Apple

9 Things to Do Before Installing the macOS High Sierra Beta

Published

7 years ago

06/07/2017

The macOS High Sierra release date is this fall, but you can try out the new macOS features early with a developer preview and a public macOS High Sierra beta that starts in June.

Apple announced many new features and refinements to macOS Sierra during WWDC 2017 on June 5th. At the end of the event, Apple confirmed two separate macOS High Sierra betas that users can try. The developer preview is live now, even if you aren’t a member of the Apple Developer Program. The public beta arrives this month, but there is no official date yet.

Many users should wait for the official macOS High Sierra update to arrive in the fall, especially if you are planning to test the new version of macOS on your only Mac or a Mac that you use for work. If you decide to proceed with the High Sierra beta, you will want to take steps so that you are ready and carefully weigh your decision.

Like the iOS 11 beta, the macOS High Sierra beta is very early pre-release software so you can expect bugs and more problems than you typically expect on a Mac.Our macOS High Sierra installation guide will walk you through the things you need to do, and the things you need to know before you install on your Mac.

This is essential reading for anyone trying out a macOS beta for the first time, but even experienced users will likely find something helpful in this list of things to do before trying out the macOS High Sierra beta. If you decide it’s for you, this is how to download and install the macOS High Sierra beta.

Explore macOS High Sierra

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Before you decide to install the macOS High Sierra beta, it's a good idea to learn more about what this offers, and what you won't get right off the bat. Apple announced a number of exciting new macOS Sierra features at WWDC 2017, but not all of them will be in the first beta. If you want to install the beta to try out a specific feature, you'll want to see if it is there first.

Once again Apple is keeping support for older devices. This means any Apple computer that runs macOS Sierra, will now run macOS High Sierra. If you have an older Mac, you'll want to be cautious about installing the first beta.

Here's Apple's overview of the macOS High Sierra update, which will walk you through the new features coming this fall. You can try some of these out, but don't count on USB C External graphics to be fully baked yet.

We're working through an extensive list of what's new in macOS High Sierra and will update with a closer look when we've dug deep into the new options and features.