Sierra 10.12.2 Upgrade and make another Installer Thumb Drive?

Currently running 10.12.1 and have an Installer USB Drive as a backup, as well as CCC and TM.

Should I just use the update feature and keep the USB drive as it is with 10.12.1?

I'm thinking that I should just use the update feature, but go ahead and download and redo the backup USB Installer. Am I right with this thinking?

BTW, I have yet to update my wife's iMac to Sierra. One reason to keep the Installer current.

Thumpernator said:

Currently running 10.12.1 and have an Installer USB Drive as a backup, as well as CCC and TM.

Should I just use the update feature and keep the USB drive as it is with 10.12.1?

I'm thinking that I should just use the update feature, but go ahead and download and redo the backup USB Installer. Am I right with this thinking?

BTW, I have yet to update my wife's iMac to Sierra. One reason to keep the Installer current.

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Hi Dave - for myself, I've made USB boot drives for the last four or so macOS upgrades on initial release, but then when further updates are offered, I have simply applied them to each of my Mac computers (one iMac & two laptops) w/o altering the USB booter - keep in mind that the initial macOS upgrade release will include the entire operating system, e.g. looking at my Sierra USB drive shows nearly 5 GB used (pic below) - the 10.12.2 Sierra updates for my laptops were < 2 GB in size; in fact, did my MBPro a few hours ago and the downloaded file was only 1.2 GB - the features in this update are listed HERE and only the items that need to be changed and those that apply to your hardware/software will be downloaded, so one explanation why DLs are often of different and smaller sizes for various computers.

So, for me, I just update the macOS for each of my computers and leave the initial USB boot drive alone until a major upgrade is released and a new booter is warranted. Others may 'chime in' w/ different opinions - also, not sure that your USB boot drive can also be updated w/o obtaining the 'entire' macOS package which would be much larger in size - but will be curious to hear what our more experienced members have to say about the latter.

As for your wife's iMac (assuming the hardware/software is compatible w/ Sierra), I would probably to the upgrade and then the recent update in sequence - Dave
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Thanks, Dave. The reason I haven't updated my wife's machine is that one of her favorite apps is not working well with Sierra. Waiting on them to fix it. I also use that app, but it doesn't bother me as much as it does her. Gotta have a happy wife.

I would not bother Dave.

Each computer downloads what is necessary for the update to work on that computer. An iMac will download differently to a MBP to a Mini to a Mac Pro etc. The full Combo Updater was about 1.9GHz, my iMac downlad was about 1.3GHz so it did not download what it could not use.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I went ahead and just did the update on my machine. Since I have a fast internet, I went ahead and downloaded and made a new installer with the latest and greatest. I'll use that to install Sierra on my wife's machine as soon as Verizon gets off their ars and fix Message +. BTW, her's is a 2015 iMac so I know it supports Sierra.

Thumpernator said:

Thanks for the advice, guys. I went ahead and just did the update on my machine. Since I have a fast internet, I went ahead and downloaded and made a new installer with the latest and greatest. I'll use that to install Sierra on my wife's machine as soon as Verizon gets off their ars and fix Message +. BTW, her's is a 2015 iMac so I know it supports Sierra.

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Hi again Dave - my wife uses an early 2013 iMac which is running fine on Sierra - tonight updating her to 10.12.2 and expect no problems (but she has two TB external HDs attached doing TM backups; and I first did CCC backups X2 earlier today - SO prepared!) - BTW, others may be interested - can you please explain what I put in bold above - assume you have a bootable flash drive that can install 10.12.2 - what are the steps and/or links? Thanks - Dave

Dave,

There are several different sites that explains the process. Here is one of them. http://www.imore.com/how-make-bootable-installer-drive

Some people use Diskmaker X to make an installer, but I've not had much luck using it for Sierra. I use the method that uses Terminal.

Thumpernator said:

Dave,

There are several different sites that explains the process. Here is one of them. http://www.imore.com/how-make-bootable-installer-drive

Some people use Diskmaker X to make an installer, but I've not had much luck using it for Sierra. I use the method that uses Terminal.

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Thanks Dave for your prompt response and the link - over the years, plenty of us here have used similar links to make a bootable macOS flash drives - in the past, I've used both the terminal and also Diskmaker X - but just wondering in your most recent creation, will this transfer the 10.12.2 version of Sierra or the earlier one? Still in a 'learning mode' on these bootable drives - thanks. Dave

Still in a 'learning mode' on these bootable drives - thanks.

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Here's my opinion on bootable flash drive installers: If a user has a slow connection or multiple machines to update, then by all means create a bootable flash drive with the latest update of OS X to use if needed. But if someone has a very fast connection (like mine) and only one machine, the amount of time saved by using the bootable flash drive installer is not worth the effort. Like I said, that's my opinion... I realize that some folks in this forum religiously create a new installer each time another version of OS X is published and that's OK.

RadDave said:

Thanks Dave for your prompt response and the link - over the years, plenty of us here have used similar links to make a bootable macOS flash drives - in the past, I've used both the terminal and also Diskmaker X - but just wondering in your most recent creation, will this transfer the 10.12.2 version of Sierra or the earlier one? Still in a 'learning mode' on these bootable drives - thanks. Dave

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You have to download the FULL version from the App Store.

Thumpernator said:

You have to download the FULL version from the App Store.

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Thanks Dave - the 10.12.2 version is available for DL on the Apple App Store, nearly a 5 GB file (pic below) - then after the download, use the numerous links for creating a USB boot drive - thanks. Dave
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