macOS Sonoma Changelog

What's new in macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 Build 23E224

Mar 29, 2024

This update provides bug fixes for your Mac, including:
USB hubs connected to external displays may not be recognized
Copy protected Audio Unit plug-ins designed for professional music apps may not open or pass validation
Apps that include Java may quit unexpectedly

New in macOS Sonoma 14.4 Build 23E214 (Mar 8, 2024)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.3.1 Build 23D60 (Feb 9, 2024)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.3 Build 23D56 (Jan 23, 2024)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 Build 23C71 (Jan 15, 2024)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.2 Build 23C64 (Dec 13, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 Build 23B92 | 23B2091 (Dec 2, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 Build 23B81 (Nov 8, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 14.1 Build 23B74 (Oct 26, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 14 Build 23A344 (Sep 26, 2023)

Screen Savers:
Stunning screen savers of locations from around the world seamlessly become your desktop wallpaper when you log-in
Widgets:
Widgets can be placed anywhere on the desktop and adapt to the color of your wallpaper while working in apps
iPhone widgets can be added to your Mac when your iPhone is nearby or on the same Wi-Fi network
Interactive widgets let you take actions directly from the widget such as running a shortcut, pausing media, and more
Video Conferencing:
Presenter Overlay keeps you front and center while sharing your screen
Reactions layer 3D effects like hearts, balloons, confetti, and more around you in video calls
Safari and Passwords:
Profiles keep your browsing separate for topics like work and personal
Web apps let you use any website like an app, complete with an icon in the Dock for faster access and a simplified toolbar for easier browsing
Enhanced Private Browsing locks your private browsing windows when you’re not using them, blocks known trackers from loading, and removes tracking that identifies you from URLs
Password and passkey sharing with trusted contacts
Messages:
Live Stickers sync from iOS and iPadOS to macOS, giving you access to the Live Stickers you create on your iPhone and iPad
Search filters for people, keywords, and content types like photos or links
Swipe to reply inline on any iMessage bubble
Gaming:
Game Mode gives games the highest priority on the CPU and GPU, delivering more consistent frame rates and lower latency to wireless controllers
Keyboard:
Improved autocorrect accuracy makes typing even easier by leveraging a more powerful transformer-based language model
Inline predictive text shows single- and multi-word predictions that you can add by pressing the Space bar
Improved Dictation experience supports using your voice and keyboard together to enter text
AirPods:
Adaptive Audio is a new listening mode that dynamically blends Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency to tailor the noise control experience based on the conditions of your environment
Press to mute and unmute your microphone when on a call
Improved AirPods automatic switching now detects Mac up to 2X faster
Privacy:
Sensitive Content Warnings can be enabled to help prevent users from unexpectedly viewing sensitive images in Messages
Expanded Communication Safety protections for children now detect videos containing nudity in addition to photos shared through Messages and the Photos picker
Accessibility:
Live Speech lets you type what you want to say and reads it aloud in FaceTime calls or in-person conversations
Personal Voice helps users at risk of speech loss create a voice that sounds like them in a private and secure way using on-device machine learning
Made for iPhone compatible hearing devices can be paired and used with Mac
This release includes other features and improvements:
One-Time verification code AutoFill from Mail helps you quickly sign into sites in Safari
Inline PDFs and document scans in Notes are presented full-width making them easy to view
Grocery Lists in Reminders automatically group related items into sections as you add them
Option to say "Siri" in addition to "Hey Siri" for a more natural way to activate Siri
High performance mode in Screen Sharing improves responsiveness while remotely accessing a Mac with Apple silicon

