The classic OS X 10.12, or rather macOS upgrade, introduced tons of features anyone would still want on their Mac. Why? Because, it's well-tested and secure. Now we'll take a quick look at the legendary macOS Sierra upgrade. (In case you want to upgrade your Mac to macOS 10.13 High Sierra, check out this guide.)
Jan 13, 2011 To see what updates are available for a Mac, or to install a software update from the Terminal of Mac OS X, amongst many other options including how to ignore particular updates, you’ll use the ‘softwareupdate’ command line tool as we’ll instruct below. In all cases, the process of checking for a Mac OS X update is the same, and that process naturally leads to where you can actually do the update too. To start, you’ll want to go to the Apple menu on the top left of your screen, whether it’s your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac or any other Macintosh system. In my case (Xcode 6.1, iOS 8.2) I did not see the update in AppStore. I found Xcode 6.2 for download and pressed 'Install'. Then, it installed and asked for the update (more than 2 Gb). Xcode 6.2 works correctly with iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.1.2. Hopefully this tip will help somebody else. Jul 25, 2016 How to check for updates on a Mac Konstantin Metz. Unsubscribe from Konstantin Metz? How To Upgrade Your Mac to MacOS Sierra - Duration: 12:06. StateofTech 178,090 views. If you bought the app in Apple’s App Store, check it for any updates. Click Updates in the left column of the App Store app. Available updates appear in the larger window on the right.
First and foremost, it brought Siri to your Mac. This is great news for everyone who’s already used to her help on iOS. Then, there’s Watch unlocking for Mac, there’s one-click Apple Pay, tabs in apps, and cross-device copypasting. Just to name a few.
So, if you were on the fence about upgrading to Sierra, and in fact, any newer OS, go right ahead. Your Mac deserves a refreshment.
LEARN MORE: macOS High Sierra 10.13 - The New Features That Matter
How to upgrade macOS: Sierra 10.12 compatibility list
As with the previous versions, macOS Sierra is available for a limited list of Mac models. Here are the models of Macs that are compatible with macOS 10.12 and can upgrade to Sierra:
MacBook Pro
MacBook Air
Mac mini
Mid 2010 or newer
Late 2010 or newer
Mid 2010 or newer
Mac Pro®
MacBook
iMac
Mid 2010 or newer
Late 2009 or newer
Late 2009 or newer
Does order matter when you upgrade macOS?
If your current operating system is OS X Lion (10.7), you can skip a few versions, and upgrade directly to macOS High Sierra. To upgrade to Sierra from, say, Mavericks, you’ll have to consequently upgrade to Yosemite and then to El Capitan first.
Here’s how to find out which OS version you’re running now:
Click Apple icon in the top left corner.
Choose About this Mac.
There you have it, in capital letters.
Memory (RAM): 2 GB (preferably 4 GB) Sierra is pretty lightweight, so you only need 2 GB of RAM to upgrade. Cool, eh?
Disk space: 8 GB of free space on drive. In the same About this Mac menu select 'Storage' tab. In front of the multi-colored bar, you will see the phrase, 'X.XX GB free out of XX.XX GB.' If you don't have at least 8 GB of free space, you should delete some old files.
Before you update macOS, don’t forget to:
How Do I Check For Updates On My Macbook Air
Clean up your Mac
This is essential if you want a fast and effortless update, and glitchless work of your new macOS. And it’s also pretty easy. To give your Mac a cleanup, you need to get rid of system junk, uninstall extra apps, and clean some old caches. If that sounds like a lot of work, you can get a Mac cleaner like CleanMyMac for the job.
How to update your Mac: Clean it up first
Launch it.
Hit Scan to find all the extra files you can delete.
Press Run.
As you can see, I have 8.56 GB worth of caches, obsolete language files, broken downloads. You'll feel great getting rid of them. That will give your Mac a basic system cleanup, but CleanMyMac is going to come in handy after the update as well. It monitors your Mac’s health, helps you speed up the system and remove unnecessary apps (Trashing doesn’t fully uninstall apps, by the way).
Back up your Mac
How Do I Check For Malware On My Macbook Air
This is basic common sense before any Mac software update you’d like to undertake. Why? Well, because sometimes updates happen less smoothly than you’d like them to. To make sure you have all your information and files saved up neatly, you need a backup. To back up your Mac, you need to activate Time Machine.
Open your Applications folder.
Choose Time Machine.
'Select Backup Disk…' Note: You may need to first choose to 'Set Up Time Machine.'
Choose where you'd like to store your backup.
Both an external drive or an Airport Time Capsule fit.
Switch the toggle on the left, from 'OFF' to 'ON.' Right beneath the name of your storage device, you'll see 'Oldest backup,' 'Latest backup,' and 'Next backup' — Your backup will begin within 5 minutes. To speed it up, click the arrow clock icon next to the Date & Time at the top-right of the menu bar and select 'Back Up Now.'
How to download macOS Sierra (or newer macOS) and install it
MacOS Sierra is available since September 20, 2016. If you’re thinking “That’s cool, but how do I update my Mac to it?”, no worries, it’s quite simple.
To download any new macOS and install it you’ll need to do the next:
How Do I Check For Microsoft Updates On My Mac
Open App Store.
Click Updates tab in the top menu.
You’ll see Software Update — macOS Sierra or newer OS
Click Update.
Wait for macOS download and installation.
Your Mac will restart when it’s done.
Now you have a new OS
How Do I Check For Updates On My Mac Computer
We hope this guide has been of use, and don’t forget to clean up your Mac and back it up before you get the classic macOS! Cheers.