macOS 10.13 High Sierra: All you need to know about the new Mac operating system

Apple‘s new operating system, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, has been officially released. The latest version of the operating system for desktop computers but also for Apple notebooks presented a few months ago during the conference for developers WWDC 2017 has finally reached maturity and as expected has been released to all users who now will be able to use it in a final version on your device.

The news are many even if it is not clearly the update that revolutionizes the system as partially made iOS 11 for the iPhone and especially for the iPad, but users can still find new storage technologies for both video and for many other activities that are carried out daily with the Mac.

Which Macs are compatible with the new MacOS 10.13 High Sierra?

Apple knows that it always tries to realize its operating systems to carry out the machines it has put on the market as much as possible over the years. The reality of the iPhone is clearly evident in this sense and what is done with macOS seems to follow this procedure.

Here is that the new operating system has set limits for some dated machines but will still allow to update models over 8 years ago. Important premise for the update is to have already installed the latest version or macOS 10.12 Sierra.

• All MacBooks end 2009 and following
• All iMacs end 2009 and following
• All MacBook Air from 2010 onwards
• All MacBook Pro from 2010 onwards
• All Mac mini model 2010 and following
• All Mac Pro models 2010 and later

For all the others, unfortunately, the update will not be possible, and you will have to settle for the latest version of the operating system to which the mac has arrived.

macOS 10.13 High Sierra is free?

The new version of the Apple operating system is completely free. For four years now, the Cupertino company has decided to release updates for the Mac without charging a penny to users. A choice that clearly can only make happy those who have already spent a lot of money to buy the car and want to always have the best from the same but without having to spend every year for updates.

In this case users will be able to update for free from OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, macOS 10.12 Sierra.

The version of macOS 10.13 High Sierra can be downloaded directly from the Mac App Store and will have a weight of about 4.80GB with a minimum requirement to have at least OS X 10.8. Clearly before updating the advice is always what to evaluate if all the applications in your Mac have been updated to the latest version available and if not to make these updates before proceeding to that of the operating system.

In addition, it is always recommended to make a backup of the entire system and still perform a little cleaning if you think that some applications or even some files or documents are not so necessary.

What’s new that brings macOS 10.13 High Sierra?

Many news that Apple introduces with macOS High Sierra. In this case, the new macOS has a completely new file system, is compatible with the High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard and offers an update of Metal, the advanced graphic technology of Apple that gives an edge more in general, from automatic learning to create virtual reality content.

macOS High Sierra also includes optimized versions of the apps that Mac users use every day, including Photos, Safari and Mail.

Apple File System

Apple File System (APFS) provides improved performance, security and data reliability, and forms the basis for future storage innovations. APFS is a state-of-the-art architecture optimized for modern archiving technologies, which makes snapshots of common tasks such as file and directory copying, protects data in the event of power outages and system crashes, and keeps files safe while protecting them with native encryption.

Metal 2

Metal is the fastest and most efficient way to exploit the power of the GPU on the Mac according to Apple. In this case, it has a refined API and superior performance that help developers make their applications even more snappy. Introduces support for machine learning used in speech recognition, natural language processing and computer vision.

Virtual reality

Do not underestimate the developments that Apple has made with virtual reality exploiting Metal 2 and the latest Mac hardware. With the new operating system from Apple, High Sierra, developers can create immersive games on the Mac and 3D and VR content ready to expand the activities of users in both professional and entertainment. With the news of the addition of Virtual Reality here that producers in this field are acting to reach the maximum even on Mac.

Valve is optimizing its SteamVR platform for macOS and is making it possible to connect the HTC Vive viewer, while Unity and Epic are bringing their VR development tools to macOS. Also during the year, Final Cut Pro X added compatibility with all-round professional workflows and the ability to import, edit and export 360° videos.

Improvements to the most-used applications on Mac

With the new High Sierra, users will be able to improve their applications as well. In this case, it is Photo that will allow you to get the biggest differences compared to before. With macOS 10.13 will have a new always active sidebar that shows the albums and functions to organize the images.

The new Edit view design contains powerful tools like Curve, to refine color and contrast, and ” Selective Color ” to make changes to individual color ranges. Compatibility with external editors is also very useful, so Photoshop, Pixelmator files and other apps can be opened directly in Photos, and the changes will be saved in the Photo library.

Other improvements to applications.

• Safari can automatically use Reader to open articles in a clear and distracting format, while ” Autoplay Blocking ” prevents media files with audio from being played automatically in the browser.
• Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari uses machine learning to identify and remove data used by advertisers to track user activity on the web.
• Searching in Mail is even easier and faster with the best matches, which show the most relevant results at the top of the user’s message list.
• Siri on Mac responds with a natural voice even more expressive, and when using Apple Music, learn to recognize musical preferences, create custom playlists and responds to curiosity about the musical world.
• In Notes, you can create simple tables: users can write in cells, make changes and move rows and columns.
• Spotlight provides flight information with complete departure and arrival times, delays, gates, terminals and even an air route map.
• iCloud File Sharing lets you share any document stored in iCloud Drive and collaborate with others.