On the 24th of September Apple released 10.14 to the masses and in doing so doomed your Mac running El Capitan to the pages of history.
If you see m@cservices regularly for a health check, or we’ve seen you for any other reason in the last little while, our mantra would likely have been “there is no need to upgrade your 2007 Mac because El Capitan is still getting security updates.”
Well, no more.
So from here on in, every day you put it off the spot light on you is getting brighter and brighter and at some point a hacker might very well look in your direction.
It’s a slim chance… but a chance nonetheless.
So, what to do?
Firstly, is your iMac locked to El Capitan? Any iMac that is 2007 or older is, unfortunately, not upgradeable so it is a new Mac. If this is you, of course we will help with the choice of model and transferring of data but I find the following rules of thumb help in the purchasing of new hardware.
Desktop or laptop? Well portability is great but make sure that you really are going to pick it up regularly and not leave it plugged in at your desk for the majority of the time. Generally speaking you get less bang for your buck when you buy a laptop because what you paying for is portability and lack of weight so generally the Hard disk is smaller. Even if you do occasionally want to take it with you, for the cost of a good desktop and an iPad you are still spending less money. (depending on the iPad that is)
But I already have a laptop.
That is cool… just remember that the newer laptops tend to come with faster and smaller hard disks than the one you are used to right now. So before you do anything else, you need to spec them up before you push the Buy button. Take careful note of how big your current hard disk is and how much space you are currently using.
If, on the other hand, your Mac is of a certain vintage (see below), chances are it can be upgraded to 10.13 or 10.14. Generally speaking this isn’t going to be an issue but you might have a few software titles that require updates or perhaps new versions to be purchased. I have done a full review of 10.14 here and what I found is that I need a new scanner. Not because the scanner is faulty but just because the software to drive it is no longer supported. Bugger!
As of this writing 10.13 is no longer available for download from the AppStore, that spot is now being occupied by 10.14. So if you’d rather avoid 10.14 for now, you’ll need to get the installer yourself or have someone like us upgrade your Mac for you.
Either way, the time has come to seriously think about upgrading either your hardware or software or both in order to remain as safe as possible.
Min specifications for 10.14
MacBook Pro (mid 2012 and newer)
MacBook Air (mid 2012 and newer)
MacBook (early 2015 and later)
iMac (late 2012 or newer)
iMac Pro (2017 or newer)
Mac Pro (late 2013 or newer, or mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with Metal capable GPU)
Mac Mini (late 2012 or newer)