New in macOS Sonoma 13.4.1 Build 22F82 (Jun 22, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 13.4 Build 22F66 (May 19, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 13.3.1 Build 22E261 (Apr 8, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 13.3 Build 22E252 (Mar 28, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 13.2 Build 22D49 (Jan 24, 2023)

New in macOS Sonoma 13.1 Build 22C65 (Dec 13, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 13.0.1 Build 22A400 (Nov 9, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 13 Build 22A380 (Oct 24, 2022)

Mail:
Undo send, scheduled send, remind me, and follow up make staying on top of email even easier
Improved search delivers more accurate, complete results and provide suggestions as soon as you begin to type
Spotlight:
Quick Look support makes it easy to preview files by pressing Space bar on a result
Image search helps you find images on the web and in Photos, Messages, Notes, and Finder
Rich results for musicians, movies, businesses, sports, and more
Safari and Passkeys:
Shared Tab Groups let you share a set of tabs with others and see the Tab Group update instantly as you work together
Passkeys offer an easier and safer sign‑in method, designed to replace passwords
Messages:
Edit a message, undo send, and mark as unread make everyday messaging easier
SharePlay in Messages lets you enjoy activities like watching movies, listening to music, and more with friends while messaging
Collaboration provides a simple way to invite others to collaborate on a file via Messages and get activity updates in the thread
Photos:
iCloud Shared Photo Library makes it easy to share photos and videos with up to five family members in a separate library that’s seamlessly integrated in the Photos app
Stage Manager:
Stage Manager automatically organizes apps and windows, putting your active app in the center and other open apps on the left side of your screen
Easy app switching by clicking on any open app on the left side of your screen
Group apps together to create sets of apps within Stage Manager
Quick Desktop access for easily dragging and dropping files into apps in Stage Manager
FaceTime:
Handoff in FaceTime allows you to move FaceTime calls seamlessly from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad, and vice versa
Continuity Camera:
Continuity Camera allows you to use iPhone as a Mac webcam when you bring iPhone close to Mac and place it in a stand (iPhone XR and later)
Video and lighting effects include Portrait mode (iPhone XR and later), Center Stage (iPhone 11 and later), and Studio Light (iPhone 11 and later)
Desk View uses the Ultra Wide camera on iPhone to show what’s on your desk during a video conference (iPhone 11 and later)
This release also includes other features and improvements:
Clock app for Mac features world clocks, timers, and alarms, delivering a more consistent experience across your Apple devices
Weather app comes to Mac, optimized for the larger display and featuring immersive animations, hourly forecasts, and detailed weather maps
Lift subject from background isolates the subject of an image so you can copy and paste it into apps like Mail and Messages
Focus filters hide distracting content in apps like Calendar, Mail, Messages, Safari and third party apps
System Settings includes a refreshed design that’s easier to navigate and has a new name
Rapid Security Response delivers security improvements to macOS even faster
Live Captions (beta) automatically converts audio into text for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing to follow along more easily with calls and media content (Mac with Apple Silicon)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.6 Build 21G115 (Sep 13, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.5.1 Build 21G83 (Aug 18, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.5 Build 21G72 (Jul 21, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.4 Build 21F79 (May 17, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.3.1 Build 21E258 (Apr 1, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.3 Build 21E230 (Mar 14, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.2.1 Build 21D62 (Feb 11, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.2 Build 21D49 (Jan 28, 2022)

New in macOS Sonoma 12.1 Build 21C52 (Dec 14, 2021)

MacOS Monterey 12.1 adds SharePlay, an entirely new way to have shared experiences with family and friends in FaceTime. This update also includes the Apple Music Voice Plan, new safety features for children and parents in Messages, redesigned Memories in Photos, and other features and bug fixes for your Mac.
