It’s also the last version with a single boot volume, making it more risky in terms of vulnerabilities, but much simpler and more versatile.

It brought initial support for HEVC and HEIF/HEIC video and image encoding, but hasn’t received any security updates since 2020.Īs the last version of macOS to support 32-bit software, this was a milestone and worth preserving in a Virtual Machine, in case you ever need to fall back and use an old app which isn’t fully 64-bit compatible.

For some Macs, it’s worth avoiding, but many using older Macs still like it. However, this early version of the new file system doesn’t support Fusion Drives, and isn’t as reliable or full-featured as later releases. Some Macs suffer complete freezes in El Capitan, and all running Time Machine backups in Sierra have to restart their Macs every few days, because of a scheduling bug which wasn’t fixed until High Sierra.Ī combination of the traditional and the new, as the first version of macOS to support APFS, some have found it a reliable halfway house between HFS+ of the past and APFS of the future. Far simpler and more traditional than any macOS since, they weren’t without significant flaws. El Capitan is notable for its introduction of System Integrity Protection (SIP), and Sierra for Apple Pay. These were the last two major versions before Apple introduced its new file system APFS, and remain classics for those with older models dating back to 2007-08. If you’re still undecided as to which to choose, or just enjoy looking back at what we’ve been through, this article summarises their highlights and lowlights. This is the time of year when many of us look to upgrading macOS, whether we’re going to an existing version we feel is now tried and tested, or in the autumn/fall to macOS 13 Ventura.

El capitan vs sierra security