OS Yosemite
Can I update my late 2009 Mac from Yosemite to something newer or is this it?
iMac, OS X 10.10
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If you are using a late 2009 iMac you can upgrade to either El Capitan or the slightly newer High Sierra
If you can, connect your mac to your router via cable rather than WiFi.
Please use Safari and click on this link,
How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan – Apple Support
Go to Section 4 and click on Download OS X El Capitan.
This downloads InstallMacOSX.dmg to your Downloads folder.
When downloaded open to InstallMacOSX.pkg, double-click on
that and an installation window will open, this does not install El Capitan
but converts the .pkg to the Install OS X El Capitan.app which you will find in
your Applications folder, it should be 6.2GBs in size.
To start the installation of El Capitan double click on the Install OS X El Capitan.app.
The copy of the install app self deletes after installing El Capitan, so make sure you keep a copy of the InstallMacOSX.dmg
if you need it in future, or you could just make a copy of the Install OS X El Capitan.app prior to installing and moving it to
an external drive for safe keeping. It is also possible to create a bootable USB installer disk, using the Install OS X El Capitan.app
in the Applications folder, and the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal app. Read the instructions here,
How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support
If you want to upgrade to High Sierra follow this link, please use Safari as your browser.
How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra - Apple Support
Again go to Section 4 and click on Get macOS High Sierra,
this will download Install macOS High Sierra.app directly to your Applications folder.
To start the installation simply click on the Install macOS High Sierra.app,
or create a bootable installer using the instructions above.
Before upgrading make a full back up of your Mac.
Check that third party apps you use have updates available for the new OS.
Check that your printers/ scanners etc have updated drivers and software available for the new OS.
Do not use your mac while it is downloading
and do not use any other devices that share the same internet connection.
