Apple's MacOS High Sierra update offers lots of behind-the-scenes changes that should make the Apple's desktop OS easy to use. High Sierra might disappoint those looking for whizzy new features, but Apple's focus on core improvements will make for a more responsive and more secure OS. Pros Flashy file system: With High Sierra, Apple switches to a new file system for MacOS flash storage. Called Apple File System, MacOS's new file system is now used across all Apple platforms - from the Apple Watch and Apple TV to the iPhone and Macs - to organize storage. Apple File System is tailored for flash storage and solid state drives and replaces HFS+, the hard-disk-drive file system Apple rolled out in 1998.
The Mac's new file system will also focus on privacy and security, Apple said, and embrace full disk encryption. And because the new file system is designed for SSDs, the system and apps should feel more responsive. Be aware that just Macs with SSD drives will get the new file system. If you have a Mac with a hard-disk drive or hybrid Fusion drive, you will stay on HFS+.
The next version of Apple’s operating system for the Mac is called macOS High Sierra.While the OS is mostly about software refinements, it also lays the foundation for future innovations in the. Upgrade to macOS Mojave. If you don’t have broadband access, you can upgrade your Mac at any Apple Store. Learn more about how to upgrade to macOS Mojave. General Requirements. Peer-to-peer AirPlay requires a Mac (2012 or later) and an Apple TV (3rd generation rev A, model A1469 or later) with Apple TV software 7.0 or later.
And a note of caution: Because High Sierra incorporates a new file system, make sure you've got a complete and current backup of the contents of your storage device before upgrading to High Sierra in case the upgrade goes south. And unless you absolutely have to run High Sierra, consider holding off on moving to the new OS until Apple and early adopters have had a good chance to test it out. Photos gets more organized, with more powerful editing tools: Photos for MacOS High Sierra has an improved sidebar designed to let you more easily organize and access photos, including letting you reorder sections by dragging them around. Apple also tweaked the toolbar so you can easily navigate to photos, Moments, Collections, and Years.
And Photos gains a powerful collection of editing tools, including new filters, a new curves tool for tuning color and contrast, and a selective color tool for making changes to a specific color in an image. And you can add effects to Live Photos.
And if you have a favorite non-Photos editor, High Sierra lets you edit images in Photos in a third-party app; Photos saves your edits in a layer. Snappier browsing: Apple said it's made improvements under Safari's hood that will result in the fastest browser experience. Safari will also give you better control over website tracking on autoplay videos. Better video: Apple is incorporating H.265 into High Sierra. That's High Efficiency Video Coding, a new video compression standard that should produce better-looking video and take up less space. More broadly, Apple is reworking how the OS handles graphics for high-performance games and VR. Nice changes throughout: High Sierra includes a basketful of updates to the standard collection of Mac apps: You can now check flight status in Spotlight; Siri gets a more natural sounding voice; you add tables to Notes; iCloud gains improved file sharing; you can capture Live Photos in FaceTime; and you have finer control over Family Sharing.
Still free: It's easy to overlook now, but Apple used to charge for its OS. The first wobbly public beta of Mac OS X, for example, cost $29.95 17 years ago. Apple can give away its OS by making money on its hardware and services and taking a cut of third-party app sales.
Same system requirements as Sierra: You should be able to run High Sierra on the same Macs as its predecessor ran on: iMacs and MacBooks from late 2009 and later; and MacBook Airs, the MacBook Pros, Mac Minis, and Mac Pros from 2010 and later. Cons iTunes frustration: From selling movies to managing your music, iTunes tries to do it all. But having one app manage your songs, TV shows, movies, and podcasts can make you crazy. (At least Apple removed iOS app purchases.) iOS takes a more sensible approach, splitting iTunes into individual apps for music, video, and store purchases, so you know where exactly to look for your items. Limited iCloud backup: To make a local backup, Mac users have the handy Time Machine utility.
High Sierra For Mac
But simple backup to the cloud - like what iOS offers through iCloud Backup - is lacking. While Mac users can use third-party tools for remote backup, a built-in method from Apple that uses iCloud would be welcome. Bottom Line Apple continues to perfect its desktop OS with High Sierra. Many of the improvements are under the hood, so the new OS may not look much different, but users will get a more stable, more secure, and more responsive MacOS.
Further ReadingMessages in iCloud has been in the works for a long time, and it has appeared and disappeared from various beta releases of Apple software. It was earlier this week, and now it's supported on Macs. The feature allows you to store communications you receive and send within the Messages app—plus associated file attachments—in iCloud to save space on your local device. It also means that changes like deleting messages are propagated across devices, and a new Mac that is logged into your iCloud account will immediately have access to your Messages history. Note that this feature will require you to have some free storage in iCloud, as that service comes with a fee that scales based on the amount of storage you choose.
Here are Apple's release notes for 10.13.5, which also touch on some enterprise updates: The macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 Update improves the stability, performance, and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users. This update adds support for Messages in iCloud, which lets you store messages with their attachments in iCloud and free up space on your Mac.
To enable Messages in iCloud, go to Preferences in Messages, click Accounts, then select ”Enable Messages in iCloud.” Enterprise content:. now expand properly. Configuration profiles containing a and install as expected when the KeyIsExtractable key of the SCEP payload is set to false. 10.13.5 includes some security updates as well, which Apple has. For example, the update addresses vulnerabilities in graphics drivers for Intel and AMD chips that allowed applications to read restricted memory, and it fixes a vulnerability in the Mail app that allowed attackers to access the contents of encrypted emails. The update follows 10.13.4, which among other things and new privacy features—though we found that.
Apple is expected to announce the details of macOS 10.14, a more major release expected in September, at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4.