While Messages on macOS Big Sur is a great way to shoot off a quick text to your friends, sometimes you want to actually talk to people. This is where FaceTime comes in. FaceTime lets you make video and audio calls to people when your communication needs a more personal touch on any of the best Macs.

Follow this guide to learn your way around FaceTime for Mac.

How to set up FaceTime on Mac

Getting started with FaceTime is fairly simple, and all you'll need is your Apple ID.

1. Open FaceTime on your Mac.
2. Enter your Apple ID email address and password and hit Sing In. If you have two-step or two-factor authentication turned on for your Apple ID, enter your verification code.

How to place a call in FaceTime

Leave your phone in your pocket or on your desk, and make your next call with FaceTime instead.

1. Open FaceTime on your Mac.
2. Click the search bar if you're placing a new call.

3. Enter a name, number, or email address that you want to contact.
4. Click Audio or Video to choose how to contact that person.

5. Click FaceTime Audio or the contact's phone number if you chose Audio.

How to add an email address in FaceTime

If you have a lot of email addresses or aliases, you can set your account up so that you can be reached at all of these addresses in FaceTime. But you don't set this up in the FaceTime app. Instead, you'll need to head to System Preferences.

1. Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click Apple ID.

3. Click Name, Phone, Email.
4. Click the + button under the Reachable At section.

5. Enter the email address you want to use.
6. Click Next.

7. Enter the verification code sent to that email address if prompted to do so. Your code will automatically be verified.

You should now be able to be reached at the email address you entered.

How to choose which number or email address to call from in FaceTime

Select which phone number or email address people will see when you call them using FaceTime.

1. With FaceTime open, click FaceTime in the Menu bar.
2. Click Preferences.

3. Click the drop-down menu next to Start new calls from.
4. Choose which email address or phone number that you'll start new calls from.

How to set your FaceTime ringtone

Personalize your FaceTime experience with a new ringtone.

1. With FaceTime open, click FaceTime in the Menu bar.
2. Click Preferences.

3. Click the drop-down menu next to Ringtone.
4. Choose your preferred ringtone.

How to set your location in FaceTime

1. With FaceTime open, click FaceTime in the Menu bar.
2. Click Preferences.

3. Click the drop-down menu next to Location.
4. Choose your preferred location.

Questions?

If you've got any other questions about getting started with FaceTime on your Mac, don't hesitate to ask in the comments.

Updated July 2021: Up-to-date through the latest version of macOS Big Sur.

Siri on the Mac with macOS Big Sur goes even deeper into your software than it does on iPhone and iPad. It can search for files, check your system settings, and understands contextual language, so you can ask one question and follow it up with a related one right after.

How to enable Siri on the Mac

When you first set up your Mac or update it to a new version of macOS, you will be asked if you want to use Siri on the Mac. If you didn't enable it at that time, you can do so manually at any time from System Preferences.

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen.
2. Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

3. Select Siri.
4. Tick the box on the left side of the window to Talk to Siri.

5. Choose a language.
6. Select a Siri Voice.

7. If you don't want Siri to speak, turn off Voice Feedback.
8. Select the Mic input from the internal one or an external accessory.

How to enable 'Type to Siri' on the Mac

In macOS High Sierra and later, you can type your search query to Siri instead of having to ask it out loud. So if you're in a meeting and trying to find that spreadsheet your boss just asked you for, you can ask Siri to find it for you without having to interrupt what's being said.

• How to use 'Type to Siri' on macOS

How to use a keyboard shortcut to activate Siri

You can click on Siri in your app Dock or the Menu bar at the top of the screen. But if you prefer keyboard shortcuts, you're in luck — Siri likes them, too.

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen.
2. Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

3. Select Siri.
4. Under Keyboard Shortcut, select a keyboard shortcut to use. By default, you hold down Command-Space, but you can also select from Option-Space, Function-Space, or you can customize it with the key combination you prefer.

When you have a keyboard shortcut assigned, you can press and hold the two assigned keys until Siri pops up.

How to use Siri on Mac with AirPods or supported Beats headphones

If you have your AirPods or a pair of Beats headphones that support voice-activated Siri (currently only the Powerbeats Pro), you can call on Siri for help.

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen.
2. Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

3. Select Siri.
4. Tick the box for Listen for "Hey Siri" on headphones.
5. Tick the box for Allow Siri when locked if you want to trigger Siri by voice while your Mac is locked.

How to pin Siri results to Notification Center

All of your Siri search results can be pinned right into Notification Center. This can be very helpful if you keep track of documents for work — or if you want to add pictures of Oscar Isaac to your Today view.

1. Click on the Siri icon in the Menu bar or Dock, or use your keyboard shortcut to activate Siri.
2. Tell Siri to find you a file, document, or perform a web search.
3. When the search results appear in Siri's window, click the Plus (+) button next to the search results.

The Siri search results will be pinned to the Today view of your Notification Center. To remove it, hover over the Notification Center's search section and click on the X.

Here are some things that Siri can do on the Mac

Siri has access to the files and documents on your computer. You can search for files based on date and even narrow the search in a second query.

• "Find files I worked on last week."
• "Just the ones from Saturday."
• "Just Pages documents."

You can also search for emails, contact information, calendar events, directions, Notes, and more.

• "Do I have any new emails?"
• "What's on my schedule today?"
• "How do I get to the Apple Store?"
• "Find (X name) Note."
• " What is my mom's address?" (If you ask for contact information for a relationship, Siri will ask who that person is, by name.)

Siri also has access to your System Preferences, storage information, and more. If you need your serial number or want to know how much storage you have, Siri is on the case.

• "How much space do I have left in iCloud?"
• "How big is my hard drive?"
• "How much memory do I have?"
• "How fast is my processor?"

Currently, Siri isn't able to tell you about your screen size, display resolution, or how old it is.

Siri can dig through your tens-of-thousands of pictures in Photos to find specific content, like your cat, food, or a lake. You can also search for pictures based on location and date.

• "Show me pictures of my cat."
• "Show me pictures of my kids."
• "Show me pictures of my trip to Disneyland."
• "Show me pictures of my trip to the lake last summer."

If it is indexed in the Photos app, Siri can find it.

You are not relegated to pictures in your Photos library: You can search the entire online universe for whatever images you want. You have to add "on the web," so Siri doesn't try looking in your Photos app for it.

• "Search the web for pictures of Narwals."
• "Show me pictures of Oscar Isaac from the web."

You can drag and drop any photo from a search query into any document, which is great for creating presentations.

Siri can control many of your Mac's settings, like screen brightness, volume controls, Wi-Fi settings, and more.

• "Turn WiFi off."
• "My screen is too bright."
• "Turn on Do Not Disturb."
• "Turn on the screensaver."
• "Put my Mac to sleep."

Siri can open any app on your Mac, including third-party programs. Just say, "Open (name of the app)," and you'll be whisked away to your app of choice.

If you want to send a message in Messages, Siri can do more than open the app: It can also dictate and send the message for you. Just say, "Send a Message" and then dictate the message you want to send.

Siri also works with FaceTime. Ask Siri to "FaceTime (name), and it will connect you automatically.

Did you know Siri is a sports fan? Go ahead. Ask which team will win the next big game. You can ask Siri for the upcoming games' schedule, the current standings of a league, the team roster of tomorrow's match, and player stats. Siri knows about football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, and cricket. Here's what Siri knows about sports:

• Soccer: Italian Seria A, English Premier League, Dutch Eredivisie, Major League Soccer, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga, and German Bundesliga
• Baseball: Major League Baseball
• Football: NCAA Football, NFL
• Basketball: NCAA Basketball, NBA, WNBA
• Hockey: NHL
• Cricket: IPL and ICC

For each of those sports, Siri can provide:

• Scores
• Standings
• Schedules
• Team Rosters
• Player stats

If you want to know about a sports team, game, or league, say, "When do the West Indies play next?" or "Who won the A's game last night?"

Siri has access to Apple Music and your music library. If you want to hear a specific song or album or want to relax to any genre of music, Siri can help.

• "Play me some tunes."
• "Play the top 10 songs of 1962."
• "Play metal songs from the 80s."

Thanks to Shazam integration, Siri can also tell you what song is playing, so you don't have to open iTunes to find out. Because Siri has access to your system settings, it can adjust the volume, pause, skip, and replay songs.

As of macOS High Sierra, when you're using Apple Music, Siri learns your style and can create custom playlists based on what you like. For example, it can create the perfect playlist for your weekend backyard BBQ or workout. It also answers music trivia like identifying members of a band or the first album an artist put out.

With support from Safari, Maps, and Find My Friends, Siri on the Mac can actually plan your evening for you. Ask about movies playing nearby, including their current rating; find out if there are any restaurants where you can book a table; and with Find My Friends enabled, you can even find out if your crew is putting one back at the local pub.

• "What movies are playing tonight." When you click on a movie, you will be directed to Fandango on the web.
• "Is 'Sully' any good?" You'll get a Rotten Tomatoes rating and a link to watch the trailer on movietrailers.apple.com.
• "Find reservations for dinner tonight at seven." Siri can't book the reservation, but when you select a restaurant, you will see the Maps info card and can call or visit the website to make reservations.

You don't have to get specific when asking Siri to set reminders for you: Since the Reminders app works with dates, times, and locations, you can get notified in several ways.

• "Remind me to take out the garbage when I get home."
• "Remind me to finish typing my resume tomorrow."
• "Remind me to walk the dog every morning at 7:00 AM."

Siri also has an uncanny ability to recognize the app you're using, thanks to its machine learning algorithms, and set reminders based on what you are doing currently.

• "Remind me to look at this tonight."
• "Remind me to respond to this email after lunch."

With the arrival of macOS Mojave and the Home app for macOS, Siri on the Mac has gained the ability to control your HomeKit scenes and accessories, just like it can on your iPhone or iPad. This includes everything from lights to thermostats.

• "Turn off the lights in my bedroom."
• "Set the temperature to 72 degrees."
• "Set my Goodnight scene."

Looking for something new?

Are you in the market for a new computer? Consider our favorite Apple desktops of the year.

Ask Siri anything

Siri has a wealth of knowledge built into its ever-increasing intelligence. It knows a lot about sports, music, geography, astronomy, and more. If Siri doesn't know the answer outright, it can find more information for you with a quick search of the web. You can ask Siri anything — and the more you ask, the more Apple will (anonymously) learn about what users need from Siri.

Have a question about Siri on the Mac? Let us know in the comments.

Updated December 2020: Updated for macOS Big Sur.

Background app downloads work the same as any other background download. Apple looks for opportunities to grab the updated bits from the server in a way that impacts you the least. So, if they do their job right, you shouldn't even notice the bits coming down while you work, watch, or while your Mac power naps.

If you get tight on space, Apple will also intelligently remove an unused installer — which can be reclaimed at any time from the cloud — so it doesn't impact your storage.

In other words, it lets the Mac work the way iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV have been working for a while.

If you want to make sure background app download is on, or you hate the idea and want to make sure it's off, you can do that in your Mac App Store preferences.

How to turn on — or turn off — automatic app update downloads on your Mac

1. Launch the Mac App Store on your Mac.
2. Click on App Store in the menubar.
3. Click on Preferences in the dropdown menu.
4. Check the box to the left of Automatic updates.

To disable background updates, repeat the same process and uncheck the box.

Should I leave Automatic Updates on?

If you hate waiting for app updates to download, then yes. That way, whenever you want to update, it'll be ready and waiting for you. Apple will never install an update without your express permission — or action! — but it'll make sure you don't have to wait when you want to install it.

If you have limited bandwidth or you don't want to update to newer versions of an app — for example if you're running a production system and need to wait for apps or drivers to update first — then no. Leave it unchecked and only download when you're sure you really want to.

Any questions?

Not sure about updates? Drop your questions in the comments below!

Like its counterpart on iPhone and iPad, the Notification Center on your Mac collects all of the notifications from various apps and stores them in a single convenient location. Coupled with Notification Center is Today, which offers a number of handy widgets that provide useful snippets of data. In addition to Apple's built-in widgets, third-party apps can offer their own. You can even use Notification Center to turn on your Mac's Do Not Disturb mode.

Follow this guide to learn how to use and master Notification Center on your Mac.

• How to Find Notification Center
• How to customize Notification Center
• How to delete notifications
• How to clear a day's notifications
• How to add Today view widgets
• How to remove Today view widgets

How to Find Notification Center

Notification Center slides out from the right side of your Mac's screen, allowing you to view both widgets and notifications. There are a couple of ways to activate Notification Center.

• Click the Notification Center icon on the far right of the Menu bar (looks like three stacked lines).
• If you use a trackpad with your Mac, place two fingers near the right edge of the pad and swipe to the left to activate Notification Center.

How to customize Notification Center

1. Launch System Preferences by clicking the  on the top left of your screen and clicking Preferences or launching from the Dock.
2. Click Notifications.

3. Click on the app or service for which you want to manage notifications.
4. Click the item's alert style.

5. Click the checkboxes for each notification setting you'd like to enable or disable.
6. Choose how you would like your notifications sorted. You can choose Recents, Recents by App, or Manually by App.

How to delete notifications

1. Click the Notification Center button on the top right of your screen (the three stacked lines).
2. Click Notifications at the top of the Today view if you're not already in Notification view.
3. Hover your cursor over a notification's card.

4. Click the 'X' that appears in the top-right corner of the notification.

How to clear a day's notifications

1. Click the Notification Center button on the top right of your screen (three stacked lines) .
2. Click Notifications at the top of the Today view if you're not already .
3. Click the 'X' towards the upper-right corner of the Notification Center.

How to add Today view widgets

1. Click the Notification Center button on the top right of your screen (looks like three stacked lines).
2. Click Today at the top of the Notification view if you're not already on Today view.
3. Click Edit at the bottom of Notification Center.

4. Click the green '+' button for any widget you want to add in the new Items panel.
5. Click and drag the widget's top bar and drag along the Today view to rearrange the widget's location.

6. Click App Store to be taken to a collection of apps with Today view widgets in the Mac App Store to find new widgets to use.

How to remove Today view widgets

1. Click the Notification Center button on the top right of your screen (three stacked lines).
2. Click Today at the top of the Notification view if you're not already on Today view.
3. Click Edit at the bottom of Notification Center.

4. Find the widget you'd like to remove and click the red '-' button next to the widget's name.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below.

There have been some reports of some people having issues with the new MacBook Pro either crackling when outputting audio through the speakers, or kernel panicking — crashing the computer — when bridgeOS, the system that runs the Touch Bar, goes down.

macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update 2 is intended to help with those issues, along with general system stability and performance.

From MacRumors:

Joe Rossignol does a great job rounding up a bunch of different results to date.

My understanding is that Supplemental Update 2 improves a number of issues, including the speakers and the kernel panic. That means some people may no longer experience them, and others may simply experience them less frequently, or see no change at all.

(I'm ok with this — better to have what improvements are ready now than to make everyone wait for more improvements to come... as long as those more improvements come asap, of course.)

If you've been having either of those issues with the new MacBook Pro on macOS High Sierra, let me know how the update works for you.

If you're running iOS 10 or macOS Sierra or higher on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, there are a whole bunch of messaging improvements to explore and play with, including bubble and screen effects, tapbacks and big emoji, and handwriting and Digital Touch options.

But what happens when you send a message with one of these options to a friend not rocking iOS 10 or macOS Sierra or higher? Here's how the new messages show up on older iPhone, iPads, and Macs.

Bubble and screen effects

When it comes to making message bubbles pop out on the screen or fill your window with balloons, older versions of iOS and OS X don't quite know what's going on. But like any good piece of accessibility software, they're happy to describe it to you: Send a message with the Slam effect to someone on an older device, and they'll see your original message, followed by:

All the little bubbles have the "sent with [effect] Effect" wording, while the full-screen alerts just describe the screen contents. For instance, if you sent someone a message with the shooting star effect, your recipient would get the original message, followed by:

In theory, macOS Sierra should get all these effects, but currently, only Invisible Ink is rendering properly, so you may see some commented bubble effects on that platform, too.

Tapbacks and big emoji

When you double-tap or press-and-hold on a message in iOS 10, you can send a "tapback" — Apple's version of a Facebook or Slack reaction. On macOS Sierra, those render as little icons in the upper right corner of your pal's message bubbles, but older versions of the software don't have that icon set to play with.

Instead, if you send a "Ha ha" tapback on your friend's picture of Pikachu, he'll see:

It's a little strange, but as my colleague Lory Gil put it: "At least we know how you feel, even if we can't see it."

On the emoji side, iOS 10 and macOS Sierra can display huge icons if you're using three or fewer of them; older versions of Apple's operating systems will simply display those emoji at regular size.

Stickers, gifs, and URLs

One of Messages' big improvements in iOS 10 and macOS Sierra is the introduction of Sticker packs and gifs, which you can send as is or "stick" to the sides of your friends' messages in reaction.

Send those stickers to a buddy on iOS 9 or OS X El Capitan, however, and you'll get static images. If you've attached them to a specific message bubble, that won't display — you'll just see the stickers load one after the other.

There's another big Messages change: contextual URLs, which display previews of web pages or services like Apple Music, just show up as normal old web URLs on older machines.

Handwriting and Digital Touch

Last but not least, we have Apple's watchOS-turned-iOS-and-macOS features: Handwriting and Digital Touch. With the company's Digital Touch drawing board, you can annotate over photos or video, draw a sketch, send a series of taps, or send a kiss. And tilt your device horizontally, and you'll get a sketch pad where you can handwrite out your message and deliver it in real time.

On older devices, these features mostly work, though without the animations present on iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. Your sketch and handwriting samples will send as fully-realized masterpieces rather than displaying line-by-line, your kiss displays as a blank black screen, and any tap sequence you send will display all the taps on the screen together — one big mass of overlapping circles.

Other questions about Messages and older devices?

Let us know in the comments.

Updated August 2018: This information is still all correct.

macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 is coming down the line with new features that need as much testing as they can get; as such, Apple is releasing early beta software so that developers can make their apps work seamlessly when the full operating system launches to the public.

• How to make an archived backup of your Mac
• How to download the macOS High Sierra developer beta
• How to install the macOS High Sierra developer beta
• How to install the macOS High Sierra beta on a partition or external drive
• How to get started with the macOS High Sierra developer beta

How to make an archived backup of your Mac with Time Machine

Before you begin, make sure you back up your Mac. The download and installation process is fairly easy, but any time you make significant changes to your computer, you risk problems. When it comes to securing your data, it is definitely better to be safe than sorry. Even if you just backed everything up the night before, make sure your Mac is completely up-to-date.

1. Connect an external hard disk or Time Capsule with a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt cable.
2. Click on the Apple icon () in the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Select System Preferences... from the dropdown menu.
4. Select Time Machine in the System Preferences window.

5. Turn the Time Machine slider On.
6. Click Select Backup Disk and choose the disk you'd like to use. Time Machine will format the hard drive for backups and start within two minutes.

How to download the macOS High Sierra developer beta

Downloading the latest beta on your Mac is as simple as visiting Apple's developer portal.

1. Visit developer.apple.com on your Mac.
2. Click on the Develop tab.
3. Click on the Downloads tab.

4. Log in with your developer account.
5. Scroll down and click on the Download button for macOS 10.13. The file will automatically download to your Mac.

6. Open your Downloads window and select macOS High Sierra Developer Beta Access Utility.
7. Double-click macOSSierraDeveloperBetaAccessUtility.pkg to run the installer. When the installer is finished downloading, the Mac App Store will automatically open to the Updates section. Click Update to download and install the developer beta software. After the software has been downloaded, your Mac will automatically restart.

If the latest developer beta does not appear on the Updates list, restart your Mac. Then, open the Mac App Store and click the Updates tab.

The developer beta update can take a long time to finish downloading, depending on the size. You can check the status in the Updates tab of the Mac App Store.