SharePlay:
SharePlay is a new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime with content from the Apple TV app, Apple Music, and other supported apps
Shared controls give everyone the ability to pause, play, rewind or fast forward
Smart volume automatically lowers the audio of a movie, TV show or song when you or your friends speak
Screen sharing lets everyone on a FaceTime call look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out
Apple Music Voice Plan:
Apple Music Voice Plan is a new subscription tier that gives you access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music using Siri
Just Ask Siri suggests music based on your listening history and likes or dislikes
Play it Again lets you access a list of your recently played music
Photos:
Memories has been redesigned with a new interactive interface, new animation and transition styles, and multiple image collages
New Memory types include additional international holidays, child-focused memories, trends over time, and improved pet memories
Messages:
Communication safety setting gives parents the ability to enable warnings for children when they receive or send photos that contain nudity
Safety warnings contain helpful resources for children when they receive photos that contain nudity
Siri and Search:
Expanded guidance in Siri, Spotlight and Safari Search to help children and parents stay safe online and get help with unsafe situations
Apple ID:
Digital Legacy allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your iCloud account and personal information in the event of your death
TV App:
Store tab lets you browse, buy, and rent movies and TV Shows all in one place
This release also includes the following enhancements for your Mac:
Hide My Email is available in the Mail app for iCloud+ subscribers to create unique, random email addresses
Stocks allows you to view the currency for a ticker and see year-to-date performance when viewing charts
Reminders and Notes now allow you to delete or rename tags
This release also includes bug fixes for your Mac:
Desktop and Screen Saver may appear blank after selecting photos from the Photos library
Trackpad could become unresponsive to taps or clicks
External displays may not charge some MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers when connected using Thunderbolt or USB-C
HDR video playback on YouTube.com could cause 2021 MacBook Pro computers to panic
Menu bar extras may be obscured by the camera housing on 2021 MacBook Pro computers
MagSafe may stop charging on 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro computers when lid is closed and system is shut down

New in macOS Sonoma 12.0.1 Build 21A559 (Oct 26, 2021)

FaceTime:
SharePlay: Watch together:
Bring movies and TV shows into your FaceTime calls and enjoy rich, real-time connection with your friends while watching the same videos.
SharePlay: Listen together:
Share music with your friends right in your FaceTime calls.
SharePlay: Share your screen
Share your screen to bring web pages, apps, and more into your conversation on FaceTime.
SharePlay: Synced playback:
Pause, rewind, fast-forward, or jump to a different scene — everyone’s playback remains in perfect sync.
SharePlay: Shared music queue:
When listening together, anyone in the call can add songs to the shared queue.
SharePlay: Smart volume:
Dynamically responsive volume controls automatically adjust audio so you can hear your friends even during a loud scene or climactic chorus.
SharePlay: Multiple device support:
Connect over FaceTime on your Mac while watching video on your Apple TV or listening to music on your HomePod.
SharePlay: Connect through audio, video, and text:
Access your group’s Messages thread right from the FaceTime controls and choose the mode of communication that matches the moment.
Portrait mode:
Inspired by the portraits you take in the Camera app, Portrait mode in FaceTime blurs your background and puts the focus on you.
Grid view:
Lets you see people in your Group FaceTime calls in the same-size tiles, and highlights the current speaker so it’s easy to know who’s talking. You’ll see up to 18 faces in the grid at a time.
Spatial audio:
Creates a sound field that helps conversations flow as easily as they do face to face. Your friends’ voices are spread out to sound like they’re coming from the direction in which they’re positioned on the call.
Voice Isolation mode:
This microphone mode spotlights your voice by using machine learning to identify ambient noises and block them out. So a leaf blower outside or a dog barking in the next room won’t interrupt your call.
Wide Spectrum mode:
This microphone mode brings every single sound into your call. It’s ideal for when you’re taking music lessons or want your friend to hear everything that’s happening in the space you’re in.
FaceTime links:
Invite your friends into a FaceTime call using a web link you can share anywhere.
Join FaceTime on the web:
Invite anyone to join you in a FaceTime call, even friends who don’t have an Apple device. They can join you for one-on-one and Group FaceTime calls right from their browser instantly — no login necessary.
Calendar integration:
Generate a web link for a FaceTime call while creating an event in Calendar, so everyone knows exactly where to meet and when.
Messages:
Shared with You:
Content sent to you over Messages automatically appears in a new Shared with You section in the corresponding app, so you can enjoy it when it’s convenient for you. Shared with You will be featured in Photos, Safari, Apple News, Apple Podcasts, and the Apple TV app.
Shared with You: Pins:
For content that’s especially interesting to you, you can quickly pin it in Messages, and it will be elevated in Shared with You, Messages search, and the Details view of the conversation.
Shared with You: Continue the conversation:
Alongside shared content in the corresponding apps, you can see who sent it, and with a click, open the associated conversation in Messages — so you can continue the conversation while you’re enjoying what was shared with you.
Shared with You: Photos:
Photos sent to you over Messages automatically appear in your Photos app. Your library includes the photos you care about most — like the ones you were there for. And the broader set of shared photos will be featured in a new Shared with You section in the sidebar.
