El Capitan is only available if you or your mac meet at least one of condition below.

1. Download Sierra For Mac
2. El Capitan Or High Sierra For Mac Mini 2010 Upgrade
3. El Capitan Or High Sierra For Mac Mini 2010 For Sale
4. El Capitan Or High Sierra For Mac Mini 2010 Model

The mid-2010 Mac mini isn't the pinnacle of computer performance, but it still fares better with High Sierra than the operating system's predecessor. Motivation for me to update from El Capitan. Make sure with any upgrade to Sierra and higher, that all your software is compatible and your data is backed up before you make the leap. I wrote these articles on upgrading to each: 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra, and 10.14 Mojave. You can try the unsupported tool for Sierra and High Sierra.

• You have downloaded El Capitan in past with the same Apple ID
• The mac is NOT compatible with the later macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)
• The mac is compatible with High Sierra but still running 10.6.8 〜 10.7.4.

[ screen shot from App Store ]

However, your mac is new enough to install High Sierra, which apple recommends for now.

So you can download El Capitan only if you downloaded it before.

If you did not download El Capitan before, but El Capitan is your only choice, you need a mac that is either:

• Compatible with El Capitan but not with High Sierra.
• Compatible with High Sierra but still running 10.6.8 ~ 10.7.4

Otherwise High Sierra is your only choice for OS upgrade.

Feb 3, 2018 1:18 PM

In case you’re on the fence about upgrading to macOS Sierra from El Capitan, you’ve come to the right place. We’re dissecting the new macOS in detail, looking closely at how it compares to the previous and if the end justifies the means (of waiting for an hour-long upgrade). However, if you want to upgrade to macOS 10.13 High Sierra, jump straight to this guide.

Before we begin, here’s a few most common things you have to know about the latest macOS: the update is free as always, it runs on most Macs later that 2009, and you can only upgrade from El Capitan (you can’t skip it and run Sierra from Yosemite directly). There, now let’s look at what Sierra has to offer.

Comparing OS X El Capitan 10.11 to macOS Sierra 10.12

We’ll run a comparison on the most important things: features, performance, and system requirements. Usually, most of these criteria are enough to make a decision whether you need to upgrade or not. Some of the measurements are approximate and might show different figures in the case of your Mac, like battery life, which depends heavily on its age and intensity of usage.

Features Comparison

Download Sierra For Mac

As you can see, macOS Sierra is pretty packed with new features. Some of the goodies can only be used if you have other Apple devices, like iPhone or Apple Watch. Optimized Storage is a whole separate story on how Apple tried to make a good space cleaning solution and almost succeeded.

Bottom line is, if you want your system running smoothly for longer than a few months after the installation, you’ll need third-party Mac cleaners for both El Capitan and Sierra. Despite the fact that you can free a notable chunk of your drive by moving stuff into the iCloud with Optimized Storage, you still get all kinds of system trash (like app cache) that doesn’t go anywhere.

El Capitan Or High Sierra For Mac Mini 2010 Upgrade

Another novelty, an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator Siri, has been long-expected and we’re all glad to have it on Mac. Even though it’s still not the future-is-now kind of assistant that really understands you and can hold a conversation. But it will look for files on your Mac or on the web and find you a place to have that anniversary dinner. Which is nice.

El Capitan Or High Sierra For Mac Mini 2010 For Sale

Performance Comparison

It’s hard to make a sweeping judgement on which OS version is faster or more powerful. Because of the constant sync with your iCloud (and probably something else because when it’s turned off the problem is still present) macOS Sierra does drain your battery faster. On average, an upgrade will cost you a few hours of work.

On the other hand, at least a fresh-installed system is really snappy and the response is amazing. It could be because it’s a new install and it could get lost in half a year, but hey, half a year is still not bad. Just make sure your Mac supports Sierra, otherwise instead of getting faster it will slow down even more. So getting an app like CleanMyMac or the likes is still advisable even for the latest macOS.

System Requirements

El Capitan Or High Sierra For Mac Mini 2010 Model

The main difference is with the Mac models, you can see Apple support page for more details on which Macs can upgrade, but the official requirements for RAM and disk space are the same, even though technically the installation file for Sierra is smaller.

To sum it up, if you have a late 2009 Mac, Sierra is a go. It’s fast, it has Siri, it can keep your old stuff in iCloud. It’s a solid, safe macOS that looks like a good but minor improvement over El Capitan. We hope this guide has been of help. Remember to backup your files and upgrade safely. Cheers.

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