How to install the macOS High Sierra developer beta

After macOS High Sierra is finished downloading, you will be prompted to install the software automatically.

1. Click on Continue.
2. Agree to Apple's Terms and Conditions.
3. Click on Install.
4. Follow the instructions to install macOS High Sierra.

Your Mac will reboot to install macOS High Sierra. You'll see a black screen with the Apple Logo and a progress bar. Grab a cup of coffee while you wait for the software to finish installing.

How to install the macOS High Sierra beta on a partition

To keep your Mac's data from getting corrupted by a beta operating system, you can partition your Mac's hard drive to run macOS High Sierra in tandem with your current operating system.

1. Create a partition on your Mac if you haven't already done so.
2. Select Continue when the download is finished and ready to install.
3. Agree to the terms.
4. Click Agree to confirm that you have read the terms.
5. Select Show All Disks to switch from your main partition.
6. Select the partition you wish to install the software on.
7. Click Install.

The installation helper will allow you to transfer information from your current operating system, or you could choose to do a clean installation to start your Mac from scratch.

How to get started with the macOS High Sierra developer beta

Once your Mac reboots, you'll be set up with macOS High Sierra. You'll have to follow a couple of steps to get started.

1. Click on Continue.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID and password. iCloud will sync your desktop and other files.
3. Click on Get Started.

You'll be directed to your Home screen where you can start digging around to find all of the fun new features.

Update July 2, 2018: Apple has just released macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 beta 5 for developers. If you already have the macOS High Sierra beta installed, head to Mac App Store > Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS 10.13.6 to start testing with macOS, now's the time to start downloading.

Apple has been offering public betas for macOS for a couple of years now as a way for those interested in testing out the upcoming software on their Macs, and providing feedback. If that's you, you'll need to sign up, enroll your Mac, download macOS High Sierra, and install it. It's not an overly complicated process, but we're here to walk you through it and, if you need it, a place to get extra help.

Apple occasionally offers updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS as closed developer previews or public betas. While the betas contain new features, they also contain pre-release bugs that can prevent the normal use of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Mac, and are not intended for everyday use on a primary device. That's why we strongly recommend staying away from developer previews unless you need them for software development, and using the public betas with caution. If you depend on your devices, wait for the final release.

Note: This guide is being updated in real time. If you are seeing old content, refresh the page or come back later.

• How to make a back up your Mac
• How to register your account for the macOS High Sierra public beta
• How to enroll your Mac in the macOS High Sierra public beta
• How to install the macOS High Sierra public beta

How to make a back up of your Mac

Before joining the public beta, you need to make a backup of your Mac. That way, if something goes wrong, of if you're simply not happy and want to revert to macOS Sierra, you can go right back to where you started.

Even if you back up every night, you'll want to make double, triple sure you're covered. So make a manual backup now. Here's how to do it with Time Machine. Even if you use something different or additional, like SuperDuper!, make sure you manually start a backup now.

1. Click on the Time Machine icon in your Mac Menubar.
2. Click on Backup now.
   
   
   

Let the backup finish before proceeding.

Note: If you're not adverse to the Terminal, you can also make a bootable Sierra installer as way to jumpstart reversion, if needed.

How to register your account for the macOS High Sierra public beta

If you've already joined a public beta for macOS in the past, you don't need to register again for macOS High Sierra. Simply sign in with the same Apple ID. If you've never joined a public beta before, you'll need to start by signing up with your Apple ID.

1. Go to beta.apple.com in Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on Sign up to get started. (If you've already signed up for a previous public beta, Click on Sign in and skip to "How to enroll your Mac", below.)
3. Enter you Apple ID email address and password.
4. Click Sign in.
   
   
   

Once you're signed up and signed in, it's time to start downloading.

How to enroll your Mac in the macOS High Sierra public beta

Downloading the macOS High Sierra public beta is done through the Mac App Store but requires a special code (like a promo or gift code). The code is provided for you on the website, but is also automatically entered for you when you click to begin the process.

1. Go to beta.apple.com, if you're not there already.
2. Click on the macOS tab, if it's not highlighted already.
3. Click the Download macOS High Sierra public beta access utility button.
4. Open the file from your Downloads window.
5. Double-click the package to run the installer.

When the installer is finished downloading, the Mac App Store will automatically open to the Updates section. Click Update to download and install the public beta software. After the software has been downloaded, your Mac will automatically restart.

If the latest public beta does not appear on the Updates list, restart your Mac. Then, open the Mac App Store and click the Updates tab.

The public beta update can take a long time to finish downloading, depending on the size. You can check the status in the Updates tab of the Mac App Store.

How to install the macOS High Sierra public beta

The macOS High Sierra installer will automatically open when it's downloaded. If it doesn't, or if you prefer to do it later, you open Install macOS High Sierra Public Beta at any time via Spotlight or Launchpad, or from the Application folder in the Finder.

1. Launch Install macOS High Sierra Public Beta app, if it's not launched already.
2. Click Continue at the bottom.
   
   

3. If prompted to make a backup, and you didn't before, click Continue in the dropdown. If you just made a backup, click Cancel.
4. Click Continue at the bottom once your backup completes, or if you skipped it.
5. Click Agree to accept the licensing terms.
6. Click Agree again to confirm.
   
   

7. Click on the drive you want to install onto (if you have multiple options; most people won't.)
8. Click Install.
9. Enter you administrator password and click OK.
10. Click Restart (if your Mac doesn't restart automatically, or you don't want to wait).
    
    
    

Once your Mac reboots, it'll be running macOS High Sierra. There's a brief bit of setup you'll need to go through, however, as the system will have changed enough that it'll need your login to complete the update.

Once that's done, you'll be ready to rock macOS High Sierra.

What's new, and what if you don't like it?

To help ease your way into everything, make sure you check out our macOS High Sierra preview and our comprehensive macOS FAQ for all the details!

And, if you ultimately decide macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 isn't for you, you can still revert back to macOS 10.13.5.

Update June 12, 2018: Apple has released macOS Sierra 10.13.6 public beta 2 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS High Sierra public beta installed, head to Mac App Store > Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for beta 1 to get started with macOS 10.13.6 testing, now's the time to grab it!

Boot Camp is the macOS solution for installing an alternative operating system on your Mac, letting the new OS run natively on your Mac rather than in a virtual machine. However, many macOS High Sierra users have reported trouble creating new Boot Camp partitions on the latest version of Apple's operating system. For instance, perhaps you get an error telling you that your disk doesn't have enough space, even though macOS has shown you that, indeed, there is enough.

There are a couple of reasons that this could be happening. First, you've got local snapshot backups of your Mac stored locally, rather than on your Time Machine disk. These backups are created quickly once every hour, and while activities, like downloading files or installing apps, shouldn't be affected by their presence, for some reason, Boot Camp is.

The other problem that you might run into is some kind of file system corruption. Unfortunately, the only solution for this is the wipe your Mac and either perform a fresh installation of macOS or restore from a Time Machine backup.

Here's what you can do to try to fix your problems with getting Boot Camp to work on macOS High Sierra.

• How to delete local snapshots on your Mac
• How to re-install macOS

How to delete local snapshots on your Mac

I've personally used this method to fix the Boot Camp problem. Unfortunately, it's a little complicated and requires the use of the macOS Terminal app, but I'm here to walk you through it.

1. Open Terminal on your Mac.
2. Type sudo tmutil listlocalsnapshots / and press the Return/Enter key.

3. Enter your password and press Return/Enter. Note that when you type in your password, nothing will appear inside Terminal, but it's still working. Your local snapshots should be listed and look something like this: com.apple.TimeMachine.2018-03-21-103127. The important part of each backup is that date, which in this example is 2018-03-21-103127. You'll need the date number on the end of each backup when you go to delete them in the next step.
4. Type sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2018-03-21-103127 replacing the 2018-03-21-103127 with the date of the actual snapshot you're trying to delete and press Return/Enter.

5. Repeat Step 4 for any further snapshots you need/want to delete.

Of course, if you perform Step 2 and Terminal doesn't list any local snapshots, you're likely looking at a problem like file system corruption. In that case, you're going to need to reset your Mac.

How to re-install macOS

There are a couple of ways to re-install macOS on your Mac. You can either perform a clean install, after which you can begin manually re-downloading apps and files, or you can re-install macOS and restore from a backup, such as those created by Time Machine.

• How to do a clean install of macOS
• How to restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup

Questions?

If you have other questions about or problems with getting Boot Camp to work on macOS High Sierra, let us know in the comments.

If you've ever taken a Mac in for repair at your local Apple Store Genius bar, you'll know that the problems that arise on your Mac can have solutions that range from the simple to the "wipe the hard drive and start over" complicated. But with the release of macOS 10.13 High Sierra, a new wrinkle has been added: APFS, the Apple File System. APFS replaces HFS+, the files system used by Apple products for decades.

As Charles Arthur, formerly of The Guardian, found out, Apple's Genius Bars might not be fully ready to deal with drive problems on an APFS system. These employees often utilize network drives to diagnose problems on your Mac, booting from these drives instead of your Mac's HDD or SSD to circumvent any problems that the internal drives might cause. However, in attempting to get a fix for what he suspected to be a graphics card issue, Arthur found the Geniuses working on his computer confounded by their inability to run video card drivers on his hard drive. After wiping his Mac's internal drive, Arthur realized the problem:

So it turns out that the drive wipe had been for nothing. Arthur did have a backup of his Mac, however, from which he eventually restored his machine (one moral of this story: for God's sake, have a backup). He was also able to get a new logic board and some general cleanup for his Mac, and the Geniuses did indeed fix his faulty discrete graphics card, which was, as he suspected, the source of the issue.

So the big lesson to be learned from this is: if you need your Mac serviced, make sure to let the Genius Bar at your Apple Store know if your system is running on APFS. If you don't know whether your Mac's drive is formatted in APFS, open Disk Utility on your Mac and select your Mac's primary drive. It will appear right under the name in the main window.

Markup is Apple's extension for adding text, callouts, shapes, and more to images and documents and, with macOS Sierra, it's now built right into Photos for Mac. That means you can quickly take a snap shot, add an arrow, circle an area of interest, drop in some text, and then send it to a friend, co-worker, or post it up on the internet. All in just a few seconds!

• How to find the Markup editor in the Photos app
• How to draw on your photos with the Markup editor
• How to change the thickness or texture of your lines with the Markup editor
• How to change the color of your lines with the Markup editor
• How to add shapes to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to add a border to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to adjust border color with the Markup editor
• How to add a callout to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to add text to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to change your text format with the Markup editor

How to find the Markup editor in the Photos app

Markup is a bit hidden in the Photos app. Here's how you can find it and start editing!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. You can now make your markup edits on your photo.
7. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to draw on your photos with the Markup editor

Add your own shapes and flair to your photos by doodling a little! If you draw certain shapes, they will also re-form into a cleaner cut version of that shape. Try drawing stars, hearts, arrows, and more!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click and drag on the photo to draw or write on it.
7. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window if you're happy with your markup. Remember that this will save changes to the original photo. You can, however go back into Markup and remove your markup, but it's best to make a copy of the original and mark it up.

You can now draw and add your doodles to your photo.

How to change the thickness or texture of your lines with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shape Style button. It looks like three horizontal lines that get bigger.
7. Select the thickness or the texture you would like to use.
8. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

You can then go about drawing or writing on your photo.

How to change the color of your lines with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Text Style button, which looks like an uppercase A.
7. Click the colored bar.
8. Click a color to select it.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

Then go about drawing or writing on your photo.

How to add shapes to your photos with the Markup editor

You can either draw your shapes, or add them to your photo with just a few simple clicks. You can also adjust the color and size/shape of the image by clicking and dragging to edit.

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button from the menu. It's next to the pen button.
7. Click the shape you would like to select. It will automatically be added to your photo.
8. Click and drag the blue dots to adjust the shape until you're happy with how it looks.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to add a border to your photos with the Markup editor

Add a faint black or a colored border to your images to switch up your regular editing routine!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button in the menu. It looks like a square and circle.
7. Click the rectangle inside a rectangle option at the bottom left of the menu.
8. Click and drag the blue dots to adjust the borders to your liking.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to adjust border color with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button on the left of the menu. It looks like a square and circle.
7. Click the rectangle inside a rectangle option at the bottom left of the menu that appears.
8. Click the Fill Color button. It's a white square with a red line through it.
9. Click the color you would like your border to be. Your border will automatically become that color.
10. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to add a callout to your photos with the Markup editor

Callouts are a great way to add an emphasis to a certain area of your photo. Markup editor makes adding callouts easy-peasy, rending the use of a third-party editing app useless. Here's how to use them in the Photos app!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button on the left side of the menu. It's a square and circle.
7. Click the callout button on the bottom right of the menu that appears. It looks like a lowercase 'a' with a circle around it.
8. Click and drag the blue dot to adjust the size of the callout.
9. Click and drag the green dot to adjust the magnification.
10. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to add text to your photos with the Markup editor

Adding a little bit of text can be a really great way to edit without cluttering up your photo with additional bells and whistles.

You can also change your font type and color to match the rest of the photo better.

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Text button. It looks like an uppercase 'T' in a box.
7. Click inside the text box to type in it.
8. Click and drag the blue dots to change the size of the text box.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to change your text format with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Text button. It looks like an uppercase 'T' in a box. This will create a new text box.
7. Click the Text Style button. It looks like an italicized uppercase A.
8. Click the font name and click a font to change it.
9. Click the colored bar and click a color to choose your text color.
10. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

In this menu, you can also adjust font size, alignment, and bold, italics, and underlining.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Updated February 2018: Redid every screenshot and rewrote some instructions to reflect the latest version of Photos for macOS High Sierra.

The writing is on the wall for 32-bit macOS apps: 32-bit iOS apps are no longer supported in iOS 11, and Apple announced at its annual WWDC 2017 conference that, beginning in January 2018, 32-bit apps and updates for macOS will no longer be accepted.

Now Apple is going one step further. When macOS 10.13.4 launches in the Spring, you won't be able to open 32-bit apps without a warning.

The move makes sense: macOS and iOS are getting faster and more powerful, and 32-bit apps can't make use of the processing power and memory that 64-bit apps can. Apple wants the experience on macOS and iOS to be (in its words) "buttery smooth." 64-bit apps can help Apple and iOS and macOS developers achieve that goal.

How to check if your macOS apps have been updated to 64-bit

If you wanna check your apps to see which are already ready for the January 2018 transition, it's super simple!

1. Type the following keyboard shortcut Command ⌘ + Space bar to launch Spotlight.
2. Begin to type in System Information and hit Enter when it shows up.
3. Scroll down to the Software section in System Information.
4. Click Applications and wait for your applications to load.
5. The column to the far right in the Applications table will give you a simple, "Yes" or "No" answer as to whether or not your app is 64-bit.

Questions?

32-bit? 64-bit? Any of this serving to confuse more than educate? Let us know in the comments section below and we'll try to lend a hand!

If you take a lot of photos with your iPhone, you know how just how much space they can take up on your phone and in your iCloud account. Saving your photos to an external hard drive not only will allow you to free up space on your iPhone, it can also give you a safe place to store your photos in case you happen to lose them. Backing up your data is also a good thing!

Instead of transferring your photos from your iPhone to your Mac and then transferring those photos from your Mac to your external hard drive, you can automate the process using Image Capture on your Mac.

How to save your iPhone photos directly to an external hard drive on Mac

1. Plug in your external hard drive to your Mac.
2. Plug in your iPhone to your Mac. Make sure you select to Trust the computer if you haven't done so already.
3. Launch Image Capture from Launchpad.
4. Click on your iPhone in the sidebar.

5. Use the keyboard shortcut Command - A to select all the photos. Alternatively, you can select photos individually.
6. Click on the destination drop down menu.

7. Click Other from the list of options.
8. Click on your external hard drive.

9. Click Choose.
10. Click Import.

Now, your the photos from your iPhone will transfer over to your external hard drive. This will likely take a few minutes and if you have a lot of photos, it could take up to several minutes.

Any Questions?

Let us know in the comments down below.

Update: Apple has pushed out a new version of the root patch, build 17B1002, which appears to fix the file sharing bug. If you don't think you got the updated patch or you're still experiencing file sharing issues, try the fix below.

The recent "root" vulnerability in macOS High Sierra made waves recently because of its wide-reaching security issue. Apple quickly released a security update to fix the issue in record time, but in its haste, may have accidentally caused an annoying, though not security related, bug for some people attempting to file share on Mac. If you are trying to share files on your Mac after installing the security update, Apple has published a help document to fix the issue. Here are the steps.

If you experience issues with authenticating or connecting to file shares on your Mac after you install Security Update 2017-001 for macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, follow these steps to repair file sharing:

1. Open the Terminal app, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. Type sudo /usr/libexec/configureLocalKDC and press Return.
3. Enter your administrator password and press Return.
4. Quit the Terminal app.

You should now be able to share files on your Mac without issue.

Apple has just released a security update for macOS High Sierra that patches the "root" vulnerability dropped yesterday. While this bug should never have shipped, Apple's response to the problem and turn around time on the fix have been impressive and reassuring.

Apple sent me the following statement:

You can find the security update in Software Updates and if you're running macOS High Sierra, you should download and install it now, then make sure everyone you know does the same. If you don't, Apple will do it for you starting later today.

Here are the details on the patch, from Apple.com:

The original patch caused issues with files sharing so Apple has pushed out a new version, 17B1002, to correct the problem.

This is a zero-day exploit. Lemi Orhan Ergin tweeted to Apple's support account that he had discovered a way to log into a Mac running High Sierra by using the superuser "root" and then clicking the login button repeatedly. (Mac's running Sierra or earlier versions of the OS are not affected.)

Ergin should absolutely have disclosed this to Apple and given the company a chance to patch it before it went public, and Apple should never have allowed the bug to ship, but none of that matters right now.

Here's what's important: The "root" account allows super-user access to your system. It's supposed to be disabled by default on macOS. For whatever reason, it's not on High Sierra. Instead, "root" is enabled and currently allows access to anyone without a password.

For a basic explanation of what's causing the issue, see Objective See:

• For accounts that are disabled (i.e. don't have 'shadowhash' data) macOS will attempt to perform an upgrade
• During this upgrade, od_verify_crypt_password returns a non-zero value
• The user (or attacked) specified passwor is then 'upgraded' and saved for the account

So, anybody who has physical access to your Mac or can get through via screen sharing, VNC, or remote desktop, and enters "root" and hits login repeatedly, can gain complete access to the machine.

Apple sent me the following statement:

If you're comfortable with the command line, you can very quickly:

1. Launch Terminal.
2. Type: sudo passwd -u root.
3. Enter and confirm your Root User Password. (Make it a strong, unique one!)

If not, you can use Open Directory Utility:

How to fix the root/ vulnerability on macOS High Sierra

1. Click on Apple () at the far left of the menubar.
2. Click on System Preferences.
3. Click on Users and Groups.
4. Click on the Lock (🔒) icon.
5. Enter your Password.
6. Click on Login Options.
7. Click on Join or Edit.
8. Click on Open Directory Utility.
9. Click on the Lock (🔒) icon.
10. Enter your Password.
11. Click on Edit in the menubar.
12. Click on Enable Root User.
13. Enter and confirm your Root User Password. (Make it a strong, unique one!)

Do not disable the Root User. That just blanks the password and allows the exploit to work again.

Apple needs to fix this stat. In the meantime, share this information with everyone you know who uses a Mac on High Sierra and make sure they test and validate that "root" access is blocked before you let them resume their day.

Updated to include Apple's statement and Objective See's description of the problem.

Updated to include Apple's patch and statement on the patch.