Shared with You: Safari:
Interesting articles, recipes, and other links sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section on the Safari start page and in the sidebar. Articles that can be found in Safari and Apple News conveniently appear in Shared with You in both apps — so you can enjoy them in either place.
Shared with You: Apple News:
Interesting stories sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section in the Today feed and in the sidebar of Apple News. Stories found in News and Safari appear in Shared with You in both apps — so you can enjoy them in either place.
Shared with You: Apple Podcasts:
Podcast shows and episodes sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section of Listen Now in Apple Podcasts.
Shared with You: Apple TV app:
Movies and shows sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section of Watch Now in the Apple TV app.
Photo collections:
Enjoy multiple photos as beautiful collections in your Messages conversations. A handful of images appears as a glanceable collage and a larger set as an elegant stack that you can flip through. Click to view them as a grid and easily add a Tapback or inline reply.
Easily save photos:
You can quickly save photos sent to you by clicking a new save button right in the Messages conversation.
Safari:
Tab Groups:
Save and organize your tabs in the way that works best for you. Switch between Tab Groups using the redesigned sidebar or drop-down menu. Tab Groups sync across devices so you have access to your tabs from anywhere.
Redesigned sidebar:
Manage your Tab Groups, bookmarks, Reading List, and Shared with You links in the redesigned sidebar.
Compact tab bar:
The compact tab bar integrates the Smart Search field into your active tab, giving you more space to browse.
New privacy protections:
Intelligent Tracking Prevention now also prevents trackers from profiling you using your IP address.
HTTPS upgrade:
Safari automatically upgrades sites known to support HTTPS from insecure HTTP.
Focus:
Focus:
Match your devices to your mindset with Focus. Automatically filter notifications based on what you’re currently doing. Turn on Do Not Disturb to switch everything off, or choose from a suggested Focus for work, personal time, sleep, fitness, gaming, reading, or driving.
Focus customization:
Create a custom Focus to filter notifications based on what you’re currently doing.
Focus across your devices:
When you use a Focus on one device, it’s automatically set on your other devices.
Allowed interruptions:
Set allowed interruptions so that the most important notifications from people or apps will get through to you while you’re focusing.
Status:
Contacts outside the notifications you allow for a Focus will be told that your notifications are silenced. Your status appears the moment someone tries to contact you in Messages, so they know not to interrupt.
Auto-reply:
Turn on a standard auto-reply for your contacts when they message you while you’re focusing.
Urgent messages:
If someone’s status is turned on, signaling that they have notifications silenced with Focus, you can break through with an urgent message. If you’re on the receiving end, you can prevent an app or person from breaking through.
Status API:
For conversations in third-party messaging apps, developers can use your status to reflect that you’ve stepped away.
Notifications:
New look for notifications:
Notifications have a fresh new look, with contact photos for people and larger icons for apps.
Mute notifications:
Mute any app or messaging thread temporarily, for the next hour, or for the day.
Muting suggestions:
If a thread is really active and you aren’t engaging with it, you’ll get a suggestion to mute it.
Communication notifications:
Notifications from people across your communication apps now feature contact photos to make them easier to identify.
Time Sensitive notifications:
Time Sensitive notifications from apps are always delivered immediately, so you won’t miss out on timely alerts like a fraud alert, car waiting outside, or reminder to go pick up your kids.
Notification APIs:
New notification APIs for developers allow them to automatically send Time Sensitive notifications and adopt the new look for notifications coming from people.
Notes:
Tags:
Tags are a fast and flexible way to categorize and organize your notes. Add one or more tags by typing them directly in the note — like #activities or #cooking.
Tag Browser:
The Tag Browser in the sidebar lets you choose any tag or combination of tags to quickly view tagged notes.
Custom Smart Folders:
Custom Smart Folders automatically collect notes in one place based on tags.
Activity view:
See what others have added to your shared note while you were away. The new Activity view gives a summary of updates since the last time you viewed the note and a day-to-day list of activity from each collaborator.
