Apple Seeds First Beta of macOS High Sierra to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the first public beta of macOS High Sierra to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to download and test the update for the first time since it was introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5. The first public beta of macOS High Sierra corresponds to the second developer beta, which was updated this morning.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the macOS High Sierra beta through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

macos hs beta
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.

Potential beta testers should make a full Time Machine backup before installing macOS High Sierra, and it should not be installed on a primary machine because betas are unstable and often have many bugs. Caution should be used with macOS High Sierra in particular because when installing it, there's an option to switch to the new Apple Filesystem (APFS), an update that takes some time.

macOS High Sierra is designed to improve and refine macOS Sierra. Along with a new, more efficient file system designed for modern storage, the update introduces Metal 2, the next-generation version of Apple's Metal graphics API with support for machine learning, external GPUs, and VR content creation.


High Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC aka H.265) is coming in macOS High Sierra, and many of the existing apps are being updated. Photos features a new persistent side view and editing tools for Curves, Selective Color, and Live Photos, while Siri is gaining a more natural voice and support for more music-related commands.

Safari offers a new autoplay blocking feature for videos and Intelligent Tracking Prevention to protect your privacy, while Mail storage is being optimized to take up 35 percent less space. iMessages can now be stored in iCloud, and there are new iCloud Drive file sharing options and new iCloud storage family plans.

For a complete picture of all of the new features you can expect to see when macOS High Sierra is released in the fall, make sure to check out our full macOS High Sierra roundup.

Related Forum: macOS High Sierra

Top Rated Comments

Scott6666 Avatar
84 months ago
boot your computer while holding down both the command key and the r key.
People who do not know what the recovery partition is should not be trying beta 1's
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocoBob Avatar
84 months ago
...The top secret way that Apple makes a fortune along with other companies is "Planned obsolescence." They just make it not work on purpose to make more money on upgrades. An operating system that breaks half of your programs is not a good one in my opinion no matter what enhancements it offers. If more people made this known, they wouldn't do it...
After working in Silicon Valley for almost 40 years, with just about all the major players there (directly and indirectly) I can tell you that they really don't have secret meeting to enforce "planed obsolescence" to make money. Its the nature of technology to need to grow it, improve it and expand its capabilities. In all the meetings I attended, from the hardware/ software design engineers, marketing gurus legal department all the way up tp the CEOs, no one ever thinks of planned obsolescence as a strategy. They do talk about focusing on specific areas they believe that consumers will want in the future. Its that constant consumer demand that causes the changes to happen. Think about it, do you still want to use a computer with an 8086 processor? or floppies? or a huge CRT that can only display 13" of viewable area? or 20MB hard disk drives that spin as fast as my washing machine? I don't and there are millions of consumers that spend billions each year to upgrade to newer, better, faster features. Its all about voting with your wallet and consumers have voted for ongoing process.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dogslobber Avatar
84 months ago
Downloading now. Also I live in California, so should I be high when I install High Sierra?
I'd recommend you download it, drive to the High Sierra mountain, climb it, then install High Sierra on top of High Sierra. I just hope when you're climbing you don't hit too many bugs and fall off!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
imnotthewalrus Avatar
84 months ago
People who do not know what the recovery partition is should not be trying beta 1's
agreed, but no reason to not help out since the damage is done.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sol33t Avatar
84 months ago
It can't hurt.
Never hurts to be fully baked.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
84 months ago
Downloading now. Also I live in California, so should I be high when I install High Sierra?
It can't hurt.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how NameDrop functions. As noted by The Washington...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...