Obsolete, unsupported as of November 12, 2020.[2]iTunes is no longer being updated, but is able to download driver updates to sync to newer devices.[3]
macOS High Sierra (version 10.13) is the fourteenthmajor release ofmacOS,Apple's desktop operating system forMacintosh computers. macOS High Sierra was announced at theWWDC 2017 on June 5, 2017[4] and was released on September 25, 2017. The name "High Sierra" refers to theHigh Sierra region in California. Its name signified its goal to be a refinement of the previous macOS version,macOS Sierra, focused on performance improvements and technical updates rather than features.[5] This makes it similar to previous macOS releasesSnow Leopard,Mountain Lion andEl Capitan. Among the apps with notable changes arePhotos andSafari.[4][6][7]
macOS High Sierra requires at least 2 GB of RAM and 20.12 GB of available disk space.
It is possible to install High Sierra on many older Macintosh computers that are not officially supported by Apple. This requires using a patch to modify the install image.[9]
Apple File System (APFS) replacesHFS Plus as the defaultfile system in macOS for the first time with High Sierra.[4] It supports 64‑bitinode numbers, is designed forflash memory, and is designed to speed up common tasks like duplicating a file and finding the size of a folder's contents. It also has built‑in encryption, crash‑safe protections, and simplified data backup on the go.[10]
macOS High Sierra adds support forHigh Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), withhardware acceleration where available, as well as support forHigh Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF). Macs with the IntelKaby Lake processor offer hardware support for Main 10 profile 10-bit hardware decoding, those with the IntelSkylake processor support Main profile 8-bit hardware decoding, and those withAMD Radeon 400 series graphics also support full HEVC decoding.[4] However, whenever an Intel IGP is present, the frameworks will only direct requests to Intel IGP. In addition, audio codecsFLAC andOpus are also supported, but not in iTunes.[11][12]
HEVC hardware acceleration requires a Mac with asixth-generation Intel processor or newer (late 2015 27-inchiMac, mid 2017 21.5-inch iMac, early 2016MacBook, late 2016MacBook Pro oriMac Pro).
In High Sierra,kernel extensions ("kexts") require explicit approval by the user before being able to run.[13]
Certain UI elements, such as the Low Battery notification and App Store icon, were redesigned to either be based on the iOS 11 equivalents or match with the overall less detailed design used in all releases since Yosemite.[citation needed]
The time servicentpd was replaced withtimed for the time synchronization.[14]
TheFTP andtelnet command line programs were removed.[15]
Caching Server, File Sharing Server, and Time Machine Server, features that were previously part ofmacOS Server, are now provided as part of the OS.[16]
A new “now playing” widget has been added to the Notification Center, based on the music Lock Screen toggle in iOS 11.
The screen can now be locked using the shortcut Cmd+Ctrl+Q. The ability to lock screen using a menu bar shortcut activated in Keychain Access preferences has now been removed.[17]
Apple announced the originalFinal Cut Studio suite of programs will not work on High Sierra. Media professionals that depend on any of those programs were advised to create a double boot drive to their computer.[20]
Mail has improvedSpotlight search with Top Hits.[4] Mail also uses 35% less storage space due to optimizations, and Mail's compose window can now be used in split-screen mode.[21]
macOS High Sierra includes Safari 11. Safari 11 has a new "Intelligent Tracking Prevention" feature that usesmachine learning to block third parties from tracking the user's actions.[22] Safari can also block auto playing videos from playing.[23][24] The "Reader Mode" can be set to always-on.[25] Safari 11 also supportsWebAssembly.[26] The last version of Safari that High Sierra supports is 13.1.2. This version has known security issues.[27]
TheNotes app includes the ability to add tables to notes,[28] and notes can be pinned to the top of the list.[29] The version number was incremented to 4.5.
In High Sierra,Siri uses a more natural and expressive voice. It also uses machine learning to understand the user better. Siri synchronizes information across iOS and Mac devices so the Siri experience is the same regardless of the product being used.[30]
The release of macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 (and iOS 11.4) introduced support for Messages in iCloud.[31] This feature allows messages to sync across all devices using the same iCloud account. When messages are deleted they are deleted on each device as well, and messages stored in the cloud do not take up local storage on the device anymore.[32] In order to use the feature, the user has to enabletwo-factor authentication for theirApple ID.[33]
Roman Loyola, the senior editor ofMacworld, gave High Sierra a provisionally positive review in September 2017, calling it an "incremental update worthy of your time, eventually." Loyola expressed that the product's most significant draw was its security features, and that beyond this, the most beneficial changes lay in its future potential, saying it "doesn't have a lot of new features that will widen your eyes in excitement. But a lot of the changes are in the background and under the hood, and they lay a foundation for better things to come."[34]
macOS High Sierra 10.13.0 and 10.13.1 have a critical[35] vulnerability that allowed an attacker to become aroot user by entering "root" as a username, and not entering a password, when logging in. This was fixed in the Security Update 2017-001 for macOS High Sierra v10.13.1.[36]
When it was first launched, it was discovered[by whom?] that theWindowServer process had a memory leak, leading to much slower graphics performance and lagging animations, probably due to some last-minute changes in Metal 2. This was fixed in macOS 10.13.1.[citation needed]
macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 had an error that causedDisplayLink to stop working for external monitors, allowing only one monitor to be extended. When using two external monitors, they could only be mirrored. Alban Rampon, the Senior Product Manager for DisplayLink, stated on December 24, 2018, that the company was working with Apple to resolve the issue.[37]
