OS X El Capitan Reviews: 'Solid as a Rock' and a Worthy Update Thanks to Performance Improvements

Following the release of the golden master version of OS X 10.11 El Capitan to developers earlier in the month, the first reviews for the newest iteration on Apple's desktop operating system have begun to hit this morning, ahead of the wide public release tomorrow, September 30. After testing El Capitan for a few weeks, most sites agree that while OS X 10.11 isn't a massive overhaul, its performance enhancements and speed boosts make upgrading to the free new OS essentially a no-brainer.

elcapitanmacbook
Macworld calls El Capitan "solid as a rock," noting improvements to features like Mission Control and the introduction of Split View as big positives. Overall, Macworld views the upgrade as "routine", a welcome refresh amid Apple's continued push towards performance and security improvements.

Should you update to El Capitan? Unreservedly yes—I’ve found it to be stable, it’s free, it’ll download and install itself on your Mac with nearly no intervention, and it’ll bring with it improved security, speed, and functionality.

The days of dramatic operating-system updates are over. El Capitan is as solid as the giant granite monolith that towers over Yosemite Valley. Upgrade, and get an improved Mac. It’s really that simple.

Engadget gives El Capitan an 87/100 score, calling it a "modest update" after Yosemite last year, but with solid new introductions like multitasking and noticeable improvements to Spotlight, Safari, and Photos. In particular, the site points out the exciting possibilities that will come from the addition of third-party extensions for Photos, allowing users to take advantage of the editing tools of other photo apps within Apple's own Photos experience.

While Apple promised third-party extensions when it first unveiled the new Photos app earlier this year, extensions won't actually be available to download until tomorrow. Extensions can be downloaded from the Mac App Store, either bundled with an app or distributed on their own. Although some developers, like the folks behind Pixelmator, have gotten a head start, most developers are only just getting the chance to access these tools for the first time. So, we should be seeing more extensions hit the App Store as the season wears on. Personally, as an Engadget editor posting lots of hands-on photos, I'd really like to see one for batch-watermarking.

The Verge commented on the small but noticeable improvements brought by El Capitan, such as the ability to pin tabs in Safari and even mute them from the address bar, which the site says should cause Google Chrome users to give Apple's browser another look. Overall, The Verge views OS X 10.11 as Apple's evolutionary in-house solution for a handful of problems and shortcomings third-party software has addressed over the years, making the update feel both minor and substantial at the same time.

El Capitan takes the sorts of things that experts have been doing with third-party apps and utilities for years on the Mac and builds them right into the OS. Spotlight is becoming more than just a simple file search box. Window management is becoming easier. Notes is more than just a raw text box. Most of it left me nonplussed because all of these things didn't feel new and different to me — I've been finding ways to fix all of those problems for years with third party apps and add-ons. But with El Capitan, Apple's made the learning curve you usually have to climb to become a "power user" (whatever that is) much more gradual.

Everyone will be able to get in on experiencing El Capitan for themselves starting tomorrow, when the new version of OS X launches for the public. Before the update goes live, a handful of other sites have posted reviews for El Capitan, including: The Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, CNET, and SlashGear. For a more technical overview of OS X El Capitan, Ars Technica also has an excellent review.

Related Forum: OS X El Capitan

Top Rated Comments

pubwvj Avatar
111 months ago
"sites agree that while OS X 10.11 isn't a massive overhaul, its performance enhancements and speed boosts make upgrading to the free new OS essentially a no-brainer."

That's what I want. Solid. Simple. Nothing Fancy. Not breaking my existing apps and work flow.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bpeeps Avatar
111 months ago
Muting tabs in Safari is the biggest reason I want to upgrade. So due. The amount of times I've opened up a new tab with some autoplay music/video and you have to spend eternity searching for it to mute.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marx55 Avatar
111 months ago
Apple should bring back color labels and scroll arrows.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tubamajuba Avatar
111 months ago
"Solid as a rock"? Rock Cocaine Crack maybe . . . . Hardly solid as a rock from what I can see and postings on macrumors forums.
These forums are a great way to see the kind of problems you might face with an upgrade, but they are not at all representative of the frequency of said problems. People post far more about issues than they do about successful installations.

If you were to go by these forums, every piece of software ever written is a piece of bug-ridden junk.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
111 months ago
I hope this ends up being a Snow Leopard type release. Yosemite has been good to me and this sounds even better. Completely forgot it was releasing tomorrow though, haha. As per usual I'll hold back a month or two on my work machine and install it right away on my personal machine.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
George Dawes Avatar
111 months ago
Hopefully it's the new Snow Leopard
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...