High Sierra upgrading tip
This tip is part of a series of tips for the client editions of Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11El Capitan
10.12 Sierra, and 10.13 High Sierra (beginning of APFS), and 10.14 Mojave (end of 32 bit apps), 10.15 Catalina, 11.0 Big Sur, 12.0 Monterey, 13.0 Ventura, and 14.0 Sonoma client release.
A new tip, which affects all High Sierra and older OS users:
Microsoft Office 2019 High Sierra Support… - Apple Community
Questions regarding the Server release in Apple menu -> About This Mac, need to go to the macOS Server - Apple Community forum.
Note, some downloads from Apple do not work in Safari for earlier Mac OSes, see this tip if you find you can't download them anymore, to find a browser that will work.
10.13 HIgh Sierra, is not to be confused with 13.0 Ventura, the new operating system for 2022.
10.14 Mojave has been released on 9/24/2018.
Backup your data before installing any new system. Please do not consider any reports of compatibility for 10.14 as accurate until published after that date. 10.13.6 users can use the 2020-003 High Sierra update for the latest security enhancements and maintain their 10.13.6 compatibility. Run the 10.13.6 Combo update if running an earlier version of 10.13 and desiring those security enhancements.
Be forewarned, Macs with solid state drives will be updated in formatting to APFS with 10.13 or later (this is discussed later in the tip, but bears repeating). This means if you need to downgrade the machine, you will need to erase the partition with the older HFS extended GUID to use the older systems. Regardless of which direction you go, backup your data first. This is only for Macs older than September 25, 2017.
Go to Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Date and Time and select the closest time server to set your time, and do so. Download based on manual time may fail, especially on older systems where the system time is not set right.
All Macs prebundled with 10.13 can be upgraded to Monterey.
High Sierra, which has the same system requirements as Sierra
(The Sierra requirements below include the hardware machine ID in the System report
- MacBook (Late 2009 or newer) 6,1
- MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) 6,1
- MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer) 3,1
- Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer) 4,1
- iMac (Late 2009 or newer) 10,1
- Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) 5,1
)
is still available. The official links for 10.13 High Sierra is below
How to get old versions of macOS - Apple Support and can be installed from 10.12 or earlier based on the specs below. Some have had trouble downloading the direct link. https://brave.com/ has been found to be a better web browser than some if you run into issues and runs with 10.10 or later. Other full upgrade installers around on How to get old versions of macOS - Apple Support
If you have an older Mac and wonder if you can upgrade to Sierra or high Sierra, I have posted this tip as well.
Which 10.6 Macs can install Mac OS Sierra and High Sierra
These tips all refer to the client version. If you are using Mac OS X server, please check: Server forums
for more posts on Mac OS X Server.
On September 25, 2017, Apple released 10.13 High Sierra for Macs. It has the same minimum requirements as its predecessor, except that it needs to be updated from 10.8. However, if you want support for Apple's new hardware acceleration, you will need:
iMac: late 2015 27" or newer, 2017 21.5" or newer
MacBook: early 2016 or newer
MacBook Pro: late 2016 or newer
Backing up your data before installation as always is a must. Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
are directions for creating a separate partition that will allow you to dual boot into an older operating system
if you find something not compatible with the current. Once you install the older operating system, you can use the Startup manager to dual boot to the older system
A new file system has been introduced with 10.13, known as APFS:
How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended when formatting a disk for Mac - Apple Support
discusses when to use it. A tip I wrote earlier discusses the advantages of other file systems as well:
How to format a drive, or disc for maximu… - Apple Community
RoaringApps continues to provide a third party listing that when updated past the release date is fairly reliable for the operating system. Please update it if you find inconsistencies.
The forum macOS High Sierrafrom Apple offers user to user Apple moderated discussion about the unique features of the operating system.
Other user tip authors are welcome to contribute any specific updates.
10.13.1 was discovered to have a serious root bug which was eventually fixed with 10.13.2.
10.13.2 was released December 7, 2017
10.13.3 was released January 23, 2018
10.13.4 was released March 29, 2018
10.13.5 was released June 1, 2018
10.13.6 was released July 9, 2018
Safari 12.0.1 was released on October 31st for both Sierra and High Sierra through the App Store.
Security Update 2019-007 was released December 10, 2019, and is only available for 10.13.6. This update has had random issues with some computers. Always backup your data, and always check the health of your computer.
https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx
is able to check the health of the hard drive, before installing the update, which is found here:
Download Security Update 2019-007 (High Sierra)
Apple High Sierra RAW Camera support is discussed on this article.
Note: Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
are directions for creating a separate partition that will allow you to dual boot into an older operating system
if you find something not compatible with the current. Once you install the older operating system, you can use the Startup manager to dual boot to the older system.
Sometimes certificate issues in installation or download can be resolved by adjusting the computer's time.
[Edited by Moderator]