#Macos public beta how to#

Early beta versions run quite slowly compared to later pre-release and release operating systems, so don’t expect the beta to be as zippy as OS X El Capitan is on your current Mac.įinally, if you are a public beta tester, you are expected to report bugs or make feature requests. If you decide to try the macOS Sierra Public Beta, remember to temper your expectations with a big dose of reality. Hopefully that’s just a temporary oversight and not a “feature” of macOS Sierra, since I’ve found it impossible to add several apps to the test Mac that I consider to be indispensable, such as Dropbox. I’ve found that only apps in the Mac App Store can be installed right now. Next, realize that there’s a lot that is not going to work as you expect in the beta. As a test machine, this Mac works perfectly, and you may want to consider making a similar purchase from OWC’s Refurbished Mac Store. For my tests, the macOS Sierra beta was installed on an OWC Refurbished 2012 Mac mini. Instead, consider dedicating an older or underutilized Mac to the task of being your test drive “vehicle”. This is a beta operating system that is being tested to find bugs and slowly add functionality, so do not install it on your primary Mac.

#Macos public beta how to#

In this article, I’ll describe how to sign up to be in Apple’s Public Beta program, and then how to install the beta on your Mac. Judging from the response to my earlier post highlighting some of the standout features in the first public beta of macOS Sierra, there’s a lot of interest in the upcoming Mac operating system.