macOS Sierra Download Released, Get it Now

Sep 20, 2016 - 45 Comments

macOS Sierra available to download now

Apple has released macOS Sierra, the latest major update to the Mac operating system. Versioned as Mac OS 10.12, the new Macintosh system software release includes a variety of new features, enhancements, and improvements to the Mac.


Some of the major new features of macOS Sierra include having Siri on the desktop, an ability to unlock and login to a Mac using an Apple Watch as authentication, enhanced iCloud integration with the file system, a cross Mac-to-iOS clipboard feature, Picture in Picture video mode, Apple Pay in Safari, greater compatibility with iOS 10 devices and features, as well as many other smaller improvements and feature enhancements.

Most modern Macs built after 2010 support the release, but you can check the list of Macs compatible with macOS Sierra here if you are uncertain about your machine.

Download macOS Sierra

All Mac users can download macOS Sierra now from the Mac App Store. Whether you’re on a final GM build or an earlier version of Mac OS X, the installer is available in the same location. The link below jumps directly to the App Store page to download Sierra:

The download is about 5 GB and the installer launches immediately. If you want to make a macOS Sierra USB install drive be sure to quit out of the application installer first, otherwise you’d have to re-download the Sierra installer from the Mac App Store.

Updating to MacOS Sierra

You’ll want to backup before updating to macOS Sierra, whether that is configuring and using Time Machine or using a different solution is your choice, but don’t skip a backup.

  1. Did you backup the Mac first? Don’t skip a backup
  2. Download the macOS Sierra installer from the App Store
  3. Go through the simple update process, choose the disk to update and install

Install MacOS Sierra

Installing and updating to MacOS Sierra takes a little over an hour or so, but it could be longer or faster with some Macs depending on performance and prior Mac OS X version.

If you decide to wait until the weekend or a later date, you can take a few more steps to prepare for MacOS Sierra.

Did you update to MacOS Sierra yet? Are you waiting? Let us know in the comments.

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in Mac OS, News

45 Comments

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  1. Michael Vega says:

    Want High Serra for widows 10, Mac Mini, iPad and iPhone 7

  2. Fabio says:

    my macbook pro late 2015 just died, and there is no way to find an image to re-install it…
    i have both windows and linux machines at home, and without another mac i cannot do anything….

  3. Harley says:

    I’ve installed Sierra, and now my internet is very, very unstable and unreliable (I have tested my internet on other devices and have a stable 50mb down, 10mb up, my Mac and Bootcamped Windows have 15mb down, 3mb max that’s up and down every second). Is this a known issue? Will there be a fix, should I uninstall Sierra?

  4. Edward Guzman says:

    MacOS 10.13 will be out soon enough, expect an initial sneak peak in June of 2017 at the developer conference with a beta release and summer beta period, and a final MacOS 10.13 release date in September or October of 2017 assuming that Apple follows their usual release schedule. Maybe launching alongside MacBook Pro updates again?

    It’s possible that MacOS 10.13 will be called macOS Mojave or macOS Shasta, maybe macOS Sequoia or macOS Redwood? Going with the California naming conventions I suspect one of those will be what the monicker is.

    As for features in macOS 10.13, I have to wonder what macOS 10.13 is going to include. Maybe widgets on the lock screen of the Mac, further integration with iPhone and Apple Watch, Touch Bar support for additional keyboards with that feature, and things like that. But for big features, there just isn’t much left to add, but that’s OK if macOS 10.13 focuses on bug fixes and performance instead, at least to me I would be very satisfied with a big performance orientated release.

    I had a lot of issues with 10.12 so I am very much looking forward to macOS 10.13 when it comes out.

  5. pingdrop says:

    Has anyone successfully re-downloaded macOS Sierra from the Mac App Store? How do you redownload macOS Sierra from the App Store?

  6. do not do it says:

    People hold off on that new Mac Os … It is bloated and it also alters your safari browser if your safari browser is acting strange well check app store updates do not allow update… read what it says your safari has been altered so that you must download the new sierra OS.. i have a new mac and it has ruined it from browser to you name it and apple has shut down the review part for this OS as many had said it was having serious issue this is not an upgrade os it is a downgrade it’s bloated unfriendly and changes setting my new mac is now trash due to the safari update force or lets say download into my mac on the sneak without my permission after that and i did not know it was updated not because i am a novice but it was a sneak forced download it never even showed an update but after that my mac was toast till i installed sierra which is pure garbage.. fine call it a rant but i am no out 22 hundred dollars as my mac is junk now… you can down load it but i warned you so keep your check book read you maybe needing a new mac after that if you dumb enough to buy another with this bloated mac Os Sierra Is trash and smells like it

  7. Tom says:

    Hello, plan on waiting a while to update. My question is can I go from 10.11.3 El Capitan directly to Sierra?

  8. mm says:

    works great on mbp mid 2010, no problems so far

  9. john ellis says:

    downloaded os sierra…download went smoothly.took a while very happy with the results great job apple!

    • alex says:

      exactly what is a “great job”? just to manage to get it working? :)

      this update is pure nonsense i don’t understand how they can call it a mayor update to label it different, it contains NOTHING more a series of pointless changes, NOTHING worth while or to go out and present it as the next step. :)

  10. Khwang says:

    I have a 2014 15″ MBP Retina.
    Currently on El Capitan 10.11.6

    I download the Sierra installer (first time) and get this:

    This copy of the Install macOS Sierra application is damaged, and can’t be used to install macOS.

    Can’t find any solution on the Web. Anyone else seeing this? What can I do?

    • Erin B says:

      Yep, I’m seeing this too. Found a “solution” on the Apple Communities Forum, but while it allowed me to actually open the download, it still wouldn’t install. I’ve now downloaded Sierra four times, and each time I’m getting this error (despite downloading it with nothing else open, running Onyx before downloading, etc.)