Updated to include file sharing bug in the patch, and the updated patch to fix the file sharing bug.

macOS High Sierra introduced a bit of a problem for some users that rely on the media keys in the function row of their Mac's keyboard to control playback in iTunes or other media apps. The keys no longer control only these apps, but also video playback in Safari, which can prevent you from playing, pausing, or skipping through music while video is playing in Safari.

A developer, Milan Toth, has devised a solution in the form of a free utility called High Sierra Media Key Enabler. This app puts the media keys back in control of media apps like iTunes and Spotify.

Here's how you can use High Sierra Media Key Enabler to get your Mac's media keys back on track.

How to get your media keys to control iTunes again with High Sierra Media Key Enabler

1. Open Safari or your web browser of choice from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Head to the High Sierra Media Key Enabler website.

3. Download the app.
4. Open your Downloads folder on your Dock or in Finder.

5. Click the app to open it.

That's all there is to it. Media Key Enabler runs as a little Menu Bar utility. There's nothing to configure, and the only thing you can actually do with the app is quit it. Toth notes that currently, the Media Key Enabler is only compatible with physical keys and not the Touch Bar on newer MacBook Pros.

Questions?

If you've got any questions about getting your media keys to work with iTunes and other such apps, let us know in the comments.

After many years using the venerable HFS+, Apple has finally released an updated filesystem aptly named the Apple Filesystem (APFS for short). The new APFS, released with macOS High Sierra, sports improvements to encryption, file integrity and space allocation, and adds features such as cloning and snapshots.

What is a filesystem?

A filesystem is the logic an operating system uses to catalog, store, and retrieve data on a storage medium such as a disk drive.

Shrinking partition results in an error

As with any implementation of a new feature set, end users may run into unexpected quirks and incompatibilities. One such quirk I ran into was trying to resize my MacBook Air's system partition to make room for a GNU/Linux install on the same computer. I used Disk Utility to perform a partition shrink (something I've done countless of times in the past) and ran into error code 49153.

How to fix APFS partition shrink errors.

The culprit it seems are locally stored snapshots of Time Machine backups on my macOS High Sierra system partition. The fix is the following.

As always, run a Backup of your system.

1. Launch System Preferences.
2. Select Time Machine.
3. Uncheck Backup Automatically.

1. Launch Terminal
2. At the command prompt enter tmutil listlocalsnapshots /. This will list the Time Machine snapshots on your partition.
3. Next enter tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 99999999999999. This will delete all of the snapshots. This will take a bit of time.

4. Check that all of the snapshots are no gone with tmutil listlocalsnapshots /.

You can now retry the changes you want to make to your partition. You can follow our Disk Utility guide if you need help or you can run diskutil form the command line if you're more comfortable with terminal and use the man diskutil command for more information.

Finally, once your partition shrink has completed, turn Time Machine back on.

1. Launch System Preferences.
2. Select Time Machine.
3. Check Backup Automatically.

Comments or Questions?

That about sums it up. I'm not certain if this occurs on Macs that have upgraded from HFS+ to APFS or if this also occurs on new system installs but hopefully, the need for getting into the terminal will be removed with an update to Disk Utility in the future. Do you have any comments or questions? Leave them in the comment section!

Do you have a lot of Apple hardware devices to maintain? Are you in a small office that manages numerous similar Apple devices? You can speed up the updating of your Macs and iOS devices, the downloading of your apps, and access to your iCloud data while at the same time reducing your internet bandwidth usage by setting up content caching!

• What does content caching do?
• How to install macOS High Sierra on your Mac
• How to set up content caching

What does content caching do?

In my household, we have (in their various forms): 4 iPads, 4 iPhones, 3 AppleTVs, 3 MacBook Pros, 2 MacBook Airs, 1 MacBook, and 1 iMac. That's a lot of downloading to do for iCloud synchronization and system updates across all of those devices. You may have a metered internet package or you might need to make certain your Apple-related downloads don't use up all of the bandwidth.

Content caching helps by keeping a local network copy of app downloads, system updates, iCloud data, iBooks purchases and the like. Once one iPhone downloads a newly purchased app or goes on to synchronize documents in iCloud, content caching will automatically save a copy of the file on its hard drive and the rest of your devices will automatically look to a local macOS High Sierra computer the has content caching set up to download it rather than downloading it from the internet. This speeds up installation and synchronization on all subsequent devices by many times!

How to install macOS High Sierra on your Mac

If you haven't already done so, you'll need to install macOS High Sierra on one of your network Macs. You can follow our detailed guide if you need a little more help, but here is the express version.

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen.
2. Click on App Store...
3. Click on Featured.
4. Click on macOS High Sierra in the Mac App Store.
5. Click on Download under the Sierra icon.
6. Wait for macOS High Sierra to finish downloading.
7. Click Install to begin the installation process.

How to set up content caching

1. Launch System Preferences
2. Select Sharing.

3. Make certain that Cache iCloud Content is checked.
4. Click Options.
5. Set the Cache Size slider to the amount of local disk space to use for content caching.

6. Click OK
7. Enable the service by checking Content Caching.

8. Restart all of your Apple devices so that they can detect the caching service running on your network.

With that, your devices will automagically start using and storing data and files on your content caching enabled Mac. Unfortunately, you can no longer see what type of file and how much space is being used for each type of data populating your Mac as was the case in macOS Server. If ever you need to reset the data in the cache, you need to simply click on Reset in the Options section of the content caching system preferences.

Any comments or questions?

This is by far one of the most useful and simplest feature to set up on your Apple-centric network. It's also one of the most impactful since the bandwidth and time saved can be dramatic across all of your hardware. If you have any questions or comments, leave it below!

While sites and services continually adopt newer technologies such as HTML5 in the place of Flash and other older plug-ins, in your internet activity you'll likely find that Flash is still a major component of a number of sites. Some browsers still treat these plug-ins the same as they always have, but Safari has a different way of interacting with Flash than it has in the past.

For one thing, Flash is off by default.

How Flash works in Safari on macOS High Sierra

Since macOS Sierra, Adobe's Flash plug-in has been turned off in Safari by default to encourage users — and websites — to use HTML5 for features like video, and this remains true in macOS High Sierra. This is because Flash is easily exploitable, and if someone with nefarious intentions hacks the plug-in or the site, Apple previously couldn't prevent users from being exposed.

However, there are some sites and services, such as Hulu, Spotify, and Pandora, that require the use of Flash for video playback, music streaming, and more. When you visit one of these sites in Safari, by default you'll see either a black screen with a button saying Click to use Flash or the website will encourage you to download Flash. If Flash is installed, when you click the link to download, you'll be presented with a dialogue box asking if you want to use Flash on the current site just once, or every time you visit. Clicking either will allow you to watch the video as you normally would.

In addition to these new Flash permissions, you can also control these settings on a more granular basis in Safari's settings. Here's how.

How to manage Adobe Flash in Safari

1. Open Safari.
2. Click on Safari in the Menu bar.

3. Click on Preferences
4. Click the Websites tab.

5. Click on Adobe Flash Player under Plug-ins.
6. Click on the drop-down menus next to the names of currently-open sites in Safari.

7. Use the menus to decide if Flash will run, stay off, or ask to be run on the sites in questions.
8. Click the drop-down menu at the bottom of the page to determine the same thing for all other sites.

Questions?

Want to know more about how Flash and Safari operate in macOS High Sierra? Let us know below.

Yesterday popular photo editor Pixelmator released 3.7 'Mount Whitney,' the newest version of its macOS app. With this update, users can now edit their snapshots with Pixelmator without leaving the Photos app by right-clicking the photo and selecting "Edit With" and then "Pixelmator."

This isn't the only update, either: Pixelmator is also now able to support the HEIF (High Efficiency Image File) photo format, which is the default image format for photos taken with the iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and iPhone X. The company also fixed bugs that had been plaguing users, such as disappearing rulers and unexpected shutdowns while open on newer Macs. Other new features include improved support for Photoshop (PSD) files, a more accurate and efficient repair tool, and the ability to drag and drop images from Safari directly into Pixelmator (a feature that the app used to have but that had been removed from previous updates).

Pixelmator is also currently working on Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator's Photoshop alternative that the company calls "the world's most innovative image editing app." That's expected to be coming a little later this fall. As for Pixelmator 3.7 Mount Whitney, you can purchase it now or update the version of Pixelmator you already own through the App Store.

• Pixelmator - $29.99 - Download now

Thoughts? Questions?

Are you excited about Pixelmator 3.7's macOS High Sierra integration? If you use Pixelmator, how do you feel about the improvements? If you've never used the program before, do you find its support for HEIF images and Photos app integration to be features that may convince you to download it? Let us know in the comments!

macOS High Sierra is making some changes to how Safari interacts with cookies, pieces of website data stored in your browser that contain information such as login credentials. Because of Safari's efforts to keep you from being tracked across the web, you might find that it's difficult to access some websites at all, as their cookies might be disabled.

Here's how you can enable cookies and manage website data in Safari on macOS High Sierra.

• How to enable cookies in Safari in macOS High Sierra
• How to manage website data in Safari in macOS High Sierra

How to enable cookies in Safari in macOS High Sierra

Some websites won't work if their cookies aren't enabled, and even for sites that do function, you still might want to do things like save login information so you don't have to log in every time you visit. Here's how you can go about enabling cookies in Safari on macOS High Sierra.

1. Open Safari from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click Safari in the Menu bar.

3. Click Preferences.
4. Click Security.

5. Click to uncheck the Block pop-up windows box.
6. Click Privacy.

7. Click to uncheck the Block all cookies box.

How to manage website data in Safari in macOS High Sierra

You can remove saved website data from Safari, either individually by site or all at once.

1. Open Safari from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click Safari in the Menu bar.

3. Click Preferences.
4. Click Privacy.

5. Click Manage Website Data....
6. Click on the website whose data you want to remove.

7. Click Remove.
8. Click Remove All to remove all site data from Safari.

Questions?

If you have any questions about enabling cookies in macOS High Sierra.

Most people will never have to (or want to) manage their networking profiles or locations. Setting up a connection to a Wi-Fi hotspot is all they'd need to do. However, some users might want or need tighter control over how their computer accesses the network and the internet.

Why would you want to control your network profile?

Depending on your use case, there may never be a reason for you to manage your network profile. If you have a computer that never leaves a particular network, then you can literally set it and forget it.

If you have a MacBook, then you might have access to a privileged network when at one location and need just typical network access when at another location. One such situation would be using a specialized network gateway.

For example, I have a network where my computers with low requirements of secure internet access go out to the internet via one gateway whilst my computers that require a higher level of security go out another gateway that has VPN encryption.

What's the problem?

If I were to take my MacBook that uses the secure gateway to a friend's house, I would not be able to access the internet without making changes to the network settings.

Depending on your network topology, these changes can be complicated and tedious. Adding a new network location would simplify the process of making the transition without having to memorize IPs, gateways, subnet masks and DNS servers. One location would have my secure network settings, the other would have a general connection setup.

How to set up a new network location

Let's start by setting up our various network profiles.

1. Start System Preferences.
2. Click Network.
3. Tap the connection you want to manage. In our example, Wi-Fi.

4. Click the Location drop down arrow.
5. Click Edit Locations.
6. Click the + to add a new location and give it a name. In this example this will be our Secure network.

7. Click Done.
8. Click Advanced.
9. Setup the network requirements you need for your specialized network location. You can follow our instructions for changing your gateway if you need help with that.

10. Click OK.
11. If you need more specialized network settings, repeat steps 4 through 10.

How to use your new network profiles

Once you've set everything up, using the locations will be a breeze.

1. Start System Preferences.
2. Click Network.
3. Tap the connection you want to manage. In our example, Wi-Fi.
4. Click the Location drop down arrow.
5. Select the Network Location you need at the moment.
6. Click Apply.

What about iOS?

iOS is already setup to "expect" different needs for different Wi-Fi networks. If you make a gateway change on one Wi-Fi network, iOS already knows that you'd need a separate networking profile when changing to a another Wi-Fi network.

Final thoughts and comments

I'd really like it if Apple were to make macOS Wi-Fi networking work similarly to iOS Wi-Fi networking. Case in point, I setup my wife's work laptop to use our encrypted VPN gateway for security purposes. She rarely used that laptop away from home. We once experienced a power outage when she required internet access. She went to a friends home but she couldn't access the internet due to the network settings from our home network. Since I didn't setup a roaming network location on her laptop, she was "stuck" not having access until I explained how to reset her network settings. If her device was an iOS device, she would not have needed anything changed and things would have worked seamlessly.

What are your thoughts? Do you need to change your network locations on your macOS device? Wish it would work similarly to an iOS device? Let us know in the comments!

macOS 10.13 High Sierra, the latest version of Apple's operating system for Macs, has arrived, and as with any major system release, some things are getting left behind. If you're a longtime user of Apple's suite of legacy professional apps, Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio, you'll need to to make arrangements to transition to new apps if you plan on using High Sierra.

The following Apple Pro apps do not work with macOS High Sierra:

Final Cut Studio:

• DVD Studio Pro
• Soundtrack Pro
• Color
• Cinema Tools

Logic Studio:

• Soundtrack Pro
• WaveBurner
• Studio Instruments
• Studio Effects
• Apple Loops
• Apple Loops Utility
• Impulse Response Utility

Logic Studio apps, which included Logic Pro, Mainstage, Apple Loops Utility, and more, eventually gave way to Logic Pro X and an updated version of Mainstage. Most of the Final Cut Studio apps, similarly, have also fallen away, supplanted by Final Cut Pro X, though Motion and Compressor are still regularly updated.

In addition to these pro apps, you'll also need the following versions of Final Cut Pro X, Motion, Compressor, Logic Pro X, and Mainstage to ensure compatibility with macOS High Sierra:

• Final Cut Pro X 10.3.4 or later
• Motion 5.3.2 or later
• Compressor 4.3.2 or later
• Logic Pro X 10.3.1 or later
• MainStage 3.3 or later

If you'd like to start moving your workflows over to Apple's newer professional apps, you can find them on the Mac App Store.

• Final Cut Pro X - $299.99 - Download Now
• Motion - $49.99 - Download Now
• Compressor - $49.99 - Download Now
• Logic Pro X - $199.99 - Download Now
• MainStage - $29.99 - Download Now

For some, upgrading to the latest software is a no-brainer. After all, you get all the new bells and whistles, right? WRONG! In a production environment, where stability and compatibility trump puny bells and whistles, the decision to upgrade has to be far more careful and considered.

For the macOS server administrator who wants to be as informed as possible before a potentially job-threatening upgrade, here are all the High Sierra changes you need to know about1

Removed Services

At one point or another, a feature or service may be discontinued due to various reasons. Be it, security, low usage, or simply shifting priorities, a service you've come to depend on may be deprecated or even removed entirely. Here are two such services in macOS Server 5.4.

File Sharing with iOS: You could previously use set up a shared repository on macOS Server for your iOS devices. Support for this feature is being removed entirely. All of your iOS devices will report that file sharing has been disabled on the server. Suggested alternatives are using WebDAV, and collaboration using Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A longtime a security risk, for example for sending password information in clear text, FTP support will be removed from macOS server if you upgrade.

Moved Services

Sometimes services will all be moved from one configuration manager to another. Apple has made some services are now available on all macOS High Sierra installation, even those running without macOS Server. Here are the services on macOS Server 5.4 that have been moved to all macOS High Sierra installs in the System Preferences app.

File Sharing: All fire sharing can now be configured in System Preferences > Sharing. There are some protocol depreciations due to the new APFS file sharing that will disable sharing over that filesystem.

Open Directory: Open Directly is no longer required for Profile management and, as such, has been "hidden" on macOS Server 5.4.

Caching Service: My favorite feature in macOS Server, it can now be easily found in System Preferences > Sharing. If you have multiple devices to update and maintain, it makes a local network cache for iCloud data, updates and more. Great if you want to save bandwidth.

Xcode Server: Any install of Xcode 9 now takes over the functionality of Xcode server from previous macOS Server installs.

Time Machine: You can now share a folder for backups using the increased capabilities of File Sharing on macOS High Sierra.

The upgrade you were looking for?

Some people may like that Apple is so decisive about how it simply cuts services per upgrade so that service "cruft" doesn't build up over many instances OS upgrades. Other people may find it maddening when a simple upgrade moves or removes features they were using. I tend to be in the latter group. I can understand no longer supporting FTP for example, but removing it completely is scorched earth.

What's your take? Let me know in the comments!

Universal Clipboard is getting a whole lot more useful for sharing between Macs in macOS High Sierra. The Continuity feature already makes it possible to copy text, photos, and videos from one Mac and paste them onto another, but with High Sierra, you'll be able to actually copy and paste entire files from one Mac to another.

• Step 1: Make sure your Mac supports Universal Clipboard
• Step 2: Make sure you're signed into iCloud on both Macs
• Step 3: Make sure both Macs are on the same Wi-Fi and have Bluetooth turned on
• Step 4: Copy and paste

Step 1: Make sure your Mac supports Universal Clipboard

Universal Clipboard is a Continuity feature, which requires Bluetooth LE. Your Mac also has to be running macOS High Sierra or higher to support copy and pasting files. Here's a list of supported Macs.

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2012 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (2012 or newer)
• iMac (2012 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013)

Step 2: Make sure you're signed into iCloud on both Macs

Universal Clipboard uses iCloud to transfer content across devices. That's why both Macs have to be signed into the same iCloud account for you to be able to send your data automagically. To see if you're logged into the same iCloud account on both Mac's:

1. Click on the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
2. Click on System Preferences.

3. Click on iCloud.

The summary on the left side of the iCloud window will show which iCloud account is signed in. If it's not the one you want, sign out of the current iCloud account, and sign in with the one you want to copy and paste a file with.

Step 3: Make sure both Macs are on the same Wi-Fi and have Bluetooth turned on

Universal Clipboard uses more than just iCloud to automagically send files from one Mac to another. It also uses local Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Both Macs need to be on the same local Wi-Fi network and both Macs need to have Bluetooth turned on, even if you don't have anything paired. It's OK, it barely uses any power consumption. To make sure both Macs are on the same local Wi-Fi network:

1. Click on the Wi-Fi icon in the Menu bar on one Mac. It's near the date on the right side of the screen.
2. Note the name of the Wi-Fi your Mac is connected to. It'll be the one with a check mark next to it.
3. Repeat the check on the other Mac.

To make sure both Macs have Bluetooth turned on:

1. Click on the Bluetooth icon in the Menu bar on your Macs. It's near the Wi-Fi icon on the right side of the screen.
2. Select Turn Bluetooth on if it's not already on.

Step 4: Copy and paste

Once you're set up, Continuity should work between your Macs. Just like copying and pasting a text, photo, or video, all you have to do is copy a file on one Mac and paste it on the other.

1. Select the file you want to copy and paste on one Mac.
2. Hit Command-C on the selected file.
3. Go to your other Mac.
4. Hit Command-V to paste the file.

Any Universal Clipboard questions?

Do you have any questions about copying and pasting files from one Mac to another in macOS High Sierra? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Just don't think of a Notes table as a spreadsheet because it's not going to add up figures or alphabetize a list. We've got Numbers for that. Still, the new feature adds a little flexibility that Notes didn't have before.

Here's how tables work in Notes in macOS High Sierra.

• How to create a table in Notes
• How to add more columns and rows to your table
• How to rearrange rows or columns
• How to remove columns from a table
• How to convert text to a table
• How to convert a table into plain text
• How to format text inside your tables
• How to delete multiple cells' contents

How to create a table in Notes

If only a new table was this easy to come by in real life, we'd never have to spend a day at IKEA again.

1. Launch Notes from the dock or Finder.
2. Click the Table button in the toolbar. It looks like a table: two columns of three rows. Alternatively, choose Format > Table if, for example, your Notes window is so narrow that you don't see the Table button in the toolbar.
3. Start typing in the first box.
4. Click Tab to navigate between boxes as you type, or click on a new box.
5. Click Return as you're typing to move to the next row.

