| macOS Sierra | |
|---|---|
| Version of themacOS operating system | |
 | |
 Screenshot of macOS Sierra desktop | |
| Developer | Apple |
| OS family | |
| Source model | Closed, withopen-source components |
| General availability | September 20, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-09-20) |
| Latest release | 10.12.6 (16G2136)[2] / September 26, 2019; 6 years ago (2019-09-26) |
| Update method | Mac App Store |
| Supported platforms | x86-64 |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) |
| License | APSL and AppleEULA |
| Preceded by | OS X El Capitan |
| Succeeded by | macOS High Sierra |
| Official website | macOS - Apple at theWayback Machine (archived August 30, 2017) |
| Tagline | What can your Mac do now? Just ask. |
| Support status | |
| Obsolete, unsupported as of September 2019.iTunes is no longer being updated, but is able to download driver updates to sync to newer devices.[3] Drops support for Macs released from mid 2007 to mid 2009. | |
macOS Sierra (version 10.12)[4] is the thirteenthmajor release ofmacOS (formerly known asOS X andMac OS X),Apple's desktop andserver operating system forMacintosh computers. The name "macOS" stems from the intention to unify the operating system's name with that of iOS, watchOS and tvOS. Sierra is named after theSierra Nevada mountain range inCalifornia andNevada. Specifically,Lone Pine Peak is the location for macOS Sierra's default wallpaper.[5] Its major new features concernContinuity,iCloud, and windowing, as well as support forApple Pay andSiri.
The first beta of macOS Sierra was released to developers shortly following the 2016WWDC keynote on June 13, 2016. The first public-beta release followed on July 7, 2016. It was released toend users on September 20, 2016, as a free upgrade through theMac App Store[6] and it was succeeded bymacOS High Sierra on September 25, 2017.
macOS Sierra requires at least 2GB ofRAM and 8 GB of storage space and is designed to run on the following products:[7]
Sierra dropped support for various Macs released from mid 2007 to mid 2009, the first version of macOS sinceOS X Mountain Lion, released in 2012, to do so.[8] Support forXserve was also dropped in Sierra.
Developers have created workarounds to install macOS Sierra on some Mac computers that are no longer officially supported as long as they are packed with a CPU that supports SSE4.1.[9] This requires using a patch to modify the install image.[10]
The defaultdesktop picture is an image ofLone Pine Peak.
The user can access theSiri intelligent assistant via theDock, themenu bar or a keyboard shortcut and results are shown in awindow in the upper-right corner.[11] Siri can send messages, search the web, find files and adjust settings. Results can be dropped into other applications or pinned toNotification Center.[11] For instance, pictures from search results can be dragged into a document.
iCloud Drive can upload the user's documents and desktop directories and sync them to other devices. TheSystem Information application has a new section that gives the user detailed information about space usage per application or file and provides tools and suggestions for freeing up space. For instance, the user can let the system upload old files to iCloud Drive and remove their local copies, keeping them available on-demand inFinder. It can also remove old files fromtrash automatically. iTunes can delete watched, purchased films andTV programs from its library.[12][13]
Building upon Continuity, an "umbrella term [for] features that facilitate the communication between [Apple devices]" usingBluetooth andWi-Fi, Sierra adds two features.[12] With Auto Unlock, the user can unlock their user account by holding a pairedApple Watch close to the device.Time of flight is used to preventrelay attacks. Auto Unlock requires a Mac that was introduced in 2013 or later. With Universal Clipboard, the user can share theclipboard forcut, copy and paste between macOS Sierra andiOS 10 devices, including text and rich content, such as pictures or videos.
Applications that support multiple windows can supportmultiple tabs within a single window, allowing the user to keep windows organized similarly toSafari.[14] WithPicture-in-Picture, videos can be played in a window that follows the user across the system.[15]
Apple released a preview of a newfile system in Sierra, calledApple File System (APFS), to overcome thelimitations of HFS Plus. APFS is intended forsolid-state drives andflash memory and adopts several features found in modern file systems, such assnapshots and cloning, as well as native support for features that Apple already provides inHFS Plus through supplementary software, such as file-system encryption andTRIM support. The file system was released in macOS High Sierra.[16]
Night Shift is new in macOS 10.12.4, with the same functionality as its iOS counterpart. Night Shift reduces blue light at nightto aid sleep. This can be scheduled in theSystem Preferences app (in the Displays menu) and can be toggled on or off in the Notification Center or using Siri.[17]
Since this feature relies on the Metal framework,[citation needed] Night Shift is not available on all systems that support macOS Sierra.[18]
Apple says it has improved the face recognition of thePhotos application, adding object and scene recognition. It groups similar pictures together using faces, locations and object recognition to create "memories". Memories contain picture slideshows with transitions and music selected by the algorithm, which can be modified to the user's liking. The "People" album organizes photos by the people in them, and Places shows all photos on a world map.
