I'm currently on macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and I would like to upgrade to a newer OS. But which one would be better for these specs?
iMac (Retina 5K, 27", Late 2015)
Processor 4 Ghz Intel Core i7
Memory 8 GB 1867 Mhz DDR3
Graphics AMD Radeon R9 M390 2048 MB
Thank you
iMac 27″, macOS 10.12
8GB RAM is adequate, but 16-24GB would be better. I'm running Monterey flawlessly on 20GB (2018 Mac mini) but so far haven't ever actually needed more than 16GB.
Three OS versions you should consider:
a) Mojave (10.14) - Last version with 32-bit app support. If you are still on Sierra you might have legacy applications that are still important... or not.
b) Big Sur (11) - I usually consider the penultimate supported OS to provide optimal performance.
c) Monterey (12) - Slightly more resource intensive than Big Sur which can be noticeable on older hardware (16GB+ RAM recommended), but it is also the oldest that supports Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers, etc) updates so installing this will offer better modern software support.
Big Sur and Monterey also prefer to run on SSDs. If you have a 1TB Fusion drive and wish to run Big Sur or newer I would suggest buying a high capacity external USB 3.0 SSD and installing MacOS onto that.
8GB RAM is adequate, but 16-24GB would be better. I'm running Monterey flawlessly on 20GB (2018 Mac mini) but so far haven't ever actually needed more than 16GB.
Three OS versions you should consider:
a) Mojave (10.14) - Last version with 32-bit app support. If you are still on Sierra you might have legacy applications that are still important... or not.
b) Big Sur (11) - I usually consider the penultimate supported OS to provide optimal performance.
c) Monterey (12) - Slightly more resource intensive than Big Sur which can be noticeable on older hardware (16GB+ RAM recommended), but it is also the oldest that supports Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers, etc) updates so installing this will offer better modern software support.
Big Sur and Monterey also prefer to run on SSDs. If you have a 1TB Fusion drive and wish to run Big Sur or newer I would suggest buying a high capacity external USB 3.0 SSD and installing MacOS onto that.
Hi,
Yes it runs Monterey. I did mistook it, though 8GB is too little memory even Big Sur, and Monterey as well.
So He/She should upgrade RAM first.
Hi,
Big Sur is the latest, though you should upgrade RAM, at least 32GB.
Monterey runs beautifully on mine:
This is from Mactracker
padams35 wrote:
b) Big Sur (11) - I usually consider the penultimate supported OS to provide optimal performance.
Big Sur is no longer supported.
FWIW, Monterey will run with 8GB RAM. How much you actually need depends on what apps you want to run, how many you want to run at one time, and whether you have a HDD, Fusion Drive or SSD. 8GB may be enough, or not near enough.
dialabrain wrote:
Big Sur is no longer supported.
Supported as in the OS supports the hardware, not supported as in still receiving Apple updates.
(Although Big Sur did just receive a security update last September)
padams35 wrote:
Supported as in the OS supports the hardware, not supported as in still receiving Apple updates.
(Although Big Sur did just receive a security update last September)
Personally, I wouldn't recommend a version of macOS that is no longer supported. Not to mention that there are current versions of software that require supported versions of macOS.
I guess I did mention it. 😎
how much RAM do you have?
Thank you for the extended response. Forgot to mention I have the OS installed on a internal 256GB Flash Storage.
Which macOS is good for my Late 2015 iMac?