How to add more columns and rows to your table

The default table is two columns by two rows, but you aren't limited to that.

1. Launch Notes on your Mac and navigate to the note you want to manipulate or create a new one.
2. Place the cursor in the last row and press Return to create a new row.
3. Put your cursor in any cell, and when the ellipses button appears at the top of the column, click it to create a new column.
4. Click the downward arrow that appears at the top right of the column.
5. Click Add Column Before, Add Column After, or Delete Column in the pop-up that appears.

How to rearrange rows or columns

Notes makes it easy to drag columns or rows around, too. Unlike a true spreadsheet, you can't sort your table's data, rearranging the rows alphabetically or numerically, for example. (So if you have a lot of data, a spreadsheet is still better.) But you can slide them into new positions yourself.

1. Launch Notes and navigate to a Note with a table or create a new one.
2. Click to place the cursor in a cell in the row or column you want to move. A little ellipses button will appear to the left of the row, and above the column.
3. Click and hold one of those ellipses buttons to release the row or column from its position.
4. Drag the row or column to a new position. The other rows and columns will jump out of its way.
5. Let go to place the row or column in its new place.

How to remove columns from a table

Easy come, easy go...

1. Launch Notes and find a Note with a table in it or create a new one.
2. Place your cursor in any cell in the column you want to remove.
3. Click the ellipses button that appears at the top of the column. This highlights the column in yellow and makes a downward arrow appear at the top right of the yellow box.
4. Click the arrow at the top right of the yellow box.
5. Click Delete Column from the pop-up menu.

How to convert text to a table

If you're working on a list in Notes, it's easy to turn that into a table.

1. Launch Notes on your Mac and find a Note or create a new one.
2. Select one or more lines of text. The shorter the better; a list works best.
3. Click the Table button in the toolbar, or choose Format > Table in the menu bar at the top of the screen. A table is created with your selection in the first column. You can fill in the second column yourself.

Alternatively, you can paste text into an empty column of cells. If the text in your clipboard takes up more than one line, each line will appear in a new row in the table.

How to convert a table into plain text

If you decide your table's no longer needed, you can still keep the text inside.

1. Launch Notes on your Mac. Create a table or find a note with one in it.
2. Click to place your cursor anywhere in the table.
3. Click the Table button in the toolbar.
4. Click the Convert to Text option that appears. Alternatively, choose Format > Convert to Text from the menu bar.

How to format text inside your tables

Your formatting options are slightly reduced, but here's what you can do.

1. Launch Notes.
2. Call up the Fonts window by pressing command-T on your keyboard.
3. Use the Fonts window to change the selected text's font, typeface, size, and color. Regular keyboard shortcuts work too. For example, bold text with command-B.
4. Italicize text with command + I.
5. Add a link by selecting text and pressing command-K. You can link up just some of the words in a cell or all of them.

6. Change the alignment of your text with Format > Text. Or use the keyboard shortcuts: command + { for align left, command + | to center, and command + } to align right.
7. You can't use Notes' checkboxes inside table cells, nor can you drag in images.

How to delete multiple cells' contents

You can clear out big chunks of your table at once.

1. Launch Notes and find a note with a table or create a new one.
2. Click a cell and drag it across the table. This creates a selection that will be outlined in orange.
3. Right-click the section outlined in orange and click Delete Cell Contents.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Your Safari browsing experience is significantly more customizable now. Apple has added the ability to customize your browsing experience for each and every website that you visit. If you want to always read iMore in Reader View but not Android Central, no problem! If you want to allow autoplay videos on CNET but not CNN, you can do that. You can also throw a blanket rule across the web and allow your favorite websites to break that rule. Here's how.

• How to customize rules for websites as you visit them
• How to customize Reader View for specific websites
• How to customize Content Blockers for specific websites
• How to customize Auto-Play for specific websites
• How to customize Page Zoom for specific websites
• How to customize camera, microphone, and location permissions for specific websites
• How to customize what websites can or can't send you notifications

How to customize rules for websites as you visit them on Safari on Mac

In macOS High Sierra, you'll be able to set up custom rules for websites as you visit them. After a while, all of your favorite sites will always be customized to your browsing preferences.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Navigate to a website.
3. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
4. Click on Settings for This Website.

When the small window pops up just below the URL bar in your browser window, you can select the rules you want to customize for this website. If you do this for every website you visit, as you visit, you'll eventually have customized rules set up for all your browsing activities.

How to customize Reader View for specific websites

You can manually set up customized Reader View rules for websites you visit, and change those customizations at any time. This method is faster if you've got a lot of browser windows open at the same time.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Click on Preferences.

4. Select the Websites tab.
5. Click on Reader in the side bar.

6. Select a website.
7. Choose a rule from the drop down menu next to the website. You can choose to turn Reader View on or off.

You can also set up a general rule for all other websites you visit by choosing a rule from the drop down menu at the bottom right of the Preferences window next to When visiting other websites.

How to customize Content Blockers for specific websites

You can manually set up customized Content Blocker rules for websites you visit and change those customizations at any time. This method is faster if you've got a lot of browser windows open at the same time.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Click on Preferences.

4. Select the Websites tab.
5. Click on Content Blockers in the side bar.

6. Select a website.
7. Choose a rule from the drop down menu next to the website. You can choose to turn Content Blockers on or off.

You can also set up a general rule for all other websites you visit by choosing a rule from the drop down menu at the bottom right of the Preferences window next to When visiting other websites.

How to customize Auto-Play for specific websites

You can manually set up customized autoplay rules for websites you visit and change those customizations at any time. This method is faster if you've got a lot of browser windows open at the same time.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Click on Preferences.

4. Select the Websites tab.
5. Click on Auto-Play in the side bar.

6. Select a website.
7. Choose a rule from the drop down menu next to the website. You can choose to allow all auto-play, stop media with sound, or never autoplay.

You can also set up a general rule for all other websites you visit by choosing a rule from the drop down menu at the bottom right of the Preferences window next to When visiting other websites.

How to customize Page Zoom for specific websites

You can customize whether you want to zoom in or out on different web pages. This method only works with websites you currently have open.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Click on Preferences.

4. Select the Websites tab.
5. Click on Page Zoom in the side bar.

6. Select a website that is currently open.
7. Select the zoom level for the website. You can zoom in or out by 50, 75, 85, 100, 115, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, or 300%.

You can also set up a general rule for all other websites you visit by choosing a rule from the drop down menu at the bottom right of the Preferences window next to When visiting other websites.

How to customize camera, microphone, and location permissions for specific websites

You can customize whether to give permission to websites to access your camera, microphone, or location. Camera and microphone permissions are usually attached to social or communication-based sites, like Google Hangouts and Amazon. This method only works with websites you currently have open.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Click on Preferences.

4. Select the Websites tab.
5. Click on camera in the side bar.
6. Select a website that is currently open.
7. Select the permission for the website. You can allow, deny, or require the website to ask permission every time.

8. Click on microphone in the side bar.
9. Select a website that is currently open.
10. Select the permission for the website. You can allow, deny, or require the website to ask permission every time.

11. Click on Location in the side bar.
12. Select a website that is currently open.
13. Select the permission for the website. You can allow, deny, or require the website to ask permission every time.

You can also set up a general rule for each of these categories for all other websites you visit by choosing a rule from the drop down menu at the bottom right of the Preferences window next to When visiting other websites.

How to customize what websites can or can't send you notifications

When you visit some websites, you'll be asked if you'd like to receive notifications when new articles are posted or content is updated. You can choose, at the time of the request, whether to allow or deny push notifications. You can change those preferences later in Website preferences.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click on the Safari app menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Click on Preferences.

4. Select the Websites tab.
5. Click on Notifications in the side bar.

6. Select a website that is currently open.
7. Select the permission for the website. You can allow or deny push notifications for the website.

You can also set up a general rule for all websites you visit by ticking the box for Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications at the bottom of the Preferences window while in the Notifications section of the Websites tab.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about customizing website options for Safari on Mac? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Previously, whenever a major new version of macOS (or OS X) would launch on the Mac App Store, the previous version would still be available for download in the Purchased tab on the store. But things have changed this year. Now that macOS High Sierra has launched, its predecessor, Sierra, is nowhere to be found.

It appears that updates for macOS are no longer tied to your Apple ID, which explains why Sierra and High Sierra don't show up in your Purchased tab. However, Sierra is also missing when you search for it in the Mac App Store.

As Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels notes:

As Hackett goes on to note, it's likely that at least part of this move is motivated by Apple's desire for Macs running Sierra to upgrade to High Sierra, which offers many refinements of the Sierra experience. It's also worth noting that, at least for Macs with internal SSDs, downgrading from High Sierra would be more difficult thanks to the APFS transition.

If you use the Notes app as much as I do, you probably already know the sting of having your most important notes fall down to a low spot on your list because you've created so many new ones since the last time you made changes to them. In macOS High Sierra, you will be able to pin your precious ideas to the top of the list so that, no matter how many new notes you create, those pinned notes will stay at the top. Here's how.

How to pin a note to the top of your list in the Notes app

When you want to keep a note at the top of your list, where it's easily accessible, stick a pin in it! Your pinned notes will sync across all your devices running iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra.

1. Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Select a Note, but don't tap on it.
3. Swipe the note to the right to access the Pin tool.
4. Tap Pin.

The note will remain at the top of your list under a section called Pinned, no matter what changes you make to the rest of your notes or on which device. Pinned notes sync across all of your devices connected with the same iCloud account.

1. Launch the Notes app on your Mac.
2. Select a Note.

3. Click on File in the App menu at the upper left of your screen.
4. Click on Pin Note.

The note will remain at the top of your list under a section called Pinned Notes, no matter what changes you make to the rest of your notes, or on which device. Pinned notes sync across all of your devices connected with the same iCloud account.

How to unpin a note at the top of your list in the Notes app

Don't need a note at the top of your list anymore? Pull the pin!

1. Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Select a Note, but don't tap on it.
3. Swipe the note to the right to access the Pin tool.
4. Tap Unpin.

After you remove a pin, the note will revert back to its place in the list based on chronological order of last changed. The change will sync across all of your devices connected with the same iCloud account.

1. Launch the Notes app on your Mac.
2. Select a Note.

3. Click on File in the App menu at the upper left of your screen.
4. Click on Unpin Note.

After you remove a pin, the note will revert back to its place in the list based on chronological order of last changed. The change will sync across all of your devices connected with the same iCloud account.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about how to pin and unpin notes in the Notes app on iPhone and Mac? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Apple added a very useful feature to macOS High Sierra for people like me, whose neighbor's wifi is stronger than my own. You can stop your Mac from auto-joining it without having to forget the network.

My next door neighbor is also one of my dearest friends. So, of course we've both signed into each other's network in the past. When she moved in next door, my internet connection started acting wonky because all of my devices were connecting to her network, which is way stronger than mine. I'd have to switch back to my own connection in order to use such features as AirPlay and controlling my smart lights.

That's all changed with iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. Now, you can disable auto-joining of networks you are near. Here's how.

• How to disable auto-joining specific networks on Mac
• How to enable auto-joining specific networks on Mac
• How to disable remembering all networks your Mac has joined

How to disable auto-joining specific networks on Mac in High Sierra

To stop automatically joining a network, but still keep the login credentials disable it in your network settings.

You can quickly access your network settings from the drop down menu when you click on your wifi icon in the Menu bar.

Or you can access your network settings in you system preferences.

1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
2. Click on System Preferences.

3. Click on Networks.
4. Select the wifi network you want to stop joining automatically from the drop down menu next to Network Name. You have to be within range of the network to see it.
5. Untick the box next to Automatically join this network.

You can repeat this process with all nearby wifi networks you can access, but don't want to automatically join.

How to enable auto-joining specific networks on Mac in High Sierra

If you change your mind and decide you always want your Mac to join a particular network, you can reenable auto-joining without needing the password again.

You can quickly access your network settings from the drop down menu when you click on your wifi icon in the Menu bar.

Or you can access your network settings in you system preferences.

1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
2. Click on System Preferences.

3. Click on Networks.
4. Select the wifi network you want to automatically join from the drop down menu next to Network Name. You have to be within range of the network to see it.
5. Tick the box next to Automatically join this network.

How to disable remembering all networks your Mac has joined

If you'd rather your Mac not store network settings for future access, you can disable the feature altogether. This will mean you'll have to reenter the wifi password every time you join a network, even if its one you've previously joined.

You can quickly access your network settings from the drop down menu when you click on your wifi icon in the Menu bar.

Or you can access your network settings in you system preferences.

1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
2. Click on System Preferences.

3. Click on Networks.
4. Click on Advanced.
5. Untick the box for Remember networks this computer has joined.

Your Mac will no longer remember networks automatically. You'll have to manually enable auto-join for specific networks you want to keep the login credentials stored.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about disabling auto-joining wifi networks on your Mac in High Sierra? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Creating 3D environments on a computer has been a thing for quite some time. Typically, creating a 3D environment is a highly technical and skill based process taking many years of training to become proficient at.

One process is called photogrammetry. Named after a centuries old technique, photogrammetry allows you to create 3D images using a multitude of real world photographs of an object from many angles by stitching those photos together which later allows you to manipulate that image in 3 dimensions on a computer.

Why bother with photogrammetry?

My inspiration comes from my passion for VR. Valve, the company responsible for the technology behind the HTC Vive and SteamVR has an amazing a free VR workshop called Destinations. Destinations allows users and developers to create and share 3D rendered environments for people to interact with in VR. You can virtually be in a beautiful 3D rendered photo-realistic grotto, or in a 17th century cathedral. The process used in many of the 3D environments is photogrammetry.

My eventual goal is to create a 3D rendered photogrammetry environment to upload and interact with in VR on my HTC Vive. So lets get started!

Make your life easier by getting Agisoft PhotoScan

Agisoft PhotoScan ($179) is the program I chose to use for my photogrammetry. It isn't inexpensive but it's not exorbitant either. There are free alternatives to create a 3D scanned image using these techniques. You can use Visual SFM, CMVS plugin and Meshlab to do the jobs that PhotoScan can do on it's own. On top of that you'll have to build some of those programs from source code. To some that may be daunting. To others it may be right up your alley so If that';s your thing, you can follow this guide to get you started.

Here's how to get started for those of you who just want to make life a bit easier by using Agisoft PhotoScan. Agisoft offers a 30 day trial mode so you can try before you buy.

1. Navigate to ** http://www.agisoft.com/downloads/request-trial/ .**
2. Request a Trial License for PhotoScan Standard from sales@agisoft.com.
3. Download PhotoScan for macOS.
4. Double-click the PhotoScan installer .dmg file to start the installation.
5. Click Agree.
6. Double-click PhotoScan to start the application.
7. Enter your Trial License Code provided by Agisoft.

Take lots of photos!

Before we get started with PhotoScan, we need to take many (and I mean many) photos of the object we wish to 3D render. I chose a large hosta plant in my front yard. Make certain to take photos all the way around the object from many different angles and levels. Some low, some high. The more photos you take, the better the image but the longer to render. I simply use my iPhone and I click away. Here's the object I'll be 3D rendering:

Getting started with PhotoScan

Once you've taken all of the photos you'll have to upload them to your Mac. If you're patient, you can simply take your photos and wait for your iCloud Photo Library to sync up. I'm not so I manually sync my photos with a lightning cable.

1. Create a folder on your desktop and place your photos of your object in it.
2. Start PhotoScan.
3. Click Add Photos.

4. Navigate to your photos in the folder on your desktop.
5. Select all of the photos in the folder and click Open.
6. Click Workflow > Align Photos from the top menu bar.
7. Select the level of accuracy and click OK. The more accurate, the longer it will take. Aligning photos will calculate a number of points between the various photos that associate in 3D. It's output will show an image similar to pointillism and will also show each camera position I used whilst taking photos. This can help if you need to add more angles from which to take a photo.

8. Select Workflow > Build Dense Cloud from the menu bar.
9. Select the quality level and click OK. The higher the quality the longer it will take.

10. Sit back and relax as this will take a long time. Your output should will not have changed much at this point.

11. Select Workflow > Build Mesh from the menu bar.
12. Click OK.

13. Once again sit back and wait. Once this step is complete you should see something quite familiar!

14. Finally, Select Workflow > Texture for the menu bar.
15. Click OK.
16. You've just completed your 3D scan! You'll be able to rotate and spin as needed. We can now save it and export as needed.
17. Select File > Save >.
18. Name your save file and click Save.
19. Select File > Export Model.
20. Select the type of export you need and name your file and click Save.
21. Done!

What next?

My next steps will be to add my 3D scene to the VR application Destinations. The effect of photogrammetry in VR is impressive and I hope to be able to recreate the various rooms of my home in VR. I'll detail those steps in a subsequent article.

Comments or questions?

Do you have any feed back on photogrammetry on the Mac in general or in VR in specific? Let us know in the comments!

Just as macOS High Sierra, security researcher Patrick Wardle tweeted a previously undisclosed (zero day) vulnerability in Keychain, Apple's secure credential repository. The vulnerability potentially affected a wide range of macOS versions. Apple has since mitigated the issue with a Supplemental Update, now available via the Mac App Store.

Wardle said he could put a malicious app on someone's Mac and then use that app to get around Keychain's security and pull out usernames and passwords programmatically.

That meant Wardle, or someone using the same exploit, would have to use a phishing attack or some form of social engineering to get the malicious app onto your Mac, then use that malicious app to go after your Keychain.

In the Supplemental Update, Apple offered the following mitigation:

The Keychain vulnerability, while bad and requiring this's fix, wasn't something macOS users needed panic about. At least not those used to following the same security best practices everyone in the industry has been talking about for years.

Namely, those that kept Apple's default Gatekeeper settings enabled and didn't download anything, or click on any links, they don't absolutely trust.

macOS is more open by design than iOS. Malicious apps have targeted trusted developers and even tried to get into the App Store through third-party code. They get found. They get fixed.

As the Mac's popularity continues to grow relative to the industry, it makes the economics of attacking Mac users more attractive to hackers.

Multi-layered defense-in-depth, from prevention to detection to removal, is the best way to keep ahead of new threats and handle newly discovered ones.

Firmware integrity protection, anti-malware, system integrity protection, Gatekeeper, and other services are how Apple is implementing defense-in-depth.

Since no code is perfect, exploits will keep coming up. So, what matters is how fast and well Apple — or any vendor — responds to exploits.

Download and install the Supplemental Update for macOS High Sierra as soon as possible and continue to keep informed and keep safe.

While "Hey, Siri" on the Mac is conspicuously missing from macOS High Sierra, Apple did add a useful feature to the virtual assistant on the opposite side of the vocal spectrum. You can type a Siri query instead of speaking it. So if you're at the library or in a meeting, you can ask Siri to find something for you on your Mac without disrupting the people around you. Here's how to use it.

How to enable Type to Siri on macOS High Sierra

1. Click the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.
2. Click on System Preferences.

3. Click on Accessibility
4. Click on Siri.
5. Tick the box for Enable Type to Siri.

How to type a query to Siri on macOS High Sierra

Once enabled, a text field will appear just above the keyboard whenever you trigger the virtual personal assistant. Just type your question and Siri will answer it to the best of its abilities.

Keep in mind that Siri will talk back to you, so turn your Mac's volume down or disable Siri's Voice Feedback if you don't want to startle everyone around you when they hear, "I don't know what you're talking about, Dave."

How to disable Type to Siri on macOS High Sierra

1. Click the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.
2. Click on Preferences.

3. Click on Accessibility
4. Click on Siri.
5. Untick the box for Enable Type to Siri.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about using Text to Siri on macOS High Sierra? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Reader View on iOS and macOS for Safari puts a filter on websites that removes all videos, photos, advertisements, and other media, so you can focus on just the reading part. In macOS High Sierra and Mojave, you can select specific websites to always appear in Reader View, so you don't have to manually enable it every time you visit your favorite websites.

