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Unintended OS update

I'm on an iMac running Mojave 10.14.6..

I'm trying to update my iPhone.

I am being prompted to update my iMac in order to update my iPhone to version 14.0.


At this time, I can not update my iMac to Catalina due to software conflicts.


Question:

If I follow the prompt ("A software update is required to update your iphone. Would you like to download and install this update now?") will this update my OS to Catalina?

I tried the "Learn More" button but found no answer to this question.

Thanks in advance for responses.



[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Personal Information]



iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 22, 2020 7:43 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 22, 2020 8:37 PM

I just updated my iPhone 8 while it was connected to my Mac running Mojave and it only updated the iPhone. Like you I hesitated for several minutes to make sure that I fully understood what exactly was going to happen. All went well, in fact it seemed to take less time to upgrade the phone then using the iPhones updater.


However if you are not sure or feel uncomfortably, then it might be best to eject and disconnect, then update the iPhone using the iPhones internal updater.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 22, 2020 8:37 PM in response to Update-imac-or-not

I just updated my iPhone 8 while it was connected to my Mac running Mojave and it only updated the iPhone. Like you I hesitated for several minutes to make sure that I fully understood what exactly was going to happen. All went well, in fact it seemed to take less time to upgrade the phone then using the iPhones updater.


However if you are not sure or feel uncomfortably, then it might be best to eject and disconnect, then update the iPhone using the iPhones internal updater.

Oct 23, 2020 10:26 PM in response to Update-imac-or-not

I got the same ambiguous message, and hesitated also, without knowing exactly what would be updated, and not having time to play around with whatever a major update might break.


I ended up updating the phone directly (not with the Mac), due to an app that already stopped working due to needing the latest phone iOS. After that, I can't sync / backup the phone to the Mac any more either. So I was forced into the macOS update.


The update that downloaded for me only took a couple of minutes, and appears to just be something that has updated within iTunes. It didn't update me to the "new" replacement iTunes, and didn't try to update me to Catalina. So this update looks safe from that perspective - you are likely OK to just proceed and accept the update.


I suspect all that was updated was an internal macOS framework, as mentioned in an older post for the same message here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251462082

Unintended OS update

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