Ugh. Am I about to enter the black hole of OS Upgrades?

[wurm]

The good news is that I am soon to take possession of a brand new iPhone SE 2020. So in my desire to make the upgrade from my Original SE as painless as possible, I figured I'd do a backup since it's been a while. So far, so good. However in researching why I'm having some sync issues (Calendars and Contacts) between my Mac Mini and my iPhone, I'm realizing that while my iPhone is running iOS 14.3, my Mini is on El Capitan (10.11.6) and apparently there are many things that won't "just work" as a result.

So I guess the first question is how far can I Upgrade my Mini (for free), so I can get at least a step or two closer to compatibility? I've never had a desire to get the latest OS and it probably wouldn't work with a 2012 Mini anyway. I'm also in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" camp. But I realize there does come a time when one can't put it off any longer. And until I just looked, I didn't realize just how far behind I am.

Any suggestions for a safe Upgrade that isn't likely to break a bunch of stuff I need to use regularly? Do I try for High Sierra? Catalina? Big Sur? And what will actually be available for me to download and install?

Thanks.

[Sarcany]

A Late 2012 can go to Catalina, tho I wouldn't do it without a fast SSD boot drive.

...But if you have any older apps that you want to keep around, you should stop at Mojave.

[Gareth]

High Sierra switches to APFS file system. You can jump through some hoops (cloning the system to an HFS+ drive) and continue running HFS+ if you really want to (I am). Really, I think the only thing that doesn't like APFS (that I use) is Quicken 2007.

Mojave forces you into APFS.

Catalina (and Big Sur) drops support for 32 bit apps, so figure out if you use any of those. (I still use Excel 2011 and Quicken 2007, which is why I still use High Sierra).

Big Sur is not officially supported for your Mini.

Apple has pretty much made all these OS's free and available now, though it can take some searching to find the right download links for the older OS's.

I can't say which is the best OS choice for you, but I don't notice any syncing issues with High Sierra.

[wurm]

Thank you. My work Macbook Pro is running Catalina so I'm familiar with that.

My Mini does have an SSD installed as its only drive, so I guess that's a good sign. However I do use Quicken 2007 regularly so I don't relish the idea of losing that.

Remind me again please how to determine which of my apps are 32 bit.

-edit-

Never mind that last question. I found out how...and I found out I have a boatload of 32 bit apps. Now I have to see if there are any I really need or of i just bite the bullet and fuggetaboutem.

[Sarcany]

wurm wrote:
Remind me again please how to determine which of my apps are 32 bit.

System Information (Or About This Mac > System Report) > Applications.

Sort using the "64-Bit (Intel)" column.

Okay. Neverminded.

[GGD]

wurm wrote:
However I do use Quicken 2007 regularly so I don't relish the idea of losing that.

Now I have to see if there are any I really need or of i just bite the bullet and fuggetaboutem.

Quicken 2007 is a 32 bit app, so that seems like one you really need. (I'm in the same boat).

[wurm]

Okay, then. Looks like if go anywhere further it'll be to Mojave. Too many 32 bit apps I use too often. Then we're back to the question of whether there's anything in Mojave that would tempt me to upgrade at all at this time. Something to think about.

Thanks.

[jdc]

Assuming you are doing all the OS upgrades so your iPhone can plug into your mac?

My advice... skip it.

iOS + OS + iTunes = headache unless everything is latest and greatest.

Although others struggle with the cloud... If you want a backup... iCloud. Turn on, pay $1/mo for the extra storage... forget about it.

[mattkime]

Can you sync via cloud services? Might avoid forcing software upgrades.

[MrNoBody]

Gareth wrote:
Mojave forces you into APFS.

It does? News to me....