I have a macbook pro (2013) which currently has High Sierra 10.13.6. Can I safely download macos Sonoma?

i downloaded mojavie on a late 2013 mackbook

The macOS version you can upgrade to depends on the year your Mac was released.

Click the Apple menu () at the top of your screen and choose About This Mac.

The 2013 MacBook Pro cannot be upgraded beyond macOS 11 Big Sur. And you may upgrade to 10.14 Mojave or 10.15 Catalina as well.

➡️ macOS 10.14 Mojave is compatible with the Macs listed here

➡️ macOS 10.15 Catalina is compatible with the Macs listed here

➡️ macOS 11 Big Sur is compatible with the Macs listed here

➡️ macOS 12 Monterey is compatible with the Macs listed here

➡️ macOS 13 Ventura is compatible with the Macs listed here

➡️ macOS 14 Sonoma is compatible with the Macs listed here

❗️ – IMPORTANT – None of your 32-bit apps will work in macOS Catalina or newer. This includes older MS Office apps and any other older software apps and drivers. These will require that you find 64-bit updates and/or replacement titles.

32-bit app compatibility with macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later - Apple Support

Use the free utility Go64 to check the 64-bit compatibility of your apps:

https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/

❗️ Do NOT upgrade

…until you have made a Time Machine or other backup of your startup drive.

Learn How to Back up your Mac with Time Machine

✅ - Download the appropriate macOS upgrade installer app:

Click > 10.13 High Sierra,  10.14 Mojave,  10.15 Catalina,  macOS 11 Big Sur.

Once downloaded, double-click the “Install macOS…” app in the Applications folder to begin the upgrade.

Please see > How to download macOS - Apple Support.

Also, if you are having trouble connecting to and using certain websites with your older version of Safari, try it with a newer third party browser that is still being updated to meet current internet security protocols.

I suggest you take a look at Firefox browser or Brave browser.

Download an alternative browser and install it into your Applications folder. Launch and use that when you encounter websites that don't play well with Safari.

In "About this Mac..." on your computer, the words "Early" and "Late" are hugely pertinent to your question about the OS upgrade path on your 2013 Macbook Pro:

• If "Early 2013," it can run no higher than macOS 10.15 "Catalina."
• If "Late 2013," it can run no higher than macOS 11 "Big Sur."

EDIT:

Whoa!! I just noticed you parenthetical sentence:

(I love it because it is probably one of the last ones with an internal CD/DVD drive!)

If it has an internal optical drive, it cannot be a 2013 model. The last Macbook Pros with that drive were the non-Retina Mid 2012 models. Your doing "About this Mac..." is important. Please clarify what you have so we don't sent you on a wild goose chase!

A Mid 2012 Macbook Pro can only run up to macOS 10.15 "Catalina." 2011 modeld cannot run higher than 10.13 "High Sierra."

Thanks for the follow-up.

Fid you try the FireFox "ESR"?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-to-firefox-extended-support-release-esr

I am using it on two Macs, including a Mid 2012 Macbook Pro13-inch with Mojave 10.14 and have no issues with "unsupported" notices so far.

I don't understand this sequence of 2 sentences, which seem to be at odds with one another: "The 2013 MacBook Pro cannot be upgraded beyond macOS 11 Big Sur. And you may upgrade to 10.14 Mojave or 10.15 Catalina as well."

I have late 2013 Macbook Pro. According to the page linked above, about which Macs are compatible with Catalina, it should be upgradable to Catalina. However, when I download the update, it says the update is too old to install. Also, my Mac itself seems to think its software version (Big Sur) is up-to-date.

So, which is it: can I install Catalina and is there some trick to doing so? Or is Apple's info on that upgrade page (macOS Catalina is compatible with these computers - Apple Support) simply wrong?