El Capitan vs High Sierra

[Giuanniello]

My main machine is a late 2009 27" i7 iMac which I don't even know if compatible with HighSierra but I am first wondering what would I eventually gain off of the switch, I use no particular applications if not some photo editing (Adobe LightRoom for the most part of it) and some other applications which I am sure will be updated if issues arise but what would make me want to upgrade (for sure not Siri!)?

Grazie

 

[Cougarcat]

You can run it, but if you don’t care about Siri, Safari or the new Photos app there really isn’t much that you’d notice with a 2009 iMac. Just a few UI refinements here and there.

 

[Giuanniello]

You can run it, but if you don’t care about Siri, Safari or the new Photos app there really isn’t much that you’d notice with a 2009 iMac. Just a few UI refinements here and there.

That's what I expected as a reply, my 27" iMac is a powerful machine with an i7, 8GB and an SSD, the only thing which would lead me to try is the new file system but besides that I am not that much into the new photo app or Siri, any other reason to upgrade?

 

[imasterus]

I, myself, consider to upgrade only because of APFS. No other reason.

 

[Giuanniello]

I, myself, consider to upgrade only because of APFS. No other reason.

And which is the advantage you got off the switch?

 

[perezr10]

And which is the advantage you got off the switch?

On my 2010 MacBook Air with a SSD, performance is better compared to Sierra. Although, to be fair, Sierra took a horrendous toll on my MBA so my Air may still be slower than El Cap.

The main reason I upgraded my MBA was to accommodate the new HEIF file format for photos on my iPhone. I could be wrong on this, but I think that if your MacBook is still on El Cap your Photos app will default to using JPG.

 

[Giuanniello]

Thank you for your input, I actually don't use Foto if not for the automatically imported iPhone photos, for my DSLR photographs I use other software and as such that is not a discriminating factor to upgrade, I actually am on ElCapitan on the main computer I use for photo cataloguing and editing and also haven't upgraded to iOS 11 yet on my iPhone, I might leave all as it is and eventually wait to iOS to work flawlessly (...) and then might upgrade to HighSierra too but don't feel any need right now since improvements don't seem being that dramatic, I think Apple is pursuing the path of an update a year which takes nowhere, I would have rather expected a major update every two-three years than this but they only know their marketing dynamics...

Grazie

 

[imasterus]

And which is the advantage you got off the switch?

I haven't yet switched. Still considering. Waiting for the High Sierra to get more stable with upcoming updates.

 

[robeddie]

I haven't yet switched. Still considering. Waiting for the High Sierra to get more stable with upcoming updates.

THIS. I've upgraded to High Sierra on all 3 of my macs, and not impressed at all. The much rumored space and speed benefits of apfs have been M.I.A. We already know Apple is struggling with apfs, since they removed support for it on non SSD's, so clearly it's still a work in progress.

I do hope and believe that Apple will square 10.13 away by around the .3 release, which by past experience should happen around about Feb. of 2018

 

[Darryl.Jenks]

Nine months and a few updates later, I'll ask the same question. Is High Sierra now a worthwhile update over El Capitan for an early 2015 MBP?

 

[mj_]

It is certainly more usable than it was in its early days. That's pretty much it, though. Unless you need or want a feature it entails (such as for example Messages in iCloud) there really aren't that many benefits. I, for one, consider APFS to be the biggest reason not to upgrade to High Sierra.

 

[Cougarcat]

Nine months and a few updates later, I'll ask the same question. Is High Sierra now a worthwhile update over El Capitan for an early 2015 MBP?

At this point I’d skip it and wait for Mojave this fall. That’s what I’m doing.

 

[mj_]

You seem to be expecting Mojave to be even remotely usable right from the start. After the experiences of the past few years and major releases I'd wait until the .3 or even .4 release not just for critical systems but even non-critical everyday systems.

 

[mikzn]

On the plus side ( at least for my use) iCloud drive is one the of the areas I use and have been worthwhile upgrading from El Capitan

I use drop box to share files with others - but use iCloud drive to sync my "selected personal folders and files" between several macs, iPad and iPhone - works great

 

[Cougarcat]

You seem to be expecting Mojave to be even remotely usable from the start. From what Apple has released for the past few years I'd wait until the .3 or even .4 release not just for critical systems but even non-critical everyday systems.

I haven't used it yet but from what I've read it's largely High Sierra without the bugs, even at this early stage. I'll probably wait for the first patch though.