Upgrading to High Sierra

[Derek]

I would like to upgrade from 10.12.6 and I hear there are problems with High Sierra. My 27" Mac was build in 2010 and I am wondering if I will encounter problems. My processor is 3.2 GHx Intel Core i3, 8 GB memory and an ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB graphics.
So, is it safe for me to upgrade?

 

[honestone]

I guess the basic question to ask is why do you want to "upgrade" to High Sierra. Except for (potentially) faster disk access for SSDs, I see no real compelling reason to upgrade (and I have all SSDs for my drives, both internal and external).

Quite a few folks here have reported various "issues" after upgrading to High Sierra. Also, I frequently visit the site hosted by Micromat (the company that makes Tech Tool Pro), and here is what one individual stated:

"Anyhow I used the High Sierra for about 3 days (3 startups) and without being able to use Techtool the Mac OS kept on slowing down, mouse jerk was exceptional in being almost useless and typing was hit or miss with lots of backspacing for corrections. So I saved my BACON !!!

I have Carbon Copy Cloner with the last saved bootable OS that i had in service which Tech Tool works on located on a thunderbolt hard drive .. and I got that MacOS 10.12.6 .... BACK .. whooo-hoooo .. I am in business now."

I am trying to get clarification about his "mouse jerks", as I have 2 Logitech mice which I still want to use.

It is critical that if one does decide to upgrade, the following needs to taken into account:

1. Obviously, have a backup of your last, stable OS 10.12.6 "system". As I have mentioned numerous times, Time Machine is OK, but I much prefer SuperDuper! (Carbon Copy Cloner is a similar, excellent product). In this way, just like the individual above, if there are issues, I can get back to a stable system quickly and smoothly. (Of course, I have the "Install macOS sierra" file saved in a couple of locations, and that would be also true on the backup.).

2. Insure that all your third party software is compatible with High Sierra. This site can help you with that:

https://roaringapps.com/apps

Of course that could mean you'll need to download and install/save such updates to any of your third party software.

3. Given that High Sierra represents a radical change in the file system used, it is best to do an Erase and Format of your internal drive, then a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of High Sierra, and then finally "migrate"/copy stuff from your most recent OS 10.12.6 backup. For those steps, that is where a SuperDuper! (or Carbon Copy Cloner) bootable backup has distinct advantages over one done with Time Machine. You might want to read this link about that:

https://www.mac-help.com/threads/backups-backups-backups.223959/

4. Even if you boot to the Recovery HD partition to perform the "upgrade", it is best if you first download the latest High Sierra OS file from the App Store. Once that is complete, a file entitled "Install macOS High Sierra" will reside inside your Applications folder. Immediately make a copy of it somewhere else. Do all that before you make your final OS 10.12.6 backup.

Then, of course, there is the fact that a second update to High Sierra, OS 10.13.2, is currently being beta tested by Apple. V10.13.1 did not do much to address any short comings of the initial, OS 10.13, version.

Myself, the only product I am waiting on for a High Sierra upgrade is Tech Tool Pro. But even with that, I am still somewhat reluctant. As most folks know, I make a concerted, dedicated effort to keep my Macs "lean, mean, and clean", and except for Tech Tool Pro (and downloading and saving the latest High Sierra file), I am actually well prepared to upgrade. But, from what I have seen (especially on this site, although I don't know how many of those issues being reported are due to "bizarre" circumstances), I am still very reluctant.

Sorry to make this so long, but all of this is critical, and it is best if you are aware of what you are facing with such an upgrade. I have never seen so many issues being reported for a Mac OS upgrade as I have seen for High Sierra.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

I recently upgraded both my iMac and MacBook Pro, to High Sierra with no problems. Before the upgrades I backed up each computer with time machine and also cloned them with Carbon Copy Cloner to external drives also my data was backed up on the cloud. If you plan to upgrade, check that all your software and hardware will be compatible.

 

[honestone]

I recently upgraded both my iMac and MacBook Pro, to High Sierra with no problems. Before the upgrades I backed up each computer with time machine and also cloned them with Carbon Copy Cloner to external drives also my data was backed up on the cloud. If you plan to upgrade, check that all your software and hardware will be compatible.

Sounds encouraging. As I mentioned above, except for Tech Tool Pro, I have taken care to insure that all of my third party software is compatible with High Sierra. I will (of course) perform one last disk cleanup/maintenance/repair for each of my Macs using Onyx and Tech Tool Pro, and then of course one last OS 10.12.6 SuperDuper! backup before "upgrading".

A couple of questions, if I may:

1. Why did you upgrade?

2. Did you upgrade "in place", ie, just have High Sierra "overwrite" what was on each of your machines already, or did you first Erase and Format each of your internal drives, then do a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of High Sierra (OS 10.12, or 10.13.1?), and then "migrated"/copied "stuff" from your backup (which backup, Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner)?

