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I have a 2017 13" Macbook Air running Sierra version OS 10.12.6
I have about 30GB of storage available. That includes 5GB of purgeable.
I have received update notices that the Monterey version is available. I'm not sure if it's the 12.0 or 12.3.
I'm concerned that some of my programs may not work if I upgrade or I'll have other updating problems.
Would it be better to first update to an older OS version like High Sierra?
MacBook Air
Q - User wrote " I have a 2017 13" Macbook Air running Sierra version OS 10.12.6. I have about 30GB of storage available. That includes 5GB of purgeable. "
A - Aside from the 32 bit to 64 Bit Applications - Monterey Empty Space Requirements Empty Space Requirements >> If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, your Mac needs 26GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, your Mac needs up to 44GB of available storage.
That alone will be very very touch and go if Monterey will install at all.
Even if it does and we hope it would.
It is suggested to keep at least 15% to 20% of the Drive Total Capacity as Empty Space for good operations of the computer and for additional updates to Monterey to download, expand and install.
Some serious house cleaning is suggested before attempting the leap.
What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?
Free up storage space on your Mac
How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac
See used and available storage space on your Mac
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other/ System Data “ Category
Other / System Data: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.
Q - User wrote " I have a 2017 13" Macbook Air running Sierra version OS 10.12.6. I have about 30GB of storage available. That includes 5GB of purgeable. "
A - Aside from the 32 bit to 64 Bit Applications - Monterey Empty Space Requirements Empty Space Requirements >> If upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, your Mac needs 26GB of available storage to upgrade. If upgrading from an earlier release, your Mac needs up to 44GB of available storage.
That alone will be very very touch and go if Monterey will install at all.
Even if it does and we hope it would.
It is suggested to keep at least 15% to 20% of the Drive Total Capacity as Empty Space for good operations of the computer and for additional updates to Monterey to download, expand and install.
Some serious house cleaning is suggested before attempting the leap.
What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?
Free up storage space on your Mac
How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac
See used and available storage space on your Mac
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other/ System Data “ Category
Other / System Data: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.
You are welcome and thank you too 👍
Do come back to the Apple Support Communities ( ASC ) in the future, if / or when additional questions may arise
Empty Space Requirements specific to the Big Sur. Apple states 35.6 GB Empty Space but suggest 50 GB
Sorry, but the Empty Space Requirements are even more steep
Then you either do the research on bit architecture of each, ( open an app, app name in menu > About [app name] > will give version and with that you can check) or you go ahead and upgrade.
After upgrade if there 32 bit and need to be replaced you'll know as soon s you try and run one.
I really appreciate all the detail in your response to my question and the suggested links.
I believe what I saw listed was that the upgrade to Monterey required 12GB. But now I understand that referred to computers running the previous version.
I have decided that I will not upgrade to Monterey -- at least not now. I definitely would want to do some house cleaning before an upgrade.
Thank you for your help.
SimplyLola wrote:
I have a 2017 13" Macbook Air running Sierra version OS 10.12.6
I have about 30GB of storage available. That includes 5GB of purgeable.
I have received update notices that the Monterey version is available. I'm not sure if it's the 12.0 or 12.3.
I'm concerned that some of my programs may not work if I upgrade or I'll have other updating problems.
Would it be better to first update to an older OS version like High Sierra?
As others have already indicated, you should prepare for this by understanding which applications will need to be upgraded or replaced for Monterey (versus Sierra). In addition, it is best to have plenty of free space available, not just what might be the bare minimum. A good rule of thumb is 20% free space -- the Mac will use disk space for paging when memory is fully utilized and if the disk space is mostly gone, the computer slows down to a crawl. If this happens during a MacOS update, it may appear to be hung or run "forever."
Other posters have already explained more details on the above. What I can explain is how I upgraded my wife's iMac 2016 from Sierra to Monterey. I did it in incremental steps:
(1) Sierra to High Sierra (10.13)
(2) High Sierra to Mojave (10.14)
(3) Mojave to Catalina (10.15)
(4) Catalina to Monterey (12.4)
Note that I skipped Big Sur, which normally comes after Catalina. I skipped it because I had gone directly from Catalina to Monterey on other Macs previously and knew it goes smoothly. But to be consistent I should have done Catalina => Big Sur => Monterey.
In principle, going directly from Sierra to Monterey should work, but doing it stepwise almost ensures no complications. Note that along the way, your internal drive will convert from HFS+ to AFPS, and also one or more firmware updates will be applied; during the firmware updates the Mac may have a black screen and appear to be powered off for 2-3 minutes (which is a long time when you are watching).
Another advantage of doing the upgrade stepwise is that the requirements for free disk space are significantly lower at each incremental step than doing the whole thing in one step.
As for software, the only thing we needed to replace was her old 2011 MS-OFFICE with a new version. We have her now on the family plan for Office 365 so now she always has the latest version.
Thank you!
This is excellent information that is so helpful! I had wondered about upgrading incrementally and it sounds like it is a good plan.
I knew that at some point my 2008 MS-Office program would no longer work. I rarely use it but it would be hard for me to justify buying a new version. I no longer do much that requires any of those applications.
Actually one of the things I want to be able to continue to use is iMovie and iDVD. I had to stop using those with my 2017 Macbook Air because of a cable issue. I think I know how to fix that problem now. But those apps disappeared with the later versions of OS.
I don't know if there is any reason for me to upgrade to a newer iOS. Every time I do that some app I was happy with stops working. When I went from my 2007 Macbook to my 2017 Macbook Air my photos got all messed up. They were transferred from my old computer but by that time the photos app had changed so much the photos ended up disorganized and many were missing.
I know there are security issues using an older version of OS. I will think about it and perhaps get more information about what programs will change or need to be upgraded.
Thank you again for this detailed response!
Thanks for the heads up on the apps that will no longer work.
I was able to check my computer and see which ones are 32bit. Some I recognize but many I am not familiar with.
None of your 32 bit apps will run.
Follow these instructions to install Monterey. How to upgrade to macOS Monterey - Apple Support
Will I have problems if I upgrade my OS Sierra to OS Monterey?
