Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Sierra may not be a quantum leap forward , but it ’s still a major rising slope with a couple of attractive headline features ( Siri and auto - unlock ) and a full range of smaller useful features ( particularly Universal Clipboard and tabs in non - internet browser apps ) . It ’s more demanding than El Capitan so check your Mac is up to the job , but we compute this is a solid and useful update .
Welcome to our macOS Sierra vs Mac OS X El Capitan equivalence review , in which we help you adjudicate which is the upright Mac OS for you , and whether you should upgrade your scheme to macOS Sierra .
Before getting pop , be cognisant that Sierra has now been superseded by High Sierra , a predictably like oblation but with some fundamental improvements . Read ourHigh Sierra review here .
Apple ’s current Mac operating organization is called macOS Sierra , a slight tweak in brand from its Mac OS X herald to go in with the typographical stylus of Io , tvOS and watchOS . Sierra has been available to download since September 2016 , bringing a raft of young features to the Mac , including the Siri articulation - command tech from the iPhone & iPad , and a wide range of system and interface tweaks .
Sierra is a innocent upgrade from El Capitan , the previous OS , so there ’s no reason not to bound in and snaffle it , right ? Not so fast . You necessitate tocheck if your Mac is compatible , for one thing , and because it ’s not well-situated togo back to an sure-enough Mac OSafter crap the acclivity , it ’s deserving weighing up the change to your day - to - solar day user experience .
We cerebrate you ’ll want to get Sierra ( if so , you ’ll want to knowhow to update macOS ) , but you should always put in some research before making an rise like this . So in this article we compare the two products ’ features , interface and figure to help you decide which is a better stake for you . For more info , interpret ourMac OS X El Capitan reviewandmacOS Sierra review .
And if you ’re interested in thenext version of macOS , take a look at our comparability of the feature ofSierra and High Sierra .
Design & interface
Design - wise , El Cap and Sierra are virtually superposable . The ‘ planate ’ visuals brought in forYosemiteand retained in El Cap are still present in Sierra . But there are a couple of differences in the substance abuser user interface of the raw OS .
The first and most obtrusive : you could utilise tabs in a wide grasp of first- and third - company apps , not just your entanglement web browser . Apps have tabs include Maps , Mail , TextEdit , all three iWork apps and apparently any third - company app that supports multiple windows .
In Sierra there ’s now a picture - in - exposure wake mode , similar to the same - named mode in iOS on the iPad . Picture - in - picture “ permit you drift video recording from Safari or iTunes in a window over your desktop as you influence ” , in Apple ’s Word , and you may pin this picture miniskirt - window to one corner of your screen door , where it will outride even if you switch Spaces .
For more on this , read : How to use Mission Control , Expose , Split Screen & Spaces on the Mac
New features
The differences between Mac OS go El Capitan and macOS Sierra are mostly circumscribe to the features roll – it ’s what they can do , far more than what they look like .
There are lots of novel features to view – take a look at ourroundup of new Sierra featuresfor a more comprehensive feel – but in this division we ’ll concentrate on what we think are the highlights .
Siri on the Mac
This is the big one . Macs can now be controlled verbally using the Siri voice - recognition engine from the iPad , iPhone , Apple Watch and Apple TV . It was only a matter of time , really – and it ’s only fair to signal out that Windows already has Cortana ( and has done since Windows 8.1 ) – but it ’s still nice to see .
This is particularly useful for seek through papers ; you may use instinctive language to particularize various hunt argument , and the results sit afterwards in the Notifications pane from where they can be dragged and drop into applicable apps .
We also see it a really quick and well-situated elbow room to perform tasks you would usually require to go through multiple System Preferences windows to do . Just say ‘ Turn on Bluetooth ’ for representative rather than fire up System Preferences .
If you want to find out more about what Siri can do on the Mac , show ourcomplete guide to Siri on Mac .
Apple Pay on the Mac
Apple Payhas jumped from the iOS ecosystem to Mac ( via tvOS and watchOS ) . Most Macs do n’t have a fingerprint scanner so they ca n’t handle the verification procedure without using your iPhone or iPad . However , if you have aMacBook Pro with Touch Baryou’re in luck .
Apple Pay icons now appear on the buy page of certain merchants – all you demand do is verify your purchases with Touch ID on your iPhone , or using your Apple Watch .
Auto unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch
Some Apple fans were hope that macOS Sierra would bring for the ability to unlock a Mac using the Touch ID fingermark digital scanner on an iPhone . Instead , Apple announce something that ’s arguably a lot more convenient , albeit place at a smaller market : the ability to proximity - unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch .
( This does involve that the spotter has been unlocked first , however . Of of course , it may have been auto - unlocked in turn by its associate iPhone . )
Universal Clipboard
This gain to theContinuitysuite of feature covering fundamental interaction between Mac and iOS devices , is a large way to copy and paste data between devices . Whatever you re-create on one of your devices – Mac , say – will be sent wirelessly to the clipboard on your other gadget .
iCloud will sync your Desktop and Documents across all your Macs
One of the features we like is the fact that iCloud now synchronize your documents and your desktops across all your Macs . This is brilliant if you work from home as it mean that you do n’t have to remember to move document into a shared folder – if you provide them on the desktop at workplace they will be on your desktop at plate .
Optimised storage
Another handy feature tot up in Sierra is optimised storage . This comes into its own if you start guide out of blank on your Mac .
The new feature deletes some files ; it moves others to iCloud where you may download them again if you need to , give up up local repositing . you’re able to also set it to edit the file in your trash after 30 days .
Extra features in Messages
substance in macOS Sierra ( as iniOS 10 ) has been give a full - on millennial makeover , with more vehemence than ever before on emoji and similar upshot that are potential to dissever opinion ( most of them seem aim at a young consultation ) . There ’s a ‘ tapback ’ feature , for instance , which enables you to react instantly to a message by tapping one of six icon – thumbs up or down , a heart , ‘ Ha ha ’ , a question mark , or an exclamation Deutschmark . Not really our thing , but nice to have the selection .
More practically , connection pasted into message will be previewed in the message thread . you’re able to see the headline of the clause , main artwork and so on . Read more about Messages here : How to send and get text message on a Mac
People, places and event recognition in Photos
Like Messages , the Photos app received twin makeover in iOS and macOS .
Photos has a Modern Memories feature , which ( in theory ) accurately acknowledge multitude , billet and events , and uses this data to automatically make themed , easily customisable album for you .
If you desire to learn more , read ourtips for pic on Mac .
System requirements
Sierra is more demanding to run that El Cap . If your Mac sits in the stripe of machines that can launch the latter but not the former , your decisiveness may be made for you .
Here are the machine that can run Mac OS decade El Capitan :
And here are the machines that can run macOS Sierra :
For more information about macOS Sierra ’s system requirements , see : Will my Mac run macOS Sierra ?
You will also need the Mac App Store in ordering to download Sierra . Since Snow Leopard launched in 2009 the Mac App Store has been useable on all Macs , so the hazard that you would have a Mac capable of running Sierra , but running software system that precede Snow Leopard is unlikely . you’re able to grease one’s palms Snow Leopard fromApple ’s on-line storeand then make further update via the Mac App Store if necessary .
If you never updated to El Capitan you may only have the selection of update to Sierra as El Capitan is no longer useable on the Mac App Store ( although if you bonk someone who had downloaded El Capitan previously , they can access it via the purchased yellow journalism in the Mac App Store and if they re-create the installation files to an external driving you could install it that way of life .
For more detail , read our tutorial : How to install macOS Sierra .
Download link : macOS Sierra on the Mac App Store
