OSX upgrade

I have decided that I need to upgrade my MacBook Pro. Every time that I click on software updates, it always tells me that I can upgrade to Sierra. In trying to do that, it will always tell me that I need a version other than one I have. I have heard that to get the next version, you have to have the last one. Would someone please tell me the step by step process to upgrade this 2012 MBP from 10.8.5 to the latest that I can use.

 

Try to get your machine to the latest version of Mountain Lion. (10.8). Im going by memory but I believe 10.8.6 was their stopping point with Mountain Lion. Once you've reached as far as you can go with Mountain Lion update you should be able to make the upgrade to Sierra. Your 2012 MBP meets the requirements to run Sierra.

 

Thank you for the reply. Going to the app store, I can't seem to find a Mountain Lion with a higher number than the one I've got. So, after I upgrade to the highest Mountain Lion, do I have to do every upgrade from then to now? That's gonna be a lot of upgrades. Or is that not right?

 

When you open the App Store on your computer, there should be updates for 10.8 waiting for you there if any under the Updates tab. If there are no more updates. Repair permissions and reboot machine....and try updating the OS again.

 

OS 10.8.5 was the last version of Mountain Lion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Mountain_Lion. If you get a lower version from the App Store, you can update to OS 10.8.5 by downloading and installing the OS 10.8.5 Combo Updater, available from here:

https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1676?locale=en_US

Note that the Combo Updater can be used on any version of Mountain Lion, ie, 10.8, 10.8.1, 10.8.2, 10.8.3, and 10.8.4.

 

While was scrolling in the app store, looking for a mountain lion with a higher number than 10.8.5 I did see a combo updater. Maybe I should try that

 

You did not understand what I stated. The OS 10.8.5 Combo Updater is ONLY useful on a version of Mountain Lion below 10.8.5.

Also, there never was a V10.8.6 of Mountain Lion. The last version of Mountain Lion was V10.8.5.

 

If you see updates in the Apple Store do all of them. The Apple Store app, scans your machine and displays the updates specific to your machine. If you see it on the list, then you need that update before you can proceed to the latest OS.

 

That's only necessary if you use all those apps. Myself, I do not use Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and others, as I have Office 2016, plus other third party apps. For example, right now I see updates for those that I listed, along with iMovie, but I do not use any of those. So why would I waste my time and effort downloading them?

Actually, I wish there was a way to remove Apple apps that I do not use. It would save disk space, and possibly memory usage.

The other issue is that when one selects items from the App Store, in many cases, the app is "upgraded in place", and the original upgrade file is not downloaded. I much prefer to have that original upgrade file. So for another example, I just downloaded the V12.6.1 upgrade for iTunes, and while it did upgrade iTunes to that version, there was no upgrade file. I subsequently downloaded it myself, via other means.

 

Certain apps, specially the Apple ones need to work with their respective OS. For example, a version of Pages that works in 10.8.5 will not work with El Capitan or Sierra. So its good to get your apps version-ready for the new OS.

Without really seeing the error message, its going to be guess work.

 

Again, that's IF you use the app. As I mentioned, I do not use Pages, Numbers, or Keynote. Yes, they appear as upgrades for my machine when I visit the App store, but I do not use them, and thus no need to download the updates. Word 2016 and Excel 2016 work fine as is, and I do upgrade those when newer versions come out (as I do with all of my third party software). Both of my Macs are working fine with OS 10.12.5, without those upgrades from the App store.

And yes, there are times where updates are specifically needed for the OS one is using (along with other reasons/enhancements/fixes, etc.). The same thing is true for third party apps. In fact, in my case, whenever a new Mac OS is scheduled to be released, I will not "move" to that new Mac OS until 6 critical third-party apps I use are either already compatible, or need upgrades. And for the last two Mac OS releases (El Capitan and Sierra), I did not "upgrade/move" to the new OS until after the ".1" version came out, as a couple of my critical third party apps were not yet ready (thus, I initially started with V10.11.1 of El Capitan, and V10.12.1 of Sierra).