The customization allows you to toggle Reader View on or off for websites you have visited that support the feature (though most sites support Reader View, not all of them do). Once enabled, every time you visit a site with Reader View on, you'll see the uncluttered, text-only version. Here's how to find automatic Reader View in Safari on macOS.

How to enable Automatic Reader View for specific websites in Safari on macOS.

The easiest way to enable Reader View in Safari on Mac is to click the Reader View button in the URL text field in your browser window. It's on the left side of the URL text field.

You can also manually select websites that are currently open from the Preferences section of your Settings on Mac.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click the Safari App menu in the Menu bar on the left side.
3. Click on Preferences in the drop-down menu.

4. Click on the Websites tab.
5. Select Reader from the sidebar menu.
6. Click on the drop-down menu next to a website you've visited in the Currently Open Websites or Currently Configured list.
7. Select On.

How to enable automatic Reader View for all supported websites in Safari on macOS

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click the Safari App menu in the Menu bar on the left side.
3. Click on Preferences in the drop-down menu.

4. Click on the Websites tab.
5. Select Reader from the sidebar menu.
6. Click on the drop-down menu next to When visiting other websites.
7. Select On.

How to disable automatic Reader View for specific websites in Safari on macOS

The easiest way to disable Reader View in Safari on Mac is to click the Reader View button in the URL text field in your browser window. It's on the left side of the URL text field.

You can also manually disable specific sites that are currently open or have been configured in the Preferences section of Safari's settings.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click the Safari App menu in the Menu bar on the left side.
3. Click on Preferences in the drop-down menu.

4. Click on the Websites tab.
5. Select Reader from the sidebar menu.
6. Click on the drop-down menu next to a website you've visited in the Currently Open Websites or Currently Configured list.
7. Select Off.

How to disable automatic Reader View for all supported websites in Safari for macOS

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click the Safari App menu in the Menu bar on the left side.
3. Click on Preferences in the drop-down menu.

4. Click on the Websites tab.
5. Select Reader from the sidebar menu.
6. Click on the drop-down menu next to When visiting other websites.
7. Select Off.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about how to enable automatic Reader View in Safari on macOS? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

macOS Sierra — 10.13 if you're keeping count — is named after the soaring elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. It's part of a series of Mac operating systems Apple has been rolling out over the last few years. It started with Yosemite, after the National Park. Then zoomed in for El Capitan, out again for Sierra, and now up, way up, for High Sierra.

But High Sierra isn't about radical new heights. It's about radical new foundations. High Sierra combines new technologies with a new level of refinement. Not in design — that's stayed fairly consistent — but in usability. It harkens back OS X Snow Leopard, which was marketed as having "no new features". And smartly so. Grand Central Dispatch and Exchange support aside, it put the public's attention where Apple's had been: On making substantial improvements under-the-hood in order to deliver substantive improvements to the overall Mac experience.

So too, High Sierra.

There are new features in High Sierra too, of course, including support for virtual reality (VR) and significant additions to the Photos app, but the improvements to the foundation are even more impressive.

Cynics (who believe the Mac cup is half empty) will no doubt play High Sierra off as a side-benefit of what Apple's doing with iOS for iPhone and iPad. Optimists (with Mac cups half-full) will realize that's a false dichotomy. iOS was born of macOS and Apple has been sharing advances between them for years now. Most recently, the software teams have been better positioned to provide a more integrated, more unified infrastructure for both. And the advantages of that approach are wicked obvious. Not just for the teams, the operating systems, and the apps, but for us, the users.

Look no further than Apple File System, the biggest improvement in this release, if not this decade. Introduced over a year ago, already successfully rolled out to hundreds of millions of people through iOS 10.3, with High Sierra it comes fully to the Mac.

And that doesn't happen without shared talent and a unified focus. It's part of what makes High Sierra more than just a modifier shoved in front of last year's brand. It's what makes it part of what's next.

How to download and install macOS High Sierra on your Mac

macOS Sierra Evolution

macOS High Sierra is the thirteenth version of Apple's laptop and desktop operating system since the company acquired its foundations from NeXT. That's a lot of years and a lot of features. Here's a quick look back:

Version	OS X 10.0	OS X 10.1	OS X 10.2	OS X 10.3	OS X 10.4	OS X 10.5	OS X 10.6	OS X 10.7	OS X 10.8	OS X 10.9	OS X 10.10	OS X 10.11	macOS 10.12	macOS 10.13
Release name	Cheetah	Puma	Jaguar	Panther	Tiger	Leopard	Snow Leopard	Lion	Mountain Lion	Mavericks	Yosemite	El Capitan	Sierra	High Sierra
Code name	Cheetah	Puma	Jaguar	Pinot	Merlot (PPC) Chardonnay (Intel)	Chablis	Snow Leopard	Barolo	Zinfandel	Cabernet	Syrah	Gala	Fuji	Lobo
Architecture	PowerPC	PowerPC	PowerPC	PowerPC	PowerPC/Intel	PowerPC/Intel	Intel	Intel	Intel	Intel	Intel	Intel	Intel	Intel
Features	Pre-emptive multitasking Memory protection Aqua interface	Performance Enhanced CD/DVD support Enhanced 3D Improved AppleScript ColorSync 4.0 Image Capture	Address Book Rendezvous/Bonjour CUPS printing Revamped Finder Spam filtering Windows networking Quartz Extreme Sherlock 3 Universal Access QuickTime 6 Performance Journaling	Fast user switching Exposé FileVault iChat AV X11	Spotlight Safari RSS Mail 2 Dashboard Automator VoiceOver QuickTime 7 Dashboard Quartz Composer Rosetta Core Image Core Data Core Video	Back to My Mac Boot Camp Stacks in Dock Cover Flow in Finder iCal Safari 3 Spaces Time Machine Core Animation Ruby on Rails	QuickTime X Safari 4 Cocoaized Finder Improved performance Exchange ActiveSync Grand Central Dispatch OpenCL Better power management	AirDrop Push Notification Auto Save Auto Correction FaceTime Launchpad Mac App Store Multitouch gestures Resume mode 64-bit exclusive	Notes Messages Game Center AirPlay Mirroring	Multiple display support Tabbed Finder iBooks Maps iCloud Keychain Timer coalescing App Nap Compressed Memory LinkedIn support OpenGL 4.1 OpenCL 1.2	Continuity Extensibility Photos iCloud Drive Mail Drop Family Sharing	Split View Enhanced Mission Control Spotlight intelligence Notes Transit Enhanced Mail Enhanced Photos Enhanced Safari New typography Metal	Siri Universal clipboard Auto Unlock iCloud Desktop Apple Pay Optimized storage Enhanced Photos Enhanced Messages Enhanced Apple Music Universal tabs Picture in Picture Apple File System (beta)	Apple File System HEVC & HEIF Metal 2 VR Support Photos enhancements Safari enhancements Siri enhancements
Release date	3/24/2001	9/25/2001	8/23/2002	10/24/2003	4/29/2005	10/26/2007	8/28/2009	7/20/2011	7/25/2012	10/22/2013	10/16/2014	9/30/2015	9/20/2016	9/25/2017
Price	$129.00	Free	$129.00	$129.00	$129.00	$129.00	$29.00	$29.00	$19.00	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free

For more on past version and their features, please see my previous reviews:

• macOS 12 Sierra
• OS X 10.11 El Capitan review
• OS X 10.10 Yosemite review
• OS X 10.9 Mavericks review

macOS High Sierra Compatibility

You can download and install macOS Sierra, for free, on a range of hardware going back to late 2009. Basically, if your Mac is currently running Sierra, it can run High Sierra.

• iMac (Late 2009 & later)
• MacBook Air (2010 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
• Mac mini (2010 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2010 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2010 or newer)

Some features, like HEVC encoding and decoding, require more recent models and processors.

macOS High Sierra Apple File System

APFS, the Apple File System was designed to replace the venerable HFS+ across all of Apple's devices. Though Apple had done an admirable job McGyver'ing HFS+ over the years, bubble gum and paper clips could take the Mac no further. So, it was time for something new. Something that was born for modern storage on state-of-the-art devices, and that could meet the needs not just of now, but of the near future as well.

For more on the technical aspects of Apple File System, and how it's implemented on iOS, see my APFS primer. What Apple's doing specifically for macOS deserves a closer look.

HFS+ never understood full-disk encryption. So, FileVault used Disk Images and FileVault 2 relied on Core Storage. That limited the available features. APFS includes native support for encryption so Apple can offer it directly and in a way that allows for new features to be added over time.

There are differences in opinion about whether or not you should encrypt your home computer. Security experts believe fiercely in encryption, especially for work computers and laptops, and failing secure so, in the event of theft, no one can get your data. Backup experts believe encryption isn't always practical, especially for home computers and desktops, because theft is less likely than corruption, and failing safe means you may be able to recover irreplaceable photos and documents.

I believe in encrypting main drives and, for large personal photo and video albums, backing them up locally and to the cloud. That way, hopefully, data is safe from both theft and corruption.

And APFS makes all of that easier and better. Sapshots, for example, capture the state of the storage at a moment in time, without risking changes or collisions like HFS. For example, where HFS+ support for mobile Time Machine backups was buggy, APFS re-implements it completely on snapshots. Which also uses less storage and performs less I/O — it can do differentials at the block level — resulting in better performance.

Since my main Mac is mobile, and I own a Time Capsule, I'm really happy about this as well.

In HFS+, sparse files took up more space and required more time to read and write to than it should have. APFS, which should come as no surprise at this point, supports it natively. No problem, no wasted space or time. Some basic actions are also wicked fast. Because of cloning, APFS doesn't have to produce duplicate data when copying files. It can copy the metadata and and point back to the original. That takes almost no time and uses only a tiny amount of space. As changes accrue, it can record the differentials, making the process as efficient as possible.

The mental hurdle you have to clear, of course, is that if you make five copies of a big video, you save tremendous space… but if you then try to recover space by deleting those 4 extra copies (really clones) you won't recover much space at all. At least unless and until you delete the original, which you might not want to do. Trippy, right?

Apple does some smart interface and reporting work, including fast directory sizing, command line directory size tracking, and not hooking some of it up to the Finder, all to help make it file system magic more human understandable. For the most part it works. The rest is just coming to terms with the new normal.

If you use multiple partitions, which is something I used to do a lot but haven't in a while, APFS lets those partitions dynamically resize. Partition size used to be a huge pain when I rocked virtual machines galore, so past me appreciations this even if current me is long past rehab. The dynamic resizing does come at the expense of absolutely knowing the real size at any given point in time, but I'm a fan of abstracting away as much of the old comp sci cruft as we can from the computing process anyway. For most people, it's better.

Since macOS still fully supports HFS+ volumes, old and new, there's no reason to convert external drives if you don't have to — and it won't do it automatically. I left my old HDD externals on HFS+, though I did update my new SSD external to APFS. It means no one else in my circle of family and friends can use it until High Sierra goes into wide release, but such are the sacrifices of the preview process. And it works just fine.

For Macs with solid state drives, which includes all modern MacBooks, MacBooks Air, MacBooks Pro, and Macs Pro, installing High Sierra will automatically convert them to APFS. The process seems to be working extremely well now but, if you have any concerns whatsoever, make a backup. (During the beta there was a checkbox, on by default, for the conversion — that's gone in the release version.)

For Macs with Fusion Drives, High Sierra will neither offer nor allow any conversions to APFS right now. You could manually trigger the conversion in beta but Apple now recommends you roll back to HFS+ until APFS support returns in a future update. It's a complete pain in the apps but better safe than sorry.

When APFS does come to Fusion Drives, it should make a difference. Apple currently uses Core Storage as middleware to fool HFS+ into handling fused storage, but it only works at the block level and doesn't understand files or the exact kind of changes being made to them. APFS does. It can make better, more intelligent decisions about what kind of data goes where. For example, it can make sure metadata is always on the SSD so random access is always faster.

I've been using a fusion drive on a 2015 iMac and… it's not my favorite. Once you get used to SSD like on MacBooks and MacBooks Pro, it's hard to go back, even to fusion. So, every time the platters spin up, so do my nerves. I don't think APFS can fix my core concerns with Fusion, but I do hope it can take the edge off. Even if only slightly.

Even on solid state only, APFS has been working great. I've converted several systems over without any issues. In daily use, I can't say I've noticed tremendous differences yet. But that's the point. Converting however many hundreds of millions of iOS devices and, now, however many tens of millions of Macs, without issue, and with a file system ready for the next decade?

That requires an incredible amount of chutzpah and hard work. And damn if Apple didn't pull it off.

macOS High Sierra HEVC (H.265) and HEIF

Once upon a time, we had H.264. We liked it. It was fast and it was good. It let us download and stream our 720p and 1080p video in seconds and minutes instead of minutes and hours. But now our video has grown four times bigger with 4K (2160p) and gotten deeper with high-dynamic range (HDR). For that, H.264 was no longer so fast or so good.

While Apple has announced iTunes 4K HDR content for the new Apple TV 4K, no similar announcement has yet been made for the iMac 4K or iMac 5K. It's possible Apple is still in negotiations with the notoriously paranoid and DRM-crazed Hollywood over Mac licensing. Hopefully, we'll hear more about later in the year.

HDR is technically separate from 4K, so it's possible we'll get the better color gamut and gamma regardless of the resolution.

So, the consortium of licensors (feel free to think of more colorful names to call them) have given us H.265, which they went to all the trouble of re-branding the even less-enjoyable-to-say high efficiency video codec: HEVC. Gesundheit.

The efficiency in the name works out to about 40% over H.264, typically at the expense of longer encode times up front. (Very little in life, and nothing in video, is free.)

With macOS Sierra, Apple is building in support for both HEVC encode and decode. On a Skylake Mac (late 2015 and 2016), you get the 8-bit Main profile which handles 4K. On a Kaby Lake Mac (mid 2017), you get the 10-bit Main 10 profile, which handles 4K HDR.

The hardware is what takes care of the acceleration. macOS is what takes care of the smarts. It turns the greater amount of knobs available in HEVC to provide as high a quality with as high a performance as possible. That frees up the main processor for other tasks, improving the overall feeling of speed and responsiveness.

Of course, there's currently very little content available yet for HEVC. Even the big media players, like Amazon and Netflix, are barely trickling out support for it, and not at all on the Mac.

Likewise, while Apple has announced iTunes 4K HDR for the new Apple TV 4K, it's not yet available on the Mac. Given Hollywood's horrible track record when it comes to DRM demands — which never stop pirates but always interfere with legitimate customers — it's going to be a tough needle to thread.

So, right now, HEVC support will appeal mostly to video professionals and transcoders.

High-efficiency image format, or HEIF, is the photo version of HEVC. Nightwing to its Batman. it offers 2x better compression than trusty old JPG and what's more — it stores multiple assets in the same container.

For example, let's say you take a Portrait Mode or Live photo on your iPhone Plus running iOS 11. Where previously the depth data for Portrait Mode or the still and motion elements of a Live Photo were stored separately, HEIF bundles them all together. (HDR data, which is taken from multiple exposures, starts being processed at the ISP-level in the chipset, so that's burned in before it can be bundled into HEIF.)

macOS devices don't take Portrait Mode or Live Photos yet but they can edit them. And that's where the advantage of HEIF come into play. Filters, for example, can now apply different effects based on the depth or motion data.

It's also going to be important as we continue our march towards things like Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting, and the computational photography that'll go well beyond lenses in the future.

Some of this does come at the cost of compatibility with older systems. macOS can and will share H.264 and JPG versions of your videos and photos to people running devices without HEVC or HEIF support, for example, using AirDrop or Mail.

If you simply grab the raw files and copy them around, sneaker-net style, older apps might not know what to do with them. Early adopter be warned.

Likewise, some apps like Adobe Photoshop don't yet support HEIF. You'd think Adobe would make it a point-of-pride to have HEIF added early on in the beta cycle, if not well in time for release. Sadly, not. Hopefully, Apple's implementation will help drive HEIF support across the industry. And soon.

macOS High Sierra Metal 2, Core ML, and Virtual Reality

When Apple introduced Metal, a new graphics framework that sidestepped the depthy cruft of OpenGL and let developers write much, much closer to the… metal, the company claimed a 10x improvement to draw calls. With Metal 2, the company is claiming a 10x improvement over the original, for a total of 100x over GL. That's ballsy to say the least.

Apple really wants to deliver on the promise of technologies like Core ML, its new, high-level common format for machine learning models, and the lower-level computer vision kernels for image processing, linear algebra, convolutional neural networks, and algorithms behind it.

To do that, it has to make it easier to get the CPU out of the way and tap into the computational power of modern graphics processors. I can't even pretend to understand all this, but the way that it's been explained-to-me-like-I'm-a-three-year-old by much smarter friends and colleagues is that it's offering new commands that allow more to be submitted and referenced in advance, it no longer needs to reset so it can copy less data and send fewer commands, and all of that reduces overhead and increases performance. Woof.

Also, where the original Metal varied in some areas between Apple's platforms, Metal 2 is unified. There are still a few differences because Apple's devices remain different, but there's now feature parity wherever possible, which means code can be shared more easily whenever possible.

The macOS windowing server in High Sierra is implemented on top of Metal 2, so everything on screen from draws to compositing to animation to scrolling is smoother. (I didn't say "buttery smooth" so you can't drink!)

Of course, all that buttery smooth (d'oh!) new windowing isn't helped by the lack of advancement in features like Split View. I use it all the time on the 12-inch MacBook, same as I do on the iPad, but while the iOS version started better and has become much, much better, the macOS version has been left in the same frustrating state as it was at launch — with no ability to change the apps in an existing Split View, only to destroy it and start over. Maybe 10.14?

Speaking of being bummed, I know some people are still grumpy that Apple is using an Apple-specific framework for all this new graphical goodness, and not something standards-based like OpenGL was, and that's fair enough. Sometimes Apple chooses to control its own destiny and sometimes that lets Apple move faster, more efficiently, and more specifically than standards-based process or cross-platform technology would allow.

Famously, Apple's lack of investment in Mac graphics hurt the platform when it came to virtual reality (VR). When Oculus first announced the Rift, I bought one. Because of course I did. Then, when I found out it wouldn't work on the Mac, I lent it to a friend so she could have fun with it on her PC gaming rig. I'm not PC angry, but I didn't want to have to set up and maintain another computer system just to enjoy the occasional VR experience.

The whole time, though, I hoped — and complained about the lack of support — for VR on the Mac. High Sierra is beginning to answer those hopes — and shut up those complaints.

On the hardware side, the latest iMacs finally have enough graphics muscle to support VR and — currently in developer beta but going into general release in the spring of 2018 — external graphics processors (eGPU) will open up that support to the MacBook Pro as well. (macOS has never had to account for GPUs that could appear or disappear before, so all of that is being accounted for in High Sierra, including detection, notification, and loss handling.)

That requires a hefty helping hand on the software side too, which again brings us back to Metal 2.

For VR, Apple is doing everything possible to provide for extremely low latency and solid, high frame-rates between the Mac and head-mounted displays like the HTC Vive. As soon a s VR display is connected, macOS High Sierra will detect it and get as much of the rest of the software stack out of the way as possible. Then, an optimized rendering path takes over.

There are also new performance tools for developers building VR applications, including system trace for VR timelines and per-eye visualization in the debugger. Much of that is as over-my-head as Metal, but it excites the VR nerds I've spoken with and that excites me.

What's not as clear yet is how much support there'll be for native VR gaming on the Mac. Steam is on board, and to quote my colleague, Russell Holly of VRHeads.com, it looks like both they and Apple are doing everything right. So, fingers crossed. Worst case, there's always Boot Camp, but I'd prefer not having to maintain that environment if I don't have to either.