Safari provides an "extension point" which enables developers to bundle Safari extensions within theirCocoa applications and communicate with them directly from the applications.[19] Safari conceals the presence of installed "legacy"plug-ins, such asAdobe Flash Player,Java applets,Microsoft Silverlight, andQuickTime – from websites and requires the user to enable a specific plug-in on a per-use or per-website basis.[12]
Apple Pay allows vendors to embed an Apple Pay button on theirwebsites. In Safari, users can click the Apple Pay button to check out, then complete a purchase using an iPhone or Apple Watch. Apple Pay requires a Mac that supports Continuity (2012 or later models) and either an iPhone 6 or later with iOS 10, or an Apple Watch with watchOS 3.
The Messages app adds aesthetic effects to messages, such as three times biggeremojis and click back with hearts or thumbs-up on a message bubble.[20] The ability to playYouTube videos and preview links in a conversation was introduced.[21] Users can view interactive content added toiMessage in iOS 10. The app also allows you to turn on or off read receipts on a conversation by conversation basis.[22][23]
Apple Music withiniTunes has been redesigned, making it simpler to find favorite songs and discover new ones. A new "For You" tab has been added, which suggests new music the user might like (similar to the existing Genius).[citation needed] A refined MiniPlayer with the ability to viewlyrics while listening has also been introduced.[24]
TheNotes app allows the user to share and collaborate on notes. This is done by clicking on a share button at the top of the window.[24]
macOS Sierra slightly changes theGatekeeperuser interface and adds two new mechanisms. A new default inSystem Preferences hides the "Anywhere" option which allows the user to disable the mechanism and execute programs from any source without needing to approve each new one individually.
The first new mechanism allows developers tocode-signdisk images that can be verified as a unit by the system. This allows developers to guarantee the integrity of external files that are distributed alongside theapplication bundle on the same disk image. An attacker could infect these external files with malicious code and with them exploit a vulnerability in the application, without having to break the signature of the application bundle itself. By signing the disk image, the developer can prevent tampering and force an attacker to repackage the files onto a new disk image, requiring a valid developer certificate to pass Gatekeeper without a warning.[26]
The second new mechanism is "path randomization", which executesapplication bundles from a random, hidden path and prevents them from accessing external files relative to their location. To avoid this, the developer has to distribute the application bundle and its external files on a signed disk image or in a signedinstaller package. The user can avoid this mechanism by moving the application bundle without its external files to a new location.[26]
TheUnix permissions for writing to the /Volumes directory are now restricted toroot and no longer "world-writable".[27] Apple expandedSystem Integrity Protection to/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC,[28] a directory that contains a list of applications that are allowed to "control the computer", and restricts write access to programs which were signed with an Apple "private entitlement". Thefile-hosting serviceDropbox has been criticized for manipulating the directory to add their Dropbox application to the list, rather than asking the user to do it for them explicitly in System Preferences.[29]
Thesudocommand-line utility with which a user can execute a command as another user, typically as root, is configured with the "tty_tickets" flag by default, restricting the session timeout to theterminal session (such as a window or tab) in which the user authenticated the program.[30]
Sierra removes support forgarbage collection from theObjective-Cruntime,[31] amemory-management system that was added inMac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) and declareddeprecated in favor ofAutomatic Reference Counting inOS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8).[32][33] Applications that have been compiled with garbage collection will no longer run.
Apple removed native support for theVPN protocolPPTP and made recommendations for alternatives that it considers more secure.[34]
The battery's "time remaining" estimate was removed in the 10.12.2 update after complaints of the battery life of 2016MacBook Pros.[35][36][37]
TheGame Center app has been removed.[24] However, the service still exists.
Following the download of macOS Sierra (10.12) from theMac App Store, the installer does not show under a user's "Purchased" tab in the Mac App Store app. Users can still re-download the Sierra installer by visiting the macOS Sierra page on the Mac App Store.[38]
macOS Sierra has received generally positive reviews. Users and critics have praised its functionality, including the addition of Siri and support for Apple Pay in Safari.[39]Macworld gave it 4.5 stars out of 5.[40]Engadget gave it a rating of 87 out of 100 praising the new features such asSiri integration, Universal Clipboard, and Apple Pay while criticizing the unreliability of Auto Unlock, that "Siri isn't always smart enough", and that some of the Messages features are only available on iOS 10.[41] Developers of apps that rely on the PDFKit library built into macOS have complained that radical changes to PDFKit introduced in Sierra are causing instability and potential data corruption.[42]
OS X 10.11 was the last major release of macOS that supported the previously deprecated garbage collection runtime. Applications or features that depend upon garbage collection may not function properly or will not launch in macOS Sierra. Developers should use Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) or manual retain/release for memory management instead. (20589595)
| Preceded by | macOS 10.12 (Sierra) 09/2016 | Succeeded by |
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