requires an Apple Watch with watchOS 6 or later or an iPhone 6s or later with iOS 13.

Apple Pay on the Web

Requires MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, an iPhone 6 or later with iOS 10 or later, or an Apple Watch with watchOS 3 or later.

Phone Calling

Requires an iPhone with iOS 8 or later and an activated carrier plan.

SMS

Requires an iPhone with iOS 8.1 or later and an activated carrier plan.

Home

Requires an iPhone with iOS 12 or later and a configured Home app.

AirDrop

AirDrop to iOS and iPadOS devices requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 7 or later.

AirPlay

AirPlay Mirroring requires an Apple TV (2nd generation or later).

AirPlay for web video requires an Apple TV (2nd generation or later).

Peer-to-peer AirPlay requires a Mac (2012 or later) and an Apple TV (3rd generation rev A, model A1469 or later) with Apple TV software 7.0 or later.

Time Machine

Is My Mac Ready For Catalina Bay

Requires an external storage device (sold separately).

Power Nap

Supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro with Retina display (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

Boot Camp

Allows Boot Camp installations of Windows 10 on supported Mac models.

Exchange Support

Requires Microsoft Office 365, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2013, or Exchange Server 2010. Installing the latest Service Packs is recommended.

Windows Migration

Supports OS X 10.7 or later and Windows 7 or later.

App Store

Available only to persons age 13 or older in the U.S. and many other countries and regions.

• Apple Books
• Apple News
• App Store
• Automator
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Chess
• Contacts
• Dictionary
• DVD Player
• FaceTime
• Find My
• Font Book
• Home
• Image Capture
• Launchpad
• Mail
• Maps

• Messages
• Mission Control
• Music
• Notes
• Photo Booth
• Photos
• Podcasts
• Preview
• QuickTime Player
• Reminders
• Safari
• Siri
• Stickies
• Stocks
• System Preferences
• TextEdit
• Time Machine
• TV
• Voice Memos

• Activity Monitor
• AirPort Utility
• Audio MIDI Setup
• Bluetooth File Exchange
• Boot Camp Assistant
• ColorSync Utility
• Console
• Digital Color Meter
• Disk Utility

• Grapher
• Keychain Access
• Migration Assistant
• Screenshot
• Screen Time
• Script Editor
• Sidecar
• System Information
• Terminal
• VoiceOver Utility

• Arabic
• Catalan
• Croatian
• Simplified Chinese
• Traditional Chinese
• Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong)
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• English (Australia)
• English (UK)
• English (U.S.)
• Finnish
• French
• French (Canada)
• German
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Hungarian

• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Malay
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Slovak
• Spanish
• Spanish (Latin America)
• Swedish
• Thai
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese

As soon as the macOS Big Sur public beta goes public, you can download and install it on your Mac. macOS Big Sur is the next iteration of macOS (we're out of macOS X territory, folks) and is bringing a brand new design, making it look closer than ever to iOS and iPadOS, as well as a lot of native app changes. It's also the first macOS that will be optimized for Apple's own ARM-based Macs coming later in the year. But before you get started, you should make sure your Mac is ready for the download and installation process.

If you're wondering what macOS Big Sur is all about, make sure to check our FAQ:

What to know before you start: Is my Mac eligible for the macOS Big Sur public beta?

macOS Big Sur will run on the following devices:

• MacBook (2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2013 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Late 2013 or newer)
• Mac mini (2014 or newer)
• iMac (2014 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2013 or newer)

Step 1: Clean up your Mac

Make sure your Mac isn't overstuffed with unnecessary extra files. Thanks to Optimized storage in macOS, you can quickly clean up your Mac with just a few steps.

Step 2: back up your Mac

Seriously. Back it up. Even if you have scheduled backups every night, just push a manual backup before you get started. It's the right thing to do. The easiest way to back up your Mac is with Time Machine, but there are plenty of other ways you can back it up that work just as well.

Step 3: Decide how you are going to download the macOS public beta

You can download and install the macOS public beta directly onto your main drive, but you may discover that some of your favorite apps aren't supported or aren't ready yet. One of the best ways to test out whether you want to run a macOS public beta on your main drive is to partition it and install the new operating system there. This gives you the chance to play around with all the new features without messing with your workflow or productivity.

You can also download the macOS public beta onto a thumb drive so that you can install it on multiple computers without having to re-download each time.

Step 4: Download the macOS public beta

Your Mac is ready to go. Now all you have to do is download and install the macOS public beta once Apple launches it sometime next month.

Updated June 2020: Updated with macOS Big Sur.

WWDC 2020

Main

We are grateful to Setapp for sponsoring our coverage of WWDC 2020. The content of this article reflects solely our own editorial opinion.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Is My Mac Ready For Catalina Island

Catalina Os For Mac

Analyst says iPhone 12 will cost more even without charger and headphones

Jeff Pu, an analyst at Chinese research firm GF Securities, predicts that Apple will raise the price of the iPhone 12 by at least $50.