Regardless, I'll be testing the eGPU and the iMac on VR over the summer, so stay tuned for more.

macOS High Sierra Photos

I have a love-hate relationship with Photos for macOS. I love how integrated it is with Photos for iOS, and how well it excels at basic photo and video management and editing. But I miss being able to drag-and-drop into several of the non-Apple apps I use, and I really miss being able to right-click and open in Photoshop or another external editor, which I did near-constantly in Aperture.

At the same time, just as it delivers the top-most features on my wish list, High Sierra trolls me by improving its own editing enough that I now don't need an external editor anywhere nearly as often. That includes new tools like curves and selective color. Best of all, they're auto-magic enough that you don't have to be a Photoshop wizard to use them.

For example, you can choose selective color to take a photo of your red iPhone sitting on green leaves, pull all the saturation from the green, and then push the red towards purple. And boom, whole new photo.

It's so quick and easy that, back in June, for the first time ever, I moved a photo from Photoshop to Photos to finish it. Yeah, I was surprised too!

A lot of this is also available in Photos for iOS 11 — unified foundations have their advantages! — and when it comes to quick editing to post on Instagram or other social networks, I prefer doing it on iPhone. iPad is also a joy to edit on. For big batches of images, I still prefer the Mac, so these new tools being available here as well are great.

The same filters are available here as on iOS as well, including the ones that use the Portrait Mode depth data to render effects. Speaking of which, you can toggle Portrait Mode on and off using the "Depth" button at the bottom of the photo in Edit mode.

One word of caution: If you try to edit an iPhone 8 or iPhone X Portrait Lighting photo, and toggle depth off and back on, you'll lose the lighting effect, at least in the current version. To get it back, you'll have to re-edit on your iPhone 8 or iPhone X.

Photos for macOS also lets you add and edit the new Live Photo effects, Loop, Bounce, and Long exposure. They're fun and I'm sure I'll end up using them more on iPhone and for Instagram, but sometimes I'm at my Mac when inspiration strikes and not having to reach for my iPhone is huge convenience.

That's especially true for memories. Confession: I find them kind of annoying on iPhone. I'm usually busy when I have my phone in my hand so I don't have the patience for the notifications or the time to explore and share memories. When I'm on my iPad or Mac, it's a different story. Especially my Mac. On my Mac, a memory will pop up in the corner or the bottom of a photo I'm looking at and I'll smile, and more often than I expect, I'll share it.

Same for the new third-party extensions that allow you to order framed prints and other IRL manifestations of your photos. I've had a chance to see some samples and they're just what you'd expect: Extremely clean, extremely well printed, and extremely high quality. The holiday season will be telling, but I have some strong preconceptions about how I'll end up using them. I may yet be proven wrong, but my guess is grabbing a one-off or impulse items will be awesome on iPhone. Planning something really special, though, will again better on iPad and, dare I propose, still even better for me on the Mac.

What I've really been waiting for, though, is Faces sync. When Apple initially re-deployed facial recognition and tagging last year, the company said syncing would come later.

Well, later is now. And the reason it took so long is that Apple wanted to provide the convenience of sync while maintaining the privacy and security of on-device processing — Apple doesn't want to know who your friends and connections are, and I'm supremely thankful for that.

So, what Apple's doing is interesting. To enable face detection, you have to start selecting people you know and then identifying them. At that point, the on-device machine learning and computer vision takes over and starts to add more and more pictures of the identified people to the pool.

When syncing, Apple is only moving over the data you yourself identified. None of the machine learning or computer vision relationships that were built around it. Just your "truth". Then, the synced device rebuilds those relationships locally.

In other words, I tag pictures of my mom on my iPhone, it finds other pictures of my mom on my iPhone to add to her Faces folder on my iPhone. The pictures I tagged are also synced to my Mac, which then also finds other pictures of my mom on my Mac to add to her Faces folder on my Mac.

Apple will have to prove that this implementation works well enough that people who want no part of the massive data harvest that is Google Photos will still find it useful enough to use, and that'll take a while post-launch to really shake out.

Still, privacy is good and options are good, and options for privacy are great.

macOS High Sierra Safari

Safari has been my go-to web browser for years. It's gotten to the point where I only install Chrome on a Mac when and if I have to. And most recently, I haven't had to.

Safari is just so much lighter, both in interface and power draw, that it better fits the modern, mobile world. Because I work on the web and spend most of my day in a browser, whatever improvements Apple makes to Safari, and its underlying technologies like WebKit, affect me directly. And it's great to see Apple still pushing that forward.

Yes, relentless performance and zero regression are alive and well. Apple strongly believes Safari is the fastest web browser on the planet and the company is going to make sure it not only stays that way, but that everyone knows about it.

There are some new features in Safari for macOS High Sierra as well, including automatically blocking auto-play videos. That's not just video ads either but sites that start playing video right away to buff up their view numbers. If you've ever had silly sounds pop out of your Mac at the worst possible time — cough, senior staff meetings, cough — you'll really appreciate this.

Safari will also block trackers. Advertising companies use trackers to try and build profiles to serve more compelling ads and to make sure they don't pay to serve the same person the same ad more than a handful of times. (Because, after that, you've either already clicked on it or, more likely, already decided it's something you're not going to click on — and advertisers are nothing if not frugal to a fault.)

Since ads are super dumb and normally don't know about each other, they don't share trackers but rather spin up multiple instances of even the same tracker multiple times on the same page. That in no way helps the advertisers with their goals but absolutely kills performance on the page.

As disheartening as it is for some of us to believe, it's not the privacy that bothers most people — otherwise we'd be far, far more careful about all the data we're already handing over to Google and Facebook in exchange for "free" services. It's the impact on performance. We don't all hate giving away data but we all seem to hate our browsers being slow.

Regardless, this solves for that. And what's more, Safari for High Sierra lets you save settings per site. So, you do things like defaulting certain sites to Reader Mode if that's what you want.

There's a lot more too, including: WebRTC, HEVC for more efficiency web video, variable fonts so great typography stays looking great across different screens and resolutions, CSS fill and stroke, CSS Grid so everyone finally stops using tables (right?), CSS scroll snap because web apps need all the scrolling help they can get, and Gamepad support for online games.

Also, WebAssembly so you can get binary with it on the web, SharedArrayBuffer because JavaScript deserves to be multi-CPU aware too, Fetch API to bring resource loading out of the stone ages, DOM JIT because the object model needs to be just-in-time too, HTML custom elements because easier code reuse is easier, offscreen canvas to make web animations silky smoother, indexed database API 2.0 because persistent storage for web apps needs as much 2.0 as it can get, and input events and point lock to better control interactivity,

And URL standard for better parsing compatibility across browsers, resource and user timing to help analyze web performance or the lack thereof, visual viewport so responsive design can pan, zoom, and handle other changes, concurrent garbage collection so it stops janking up your browsing, and HTTP immutable responses for better security and performance.

Phew.

macOS High Sierra Miscellany

Siri for macOS High Sierra gets the same new, more natural voice as Siri for iOS, and the same, new, more circular icon just like on the top of HomePod. There's also music integration for recommendations, playlist creation, and general information.

There's still no sign of HomeKit support, though, which is a huge bummer. I'd love to be able to tap Siri on the Touch Bar and turn my lights on or off without having to reach for an iOS device or remote.

Along the same lines, even though Continuity was introduced three versions ago, there's still no support for media, which means I can't be listening to a playlist on my Mac, get up and walk away, and keep listening on my iPhone without missing a beat.

I miss all the beats — unless I manually tap through to find and play the same list, or ask Siri to find and restart it. Yes, like an animal.

Given the great lengths Apple has gone to make its platforms such a uniform, consistent experience, it only sticks out all the more when gaps like this remain year after year after year.

Auto Unlock is updated to provide support for the W2-powered Apple Watch Series 3. (You'll need to update if you got a new Watch.)

Universal Clipboard has graduated from text and images to full on files. It now lets you copy and paste documents between Macs using just the power of Apple ID, iCloud, Bluetooth LE, and point-to-point Wi-Fi alone. That's a geeky way of saying hit CMD-C on one Mac, move over to another Mac that's also logged into your account, and hit CMD-V. Boom, Continuity file copying. It's great and now that we have Files.app on iOS, I hope it goes cross-platform as well.

Spotlight, still around and kicking in the age of voice, now gives you flight numbers, arrival and departure times, terminal and gate info, update you on flight delays, and show you a map of the flight path. There's also support for constellations and, hurrah, multiple Wikipedia results.

Accessibility offers Type to Siri, which has been on my wish-list for a long time as well. (Sadly, inverse colors doesn't seem to be as smart as the new iOS 11 version, at least not yet.)

For iCloud, you'll be able to share an iCloud Drive link the way you've been able to share a Dropbox link for a while. Just copy it, send it, and whomever you share it with will be all up in your file or files with you. (Yes, share wisely.)

Files you share can be used in any compatible app and you can control access. So, for example, anyone can view one file but only specific Apple IDs can edit another. Think Google Docs sharing but for iCloud.

Mail is faster and now shows top hits based on a variety of factors, including how often you engage with the sender. It's supposed to get better the more you use it. I've found it a bit of a mixed blessing since I often search for mail that comes from senders I typically don't engage with — like for order status or shipping info. I'll give it time, but I currently feel lost more often than I did staring at the long list of literal results.

Notes lets you pin notes at the top of the list and also add tables. Since its launch, I've pretty much lived in Notes for most of my writing. It's my figurative mind palace. But with sync. It doesn't get all the fancy new features like document scanning or, obviously, Instant Access via Apple Pencil, but I'll take any improvements I can get.

I'd still kill for a plain text mode. Hard.

I also wish Instant Markup for screenshots was included in macOS High Sierra the way it is in iOS 11, because Mac users want to complain, taunt, and tease via screenshot too.

FaceTime lets you grab Live Photos during video calls. It's terrific fun in the best Photo Booth sense of the word. There are no effects, like Photo Booth, but there's every bit the sense of grabbing onto and holding a special moment. And since it uses the camera on the other end of the conversation, you get much better quality than simply screenshot, compressed video quality. You get everything the other device can deliver. In motion.

Still waiting on FaceTime conference calling.

There's also bilingual English support, autocorrect, auto word-list updating, and better video captioning for Japan; safe browsing and local points of interest for China, Hindi as a system language, a Nastaliq font, SF Arabic system font, and new bilingual dictionaries for Russian and Portuguese.

macOS High Sierra Conclusion

macOS High Sierra will win over most customers with precisely one feature: It's free. But I also think it'll win more than its fair share of fans on the strength of its new technologies and refinements. For people like me who have been looking for VR support or waiting on a few extra features for everyday apps like Photos or Notes, or wanted Faces to sync, it'll be a clear win. (iMessage sync was supposed to come as well at launch but has been delayed until a future update.)

It's not a big, flash update filled with whiz-bang new designs, animations, and workflows. The changes are deep. Deep as the file system, as the graphics engine, as the concept of AI and sync that respect our privacy and security.

As someone who uses macOS every day and has everything from the multitouch trackpad to the keyboard shortcuts on muscle-memory speed-dial, the update to High Sierra has been something I've barely noticed. The was nothing to get used to, nothing to relearn. Everything I do keeps getting done, just faster and better. At least mostly.

I do wish Apple had addressed some of the longer-standing gripes, like the aforementioned lack of HomeKit support, lack of Continuity for media and News for Mac, and the inflexibility of Split View, but they nailed other ones like external editors in Photos. They also gave Safari, the most important app on the platform, so much love.

Apple is positioning macOS High Sierra as an update that prepares the platform for future innovation. That's not just technologies like APFS and Metal 2, and Core ML and eGPU, HEVC and HEIF, but new products like iMac Pro and a new Mac Pro coming later this year and next.

And that's fine. Excellent even. As long as that future delivers.

The newest macOS update, High Sierra, will be available later today, and with it will come a new security feature: your Mac will now run weekly checks on its EFI firmware automatically. One of the engineers responsible, Xeno Kovah, explained how the process works in a series of tweets that have since been deleted, but luckily Mac blog The Eclectic Light Company caught them and recapped them pretty concisely:

Essentially this means that Apple has a database of this "known good" data, and it compares your current EFI firmware data with this. If there are any fishy inconsistencies that suggest your data may have been messed with in some way, your system will alert you with an error message that looks like this:

If you send your data, which Kovah strongly suggests, Apple will analyze it to confirm whether or not it's been compromised. This is all done in true Apple fashion — the data you send will be stripped of any info stored in NVRAM in order to maintain the company's commitment to protecting user privacy. If Apple doesn't see any harmful alterations in your sent firmware data, then it will update its "known good" database accordingly.

Thoughts? Questions?

How do you feel about High Sierra's new security feature? Let us know in the comments.

During the developer beta testing for macOS High Sierra, the disk format of some systems were converted to the up-and-coming Apple File System (APFS). The final public version of macOS High Sierra will not launch with APFS support on Fusion Drives. If your Fusion Drive is currently converted to AFPS, you'll want to revert back to HFS+ before installing the final build of macOS High Sierra. Here's how.

Note: This only applies to Macs with Fusion Drives**.

• Before you start
• What you need
• Step 1: Download the latest macOS High Sierra install Assistant from the Mac App Store
• Step 2: Create a bootable installer for macOS High Sierra
• Step 3: Erase your hard drive and restore from the bootable installer
• Step 4: Migrate your data from your recent backup

Important: Please follow Apple's support page for precise instructions on how to revert your disk back to HFS+. This is a basic explainer that acts as a companion to Apple's official support document.

Before you start

Back up your Mac. This is especially important for this process because you're about to delete all data that was added to the APFS Fusion Drive. If you don't back up your Mac before following these steps, you'll lose any data you've created and stored on your Mac since you installed the beta.

How to back up your Mac

What you need

The process of reverting your disk format back to HFS+ involves creating a bootable installer on an external hard drive. Therefore, you're going to need a dedicated external hard drive with at least 10GB of storage. You can also use a flash drive, as long as it's got enough storage space on it.

Step 1: Download the latest macOS High Sierra install Assistant from the Mac App Store

You're going to re-download macOS High Sierra, but when it gets to the steps where you are asked if you want to install the operating system, close the window instead.

You're going to need to install the latest version of macOS High Sierra installer in full. If you don't already know how to do it, follow our guide.

How to download macOS updates or installer

Step 2: Create a bootable installer for macOS High Sierra

You're going to delete the current beta version of macOS High Sierra that converted your disk to APFS and reinstall a version of macOS High Sierra that does not convert Fusion Drive disks to APFS. To do so, you're going to need a bootable installer for macOS High Sierra, which will allow you to grab the operating system from the external drive after you've erased your internal drive.

You're going to have to erase the external drive so you can format it for macOS High Sierra, so make sure to use a different hard drive than the one you used to backup your Mac with.

The key here is to use the following Terminal path for High Sierra when you're at the steps for How to make your external drive into a macOS Sierra boot drive:

Important: Make sure to replace external drive with the actual name of your external hard drive.

Note: createInstallMedia will erase the hard drive.

How to create a bootable installer

Step 3: Erase your hard drive and restore from the bootable installer

Once you've got the bootable version of macOS High Sierra onto an external drive, and you've backed up your Mac, you can erase your hard drive. You'll select the internal drive that you have macOS High Sierra installed on. You'll also need to rename the drive "CoreStorage Fusion" (see Apple's support document for details).

How to erase your hard drive

You'll then install macOS High Sierra from the bootable installer you just created.

It's similar to doing a clean install of macOS, but when you have the option to choose what to reinstall, you'll select the "CoreStorage Fusion" volume (see Apple support page for details).

How to do a clean install of macOS

Step 4: Migrate your data from your recent backup

When you reinstall macOS, you'll be able to migrate your data from your recent Time Machine backup. If you use Time Machine, this is the easiest way to get all of your files, settings, and apps back onto your Mac so you can get back to work as soon as possible.

If you use another method of backing up your Mac, follow the service's instructions for migrating your data from that backup.

• How to restore from a Time Machine backup
• How to restore from a cloud-based backup service

Any questions?

As a reminder, please use Apple support document as the main guide for reverting your Fusion Drive back to HFS+ from APFS, but if you have any other questions about this process, please put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Apple is preparing for macOS 10.13 High Sierra, the newest version of its Mac operating system, which is supported on the Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. There are a few big features coming our way and lots of under-the-hood fixes as well. We have all the info you need about what it is and when it's coming right here.

What's new with macOS High Sierra?

Apple spent the better part of two hours talking about its latest line of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and the iPhone X at its fall event. This is no surprise considering it's dubbed the iPhone event. Though Apple also mentioned the new Apple Watch, and upcoming features in watchOS 4, not a peep was mentioned about macOS High Sierra. Does this mean Apple is planning a special event just for macOS? Probably not. It just didn't merit any special attention this time around.

The good news is that Apple quietly added a release date for High Sierra on its website. The final version will be available September 25, the same day that the new iPhone and Apple Watch line will be available in stores.

Apple has published a new support document that details the compatibility of the company's professional apps with macOS High Sierra. Final Cut Pro X, Motion, Compressor, Logic Pro X, and MainStage will all need to be updated to their most recent versions in order to run on High Sierra:

• Final Cut Pro X 10.3.4 or later
• Motion 5.3.2 or later
• Compressor 4.3.2 or later
• Logic Pro X 10.3.1 or later
• MainStage 3.3 or later

Earlier versions of all of these applications are incompatible with the new operating system.

What, why, when, and how to get macOS 10.13 High Sierra

macOS High Sierra is Apple's newest version of the desktop operating system. This is its second version under the new nomenclature, macOS. Last year, Apple made the switch from OS X to macOS, much to our surprise (not really).

Check out Rene Ritchie's review of macOS High Sierra

High Sierra is technically a minor update to macOS Sierra, though the new features are pretty amazing. So the idea is that Apple went higher with its already great Sierra operating system.

macOS 10.13 High Sierra is available as a beta for developers and as a public beta right now. If you're not a developer, and don't want to risk testing the public beta, you'll be able to download it for free this fall.

If you plan on downloading the developer or public beta, be smart about it: If you only have a single Mac, make sure you create a partition to run beta software, or install on a secondary Mac you don't rely on for everyday use.

The final version, the public version that is no longer in beta, will be available September 25 as a free update in the Mac App Store.

Apple makes it really easy to upgrade to new versions of its operating system across all devices. If you're unsure how to get the latest software upgrade, we have you covered with a comprehensive guide.

How to upgrade your Mac software

My Mac is old, can I upgrade to macOS High Sierra?

The latest Mac operating system will run on the following devices:

• iMac (Late 2009 & later)
• MacBook Air (2010 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
• Mac mini (2010 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2010 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2010 or newer)

Similar to El Capitan and Sierra, if your Mac was built prior to 2012, you won't be able to take advantage of the Metal Graphics framework and many of the Continuity features, but the rest of macOS High Sierra should be just fine.

How much is this new software going to cost me?

Nothing! Apple stopped charging for software upgrades quite a few years back. macOS High Sierra is a free update for all iMac, Mac mini, and Mac laptop computers that are compatible.

OK, so what are the new features coming to macOS High Sierra?

The short answer is HEVC support, APFS support, better graphics, VR support, and some fantastic app improvements. The long answer is below. Read on for details.

HEVC stands for High Efficiency Video Coding. It's also known as H.265. It's a new standard for video compression that is about 40% better than the current H.264 standard. It compresses 4K video much faster and more efficiently and improves video bit-stream. It also uses less bandwidth so you can stream higher quality video in places where your internet speeds are lower. Video file sizes are much smaller, and so take up less storage space on your Mac.

