If you’re wondering hmmm should I upgrade to macOS Monterey,
then this video is for you. There are a few steps you need to take before upgrading any OS,
and macOS Monterey is no different. So here’s what to do before upgrading to macOS Monterey.
Hey friends, I’m Tasia Custode and welcome back to my YouTube Channel where I share tech
tips and app reviews. Today I’m sharing the 5 things you should do before you
upgrade to Monterey. Plus I’ll share a few bonus tips at the end. Let’s go!
Step number 1: check compatibility. You’re going to need to make sure your device is
capable of running macOS Monterey.
With just a few clicks on support.apple.com, you can find a whole list of computers that
are compatible with macOS Monterey. I’ve included this link in the description below, but generally,
you’re going to have to have a device from early 2015 and later,
but that does differ depending on the computer you have. So, it is key to check this list.
So, if you’re still wondering well shoot which device do I have? Just click on the apple logo
in the top left and select ‘about this Mac’. In this pop up, you’ll see the device you have.
Step 2: Make sure you have enough free space. Sounds easy enough,
but you do want to make sure of this prior to any OS upgrade.
So, once again using that handy Apple link found in the description, we’ll get a snapshot of how
much space macOS Monterey will take. It will take anywhere from 26GB to 44GB depending on
whether or not you’re upgrading from an earlier release than Sierra. So, to check how much space
you have on your drive, click that apple logo again and once again select about this mac.
Then, from here, select storage and you’ll get a snapshot of the storage space left on your device.
Step 3: check app compatibility. This is HUGE. This is Massive! Do NOT upgrade macOS before
knowing if your crucial third-party apps are compatible with Monterey. Here’s the thing:
when I upgraded to Big Sur, I did so before checking app compatibility. And wouldn’t you know,
the upgrade broke a lot of my apps. What do I mean by that? Well, some of my apps and plugins weren’t
compatible with that version of macOS, so they either didn’t work at all, or they had glitches
that needed fixes before they could work on Big Sur. I’m telling you, learn from my mistake.
So, the best way to check this is to go to the app manufacturer’s site and dig around
for compatibility information. So, as an example, I use Camtasia to screen record all my videos.
If I go to the site, I can click on full system requirements to see a complete compatibility list.
Now, beware, for certain apps like this where they don’t actually name the macOS,
just the version number, the app could still have issues like I’ve had with Camtasia.
But, some third-party apps, like Adobe creative cloud
will tell you specifically which version of macOS
it’s compatible with. And keep in mind this could be weeks or months after Monterey is available.
Step 4: Back up your Mac prior to upgrading. Along with step 3, this is the next crucial step prior
to upgrading. You never know if you’re going to experience an issue when upgrading macOS, so
it’s crucial to have an up-to-date backup of your device prior to any upgrading.
There are a couple of ways to backup your device. My preferred method is to use time machine. This
is really easy to do, you just need an external HD and when you plug in your hard drive to your Mac,
your Mac will instantly recognize the device and ask you if you want to use it as a backup
disc. Now if this doesn’t automatically pop up for you, you can just head to system preferences,
and select time machine. Then, from here, click on ‘select backup disc’,
and follow the prompts. I like to keep time machine up in my top bar here for easy access.
Now backing up can take some time depending on how much storage you’ve used up.
And speaking of which, step number 5: make sure you have enough time to upgrade your OS.
So, first of all, like we just went over, backing up your Mac could take time. Luckily,
you should be able to still work while backing up, but it can slow things down for you.
Second of all, downloading macOS Monterey make take around 40 minutes.
Again, you can keep working during this step, but things might be slower for you. But most
importantly, once you hit install, you want the installation to complete without putting
your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. So, I recommend, starting this entire process at
the end of your workday so you can just let your Mac sit and take its time installing the upgrade.
Now with all this said, I’ve got two bonus tips for you.
First, regardless of what OS you’re upgrading whether it be iOS or macOS or iPad OS, I always
recommend waiting until there is another version release. Here’s what I mean.
If we go back to our about this mac section, you’ll want to take note of the version number.
So, for instance, I’m running macOS Big Sur, but it’s version 11.6. Meaning, the first
iteration of Big Sur was version 11. So, there have already been 6 other patches to Big Sur,
or little updates, if you will. ​​For macOS, Apple updates the patch version for every release. This
is really important to understand because these patches contain important supplemental updates.
So, oftentimes what happens with brand new releases, is there can be bugs in
the operating system. If you wait until say version 12.1 instead of upgrading right away,
with version 12 of macOS Monterey, you could avoid annoying bugs. And this brings us right into bonus
tip number 2: always keep macOS Monterey up to date. Again, because as Apple releases patches
to their operating system, bugs will be worked out of the system, and you’ll
also be up-to-date with important security updates.
So those are my steps on what to do before upgrading to macOS Monterey. Will you be upgrading
to macOS Monterey if you haven’t already? Let everyone know in the comments below. As always,
thanks so much for watching, if you liked this video, I want to know so give it a like,
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and right here and here for even more content like this. Thanks for watching, and see ya next time!