Look just below the OS X version number in the Overview tab – if the Mac model name is the same or a later model year than the one shown in the compatibility list above, your Mac is compatible with Sierra. macOS Sierra supports the following:Īnother way of checking if your Mac is compatible is to open the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen and selecting About This Mac. Alternatively, save a bootable mirror image of your system to an external drive using a clone utility like SuperDuper! ($27.95) or Carbon Copy Cloner ($39.99).īefore you do anything, check that your Mac is compatible with Apple's new operating system. That way you can restore your system from the Recovery partition if something goes wrong. You should also perform a full backup of your Mac beforehand using Time Machine.

To complete the clean install procedure described below, you'll need an 8GB or larger USB thumb drive and an hour or two to spare.

Performing a fresh install can also reclaim lost disk space caused by junk files left by third-party apps, and can generally make your Mac feel a lot snappier, enabling you to relive that feeling of booting it up for the first time. This tutorial explains how to download macOS Sierra and perform a clean install, which offers several benefits over the automatic upgrade process included in the installation package.Ī clean install can remove annoying quirks and strange behaviors that your Mac may have inherited over time due to driver upgrades, wonky apps, and messy installation procedures. It also adds new features to Photos and Messages, and includes Continuity smarts like Universal Clipboard and an Auto Unlock option for Apple Watch owners. The main new feature in macOS Sierra is deep Siri integration, bringing Apple's personal assistant to the Mac for the first time. The OS will come pre-installed on all new Macs once current stock is depleted and is a free download for existing Mac owners. MacOS Sierra is Apple's latest desktop operating system, which succeeds OS X El Capitan and adopts a new name to bring it in line with iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

High sierra fresh install