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Upgrading pretty much everything

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AlexR

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Messages
55
Location
Radnorshire, UK
Lightroom Experience
Beginner
Lightroom Version
Lightroom Version Number
LR6 to Classic
Operating System
  1. macOS 10.14 Mojave
Hi - I currently use two Macs, one a 2013 27" iMac running on Mojave 10.14.6 and using LR 6.14. For a recent long journey I bought a MacBook running Monterey 12.3.1 and with a subscription to LR Classic 11.2.
My questions are - if I upgrade the iMac to run on Catalina 10.15.7 (the latest OS available for this model) - will this allow me to install and safely run LR Classic 11xx ? And will it allow me to safely access my old images (about 75,000), originally imported and processed with LR6? Is there a safe recommended procedure for such an upgrade?
I shall be extremely grateful for any advice.

Thanks,
Alex
 
The official System Requirements for current version of Classic (11.x) categorically state that Catalina is the minimum version required, so if your iMac can indeed be upgraded to Catalina then you should be OK to upgrade your perpetual LR6 to the latest version of LrClassic: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html

One thing to note, however, is that it is almost certain that Catalina support will be dropped when Apple introduces the Monterey replacement and Adobe releases the version 12 of LrClassic....both of which are presumably happening later this year.
 
As for the second part of your question:
And will it allow me to safely access my old images (about 75,000), originally imported and processed with LR6? Is there a safe recommended procedure for such an upgrade?
Assuming you can successfully upgrade your operating system and that Lightroom Classic runs OK on it, then the first time you open the new Lightroom Classic with your old catalog, it will automatically upgrade that catalog to the latest version (it will make a new copy of the catalog). It should be quite easy and transparent. All your old photos and their edits should be preserved.

Just in case, always ensure you make a good backup (of the catalog and the photos) before you make any changes! See: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/backup-lightroom-files/.

Going forward, you will have to think about whether you want to run Lightroom Classic on the old computer or the new MacBook, or both. See https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-to-lightroom-catalog-multiple-computers/.
 
The official System Requirements for current version of Classic (11.x) categorically state that Catalina is the minimum version required, so if your iMac can indeed be upgraded to Catalina then you should be OK to upgrade your perpetual LR6 to the latest version of LrClassic: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html

One thing to note, however, is that it is almost certain that Catalina support will be dropped when Apple introduces the Monterey replacement and Adobe releases the version 12 of LrClassic....both of which are presumably happening later this year.
Thanks for your help - it's an interim measure, as I hope to be able to buy a new iMac with much more storage later this year
Alex
 
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