Surtees Studios recently announced it has released a public beta of Bartender 3 for testing on macOS High Sierra and macOS Sierra. It's a free update available within Bartender 2, which costs $15 after a free four-week trial.

bartender 2
The popular tool for rearranging or hiding Mac menu bar items has been completely rewritten in Swift, according to the release notes.

Bartender 3 also no longer requires the Bartender Helper to be installed in menu bar apps in order to control them. As a result, Bartender is no longer able to display the Bartender Bar beneath the menu bar—only within it.

The change was necessary since, in macOS High Sierra, Apple has apparently tightened its System Integrity Protection security feature, preventing system items like Spotlight search from being controlled by Bartender 2.

iStat Menus 5 was also recently updated with improved support for macOS High Sierra and MacBook Pro, MacBook, and iMac models released in 2017.

istat menus 5 header cpu
The popular Mac system monitor also gained improved per-process network monitoring, improved per-process memory monitoring in OS X El Capitan and macOS Sierra, improved Bluetooth battery monitoring, and improved disk monitoring performance, plus a fix for an issue with the sun position in light map.

iStat Menus is built into the macOS menu bar, providing power users with convenient access to system information, such as CPU and GPU usage, memory stats, fan speeds, temperatures, disk usage, and battery life.

iStat Menus 5 is $18 on developer Bjango's website, with a free 14-day trial available. The latest update is version 5.32.

(Thanks, Neil T.!)

Related Forum: macOS High Sierra

Top Rated Comments

mixel Avatar
102 months ago
I need bartender. my menubar gets ridiculous without it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bjango Avatar
102 months ago
This is great news, and we’re really happy to see Bartender working well on High Sierra.

iStat Menus 6 is coming.

https://twitter.com/bjango/status/900681265745076225
Yep, we’re in the middle of the beta, and things are going really well! Still a few more things to fix before we can release the update. It’s worth noting that anyone who buys iStat Menus 5 now will get iStat Menus 6 for free.

$18 for a single install still seems like way too much for iStat Menus, especially when I'd be fine with a free lite version.
The upgrade is heavily discounted for current iStat Menus customers (USD$9.99). We’ve been working on iStat Menus for over 10 years, and will continue to invest time and effort into making sure it’s the best system monitoring tool for macOS. Quite often, that means buying hardware for testing, especially for sensor support. This is our full time job, and we’re very grateful we can do it with the support of our customers.

iStat Mini might be a good option, if you don’t need all of iStat Menus’ features.
https://bjango.com/mac/istatmini/

Over the years there have been alternatives developed after iStat Menus went paid, like Menu Meters which I was using on OS X Mavericks, but unfortunately I'm not aware of any that work on Sierra or High Sierra.
Yep, feel free to use an alternative, or even stay on iStat Menus 5, if you want. If you like iStat Menus 5, I think you’re going to love iStat Menus 6.

Why... What could 6 offer over 5?

I love istat, but I'm not given a good reason to upgrade....
You can continue to use iStat Menus 5, if you like. iStat Menus 6 is a massive update though. We’ve been working on it for years.

When it comes out you can try it to see if you still feel that way, and make your choice. For me, I'm running the 6 betas, and I already paid them for the family pack upgrade.
Thank you! The feedback we’ve had during the beta has been amazing.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swrobel Avatar
102 months ago
Anyone else getting sick of SIP?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
poi ran Avatar
102 months ago
$18 for a single install still seems like way too much for iStat Menus, especially when I'd be fine with a free lite version.

Over the years there have been alternatives developed after iStat Menus went paid, like Menu Meters which I was using on OS X Mavericks, but unfortunately I'm not aware of any that work on Sierra or High Sierra.
I'm using MenuMeters on Sierra, a fork from https://member.ipmu.jp/yuji.tachikawa/MenuMetersElCapitan/ , I have no idea about it working on High Sierra though. I use it in combo with HWMonitor (http://www.hwsensors.com/) , and see little use for iStat these days even if iStat is very "good looking" and probably safer to use than HWMonitor which I only run on a "hackintosh".

Attachment Image
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Starflyer Avatar
102 months ago
Love Bartender! Worth every penny to reduce desktop clutter.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
102 months ago
Sorry for being dense — I'm not quite sure I follow this point. I've tried to install the beta of version 3 too see for myself but it won't let me... If anyone has installed it, can you explain/screenshot what this means?

At the moment I have the Bartender icon hidden completely and access it via keyboard shortcut, is that still an option?
Instead of the bartender menu popping up under the toolbar, it becomes the right side of the toolbar. Select the bartender icon again and it goes back to the toolbar.

If you are on high sierra, make sure you go to the bartender creator's blog and select the link to sign up for the beta. Then just hit update on the bartender menu and it will update.

Not sure about the keyboard shortcut but I can't imagine that would be gone. I can check later.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
new iphone lockscreen ios 26

iOS 26: Five Changes Coming to Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday June 17, 2025 8:46 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever. Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta. Widgets Top or Bottom In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....