You can now go ahead and download macOS Catalina final version for your Mac with Apple Arcade, Sidecar, new Music, TV, Podcast apps and more.
Download macOS Catalina Today with Tons of New Features
The moment you have been finally waiting for is here: you can go right ahead and download macOS Catalina on your notebook or desktop as long as you have a compatible machine. If you are unsure whether or not you have a compatible Mac, then you should out the list here. But for the sake of convenience, we'll lay down the list below anyway:
- MacBook 2015 and later
- MacBook Air 2012 and later
- MacBook Pro 2012 and later
- Mac mini 2012 and later
- iMac 2012 and later
- iMac Pro 2017 and later
- Mac Pro 2013 and later
Note: You can check the model of your Mac by clicking on the Apple logo in the menu bar, then About this Mac. The first line shows the make and model number.
According to the list, anything beyond a 2012 Mac from Apple is good enough to run Catalina. But before you go ahead and download macOS Catalina right away, it's important to know that you should backup all your data to a safe and secure location first. You can either use iCloud Drive to save your important stuff, take a Time Machine backup or just use the old-school method of copying your files to an external hard drive. Totally your call which route you take as long as everything is safe and secure.
How to Download and Install macOS Catalina?
Once the backup part is out of the way, you now have to decide which method you are going to use for installation. There are three in total:
- Over the air method which retains your files and settings
- Internet recovery method for clean installation
- USB installer method for clean installation
The first method is the simplest as it retains all your files and settings. But the only downside is that you might end up experiencing a lot of performance related issues. If you are lucky, you might not experience them at all and everything will just go through nice and smoothly.
The second method is basically a clean install. This will wipe your Mac clean, hence backup everything, and you'll start off fresh. This method requires a fast internet connection if you want everything to happen in a snap.
Last but not the least, you can create a bootable USB installer and use that to clean install macOS Catalina on your Mac. The process is somewhat hectic but not impossible at all as outlined in our dedicated guide at the foot of this post.
Personally, I would suggest going straight from the internet recovery method since it doesn't involve any USB drives. But the USB installer method might come in handy if you are installing Catalina on multiple Macs at the same time. Just safely store the USB anywhere with you and you'll be up and running in no time in case something goes south.
Download macOS Catalina Straight from the Mac App Store or Over the Air
Looking for the Mac App Store link for Catalina? We have you covered in that regard:
In order to download macOS Catalina over the air, just connect to the internet and follow the steps outlined below:
Step 1. Launch System Preferences.
Step 2. Click on Software Updates.
Step 3. Wait for the page to thoroughly refresh and you'll see the update pop right up.
Step 4. Click on Upgrade Now.
Check out the tutorials below on how to download macOS Catalina and install it on your Mac right now:
- How to Create macOS Catalina USB Installer Drive for Clean Install
- How to download macOS Catalina installer without Mac App Store
- How to Clean Install macOS Catalina on Mac [Detailed Tutorial]
- Download and Install macOS Catalina Using Internet Recovery
About the author: Uzair has been writing about tech for a little under 10 years. Started off in the Symbian days, migrated to Android, eventually settling on iOS and Mac to make a living. Loves photography, drones, talking about the latest tech, and firmly believes that iPad is the future of computing. Served as Editor-in-Chief with Redmond Pie for five years, author at The Readers Eye and many other freelance gigs. Wccftech is now his current home.
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