Highlights:
On a trackpad, swipe right with two fingers anywhere in your note to reveal details of who made changes in a shared note. View edit times and dates with highlighted text color‑coded to match collaborators in the note.
Mentions:
Mentions make collaboration in shared notes or folders more social, direct, and contextual. Type or handwrite an @ sign and the name of a collaborator anywhere in your note to notify them of important updates and link them back to the note.
Quick Note:
Easy to access:
Access Quick Note using a hot corner or keyboard shortcut.
Available everywhere:
Access Quick Note from anywhere in the system. You can be using any app or in full screen or Split View.
Adaptable:
Adjust the size or position of a Quick Note.
Links:
Add links from an app to your Quick Note to create context. When you return to the same place in the app or website, a thumbnail of the Quick Note appears in the corner to remind you of what you noted earlier.
Persistent highlights with Safari:
Keep track of websites you’ve visited by highlighting text or images in Safari and adding them directly into your note.
Universal Control:
Use your keyboard, mouse, and trackpad across Mac and iPad:
Use a single keyboard, mouse, or trackpad to work between your devices. When you move from your Mac to your iPad, the cursor for your mouse or trackpad transforms from an arrow to a round dot, automatically changing shape to the one that is best suited for the device.
No setup required:
Universal Control works effortlessly — no setup required. Simply use your mouse or trackpad to push the cursor from one device toward the other until it pops onto the second device. Then you can move your cursor seamlessly between the two.
Optional continuous setup:
If you use your devices together all the time and want to use Universal Control without the need to link the two using the cursor, you can set them up to work with Universal Control continuously in System Preferences.
Support for multiple devices:
Universal Control works with up to three devices.
Drag and drop content between devices:
Use your mouse or trackpad to drag and drop content between your devices, perfect for when you’re sketching a drawing with Apple Pencil on your iPad and want to drop it into Keynote on your Mac.
AirPlay to Mac:
AirPlay content to your Mac:
Use AirPlay to send content to your Mac from an iPhone, iPad, or even another Mac. View videos, edit Keynote presentations, and hear music on your Mac as it’s being played from your other device. Your Mac works with any Apple device, and it’s even easier to connect if the devices share the same Apple ID.
Mirror or extend the display:
When you send content from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac, you can choose to mirror your iPhone or iPad or extend its display by using a Mac as a secondary display for apps that support it, such as Keynote and Photos.
Use as AirPlay 2 speaker:
Your Mac can function as a third-party AirPlay 2 speaker, allowing you to play music or podcasts to your Mac or use it as a secondary speaker for multiroom audio.
Send wired or wirelessly:
AirPlay works both wirelessly and wired using USB. A wired connection is useful when you want to ensure that there’s no latency or you don’t have access to Wi-Fi.
Live Text:
Live Text in photos:
Text is now completely interactive in all your photos, so you can use functions like copy and paste, lookup, and translate. Live Text works in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, and Safari.
Visual Look Up:
Swipe up or click the information button on any photo to highlight recognized objects and scenes. Learn more about popular art and landmarks around the world, plants and flowers out in nature, books, and breeds of pets.
Shortcuts:
Updated Gallery:
Find new prebuilt shortcuts you can customize, made just for Mac.
Cross-device management:
Build and manage shortcuts on iPhone, iPad, or Mac for any of your devices — shortcuts automatically sync across all of them.
System-wide shortcuts:
Shortcuts are available throughout macOS — run them from the Finder, menu bar, Spotlight, Dock, desktop, and more.
Run iPhone and iPad shortcuts on Mac:
Run compatible iPhone and iPad shortcuts on Mac with M1 or on Intel-based Mac systems with Catalyst apps.
Improved sharing:
Share shortcuts as easily as sharing a link and download them for your own use without managing complicated security settings. If you’re the recipient, smart prompts allow you to share only the data you want.
Smarter Shortcuts editor:
Next Action Suggestions help you complete the shortcut you’re building.
Automator compatibility:
If you already use the Automator app, now you can convert your workflows into shortcuts.
Advanced scripting:
Pro users can enable AppleScript and shell script compatibility.
Maps:
Interactive globe:
Discover the natural beauty of Earth with a rich and interactive 3D globe, including significantly enhanced details for mountain ranges, deserts, forests, oceans, and more.
