How to Successfully Upgrade to macOS Sierra for Free

Your first step towards trying the new macOS Sierra is signing up for the public beta program. To do that, you need to head over to the website for the public beta (type beta.apple.com in Safari) and enter your Apple ID and password to sign up. You should be accepted for the public beta quickly, and once you are accepted, you are ready to upgrade your operating system to Sierra.

The next step you need to make is preparing your Mac for upgrading to Sierra. Apple has yet to release info how much space Sierra will require, but judging by past experience, you'll need at least 8GB. El Capitan took 8GB, so we expect Sierra to take at least 10GB. Even if you have used time machine previously, you need to make a backup now, to make sure all your data is saved.

Time Machine makes a backup of your Mac once a month, but you need one now. Connect an external drive via USB port to your Mac, and you'll see a pop-up window asking if you want to use the drive as a backup for your Mac. Click "Yes", and Time Machine will do the rest.

To download the new public beta, you need to go to the Mac App Store. There, you will be required to enter a special code (redeem code, promo code, call it how you like). You will get this code when you sign up for the public beta, so don't worry, you'll have it. When you click to begin the process, the code is entered automatically.

We assume you are at the beta.apple.com website, and then click on Mac OS tab. Click "Download the Mac OS Sierra Public Beta". Mac App Store will open, and you'll probably need to log in. If the process doesn't start automatically, you need to do it manually:

• Open your Mac App Store
• Click "Featured" in the tab menu
• Click "Redeem", a button located in the right sidebar
• Enter your code

In any way, if it doesn't start automatically, you'll need to do it manually. For manual install, follow these steps:

• Launch the "Install macOS Sierra Public Beta" application
• At the bottom, you'll notice a "Continue" button. Click it
• You'll be asked to do a backup. Since you have done one already, click Cancel. If you haven't done one, click "Continue"
• At the bottom, click "Continue" once the backup finishes, or if you have skipped it
• Agree to the licensing terms
• Click "Agree" once more to confirm
• Select the drive you wish to install macOS Sierra onto
• Click "Install", enter your admin password, and click "OK"
• Click "restart". Your computer will reboot, and it will run Sierra. You'll be asked to finish a brief setup
• Once you finish the brief setup, you can run macOS Sierra.