With Yosemite, Apple made the Mac OS a bit slimmer and faster while keeping the familiar feel that users love. Although we loved the ability to take our work from mobile to desktop, we wish that Apple would play more nicely with competitors' software. We were able to get our devices up and talking, but others weren't so lucky.Īpple-phile: To enjoy Yosemite to the fullest, you must own other Apple products.
The most widespread issue is reconnecting Wi-Fi after your machine is put to sleep. Yosemite's new font, Helvetica Neue, gives your desktop a cool new look but is hard to read on smaller screens or non-Retina displays - watch out, Macbook Air users.īuggy: Apple's latest OS is still buggy almost a month after its official release. iOS 8-compatible devices are also needed for mobile-to-desktop connectivity. Steep hardware requirements: To get the most out of Continuity, your Mac must be running fairly new hardware, the most important being Bluetooth 4.0 for the coveted Handoff feature to work.
If you rely on your machine for work, before you update your OS, check with your IT department about whether critical software is compatible with Yosemite. ConsĪpp incompatibility: Certain apps don't work with Yosemite, including enterprise applications like Cisco VPN, Parallels, and VMWare Fusion, which will not operate properly until updated patches are released. Additionally, Spotlight makes search much more intuitive and effective. Make calls on your Mac, send SMSs to non-iPhone users, and finish documents and emails begun on your iPad from your desktop.įluid and fast: In our tests, the overall OS experience was fast and functionally stable, with most apps launching quickly and acting responsively. If you own an iOS device that can upgrade to iOS 8, Handoff (aka Continuity) is a must-have feature. Airdrop lets you transfer files directly to your iPhone or iPad. Spotlight search pops out and lets you launch apps, find files and folders, and even search the Web, similarly to the popular standalone app Alfred.Ĭontinuity is amazing: Sharing photos and videos over iCloud is as easy as dragging and dropping. The events and notifications bar slides out, like iOS 8's, with customizable, drop-down widgets, revealing the native Weather, Calendar, and Calculator apps. It's the same Mac experience, only sleeker.īetter notifications and search: The once disdained notification bar has become incredibly useful. Prosīeautiful but familiar design: Launch Yosemite and you'll appreciate the familiar, easy-to-navigate interface, modernized with flatter, iOS-style icons. The new Continuity helps you hand off tasks from iPhone to iPad to Mac, but that feature and Yosemite's updated hardware requirements, such as Bluetooth 4.0, push you deeper into Apple's ecosystem. If you're using a Mac notebook computer, plug it into AC power.OS X 10.10, aka Yosemite, sports a more modern look and bridges the gap between Apple's desktop and mobile devices.
It takes time to download and install OS X, so make sure that you have a reliable Internet connection. Time Machine makes it simple, and other backup methods are also available. If your Mac isn't compatible with OS X El Capitan, the installer will let you know.īefore installing any upgrade, it’s a good idea to back up your Mac.
To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu .
Mac Pro introduced in early 2008 or later Mac mini introduced in early 2009 or later MacBook Pro introduced in mid 2007 or later MacBook Air introduced in late 2008 or later MacBook introduced in 2009 or later, plus MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) Your Mac also needs at least 2GB of memory and 8.8GB of available storage space. You can upgrade to OS X El Capitan from OS X Snow Leopard or later on any of the following Mac models.
OS X El Capitan remains available for Mac computers that can't upgrade to macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or Sierra, or that need to upgrade to El Capitan first.