      So I’m open to suggestions from others.

  11. John says:

    Sorry, that should have read mid-2012.

  12. John says:

    Updated a mid-2013 MBP13, that was previously on ML still (hasn’t been used in awhile). Update appeared to go well, after a couple reboots.

  13. Jim Conrad says:

    Does Siri work on Firefox??

  14. Jim Conrad says:

    Does Siri work on Foxfire?

  15. Jens Peermann says:

    Has the Finder windows problem been fixed or do they still not open on startup in the same size and position they were in before shutdown?

  16. Di Keller says:

    There is nothing there I want :( Just makes it more cluttered. I can’t believe I am actually considering giving up on Apple.

  17. Nicolai Tassani says:

    Hi! any know if the adobe creative suite cs6 is working fine in sierra? Thanks in advice!

  18. junebeetle says:

    I have a mid-2010 white MacBook with 4GB RAM and it is easily running Sierra. Yay!

  19. John R says:

    1. I made a manual backup of my Carbon Copy Cloned startup disk, first.

    2. Using the terminal command (found at iMore), I created a bootable USB backup of the macOS Sierra installer app, which I downloaded from the App Store.

    3. Rebooted holding Option, chose the USB macOS Sierra Installer to boot from, then installed macOS Sierra on my El Capitan main drive.

    4. With the CCC backup, process took about three hours today, but completed successfully. Sierra seems super fast compared to El Capitan.

    • John R says:

      Will report any issue w CS5 if it occurs, but for now runs fine.

      • Sefari is slow says:

        Safari has become a big problem in the upgrade to Serria. Slow and hangs. Read problems all over the net. I have tried everything to correct it even got a new router. Nothing, it is in the software and Apple needs to address this.

  20. darryl says:

    I installed macOS Sierra and all of my apps stopped working. I clicked to open one in the dock and it bounced endlessly.

    I rebooted again, and it is working for now. Let’s hope everything keeps working. I hate troubleshooting computer problems.

  21. AlainBob says:

    It took a bit more than an hour to download/install. I have an “iMac Mid 2010” and it seems to work fine so far.

    Will now have to make Siri work for me on my Mac ! :-)

  22. NickO says:

    Fast and easy. It all works just fine. 2011 MBP.

  23. Imre says:

    It doesn’t appear on Update page of App Store for me. Mid 2013 MB Air, which is compatible. OSX El Capitan 10.11.6, no beta program. Any idea?

  24. Wharf Xanadu says:

    I can’t download it either it says downloaded and won’t let me redo the download of Sierra. Any ideas?

    • Paul says:

      Yes, this should allow you to re-download mac OS Sierra:

      – Quit App Store

      – Delete any beta version installers from Launchpad (not just from /Applications folder)

      – Reboot Mac

      – Relaunch App Store and go to Sierra and re-download

      That should switch the “downloaded” button to “download” and allow you to re-download macOS Sierra.

  25. Tina says:

    My iMac seems stuck at the white bar, about 1/4 inch to go. Should I be worried ? The minutes countdown left 15 mins ago

    ?

    • junebeetle says:

      Wait at least a few hours before assuming it’s stuck, because you don’t want to force shut down your computer while it’s updating the OS.

  26. Julian Duncan says:

    So I take it my mid 2009 MacBook Pro is too old?

    • Paul says:

      MacBook Pro 2010 and later is supported by macOS Sierra, the full list is here:

      https://osxdaily.com/2016/06/14/macos-sierra-compatibility-list/

      There are smaller updates available for Mac OS X El Capitan today as well.

    • Fnordmeister says:

      Evidently so. I have a late 2009 MacBook, which is just barely covered. However, I’m not going to upgrade, because I’ve been getting beach balls with El Capitan.

      Also, I looked at the feature list.

      “Optimized Storage can free up storage space. When storage space is low, it automatically uploads old files, photos, movies, and email attachments to iCloud and makes them available on demand.”

      Great. Then my private files will be uploaded without my consent, where someone can break in and steal them. (Yeah, yeah, I know, “secure server”, but there’s no such thing.)

      “Applications that support multiple windows will support multiple tabs within a single window, allowing the user to keep windows organized similarly to Safari.”

      It sounds like this is an app update, not an OS update.

      “The clipboard can be shared across nearby macOS Sierra and iOS 10 devices for cut, copy and paste.”

      You know who else you’re sharing that content with? Someone who is on the same Wifi network. (See my comment about the Cloud above.)

      No, I don’t see anything here I really want, and a couple of things I think are wrong. I’m passing.

  27. Avi says:

    Are you on your main partition, or using a test partition?

    Look in the launchpad: Is the Install MacOS Sierra app there? is there a blue dot next to it? That indicates the app was recently updated…which was today around 1 pm EST.

    If you really want to re-download it, you can delete that app from the launchpad and then download again.

    Chances are, you are already on the second GM release, which is the same as the build that was released today…so basically…you already have it and don’t need to do anything.

  28. Anthony ZZ says:

    I go to the App Store and macOS Sierra shows up as “Downloaded” and won’t let me re-download.

    I got the test version a long time ago but never installed it. How do I re-download macOS Sierra?

    I am in the Purchases tab and it shows as “downloaded” too, unable to download again.

    Great first experience…

    • junebeetle says:

      The test version is probably still somewhere on your computer. Delete it, move it to a flash drive, or zip it and delete the app. Now you should be able to quit and reopen the App Store and it’ll be available.

      I’ve heard that you may need to hold alt while clicking on Purchases to make it re-check, so try that too.

    • Eric B says:

      Open spotlight search (command + space) and type sierra to re-run the installer.

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