Upgrade to Monterey! Now!

I have a Macbook Pro that’s still on Big Sur. Every week or so, I get a notification asking me to upgrade to Monterey. New File Sharing Options! SharePlay! More New Features!.

The problem is that my MacBook Pro is too old to upgrade to Monterey. Big Sur is the last supported update I can get. Yet, the missives to upgrade keep coming.

Anyone else having this issue?

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Yes, same issue here on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, Mid-2014). Just for fun I tried installing Monterey from that same notification. Of course it failed with an error. Also, of course, Apple doesn’t allow users to turn off Software Update notifications either. Yet Software Update has never learned. Where’s that touted Apple AI when it could be useful?

My Mac Pro 6,1 Late 2013 can’t be upgraded to Ventura this fall either, so that has prompted me to order a Mac Studio with the Studio Display. Both will be delivered in late July or early August. I’ll be ordering the M2 MacBook Air when Apple allows it to replace the MacBook Pro.

That pending delivery allows me to easily ignore the bogus upgrade notifications until then. I’ll get the last laugh when the MacBook Pro is wiped and returned to Apple for a trade-in refund. (Die, notification that doesn’t allow me to turn you off, die!)

My Late 2013 MacBook Pro can’t run anything newer than Big Sur and I don’t receive any notifications to install Monterey. From where are these notifications coming? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Software Update notification that touted the capabilities of an OS upgrade.

I also intend to replace this MacBook Pro with an M2 MacBook Air once they’re available.

I’m not jealous at all.:nauseated_face:

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Maybe that’s the whole idea.

“Look at these neat new features in Monetary! Wouldn’t you love to have them? Oh, wait a second. Your Mac is too old to get Monterey. Never mind.

“Oh, here’s a new Monterey feature! And it’s… Oh, that’s right. Your Mac is too old.

What to do? What to do?

Did we mention our new M2 Macs?

They slide out onto the Desktop from the upper right corner just like all the other regular notifications. Except instead of showing in the usual plain colored dialogue, they appear with the shades of purple background of Monterey’s login screen. And they do tout the benefits of Monterey. They have an “Install” button as well as a “Later” button; the Install button is what I pressed out of curiosity to see what would happen.

I would include a screenshot for clarification, but the notification doesn’t appear every time the laptop is booted. It’s on some kind of schedule I haven’t pinned down. Of course, now that I would like it to appear for a screenshot, it has gone dormant.

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Do you have Automatically Keep My Mac Up To Date checked in System Preferences > Software Update? And what about Install macOS Updates in the Advanced dialog?

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Yes, same thing here.

In looking for a screenshot online, I found Macworld had an article about this phenomenon in February. Incompatible Macs getting download Monterey alerts

Tweet with a screenshot.

BTW, my old Mac is set to only Automatically Check for updates, Download new updates when available, and Install system data files and security updates. I do get more boring-looking notifications from Software Update and the App Store about updates.

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Speaking only for myself, of course, I do not have “Automatically Keep My Mac Up To Date” nor “Install macOS updates” checked. I do have “Install system data files and security updates” checked. Just as a data point.

Personally I would like the persistent notification to upgrade MacOS (which you cannot dismiss without clicking “install” or “details”) to die in a fire. I never want to see it. It frequently blocks something I want to click that is behind the notification. Apple should allow you to turn this notification off, just like any other; they should allow you to dismiss it without taking action, just like any other notification.

All of the systems I own are eligible to upgrade to Monterey, but starting this fall I’ll have only an iMac that can actually install Ventura, so we’ll see then if they keep getting the notification.

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I can dismiss the Monterey notification by hovering near the upper left corner of the (annoying, I completely agree) notification and clicking on the X that appears. Are you talking about something else?

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Unfortunately, no such luck for me, nor can I two-finger swipe to the right to dismiss, as you can with other notifications. I dismissed it this time by hitting “details”. This is on Mojave, by the way, which I want to keep on Mojave for this machine for now.

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You have my sympathy. (I’m also running Mojave; it’s curious that we’re seeing different behaviors.)

LOL, now I’m also getting the notification to install Monterey on my Late 2013 MBP that can’t run it.

macOS Notification: Upgrade to macOS Monterey. Get new FaceTime features, SharePlay, and Live Text.

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I get this too, on my “trashcan” Mac Pro running High Sierra. Fortunately, I just have to click the “Not Now” button to get rid of it until the next time. What’s more irritating to me is Apple’s pell-mell annual OS upgrade schedule, with “features” I don’t need that will break stuff I depend on right and left. I’d much rather see Apple put some of its hundreds of billions in cash toward issuing security updates for legacy systems, but that wouldn’t force us to buy new machines. I’m a luddite curmudgeon, I guess.

The difference between your situation, with a MacPro (Late 2013) and my situation, with a MacBook Pro (Mid-2014) is you can update to Monterey if you chose to do so. So one could at least justify Apple nagging you to do so, in the name of security. My MacBook Pro is unable to update to Monterey by Apple’s own rules, so why is Apple nagging me to update when they won’t allow me to?

Why doesn’t the same software algorithm that determines I can’t install Monterey also turn off the nagging notification?

I think that’s the point this thread is trying to make.

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I finally updated my Big Sur installation on a 2019 iMac, to Monterey.
While I notice some subtle differences, for the moment (only two days in) I really don’t see anything that I could not do in Big Sur, in Monterey.
So, those who can’t update, you really ain’t missing much.

Rich the Weather Guy

@terryk

I agree. I imagine the reason Apple keeps nagging the owners of ineligible machines is to prompt them to buy a new one.

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If so, then it worked in my case. As I mentioned earlier, I’m buying a new M2 MacBook Air as soon as I’m allowed. So my current behavior is reinforcing the very Apple policy I’m railing against. That’s unfortunate, he said sheepishly…