macOS High Sierra

macOS High Sierra, or macOS 10.13, is the fourteenth major release of macOS that was released on 25 September 2017. It was announced on 5 June 2017 at WWDC. This version introduces various changes to core macOS components, including a new filesystem (APFS) designed to replace the older HFS+ filesystem used since Mac OS 8.1. This version also introduced separate updates (BridgeOS) for the ARM co-processor included in certain Macs.

New features and changes

• APFS is a new filesystem that replaces HFS+ and uses Copy-on-Write, containers, and encryption to increase performance on SSDs.
• A new Metal API, including additional support for VR headsets and external GPUs.
• New privacy tools in Safari, including Intelligent Tracking Prevention.
• The Photos app has been updated with new editing tools and UI adjustments.
• 10.13.5 adds iCloud support to Messages.
• Siri voices have been updated to be more natural.
• Tables can now be added in the Notes app.
• Optimizations have been made to the Mail app.
• New H.265 (HEVC) decoder service (with additional hardware acceleration on certain Macs).
• New HEIF decoder service for HEIC-formatted images.
• Support for FLAC and Ambisonics file formats.
• Swift 4 support (in Xcode 9).
• Support for T2 chips.

System requirements

All the Macs supporting macOS Sierra support macOS High Sierra.

• iMac (Late 2009 or later)
• MacBook (Late 2009 or later)
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or later)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or later)
• Mac mini (Mid 2010 or later)
• iMac Pro (2017 or later)
• Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or later)

macOS High Sierra requires at least 2 GB of RAM and 20.12 GB of available disk space.

It is possible to install macOS High Sierra on many older Macintosh computers that are not officially supported by Apple. This requires using a patch to modify the install image, similarly to modifying appraiserres.dll within the Windows 11 ISO disc file to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs.