Fix High Sierra and iOS 11
Make the latest macOS work better for you
Whether you’ve yet to upgrade or have already done so, discover how to make High Sierra work better for you. Plus: a troubleshooting guide to iOS 11.
upgrading to the latest version of an operating system is more nuanced than needing to make a full backup beforehand. There may be incompatibilities between the system and your peripherals and apps to investigate, never mind lingering bugs in the system.
High Sierra didn’t get off to a good start, largely thanks to some high-profile security risks in its early incarnations, and some of us have encountered our share of niggles with iOS 11, too – though nothing as bad as macOS’ issues. Perhaps you’ve been unable to install the upgrades at all. Whether your problem is with installing an upgrade, using the system afterwards, or incompatibility with third-party add-ons, the following pages will help.
Before you upgrade
Before you begin to troubleshoot your existing High Sierra setup or install the system afresh, take time to spring clean your Mac. Get everything in order, then make a backup of your entire system using Time Machine or, better, a cloning app such as Carbon Copy Cloner ($39.99, bombich.com). As shown in last issue’s Protect Your Digital Life feature, this means you’ll have a complete backup you can revert to if need be. (After you’ve installed High Sierra, ironically, Time Machine will automatically save a Local Snapshot of your system before installing any macOS update.) Even if High Sierra installs smoothly, people have reported various problems occurring afterwards, so you’ll be glad to have a backup from which to restore such vital data. Verify your Mac can run High Sierra at bit.ly/
abouthighsierra. Beyond the hardware needs, it must be running OS X 10.8 or newer. If it’s not, install El Capitan first ( bit.ly/getelcap), and then upgrade directly to High Sierra: in the Mac App Store, click the Updates tab and you should see High Sierra in the list. If it’s not there, look in the Featured tab, or use the Search field at the top right of the window to find it.
If you’re updating several Macs and don’t want to have to download the installer each time, it’s possible to create a bootable macOS installer on a USB flash drive or an external hard drive with at least 12GB of space. Any data already on this will be erased. You’ll need to use a Mac with High Sierra, Sierra 10.12.5, or El Capitan 10.11.6 or newer, with an internet connection to download the installer. Once downloaded, the installer will open automatically; press Cmd+Q to quit it, then locate the Installer in the Applications folder. If you’re comfortable using Terminal, follow the steps Apple gives at bit.ly/create-installer. Alternatively, try Install Disk Creator (free,
macdaddy.io); in it, select the target USB drive, then the macOS installer, and click Create Installer. Eject the drive when it’s ready. To use it, connect it to the Mac you want to upgrade, restart the Mac and hold Alt, choose the install disk as the one to start up from, and the installer will run.