We are very close to receiving the next version of the operating system for Macs officially and this brings us to one of those moments when it is good to stop a bit the rhythm of the updates in a row and consider the installation in a more careful way. The truth is that these steps that we will see below can be carried out at any time and it is not necessary to wait for a system update to do so, but in these moments when we are going to install a new operating system it may be the best moment since it requires a few more steps than reinstalling on top of what we already have.
Well, we are all clear that the next Mac operating system will be called macOS Sierra and that in this version some interesting news are added but always on the basis of the current operating system, OS X El Capitan. The launch of the new operating system will take place next Tuesday, September 20 and the task that we are going to do now is to get the Mac ready for that day. With this we get more disk space, have the Mac clean and ready for the update, and a better user experience with the new system.
The first and foremost to say that there are two ways to update the Mac operating system, the first is simply by downloading the system from the Mac App Store and following the installation steps, and the second is to install the system from scratch. In any case, the important thing before carrying out the operation is basic to perform a general cleaning of applications, files and other data that we no longer use and obviously make a backup copy before taking any steps.
Cleaning the Mac
This is in all cases the most important step and it will surely take us more time, so let's take it easy and do a good job. For this task we also have some applications that will help us to clean the Mac, for example CleanMyMac, but it is best to clear cache files, remove unnecessary extensions, files from old updates, installers and all those applications that we have not used by hand for more than a month and then we pass the application if we have it purchased.
The best thing is to go little by little and leave only the most important things that we really use on the Mac. Over time we will have the Mac full of things that we do not use so if we do this little cleaning in each update we will get a better experience in every way with the new operating system.
Back up your Mac
It is possible that many users say that it is not necessary and we can really do without it, but then when a problem occurs and we do not have the copy made, all are regrets so the second thing we are going to do once we have the Mac clean of files, data and documents that we do not want, is a security copy.
The easiest way to carry out this copy is using the tool offered by lto own Apple in the Macs called Time Machine. The steps are very simple and you can also save the copies wherever you want, be it your Mac's drive or an external drive. Time Machine offers the option to make backup copies automatically to always have our data backed up and this is what we recommend in soy de Mac For this task. These are the steps to make the backup:
- We open Time Machine from the icon in the menu bar or from the Launchpad in the «others» folder
- From the preferences panel we can configure automatic copies or click to save a copy on a disk
- We select backup if we already have it configured or click on the connected external disk
- Click on backup and that's it
From the icon in the menu bar we can make the backup by clicking directly on the option "Make backup now". In any case this is something that may not be necessary for all users but it is advisable to do so to avoid problems and always have the Mac at maximum performance. Remember that macOS Sierra 10.12 will be available next week and we can start doing this right now.
It is best to install from scratch, from a USB
How do you recommend this if Apple technicians do not advise it.
Because it is a procedure with a certain degree of complexity that is not easy for most people who only limit themselves to working or studying on their mac, so if any part of the process is incorrect it can end up ruining valuable information that Of course, it will be a cause for claims by users.
CleanMyMac seriously…. ???
Durango, what the hell are you saying?
I sold mine a little I will prepare. Each update pulled more resources. I had an i7 and 16gb of ram and a 21,5 dual core imac went faster. Yes, I did everything from scratch. It took the same time to recode a blu ray. The same time
Clean My Mac can be used perfectly, it does not harm the computer or the system at all.
On the other hand, this new version of OS X does not add anything new to what El Capitan already has (except SIRI and a couple of wallpapers).
Honestly, it's not worth installing if your computer works fine
the best of the best, what they can do and that has worked for me, is to change to an SSD drive, my macbook pro with i7 and 16gb in ram, with the original 500gb hard drive, no matter how much I did install from scratch remove things, using cleanmy mac, etc, etc, it was still slow, I was a slave to free space and unnecessary apps etc, but the slowness there. I finally decided to give one last chance and change to an SSD drive, installed from scratch, what an impression it took me longer to make a coffee when everything was installed and so on, abuse the facilities and the equipment like a flash, restarting takes 10 seconds and before I never turned it off because it took like 3 minutes to get to the home screen, even then I disabled the firevault because it was slower. Now this Sunday I installed the GM of the Sierra and that took 6 minutes to update, it encrypted the firevault in less than nothing, I did not realize when it ended. The moral of this story is that, anyone who has a mac and is already showing signs of old age because he is very slow, and if the option of changing to a new one is not in his plans, as well as me because I have become very fond of my 15 ″; An SSD really rejuvenates you to the maximum, your team will appreciate it and it will show you. I think that with that I have a few more years or as long as the SSD lasts, but I am very happy mainly because of the constant speed at which it maintains no matter if it only has a gb of free space, also that the battery lasts a little longer , obviously because there are no mechanical systems inside.
I agree with Roberto. An SSD is life. As for money I will put a 500 gb samsung SSD. If I have pasta, 1TB
Hello, both for the author of the article and for the participants: for those of us who have a partition made with BootCamp with Windows installed, it is possible to do a clean installation without deleting said partition with Win, that is, it is only installed in the MacOs partition without modifying the other?
Thanks and Regards
Hello! I have had my mac for about 3-4 years and have never done a clean install. I don't want to touch anything on the partitions and stuff because I'm sure I'll mess it up ... My question is; If I delete everything from my mac and leave it as if it were new from the factory, from the App Store when macos sierra comes out, can I install it directly without having to install the previous ones? Thanks in advance.
It depends. What OS X do you currently have installed?
clean my mac you have to buy it because otherwise the cleaning it performs is only a few megabytes!!!, they don't say this in SOY DE MAC!!!