Detailed new city experience:
Explore cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London with unprecedented detail for elevation, roads, trees, buildings, landmarks, and more.
New driving features:
An all-new driving map helps you see traffic, incidents, and other details that affect your drive at a glance. See road details like turn lanes, bike, bus, and taxi lanes, medians, crosswalks, and much more. Plan your upcoming journey by choosing a future departure or arrival time.
Redesigned transit:
The transit map has been redesigned for the new city experience and now shows key bus routes. Plan your transit journey by choosing a future departure or arrival time.
Nearby transit:
Frequent transit riders can now get one-click access to all departures that are near them. They can even pin their favorite lines so that they always show up at the top if they are nearby.
All-new place cards:
Completely redesigned place cards make it easy to find and interact with important information for businesses, explore details about cities, and learn about physical features like mountain ranges.
Editorially curated Guides Home:
It’s now easier to discover great places with the all‑new Guides Home, an editorially curated destination where you can find Guides for places you’ll love.
Improved search:
When looking for places like restaurants, you can filter your search results by cuisine or whether they offer takeout. Or you can choose to see only places that are open right now. When you move the map while searching, Maps automatically updates your search results.
User account:
Maps users can now find their most used settings all in one place, including their preferred mode of transit, reported issues, favorites, and more.
Redesigned Maps contributions:
With an all-new design, it’s now faster and easier to report an issue in Maps.
Privacy:
Recording indicator:
See which apps have access to the mic on your Mac in Control Center. A new software indicator augments the camera indicator light by showing you whenever an app has access to your mic.
iCloud+:
Beta iCloud Private Relay:
iCloud Private Relay is a service that lets you connect to virtually any network and browse with Safari in an even more secure and private way. It ensures that the traffic leaving your device is encrypted so no one can intercept and read it. Then all your requests are sent through two separate internet relays. It’s designed so that no one — including Apple — can use your IP address, location, and browsing activity to create a detailed profile about you.
Hide My Email:
Hide My Email allows you to create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox so you can send and receive email without having to share your real email address.
HomeKit Secure Video:
Connect more security cameras than ever to record, analyze, and view your footage in the Home app. iCloud will store your recordings in an end-to-end encrypted format automatically, so that only you and people you choose can view it. None of the video footage counts against your iCloud storage — it’s part of your subscription.
Custom email domain:
Personalize your iCloud Mail address with a custom domain name, and invite family members to use the same domain with their iCloud Mail accounts.
Even More:
Accessibility:
VoiceOver image descriptions in Markup:
Markup lets you add image descriptions that can be read by VoiceOver. Image descriptions persist even when shared and can be read in a range of supported apps on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
VoiceOver descriptions for PDF signatures:
Add custom descriptions to new and existing PDF signatures so you can use the right signature with VoiceOver.
Improved Full Keyboard Access:
Using an expanded set of keyboard shortcuts, improvements to Full Keyboard Access enable you to control everything on your Mac with a keyboard — without a mouse or trackpad.
Custom mouse pointers:
Customize the outline and fill color of the mouse pointer so it’s easier to recognize when it moves or changes to an insertion point, crosshair, hand, or other shape.
Accessibility Memoji
Memoji represent more of your look and style with new customizations, including oxygen tubes, cochlear implants, and a soft helmet for headwear.
Apple Card:
Advanced Fraud Protection:
With Advanced Fraud Protection, Apple Card users can have a security code that changes regularly to make online Card Number transactions even more secure.
Apple ID:
Account Recovery Contacts:
Choose one or more people you trust to become an Account Recovery Contact to help you reset your password and regain access to your account.
Digital Legacy program:
The Digital Legacy program allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your account and personal information in the event of your death.
Augmented Reality:
Object Capture:
Turn a series of 2D images into a photo-realistic 3D object that’s optimized for AR in just minutes using the power of Mac. Object Capture makes 3D content creation easy for all developers.
Books:
Redesigned Apple Books app:
Enjoy a refreshed version of the app that’s easier and more intuitive to use. Access features like Reading Goals, Want to Read, and Reading Now, previously available only on iOS.