3. What benefits are you seeing after upgrading?

 

[Lufbrarunner]

1) Why not?
2) I downloaded the upgrade (tucked a copy away on an external drive as well) and upgraded in situ.
3) The main benefit I have noticed is that office 2016 seem to load up a lot quicker on both machines and on my iMac there used to be a small problem where the screen would black out for a second a couple of times just after booting up, that has now gone. Universal clipboard and handoff seem slicker too. Early days yet though.

 

[honestone]

1) Why not?
2) I downloaded the upgrade (tucked a copy away on an external drive as well) and upgraded in situ.
3) The main benefit I have noticed is that office 2016 seem to load up a lot quicker on both machines and on my iMac there used to be a small problem where the screen would black out for a second a couple of times just after booting up, that has now gone. Universal clipboard and handoff seem slicker too. Early days yet though.

1) "Why not?" Not sure if that is compelling enough at this point for me, without having Tech Tool Pro be compatible.
2) Good that you made a copy of the downloaded High Sierra file (V10.13, or V10.13.1?). Myself, though, I will not upgrade situ, but instead launch my SuperDuper! backup, use Disk Utility there to Erase and and Format each of my internal SSDs, then do a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of High Sierra (most likely V10.13.2, which should be appearing soon), and then "migrate"/copy the "stuff" from my SuperDuper! backup. I understand that my internal SSDs will first be reformatted as APFS. For the two SuperDuper! partitions that I use for backups on each of my external SSDs, I understand that SuperDuper! will first reformat them as APFS when I do the first High Sierra SuperDuper! backup for each of my Macs.
3) That's good to hear about Office 2016, as I use it also. I was hoping to hear whether or not disk access for SSDs was faster for other apps as well.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

I have a couple of external SSDs on the iMac and the main drive on the MacBookPro is SSD, I can't say that I have noticed a quantifiable improvement in speed.

 

[honestone]

I have a couple of external SSDs on the iMac and the main drive on the MacBookPro is SSD, I can't say that I have noticed a quantifiable improvement in speed.

Can you tell if the MacBook Pro's SSD was reformatted as APFS when you did the "situ" of High Sierra? All you would need to do is click once on that SSD's icon, then go to the File menu, and click on Get Info. The other way, of course, is to launch Disk Utility and select that SSD there.

For your external SSDs, have you done a Carbon Copy Cloner backup of your High Sierra "system"? SuperDuper! will first reformat such an SSD/partition (partition in my case) as APFS before the backup/clone starts. I believe Carbon Copy Cloner (latest version is 5.0.4) will also do such a reformat first.

Also, SuperDuper! is "smart enough" to reformat standard external HDDs as the usual/normal HFS+. Again, I suspect Carbon Copy Cloner would do the same.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

The SSD on the MacBookPro was formatted to APFS the 2 externals on the iMac were not. HTH

 

[honestone]

The SSD on the MacBookPro was formatted to APFS the 2 externals on the iMac were not. HTH

Thanks for that. I assume you have not yet done a Carbon Copy Cloner High Sierra backup/clone for either machine to your external SSDs. When you do, it would be good if you let us know whether or not Carbon Copy Cloner first reformatted the SSD/SSDs (or partition on either or both) as APFS. It is my understanding that will occur (at least that is what it states for SuperDuper!. Can't see why Carbon Copy Cloner would be any different).

One other question, if I may: which modules for Office 2016 do you use? Myself I use Outlook 2016 numerous times each day, as it is my (one and only) EMail client on both of my Macs. And I "occasionally" use Word and Excel.

 

[honestone]

Oops! I need to make a correction. I have been in communication with Dave Nanian of Shirt Pocket Software (they make SuperDuper!), and I was mistaken. SuperDuper! will not first reformat my external partitions on SSDs as APFS. It will leave them "as is".

I do have a question to him as to what advantages regarding SuperDuper! there are to re-formatting each of those partitions as APFS, using the High Sierra version of Disk Utility.

Any idea how Carbon Copy Cloner handles this?

Update: Here is the response I received form Dave, regarding reformatting such devices/partitions as APFS and the speed of SuperDuper! backups:

"They're more flexible and have some other advantages. Speed is not generally one of them."

So, it seems like the primary (maybe for now, the one and only?) advantage for me in upgrading is the speed of Office 2016 apps. I do understand that there are advantages regarding some Apple software (like Photos, Safari, Spotlight, and Mail) with the upgrade, but except for occasionally "browsing some photos" with the Photos app, I do not use any of those other Apple products. Hence, even if there is a High Sierra update for Tech Tool Pro, I'm still not sure when I'll upgrade. Shoot, I might even wait for a V10.13.3 version of High Sierra!