Basically, HEVC is way better than H.264 for video compression and you're going to love how fast you can stream 4K movies without any lag.

Every computer uses some form of file system. Imagine your Mac has a filing cabinet that a little guy goes to every time you open a file or search for something. Let's call him "Apple."

Apple's current file system, Hierarchical File System Plus (HFS+), works great, but he came up with his organization system more than 30 years ago. Even though he updated it about 20 years ago, he didn't actually clear everything out and start fresh. He just made some changes so he could file stuff faster and find stuff easier.

Fast-forward to today, where Apple has designed a new way to organize and keep track of everything in your Mac. He got a new filing cabinet, better locks, and even added filing cabinets for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. He also got those file folders that can be adjusted wider so he can fit more files in each one, and changed the paper weight of current files so they are thinner and more of them can fit into a folder.

What this means for you is that you'll be able to access and load your files much faster, encryption will be much stronger, duplicating files will happen in a blink of an eye (even large video files), and you'll have protection from crashes thanks to metadata copying.

Basically, it's going to make your Mac feel brand new again, and if your Mac already is brand new, it's going to make it feel like you just installed a turbo engine.

That's correct. Apple has suped up the Metal graphics processor by adding machine learning, external GPU support, and virtual reality.

Metal 2 focuses on GPU support over CPU, so things will load and process faster — up to 10 times faster, according to Apple. This is great news for game developers and might (hope, hope) open the door for more PC games to make their way to Mac in the future.

macOS High Sierra will support external GPUs, too. So even your baseline MacBook will be able to support heavy graphics programs in the future.

Oh, yeah. The Metal 2 framework will make it possible for developers to create virtual reality games and macOS High Sierra will make playing virtual reality games on Mac a reality.

The iMac with 5K Retina display and the iMac Pro will natively support VR. Plus, thanks to macOS High Sierra, you'll be able to add an external GPU seamlessly and play VR games. Valve has even decided to add SteamVR to the Mac.

What about the apps? Did Apple update any apps?

It sure did. Apple added some nice improvements to Photos, Safari, and Mail. There are also some pretty sweet additions to Notes, FaceTime, Siri, and iCloud. Read on to find out more.

Photos has a few redesign features, a couple of great new filters, some cool editing tools, and looping Live Photos.

• Expanded sidebar - The sidebar is now always on to make searching for your photos a lot easier. The photo Import view shows all of your past imports in chronological order, similar to your standard Photos collection.
• Better organization - You can filter photos by different criteria. There is a selection counter that will let you drag and drop multiple images into an album or import them to your desktop.
• Better editing tools - You'll be able to adjust the contrast and color options for your photos just a little bit better with Curves for fine-tuning and Selective Color for saturation. Oh, and there are more photo filters now.
• More Memories categories- You'll get more automatically generated Memories based on different criteria. For example, you'll get beautiful slideshows from your first anniversary, or scroll through pics of your pets.
• Live Photos Extreme - Live Photos have been super charged with editable Loops, Bounce, Long Exposure (my favorite), trim, and mute. You can even select a key photo for each Live Photo, which will be the single non-moving image people will see before they touch the photo to watch it move.
• Better third-party app support- Third-party apps are better integrated with Photos in macOS High Sierra. You can select a photo, open it in a third-party app, and make your edits. Those changes will automatically be saved in Photos. You won't have to re-save new edits. App extension support has also gotten bigger with more apps.
• Bigger faces - The People album has larger thumbnail images for faces and group pictures better. If you're signed into iCloud Photo Library, your People changes will update across all of your connected devices.

Safari's biggest update is with Intelligent Tracking Prevention. It uses machine learning to find cookie trackers and stop them from following you from one website to another. So, you won't be as likely to see an add on one website for a product you just looked at on another website.

Safari in macOS High Sierra also implements an autoplay auto-block tool. Basically, if you visit a website that has an add or video that is set up to automatically blast you with noise, it won't play automatically on Safari. Blocked!

Speaking of blocked, Safari in macOS High Sierra lets you personalize what your browsing experience looks like with each website you visit. You can enable Reader View, content blockers, page zoom, and auto-play blocking. It's in the same section that used to house Reader View.

Oh, and Safari is even faster than ever before. Zoom, zoom!

When you search in Mail in macOS High Sierra, the most relevant results will appear as "Top Hits" so you can find what you're looking for faster.

You can also use split-view when composing mail. Productivity increased!

Apple gave Siri a boost in macOS High Sierra with a more expressive voice. It has better tone and talks more realistic. Personally, I like it when Siri tells a joke in a super robotic voice. I think it's funnier.

Siri is also able to learn about your music interests by connecting to Apple Music. You can ask to "play something to help me relax" or "make me a party playlist" and it will play songs based on your previous Apple Music activity. In macOS High Sierra, Siri also knows a lot more about the music you're listening to.

When you save a file in iCloud Drive, you can share it with others, just like you do in the Notes app. Using the Share tool, you can send people an invitation to edit and everyone that's using the supported app can collaborate in real time.

Apple has also added iCloud Family Sharing, which means you can invite family members to share your iCloud storage instead of everyone having their own account. iCloud Family storage plans include 200GB or 2TB of storage, so you can load up all of your photos, videos, and more.

When you enter your flight number into Spotlight, it will search your system for all the information you need to get there on time, including arrival and departure times, terminals, gates, delays, and airport maps.

In macOS High Sierra, Spotlight also supports constellation information, celebrity facts, and lots of Wikipedia results for those really elusive bits of knowledge.

If you use a particular not a lot, you'll be able to pin it to the top of your list so it doesn't get lost in the mix every time you update another note. Keep it at the top and it'll stay there, right were you left it.

Notes also gets tables in macOS High Sierra. It's sort of like a mini spreadsheet for keeping track of things like expenses, party invitees, and wedding plans.

Have you every had a moment when you're FaceTiming with your family when someone does something so cute or so funny that you wish you could have captured it? Well, now you can. In macOS High Sierra, you'll be able to take Live Photos of the FaceTime window, and this is on the Mac, which will automatically save to the Photos app. And, before you think about taking a Live Photo without your dad knowing, you'll both get a notification when one is taken.

That's right. Your chats, those ones you don't want to delete because they hold a special place in your heart, will no longer disappear if you download a fresh copy of an operating system. All of your Messages will be stored (encrypted on both ends) in iCloud. So, when you start using a new device, your chats with mom from a year ago will still be there.

The bottom line

Though macOS High Sierra doesn't seem like much on the surface, the under-the-hood improvements are huge. With advanced file systems, better graphics and video compression, and support for VR, your Mac is really finding its stride.

If you have any questions or comments, please put them in the comments and we'll try to answer them as best we can, as we learn more about macOS High Sierra.

Apple's newest version of macOS, High Sierra, is bringing a some optimization, new features, and exciting changes to various parts of the software. Not only will your Mac feel like new again with High Sierra, but you'll also notice a bunch of Apple's native apps have gotten some significant upgrades.

Photos is Apple's photo filing app that you can connect to your iCloud account to organize, edit, and view all your photos and videos. Photos is getting a few upgrades with macOS High Sierra, and I'll give you a quick break down of the most significant changes!

Live Photo effects

Apple announced that iOS 11 would bring a few new effects you could add to your Live Photos, and Photos in macOS High Sierra will be able to add those same effects.

The three new effects are called Loop. Bounce, and Long Exposure and you can change them whenever you want with just a couple of clicks. Here's a quick rundown of what each effect does:

• Loop: Much like the name implies, this effect will put your Live Photo into an endless loop, so you'll be able to re-watch that moment in time over and over again.
• Bounce: If you're familiar with Instagram's app Boomerang, you'll understand how the Bounce effect works. Essentially, the Live Photo will play forwards and then backward, "bouncing" back and forth between the start and the end.
• Long Exposure: This effect will add an artificial long exposure to your Live Photo causing the images to bleed together. Long Exposure will look particularly cool with pictures that feature running water or other moving objects that have continuous movement.

Our very own Rene Ritchie took a sample of what both the Loop and Bounce effects look like and posted them on Instagram:

Live Photo editing

On top of the new Live Photo effects, macOS High Sierra also allows you to edit Live Photos in a few new ways giving you better control over how your Live Photos look.

Among the new tweaks you can make is the ability to trim your Live Photos to a shorter length, select a different key photo, and even mute your Live Photos. All these new features will be readily available in the editing menu within the Photos app.

Advanced editing tools

Probably the feature I'm the most excited about in macOS High Sierra, the Photos app will gain some seriously advanced photo editing tools, so you can tweak all your favorite shots without having to import them into different editing software.

When you take a photo into the editing menu, you'll be greeted with a ton of new editing tools that are going to allow you to modify your pictures like the pros. You can adjust the white balance, levels, curves, and definition of all your photos to give them that little added extra touch of love that turns a good photo into a great photo. Plus, you can also adjust other aspects like sharpness, noise reduction, selective color, and you can even add and adjust vignettes.

If you're used to using professional photo editing software like Photoshop, these new tools in Photos probably won't stop you from using those high-level programs; however, for the average joe, these tools are a huge upgrade from what macOS previously offered.

Permanent Sidebar

In macOS Sierra, you navigate the Photos app by use of the top toolbar and the optional sidebar, but that's all changing in High Sierra.

The sidebar will be permanent, meaning you can't hide it or make it go away. Plus, most of the functionality of the old top toolbar is now incorporated into the new sidebar. You'll use the sidebar to access your shared library, various photo albums, and projects, and it's also where you will create new albums and folders when you need.

What's your favorite new feature in Photos for macOS High Sierra?

Let us know in the comments below!

In the upcoming macOS High Sierra update, Apple's Notes app won't have as many new features as it's gotten in the last couple of macOS releases. But Apple's note-taking app does get a little more flexible with the addition of tables, and a little more organized thanks to the ability to pin notes to the top of your list.

Tables let you organize information

The Tables feature in notes lets you lay out information in a table, with rows and columns. This isn't a spreadsheet—while you can make a row of numbers, for example, you can't have the table add them up. Still, laying those numbers out in a table could make it easier to add them up yourself with Calculator or PCalc, or to paste into a Numbers spreadsheet at some point. And tables are great for other things too.

Notes gets a new Table button in the toolbar, or you can add a table by choosing Format > Table from the menubar. The default table appears with three rows and two columns, but you can add as many rows and columns as you like. If you add more columns than your Notes window has room for, the table itself will scroll horizontally, even as the rest of your note stays wrapped to the window's size.

How to use the new tables feature in Notes for High Sierra

Tables can have links in them (highlight a word or phrase and press command-K to add a link), and you can format the text inside with color, font, size, weight, all the usual options. Table cells can only hold text. You can't put an image inside a table, or one of the checkboxes Notes lets you put by an action item in a to-do list. You also can't do much formatting to the table itself. You can't, for example, shade every other row to make long rows more readable.

Notes lets you drag entire rows and columns to a new spot on the table. You can't grab a single cell and move it like you can in most spreadsheet apps, but you could just copy and paste text to a new cell. Notes automatically adjusts the width of columns based on the size of your window, and the height of rows based on what's in them. You can't adjust those cell sizes manually either.

Tables are a good addition because they let you organize information in another visual way, and that's what Notes is all about. With a little imagination, you could come up with all kinds of uses for tables in your notes.

For example, in Sierra I can use Notes to create a to-do list, maybe a list of articles I need to write. Each item is on its own with a single checkbox to check when it's done. But in High Sierra, I can convert that list to a table, and add columns for steps I need to take for each article: research, write, revise, submit, and send an invoice. Instead of checking off an article once, I can put an X in each column as that step is completed.

Pin important notes to the top

Notes' sidebar arranges your notes in chronological order, with the most recently updated note on the top. You can easily search for notes to find them, and you can also create folders (choose View > Show Folders, and click the New Folder button at the bottom) to group some notes together, but you never had the ability to reorder notes inside the folders.

Starting in High Sierra, you'll be able to pin notes to the top of the list of notes. You can pin as many as you like, and they'll stay at the top in a Pinned section.

To pin a note, just right-click it in the list and select Pin Note from the contextual menu. That sends it up to the Pinned section, where it will stay until you right-click it again and select Unpin Note.

How to pin a Note in macOS High Sierra

Keep in mind, however, that the Pinned section works the same as the list below it. Your most recently updated pinned note is at the top, and you can't drag pinned notes into a different order. If you have five pinned notes and you make an edit or an update to the fifth one in the list, it'll instantly jump back up to the top.

Pinning is a great way to keep notes handy, however, and it does make Notes more flexible. For example, you could use Notes as a task manager. First, make a note for each project, where you collect reference materials and make a to-do list. Pin the projects you're working on today or this week to the top of the list to keep them handy. Archive finished projects by dragging them to an Archived folder, so they're not cluttering up your list but they'll still show up in search.

Notes is getting notable

Remember the humble beginning of Notes — a sad little yellow pad of digital paper with the weird font? This app has come far. With iCloud syncing, easy collaboration features, and the ability to add to your notes from almost anywhere in macOS and iOS, Notes gives third-party solutions like Evernote and OneNote a run for their money. If you haven't gotten into Notes yet, the version in High Sierra is definitely worth a look.

macOS High Sierra isn't really a feature-heavy release from the perspective of most users, but that doesn't mean that Mac users get left out in the cold. Some of the notable updates in High Sierra come in Mail and include more powerful and helpful search, as well as Split View support when writing a message.

Here are the new features coming in Mail in macOS High Sierra.

Mail finds the message you're looking for

Mail in macOS High Sierra is getting a big boost to its search capabilities with Top Hits. Powered by Spotlight, Top Hits puts the email messages most relevant to your search at the top of your list. Top Hits is based on things like the email you've read, which people you reply to, your VIP contacts, and more.

Side by side

If you use Mail in fullscreen on your Mac, macOS High Sierra will have a new option for writing email messages, letting you open the compose window next to Mail in Split View. This can allow you to more easily view a message that you're responding to while you type up that response, or refer to other relevant messages.

Storage optimizations

Apple will also be making some storage optimizations for Mail in macOS High Sierra. The company claims that the app is more efficient than ever in its storage usage, using up to 35% less space than before.

Questions?

If you want to know more about Mail in macOS High Sierra, be sure to tell us in the comments.

Our Macs are getting slimmer all the time, but the photo and video files we pack them with aren't on the same diet. Well, until iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra debut, that is. Both new operating systems will support two codecs designed to double the amount of compression that can be applied without losing quality.

Here's what you need to know about HEVC and HEIF and how they work in High Sierra.

What are HEIF and HEVC?

HEVC stands for High Efficiency Video Codec, and HEIF is High Efficiency Image Format. HEIF works as a still image container for the HEVC codec, which is the successor to H.264. In fact, HEVC's other name is H.265, but Apple is going with HEVC.

What does HEVC do better than H.264?

HEVC is designed to save space and bandwidth, which will be more and more important as more 4K and HDR video becomes available to stream. Apple says the standard can compress 4K video files to 40% of the size without losing quality, which will let iOS 11 and High Sierra users store more of their own videos before running out of drive space. Alternatively, you can keep an HEVC video file about the same size while doubling the amount of data, which will decrease the bandwidth needed to move 4K and HDR video around.

• How HEIF and HEVC will keep you from running out of space on your iPhone

What about HEIF? What's its benefit?

HEIF has an added benefit too: It can store groups of images as a single file. This is especially handy for things like burst photos or keeping an edited image and the original in the same file. It's also a natural fit for Live Photos (including the new Live Photo options debuting in iOS 11), which act as one photo in your library, even though they contain multitudes.

Remember, Apple's computational photography approach in iOS means the camera is capturing multiple frames every time you press the shutter, then combining those for a better-looking result. Tricks like long exposure effect in iOS 11's Live Photos and the iPhone 7 Plus' Portrait Mode work the same way. HEIF containers can keep all that data wrapped up, fully intact, to send back to your Mac running High Sierra for more editing.

Are these replacing H.264 and JPEG?

No, not yet. They're the next generation of those standards, but when you export a video to post to YouTube, it's going to be H.264. If you email a friend a photo, it's going to be a JPEG. Right now these are under-the-hood improvements that shouldn't break compatibility or cause formatting headaches for end users. You'll use your devices and apps in the same way you always have.

Will HEVC video look better?

If you compare an HEVC and a H.264 video side by side, yes it should. AppleInsider recently transcoded a movie trailer with H.264 and H.265 encoders in HandBrake and found the HEVC (or H.265) video had fewer compression artifacts and smoother movement. HEVC compensates better for faster motion, for example, which should be especially welcome news to fans of action films and sports, once more content starts streaming in that format.

Will every device with iOS 11 capture photos and videos in this format? And that's how they're stored on the Mac?

Not all the devices. To capture HEIF and HEVC files, you'll need an iOS 11 device with an A10 Fusion chip or better: iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, or 12.9-inch iPad Pro from 2017. All Macs running High Sierra can encode and decode those files, so when you transfer them to your Mac, they'll stay in the same format until you decide to export them as something else.

Redmond Pie has a full rundown of the hardware requirements for HEVC and HEIF support in iOS 11 and High Sierra. It's definitely worth a look if you have older hardware. But at the end of the day, these are under-the-hood format changes that shouldn't directly impact your workflow.

I heard newer Macs have an advantage with HEVC?

You heard right. Newer Macs, including the late 2015 27-inch 5K iMac, the 2017 21-inch iMac, and MacBooks and MacBook Pros from 2016 and 2017, will support hardware acceleration for coding and decoding HEVC video. The Kaby Lake chips in the 2017 laptops also support HEVC decoding. Hardware acceleration means faster encoding times in pro apps like Final Cut and Motion, and longer battery life when you're playing back HEVC video.

Older Macs running High Sierra will still be able to play back HEVC video, but the process is a little hardware intensive,

Could HEVC help 4K video come to the iTunes Store and Apple TV?

That's very likely the roadmap. Right now, the iTunes Store and the Apple TV max out at 1080p content, but when Apple does make the jump to 4K, HEVC will reduce the bandwidth needed to move those files around.

Apple isn't super late to this party just yet. Right now, Netflix and Amazon have some 4K and HDR content available to stream, but you're usually stuck using the built-in Netflix app on a 4K smart TV. Amazon's Fire TV set-top box supports 4K videos over Amazon Prime Video, if it's connected to a 4K TV.

Tim Cook did hint at more Apple TV news coming later this year, so maybe a new Apple TV box is in the works. Now that Apple's dabbling in its own TV shows, that would be a natural place to start. After all, Netflix and Amazon's original series make up the bulk of their own 4K offerings.

Will third-party image and video editors support HEVC and HEIF?

It's not an open-source standard, so software makers woud have to license the patents to use the codec. H.264 worked the same way, but right now HEVC is more expensive. Of course, Apple tends to drive adoption, as it did with H.264.

Settling on a 4K codec isn't so easy. Google currently uses V9 for 4K video on YouTube, but Apple's Safari browser doesn't support V9. The Alliance for Open Media is working on a codec called AV1 which should be out by the end of this year, but Apple hasn't yet committed to natively supporting that either.

More questions?

The High Sierra betas don't fully support HEVC and HEIF just yet, so the picture is still coming together. If you have more questions, let us know in the comments.

A short time ago, it was being bandied about that Safari 11 would be the fastest browser for the Mac. It was, of course, conjecture at the time, but the benchmarks are in and Apple has put its money where its mouth is.

Not only did Apple say Safari 11 is the fastest web browser for Mac, but it went so far as to say it's "the world's fastest desktop browser". Macworld decided to run some browser benchmarks comparing Safari to Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, running the High Sierra public beta, and it turns out Apple wasn't just talk.

In eight benchmarks, Safari 11 handily outperformed the other browsers seven times. Firefox won out in the WebXPRT test, which is used to test HTML5 performance, though Safari still came in a close second.

