MAC OS X Yosemite – Upgrade to High Sierra Instructions

I received another customer question on a third party website, where I earn supplemental income answering computer and technology related questions. This is the customers question:


I have a MacBook Pro that was purchased in 2012. It current operating system is OS X 10.10.5. I installed Turbo Tax 2017 and I got a message saying that I must install OSX10.11 to use this product.

How do I download OSX10.11? How much will this cost? Can I do this online?

This individual installed TurboTax 2017. This program will not work unless their MacBook Pro is upgraded to OS X 10.11, which is also known as El Capitan. Newer versions of Turbotax, for example 2017 versions, now require MAC OS 10.11.

This is known as El Capitan. In order to upgrade your MAC operating system, you must now have an Apple ID. This customer could NOT install El Capitan.

However, they were able to install High Sierra and thus I have included instructions for upgrading MAC OS X Yosemite to High Sierra. If you have installed High Sierra before, then all you have to do is browse to the “Apple Store” on your Macintosh. You need to login with your Apple ID.

Click on the “Purchases” tab. A list of all your previous purchases will populate. Apple considers operating system upgrades as purchases. Select “High Sierra” and then click on “Download”.

Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this download can take possibly hours to complete. If you have NOT installed Apple MAC OS 10.13 High Sierra before, you will need to download High Sierra from this alternative Apple Store download link. You will need to access this link from your Macintosh computer.

Once High Sierra completely downloads, then the installation will open. You will need to enter your MAC password and accept some terms of conditions. Keep clicking “Next” until you come across a “Restart” window.

Click on “Restart” and your Macintosh will reboot and begun upgrading from Apple MAC OS 10.10.5 Yosemite to Apple MAC OS 10.13 High Sierra. You can click on the Apple icon and select “About this MAC” to verify your operating system. You should see MAC OS 10.11 populated or a different version.

Here is a bonus tip. Now that you have successfully upgraded your Macintosh to High Sierra, you can upgrade other MACs to High Sierra by just logging into the Apple store with your Apple ID and clicking on “Purchases” tab. You can then download High Sierra from this tab.

Finally, if you are having problems upgrading to High Sierra, it might be because your Apple Macintosh hardware is NOT compatible.