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THE USEFUL TECH
5️⃣ THE USEFUL FIVE · FRIDAY ROUNDUP · ISSUE #003
👋 HEY, IT'S RAJA
We spent the week on macOS 27. Today, five small jobs that get your Mac ready for it. None of them require the beta, all five are worth doing whether you upgrade in September or sit this one out. The first one takes thirty seconds and decides the other four.
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1️⃣ Find out if your Mac is invited
macOS 27 Golden Gate runs on Apple silicon only, from the M1 onward, plus the A18 Pro MacBook Neo. Intel Macs do not get it and will not get it later. Apple menu, then About This Mac, and read the chip line. If it says Intel, your Mac stops at Tahoe, and Apple is expected to keep sending security updates for a while yet.
2️⃣ Audit your Intel-only apps
Rosetta 2 support ends with macOS 27, which means anything still running as an Intel app is on borrowed time. Find them all at once: Apple menu, About This Mac, More Info, System Report, then Software, then Applications. Sort by the Kind column and look for Intel. Most of mine had native versions waiting that I had never bothered to download.
3️⃣ Make a backup you have actually tested
Everybody has a Time Machine drive. Fewer people have plugged it in this quarter. Connect it, let it finish a full run, then open the backup and restore one file you care about. A backup you have never restored from is a theory, not a backup. This is also the only thing standing between you and a one way trip if you do try the beta.
4️⃣ Update to Tahoe 26.6 and let it settle
The 26.6 release does something quietly useful: it optimises your Spotlight index in preparation for macOS 27. Since the new Siri reaches you through Spotlight with Command and Space, that index is doing a lot more work from September onward. Install 26.6, then leave the Mac awake and plugged in overnight so the indexing finishes properly.
5️⃣ Decide your beta position, on purpose
The second public beta is out. You have three honest options: install it on a spare Mac, install it on a separate APFS volume on your main Mac, or skip it entirely and take the finished release in September. All three are fine. What is not fine is installing it on your only machine on a Tuesday afternoon because a video made it look fun.
The other side of the upgrade
Once macOS 27 is on the machine, you are setting a Mac up again whether you meant to or not. The Useful Tech Mac Setup Guide is the checklist I run every time, from first boot to a machine that works the way I do. It is $39.
Have a great weekend. See you Monday with a new find.
Keep it useful,
Raja · The Useful Tech
P.S. Enjoyed this? Forward it to a friend who loves their Apple gear a little too much.