Of course, take this with a grain of salt, since the other browsers are available for Windows, and Safari 11 is obviously optimized for the Mac by the people who made the Mac. That being said, if you're looking for the most nimble browsing experience once High Sierra rolls out, there's no question that Safari is the way to go.

With the macOS High Sierra update, you're going to see some small but significant changes to the way you browse the internet. Whether you're trying to keep your browsing habits out of the hands of major corporations or just want to give more or less permissions to websites individually, Safari will make you feel like you're more in control of your internet lifestyle. Here's what's new with Safari in macOS High Sierra.

Intelligent tracking prevention

Apple wants you to feel like you are more in control of what companies do with your web browsing activities. In macOS High Sierra, Safari will have a feature that tries to stop websites from tracking your cross-site behavior to restrict what companies can do with your personal data.

You know when you visit to Amazon and look at some gadget you might want to buy, then you go to another website and an advertisement for that exact gadget pops up? Safari's intelligent tracking prevention hopes to stop that from happening. Plus a few other tracking bits.

You can set up Safari in macOS High Sierra to "try to prevent cross-site tracking" in the app settings under Privacy. It's not guaranteed to work. Some companies will improve tracking technology to override the block, but it'll help speed up your browsing experience and at least some websites won't be tracking your internet activities anymore.

Autoplay is not longer automatic

Probably one of the most annoying things about browsing the internet is that moment when a video starts playing while your reading an article and it's late at night while your family is asleep and you have to rush to find the mute button to stop it from waking everyone up.

On Safari in macOS High Sierra, you can disable autoplay for audio, video, and both. No more surprise songs appearing while you're in a meeting.

In the settings section of Safari, you'll be able to select whether you want to allow all autoplay content, just stop media that plays sound, or never autoplay anything. Plus, you can customize individual websites with different settings each.

Customizing your website browsing experience

Speaking of customizing individual websites with different settings, you can customize a lot of your web browsing settings for every single website you visit, which is great if you want to, say, allow ads on your favorite websites (ahem, iMore) so they can make a little money but block others. You can set reader view for some websites while leaving others as is. Even such features as page zoom, camera use, microphone enable, location tracking, and notifications can all be customized on an individual basis.

As you visit websites, they will show up on the customization list where you can enable or disable different features. You can also set every other site with a specific setting. For example, you could enable always autoplay for YouTube but never autoplay when visiting all other websites. Then, when you visit a new site on which you would like autoplay enabled, you could add it to the list by customizing it.

Settings for individual site customization are found in the Websites section of Safari settings in macOS High Sierra.

Automatic Reader View

As noted above, you can customize individual websites with specific browsing settings, and that includes Reader View. When you enable reader view for websites, it hides the extraneous bits of content, like sidebar social networking stuff, the comments section, and ads.

You can set up Reader View on Safari in macOS Sierra, but it goes away when you leave a web page. With High Sierra, you can an entire website with Reader View instead of just a web page. Plus, you can turn your entire web browsing experience into permanent Reader View. Of course, it only works with supported sites. Some websites don't have Reader View options. Those jerks.

How to enable automatic Reader View for specific websites in Safari on macOS High Sierra

Safari turned up to 11

Apple did some behind-the-scenes fine tuning to Safari in macOS High Sierra to make it faster. Much faster. According to benchmark tests done in May of 2017, Safari performed better than other big browsers using macOS and Windows dual-booted on a Mac. If you didn't think Safari was up to speed before, give it a try again after the High Sierra update and see if you notice a difference.

macOS Sierra is coming this fall with plenty of awesome new features that developers can take advantage of in their apps; as such, Apple is releasing early beta software so that developers can make their apps work seamlessly when the full operating system launches to the public.

Apple occasionally offers updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS as closed developer previews or public betas. While the betas contain new features, they also contain pre-release bugs that can prevent the normal use of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Mac, and are not intended for everyday use on a primary device. That's why we strongly recommend staying away from developer previews unless you need them for software development, and using the public betas with caution. If you depend on your devices, wait for the final release.

• How to make an archived backup of your Mac
• How to download the macOS Sierra developer beta
• How to install the macOS Sierra developer beta
• How to get started with the macOS Sierra developer beta

How to make an archived backup of your Mac with Time Machine

Before you begin, make sure you back up your Mac. The download and installation process is fairly easy, but any time you make significant changes to your computer, you risk problems. When it comes to securing your data, it is definitely better to be safe than sorry. Even if you just backed everything up the night before, make sure your Mac is completely up-to-date.

1. Connect an external hard disk or Time Capsule with a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt cable.
2. Click on the Apple icon () in the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Select System Preferences... from the dropdown menu.
4. Select Time Machine in the System Preferences window.

5. Turn the Time Machine slider On.
6. Click Select Backup Disk and choose the disk you'd like to use.

Time Machine will format the hard drive for backups and start within two minutes.

How to download the macOS Sierra developer beta

Downloading the latest beta on your Mac is as simple as visiting Apple's developer portal.

1. Visit developer.apple.com on your Mac.
2. Click on the Develop tab.
3. Click on the Downloads tab.

4. Log in with your developer account.
5. Scroll down and click on the Download button for macOS 10.12.3. The file will automatically download to your Mac.

6. Open your Downloads window and select macOS Sierra Developer Beta Access Utility.
7. Double-click macOSSierraDeveloperBetaAccessUtility.pkg to run the installer.

When the installer is finished downloading, the Mac App Store will automatically open to the Updates section. Click Update to download and install the developer beta software. After the software has been downloaded, your Mac will automatically restart.

If the latest developer beta does not appear on the Updates list, restart your Mac. Then, open the Mac App Store and click the Updates tab.

The developer beta update can take a long time to finish downloading, depending on the size. You can check the status in the Updates tab of the Mac App Store.

How to install the macOS Sierra developer beta

After macOS Sierra is finished downloading, you will be prompted to install the software automatically.

1. Click on Continue.
2. Agree to Apple's Terms and Conditions.
3. Click on Install.
4. Follow the instructions to install macOS Sierra.

Your Mac will reboot to install macOS Sierra. You'll see a black screen with the Apple Logo and a progress bar. Grab a cup of coffee while you wait for the software to finish installing.

How to get started with the macOS Sierra developer beta

Once your Mac reboots, you'll be set up with macOS Sierra. You'll have to follow a couple of steps to get started.

1. Click on Continue.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID and password. iCloud will sync your desktop and other files.
3. Click on Get Started.

You'll be directed to your Home screen where you can start digging around to find all of the fun new features.

Update July 5, 2017: Apple has just released macOS Sierra 10.12.6 beta 6 for developers. If you already have the macOS Sierra beta installed, head to Mac App Store > Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for beta 6 to start testing macOS 10.12.6, keep reading and we'll walk you through the setup!

Apple will soon be requiring everyone with two-step verification (2SV) to jump on the two-factor authentication (2FA) bandwagon. According to MacRumors, Apple ID users with two-step verification enabled have started getting emails that, when they install iOS 11 or macOS High Sierra, they will be automatically updated to two-factor authentication.

The email reads:

Apple recently announced that it now requires all third-party apps that use iCloud to use app-specific passwords, which in turn requires two-factor authentication.

The main difference between the two methods of additional log in security is that 2FA sends a verification code to all registered trusted devices automatically, while 2SV manually asks you to send a code to a trusted device. 2FA also shows you approximately where the requested sign-in is taking place (though location is not always very accurate. I get a location notification that is 88 miles from my house).

For more information about 2SV and 2FA, check out our guide.

Two-Factor Authentication: Everything you need to know!

Every time Apple updates its Mac operating system, some new features get added that completely change the way I use my computer. macOS High Sierra is a smaller update, but that doesn't mean its' new features are any less awesome. Here are a few of the big little changes Apple has made to macOS that I'm already wondering how I ever lived without.

Pinned notes

This might actually be my favorite little update. I use the Notes app more and more on Mac and one thing that has always irritated me is how difficult it is to find a note I use regularly because it gets lost in the list every time I open a different one. I loving being able to keep those half-dozen notes at the top of my list where I can always keep track of them no matter how many new or different notes I open.

Autoplay blocking

I kind of hate when an advertisement, or even a news brief, starts playing automatically while I'm browsing the internet on my Mac. It can be downright startling at times when I'm not expecting it. I don't mind watching videos, and sometimes even ads if they're interesting to me, but I want to be in charge of when it plays and how loud the audio is. Apple gave us a boost in controlling sudden audio on web pages with the volume mute button in Safari, but being able to completely stop all videos from automatically playing makes it even better

Messages in iCloud

I regularly reinstall a fresh copy of an operating system on my Mac and on my iPhone or iPad. I'm not too attached to conversations I've had with people, so don't worry about losing text messages, for the most part. But, sometimes I'll wish I still had that gate code or that address someone texted me, but I won't have it anymore after restoring a device to its factory settings. C'Est la vie. Now that Apple has added iCloud support to Messages, however, all of my chats will appear on all of my devices and be saved remotely so that, when I do start from scratch on a device, I can still find those gate codes and addresses.

Mail uses up less storage space

It may not seem like much, but the built-in Mail app got some under-the-hood fixes that reduces how much disk storage space is required. It's about 35% thinner than in macOS Sierra, which means it loads faster, performs actions faster, and makes it easier to get through all of your daily emails.

New photo book printing options

Apple has opened up its photo book printing options for third-party companies like White Wall, Shutterfly, Animoto, WiX, and iFolor. These companies will offer different printing services than what Apple offers, like fully-framed wall mounted photos or website publishing help. Imagine being able to get that picture you took of your family on vacation printed onto a coffee mug, right from the Photos app on your Mac. Fun!

Site-by-site customized browsing experience in Safari

We've all heard about how Apple added a content blocking feature that keeps websites from tracking your browsing habits in Safari. But, the thing I love most about Safari's new customizable browsing experience is that you can designate certain rules for every website you visit. Individual website settings include Reader View when available, content blockers, page zoom ranging from 50 to 300 %, autoplay options for always allowing autoplay, stopping media that also has sound, and blocking autoplay entirely, and camera, microphone, and location permissions. These settings can be adjusted for each and every website you visit. So, if you want full access for some websites and zero for others, you've got it.

Your favorites?

Have you run the developer beta of macOS High Sierra yet? What are your favorite features?

Serving files, administering email, and running a Virtual Private Network all used to be the realm of the IT Administrator. With Apple's macOS Server, needing a full time IT staff is no longer the case!

Whether it's for privacy, control, or to simplify the sharing of data in small to medium sized organizations, macOS Server lets you create secure and easily managed services for all your macOS or iOS devices.

To run macOS Server, all you need is a Mac. It can be any Mac you have handy, including an older iMac or MacBook Pro, or even a brand new Mac mini dedicated to the task.

How to update macOS before you begin

You'll need to make certain that your Mac is updated to the latest and greatest software so that your base macOS environment will have all security and performance updates in place. My newly purchased Mac mini was somehow still sporting OS X El Capitan, so the first thing I did was update to macOS Sierra.

1. Launch the App Store.
2. Download macOS Sierra — or type "macOS Sierra" into the search bar, top right, if that link doesn't work for you.
3. Click the Download button.

4. Wait for the download to complete
5. Click the Continue button when the macOS Sierra installer starts.
6. Click Agree to accept the User Agreement.
7. Click Install on the hard drive you want to use (if you have multiple options.)
8. Wait for the upgrade to complete.

Optionally, you can check for any extra macOS Sierra updates in the App Store and install those as well before continuing.

How to download macOS Server

macOS Server is available for $19.99 from the Mac App Store. As a former Linux/UNIX administrator used to configuring complicated text files via a terminal command line interface, that little cash for that much time-savings feels like a steal. You get all the UNIX underpinning with all the Mac accessibility and ease of use.

1. Launch the App Store application.
2. Download macOS Server — or type "macOS Server" into the search bar, top right, if that link doesn't work for you.
3. Click Buy macOS Server.

4. When the macOS Server automatically starts up, click Continue
5. Agree to the User Agreement.
6. That's it!

What else can you do with macOS Server?

When you first run macOS Server you'll be presented with a tutorial that shows some of what you can do with Apple's services. We'll be going over much of it in future installments of this series as well, so stay tuned to iMore!

Any macOS Server questions?

Do you have any questions about macOS Server installation? Any services you'd like me to cover first? Let me know in the comments!

As computer components get faster and more powerful, you may find yourself wondering if your once top-of-the-line Mac Pro can be king again with a little help from a hardware component upgrade. I decided to take an early 2009 Mac Pro and see if a GPU upgrade could bring this once beastly computer back to being on top once more. My inspiration came from NVIDIA's announcement for Mac support for their latest and greatest GPU lineup. The 10xx series, with the uber powerful Titan Xp as its flagship, is the fastest gaming GPU on the market today. Even if macOS isn't considered a gaming OS, could I make it hardware-ready enough to play some Mac-native games decently and perhaps run Bootcamp to setup an impromptu VR gaming rig? Let's find out!

Aiming for the sky!

The plan was to go big or go home. I wanted to get a super powerful GPU in the aged Mac Pro and I wanted to be able to compare capabilities with my Windows gaming PC. I use my Windows PC for VR gaming as it's paired with an HTC Vive. Since my home PC has a monstrous NVIDIA 1080 ti, the Mac Pro was destined for the same GPU. I purchased a Founders Edition version of the 1080 ti from MSI. Although the Mac Pro has 2 old but venerable 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series processors, I figured that even if they weren't powerful enough to keep the 1080 ti fed with data, the 8 cores could make up for some of the performance deficiencies. More on that later. Here are the complete system specs of the Mac Pro.

• Early 2009 Mac Pro running OS X El Capitan
• 2 x 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series processors
• 12GB 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
• ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
• 160GB SSD, 640GB sata HDD

Just plug in the hardware and go! Right?

Wrong. There are a bunch of requirements to be met to get new hardware working on a Mac. Unlike Windows or Linux that can accept hardware ubiquitously, Macs can only use hardware specifically designed for Mac OSes and with Apple's blessing (kind of — again, more on that later). In this instance, NVIDIA has already worked with Apple to create drivers for the 1080 ti in beta form. Just double-click the installer and away we go!

Or not. The beta drivers from NVIDIA require macOS Sierra. Not a problem! Just head to the App store. Search for macOS Sierra. Click download and…

Looks like my Mac Pro is too old for macOS Sierra. I could have just done a search on iMore to discover that the cut off date for Sierra on Mac Pros was 2010.

Never give up!

Not to be deterred, I found a number of tutorials on how to install Sierra on an unsupported Mac! This involves disabling SIP or System Integrity Protection and makes your Mac less secure. Therefore, I do not recommend you doing this if you have sensitive data on your Mac. I, however, decided to press on and after some time… success!

Install the drivers and swap in the GPU. What could go wrong?

Plenty. With my new macOS Sierra freshly installed, I was able to successfully install the NVIDIA beta drivers without issue. I shut down the Mac Pro and proceeded with the hardware installation.

1. Flip up the lock.
2. Remove the side panel.

3. Disconnect the 6-pin power cable from the old GPU.
4. Unscrew the expansion card retainer plate.

5. Carefully pull out the old GPU.
6. Slide in the new GPU.

7. Re-attach the retainer plate.
8. Plug in the 6-pin and the 8-pin power cables.

Except the 2009 Mac Pro doesn't have an 8-pin power cable. It only has two 6-pin cables. Each 6-pin power cable provides 75W plus the PCI connector bus provides another 75W for a total of 225W. The 1080 ti needs 250W. No matter! It's only missing a measly 25W. I plugged in the two 6-pin power cables anyway and closed the side panel and fired up the Mac Pro and I waited for the login screen… and waited. Nothing but black. The Mac Pro powered on, but it didn't make the familiar Mac "bing" on start up.

Really. Never give up!

I powered off the Mac Pro and put the old GPU back in and it booted up without issue. I made further google searches and there were a few things I could try, but, frankly, I think that this Mac Pro is just too old to properly power the 1080 ti. After a bit more googling, I came across an excellent tutorial on installing an AMD RX 480. The AMD RX 480 is a recent generation mid-range GPU that is good for 1080p gaming and entry-level VR. This GPU is also not supported on macOS, but at this point I figured I'd try to exhaust all of my options. So instead of going "big" with the NVIDIA GPU, I pivoted to go "medium" with an AMD RX 480. I have a second gaming PC on which I run an Oculus Rift running two MSI Rumor RX 480 4GB. I took one of the RX 480's and placed it into the Mac Pro as per a www.theITsage.com tutorial.

Even though the MSI RX 480 needs an 8-pin port, I know that the reference RX 480 from AMD only uses a 6-pin port, so there shouldn't be any problem powering the GPU.

It's alive! Alive!

Although the Mac Pro boots up without the familiar Apple logo boot screen, the login screen popped up and I was able to log in and run a few before and after benchmarks comparing the old ATI Radeon HD 5770 to the new AMD RX 480. Some benchmarks are synthetic while other's are canned benchmarks from games that run natively on macOS. All benchmarks were run at the most complex graphical settings.

As you can see, there are some very strange results here. Although the RX 480 has some much better frame rates, the variation of FPS was very high. This means that the Xeon CPUs from the Mac Pro are far too weak to properly supply data to the RX 480 GPU. It would have been worse with the 1080 ti.

Was it worth it?

Hell no! Even though I got a new GPU to work in the Mac Pro, the other components being so weak make this a moot point. There is a reason why Apple decided not support some older hardware from being able to be upgraded to newer OS revisions. Even though the 2009 Mac Pro is capable of running macOS Sierra (as proven by me hacking it onto the system), there are myriad other aspects that also have to be up to spec for full functionality. The lack of proper power cables and the weak Xeon CPUs on this Mac Pro make upgrading the GPU nearly pointless, since gaming with such a highly variable frame rate would prove maddening. This is not to say that upgrading your GPU on other Mac hardware is a lost cause. In fact, I've decided to order an eGPU (likely the AKiTio) so that I can pair it up with a modern MacBook Pro and remove the issues of CPU bottlenecks and power delivery.

So, my attempt at bringing new life into an old Mac Pro wasn't a complete failure. At the very least, I now have the latest version of macOS running on the box.

Have you tried to upgrade your Mac Pro? How'd it go? Let me know in the comments below!

How do you empty the trash on your Mac even when it tells you you can't? There's a Terminal trick for that!

Updated February 2017 with new information about the Terminal command for macOS Sierra.

There are a number of different reasons why your attempt to empty your Mac's trash bin might be thwarted. Maybe an item is "still in use" even though you know it's not. Maybe an item is locked. Maybe an item has a special character that makes your Mac think it's too important to just delete. Whatever the reason, fear not. There is a way you can force your trash bin to empty for good and it can be done using Terminal.

It used to be that you could force the trash to empty on your Mac using sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*, but it doesn't work in El Capitan or Sierra. If you are running OS X 10.10 or higher, follow these steps instead.

Note: There are keyboard shortcuts you can use force your Mac to empty the trash that you should try first. You can Control-click on an item in the trash and select Delete Immediately, or you can try holding down the Option key while emptying the trash. This Terminal trick should only be used if the other methods don't work.

How to force the trash to empty on a Mac using Terminal

1. Use Spotlight to find and launch Terminal on your Mac.

2. Enter the following command into terminal without hitting Enter afterward.sudo rm -RPlease note that there is a space after R. Make sure you add a space after R or this command will not work.
3. Control-click on your Trash icon to open it.
4. Select all of the files in your trash folder.
5. Drag the files into the Terminal window.

6. Hit Enter.
7. Enter your administrator password. You will not see the password being typed into Terminal. It will look like nothing has changed.
8. Hit Enter again.

This may take a while to complete if you have a lot of large files in your trash bin.

If this command didn't work, it might be because you forgot to add a space after the R. Try the process again with a space.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about using Terminal to force the trash bin on your Mac to empty?