Macports and Sierra vs. High Sierra

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Mar 30, 2021, at 22:42, Dave Horsfall wrote:

> 2nd-hand MacBook Pro (mid-2010), firmware 7,1 with 480GB SSD and 4GB memory, Sierra 10.12.6.
> 
> I was contemplating upgrading to High Sierra (noting that the dealer said that Sierra is recommended for this model, but he could have installed High Sierra if I'd wanted it) and I noted that Apple has pulled the Sierra installer from the App Store, leaving me stuck with El Capitan (!) as a fallback.
> 
> I recall that after two previous failed attempts (on an ordinary MacBook, late 2009, firmware 6,1) it merely reverted to a saved copy of Sierra, so hopefully this will still be the case.
> 
> Apparently High Sierra is a massive change, with a different filesystem etc.
> 
> Anyway, how will this (no installer for Sierra) affect Macports, if at all?

Apple has not pulled any OS installers. You can download whichever version you wish from:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

I recommend using the newest supported macOS version, whatever that is for your computer.

While the filesystem change from HFS+ to APFS in High Sierra is significant, you should not avoid upgrading solely for that reason. APFS has advantages over HFS+, especially for an SSD. Your filesystem will be upgraded from HFS+ to APFS transparently and automatically.

Whenever you upgrade to a new major macOS version, you must reinstall MacPorts and all ports:

https://trac.macports.org/wiki/Migration