iMac 2009 upgrade to Sierra or High Sierra?

Question

Level 1

5 points

iMac 2009 upgrade to Sierra or High Sierra?

I understood that High Sierra comes with a new file system and that this might pose a problem when working with a hard disk (none SSD)

I have a late 2009 iMac, DVD drive replaced for a SSD, which is now the system drive and 20G of memory installed. The original 1 TB hard drive is still present and used as an internal second drive.

The only reason I might want to upgrade this machine from El Capitan is because I want to start using Scrivener 3.

Scrivener 3 also works on Sierra.

Questions:

1) with this late 2009 iMac should I upgrade to Sierra or High Sierra?

2) Should I upgrade from El Capitan at all?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

KC

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Dec 17, 2017 7:04 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Dec 17, 2017 8:15 AM in response to Keyser-Soze

If you install High Sierra on a Mac that doesn't have a SSD, it will install as HFS+, so I don't see how that there would be any issues at all.

You should have a full backup of your drive before any upgrade, so I don't understand how there would be any risk involved in experimenting with it beforehand.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Dec 17, 2017 7:16 AM in response to Keyser-Soze

See this page: How to download macOS Sierra - Apple Support

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Dec 17, 2017 7:12 AM in response to Keyser-Soze

1. Your only choice is High Sierra as Sierra is no longer available from the AppStore.

2. Your call.

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Answer 4

Keyser-Soze Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 17, 2017 7:16 AM in response to macjack

Thank you for your quick reply.

Actually, the Sierra installed can be downloaded from Apple. I just did.

So, back to question 1: any thoughts?

Thanks again

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Dec 17, 2017 7:17 AM in response to Keyser-Soze

I see you found it. 😎

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Answer 6

Keyser-Soze Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 17, 2017 7:23 AM in response to dialabrain

Yes, thanks.

Any thoughts on Sierra vs High Sierra on a late 2009 iMac?

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Answer 7

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Dec 17, 2017 7:23 AM in response to Keyser-Soze

If you want my advice, your iMac will only support a subset of Sierra, and an even smaller subset of High Sierra. So I don't think it makes all that much sense to upgrade to High Sierra over Sierra.

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Answer 8

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Dec 17, 2017 8:13 AM in response to dialabrain

Hmm, didn't realize it was still available.

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Answer 9

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Dec 17, 2017 8:26 AM in response to macjack

macjack wrote:

Hmm, didn't realize it was still available.

At least for now.

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