Now, if there was a way of removing such unneeded apps from my Macs .....

 

With regards to the original post I would recommend upgrading all the apps when you're making a generational upgrade of the OS. Rule out the updates and then move on to the next issue.

 

I know which of my apps need upgrading for a "generational" upgrade of the Mac OS. Note that I said "my apps". All of the Apple apps are going to be newer versions anyway, and except for iTunes and a few others, I actually don't care about the remaining ones.

As I mentioned above, for the last two "generational" Mac OS upgrades, I waited until the ".1" version to upgrade, as two of my critical third-party apps were not upgraded for the "new" OS until the time between the initial ".0" and subsequent ".1" upgrades.

 

Yea im not a huge fan of getting the latest update as soon as it comes out but Apple has been pretty good about it lately. If you look at the Lion rollout. It was a short-lived OS, and buggy. So I was glad to get a new version. Eh it jus depends everyone is different.

 

Again, I did not upgrade right away because 2 of my critical third-party apps were not compatible with the ".0" version of the Mac OS. Once updates for them were released, I just waited for the ",1" version of the new Mac OS to come out. But, in the past, I have upgraded right away, and never had any issues.

Be that as it may, I still say there is no need to download updates from the App store for apps that one does not need and/or use.

 

You're right there is no need to upgrade software that you have no need or use but you are overlooking the main problem. This individual's machine that should accept Sierra does not. It would be helpful to see the error message.. but without it we are simply guessing at what to do.

In this particular case, you run the updates regardless of what you need or use for the sake of troubleshooting. When you run the updates you want it to flush out any corrupt plist files, or receipts that might be holding up the update from taking place. Once you rule out that there are no more updates and they still get the odd error, (which at this point is unclear) then you move onto the next possible solution. This will be my last post on this issue.

 

I guess the issue is whether the latest versions of all Apple software are needed whenever one does an "in place" generational upgrade with the OS. That is, if one has OS 10.8.5, but some of the Apple apps need upgrades within OS 10.8.5, maybe such upgrades are needed if the next step would be to upgrade to whatever next OS a person wants (ie, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, or Sierra) in place. That is, the new Mac OS upgrades all the required "pieces" of the older Mac OS. Myself, I have never upgraded that way. For a generational upgrade, I first have a clean SuperDuper! backup of that last version of the prior OS. Next, I download the new Mac OS from the App Store (and also make a copy of that file). Then, I boot my Mac from that SuperDuper! backup, use Disk Utility there to Erase and Format my internal drive (SSD in my case), perform a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of the new OS, and finally use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy needed "stuff from that SuperDuper! backup.

Again, I do not know the answer when upgrading the Mac OS in place.

 

I have seen the list of stuff in the 'purchased' column of the app store. Some of them are somewhat meaningless to me. I have used Pages for some things, but have never used keynote. Should I upgrade all of these things to avoid possible trouble? Mavericks is also available. I never wanted it. I've always been perfectly happy with Mountain Lion. I suppose that to get to Sierra, I am going to have to go through Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan to get there. Is that correct?

 

Yes, you will have to get Mavericks to make the transition to the latest OS.

 

No, that's not true. One can go directly from Mountain Lion to ANY "Higher" Mac OS. In fact, some folks have made the leap from Lion to Sierra directly. The keys are 1) making sure one has any needed updates for third party software they own (if needed), and 2) first backup one's current system, then use Disk Utility to Erase and Format the internal drive, then do a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of the new OS, and finally use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy needed stuff from the backup.

For backups, Time Machine is fine, but then the above-mentioned process is very slow and time consuming. But if one has either a SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner Backup (each of them are bootable, and in fact it's just like having another machine), it will be much smoother and quicker. Trust me, I have done the above-mentioned process a number of times via my SuperDuper! backups, and it works like a charm!