Download and install macOS High Sierra beta 6 on your Mac

Apple announced macOS High Sierra at WWDC 2017 with a number of new features as well as under-the-hood updates. While not a major update, High Sierra is full of refinements that will bring improved performance and stability (because of APFS), smooth system animations (thanks to Metal 2), better Siri functionality and of course, the most important of all, a snappier Safari. You can download macOS High Sierra as a developer preview. Find out how using our guide.

Before you begin, note the following:

1. Make sure that you have backed up your data. A bootable USB drive is normally used for a clean install so your Mac data will be formatted.
2. Whether your Mac is compatible or not. macOS High Sierra supports the same Macs as Sierra did:
   • iMac (Late 2009 or newer)
   • MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
   • MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer)
   • MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
   • Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
   • Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer)
3. Don’t try this on your daily driver. Since macOS High Sierra is a developer beta right now, it has stability issues and is likely to crash often. You might want to wait for the public beta which will be released later this month.

At the time of writing, macOS High Sierra beta 6 is available for download.

Download macOS High Sierra Beta 6

1. Login to your Apple Developer account and head to Downloads. 
2. Download the macOS 10.13 Developer Beta Access Utility.
3. When the utility is installed, it will launch Mac App Store and take you to the download page. Download macOS High Sierra from here.
4. Once done, launch the macOS High Sierra installer and follow the instructions. Make sure to enable the option ‘Convert HD to APFS’ which should convert your Mac drive’s file system from HFS+ to Apple File System.
5. You Mac will restart and continue installing macOS High Sierra. This process could take a while. Grab a cup of coffee, as we always say!

When the install is complete, you will see the login screen and will be greeted by the same looking but better macOS. So far, we have noticed improved performance all around in macOS High Sierra. We will update this post as we discover more changes and improvements.

macOS High Sierra has new features like a brand-new file system, APFS, HEVC h.265 code for video compression, Metal 2 for 10x graphics performance than before and Virtual Reality support. New developer APIs include CoreML, Swift 4, APFS, updates to WebKit and HEVC. Apps like Messages, Notes, Safari, Siri, iCloud Drive and FaceTime have also been updated.

macOS High Sierra will be released this fall, for free, for all compatible Macs. Stay tuned for our ongoing coverage of iOS 11, watchOS 4 and macOS High Sierra. You can also learn how to install the developer previews of iOS 11 on iPhone/iPad or watchOS 4 on Apple Watch using our helpful guides.