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Clean installation or upgrade?

L

livingthings

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 29, 2016
8
1
Hello everybody.
I have a mbp end 2016 and i have a question about High Sierra, is better do a clean installation than a upgrade? or im going to have the same results ?
 
Last edited:
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,171
15,691
California
It depends. If you have some app or utility that is not compatible with HS, and you just upgrade, that app/utility will still be there and may cause problems. But if you have no apps that are incompatible, an upgrade will work fine.

I always just upgrade and don't have trouble.
 
nylon

nylon

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2004
1,393
1,029
I always do a clean install to minimize issues but upgrade works just fine as well.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,171
15,691
California
m4v3r1ck said:
I hope some forummembers will soon give feedback on clean install + migration assistant!

Cheers
Click to expand...
Clean install plus MA is essentially the same end result as just upgrading. If you have apps or utilities that are borked under HS, MA is going to bring them right back in and you will have the same issues.

What I always try and do is search around for other on the HS that use the same apps I do to make sure they work. There is a good thread here that has been tracking this. So far, all my apps and utilities appear to be ready to go according to that list.
 
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Capeto

Capeto

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2015
479
1,074
I was planning on doing a clean install since I haven’t done one since I got my MBP 2.5 years ago, plus text messages on my iPhone 6S were not being forwarded to my MBP’s Messages.app for some reason.

However, I upgraded to an iP8+ yesterday and now text messages work perfectly on my MBP, and I don’t want that functionality to go away :rolleyes:

I’m still leaning towards a clean install for overall system health, plus it’s a good excuse to do a backup.
 
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ryxn

ryxn

macrumors regular
Jun 5, 2017
118
28
It's not necessary. If you've had your machine for a while, installed and uninstalled a good amount of 3rd party software, and/or just want to start fresh, go ahead if you'd like. It'll remove any leftover cache from the uninstalled apps and may resolve some randoms issues you've been having, but if you have no issues it's not really worth it.
 
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m4v3r1ck

m4v3r1ck

macrumors 68030
Nov 2, 2011
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The Netherlands
Weaselboy said:
Clean install plus MA is essentially the same end result as just upgrading. If you have apps or utilities that are borked under HS, MA is going to bring them right back in and you will have the same issues.

What I always try and do is search around for other on the HS that use the same apps I do to make sure they work. There is a good thread here that has been tracking this. So far, all my apps and utilities appear to be ready to go according to that list.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your insight and the link. I'll watch installs of superusers very close, but I always jump - if even - in with .3/.4/.5 of new macOS releases.

I'm even still on Mac OS X 10.10.5 myself. Never bothered for El Captain / Sierra myself, because of the few features I really didn't need.

Will wait and see what HS brings!

Cheers
 
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ignaciobarrena

ignaciobarrena

macrumors 6502
Dec 25, 2016
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The only issue I have in Sierra is the setting time zone location services turning on randomly, so I don’t know if upgrading will fix that.
 
deany

deany

macrumors 68030
Sep 16, 2012
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North Wales
I had a recent update for apps on my 2015 rMBP and one app was not compatatible, a hardly used parcel tracking app.

I'm going to delete this app before High Sierra update tomorrow.

Would be interested in approx GB of update, I'm on Sierra at present.
 
M

marcosscriven

macrumors regular
Jul 27, 2006
196
41
There is a difference this time around, in that High Sierra upgrade will attempt to completely update the whole file system. Given that, I personally would approach it with more caution that usual, and install a fresh copy, and only then copy over data from a backup.
 
P

paddylaz

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2012
84
103
Not that it necessarily makes the slightest difference but my usual habit is a clean install for a new os, but quick upgrade if its just a small bug fix/iterative update.

The clean install is also a good way of forcing you to jettison any stuff you've been too lazy to get rid of. Bloat too.
 
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ghostface147

ghostface147

macrumors 601
May 28, 2008
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I clean install each version just to clean out junk. This is most likely the last version of macOS that will work on my early 2011 17” MacBook Pro.
 
Freddy Fruitfly

Freddy Fruitfly

macrumors member
Sep 15, 2017
94
41
Weaselboy said:
You would need to download HS, then make a USB installer using the HS install package, then option key boot to the USB key and erase the internal drive then install HS.
Click to expand...

If I first do the upgrade to High Sierra and accordingly run the Internet Recovery, does this result in a clean install as well?
 
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