Search redesign:
Search results come up as soon as you start typing and will correct spelling mistakes. Enjoy personalized showcases of top books, audiobooks, and genre collections within your results. Buy directly from the Search tab to get started on your book faster.
Desktop and Screen Saver:
Hello screen saver:
Use a captivating new screen saver that celebrates the history and progress of Mac. Watch as the word “hello” writes on the screen in 34 different languages using a custom-designed 3D font inspired by the first Mac that debuted with “hello” on the screen. The generative screen saver follows the graceful arcs and curves of letters as it writes and selects from different camera angles and positions — ensuring that the animation feels fresh every time.
Hello desktop picture:
Use the hello desktop picture on your Mac. It comes in seven different colors and changes automatically from a light to dark version based on the time of day. You can also choose to always use a light or dark still of the desktop picture.
Dictionary:
New dictionaries for India:
Bilingual dictionaries for India include Urdu–English, Tamil–English, Telugu–English, and Gujarati–English.
New thesaurus and idiom dictionary for China mainland:
There’s a new Simplified Chinese thesaurus with synonyms and antonyms as well as a dictionary of idioms.
New dictionaries for Hong Kong:
Dictionaries now include a Traditional Chinese–English dictionary of Cantonese colloquialisms and a Traditional Chinese dictionary of Standard Mandarin with Cantonese pronunciations.
Find My:
Live locations for family and friends:
See your family and friends’ locations with continuous streaming updates. This provides an immediate sense of direction, speed, and progress when viewing people’s locations.
Find My network support for AirPods:
Use the Find My network to get an approximate location of your missing AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. This will help you get within Bluetooth range so you can play a sound and locate them.
Find My widget:
The new Find My widget lets you add people and item location features to Notification Center so it’s easy to keep track of friends, family, and personal items from virtually anywhere.
Finder:
Shortcuts:
The Finder lets you save time by running shortcuts from the Touch Bar, the menu bar, and the Quick Actions menu. Run a shortcut to reduce the size of images, batch edit hundreds of PDFs, or configure your workspace setup with just a click.
iCloud collaboration folder:
A new collaboration folder in the sidebar contains all shared documents and displays information such as invitation status, the person who last modified the file, and other sharing-related metadata to help you manage your shared files.
Copy enhancements:
You’ll have a better sense of timing when copying files thanks to a new pie chart progress window. You can even stop or cancel a long copy session and resume it later.
Go to folder enhancements:
An enhanced “go to folder” window features a new look and improved autocompletion engine to help you get to the files or folder you’re looking for more quickly.
View file path:
Press the Option key while holding the pointer over a file or folder to momentarily show the path bar, so you can easily see where your file or folder is located. Control-click the path bar to take actions such as opening folders in Terminal or copying the file path. You can also Shift-click a folder to see or navigate to subfolders.
Gaming:
Game Center friend requests:
See incoming friend requests in your Game Center inbox, which is accessible from your Game Center profile within a game or from Internet Accounts in System Preferences.
Game Center recents and groups invitations:
Bring your most recent Messages friends and groups into Game Center–enabled games with the new multiplayer friend selector.
Game highlights:
With a press of the share button, save a video clip of up to the last 15 seconds of gameplay using game controllers like the Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller or Sony PS5 DualSense™ Wireless Controller.
Launchpad games folder:
When you download a new game, it’s automatically added to the new games folder in Launchpad. You can also access and navigate the folder with a game controller.
Home:
Package detection:
Using HomeKit Secure Video, your security cameras and video doorbells can now detect and notify you when a package has arrived.
Inclusive Language:
Choose your term of address for Spanish:
To make your device feel more personal, in Language & Region preferences you can choose how you would like to be addressed throughout the system: feminine, masculine, or neuter.
Keyboard:
Suggestions for Cantonese and Shanghainese:
Type words and phrases in Cantonese and Shanghainese more easily when using the Simplified Chinese keyboard.
New keyboard layouts:
New keyboard layouts for Amharic, Assyrian, Fula (Adlam), Igbo, Navajo, Rohingya, and Syriac offer more language options.
Keyboard shortcuts for Magic Keyboard:
Magic Keyboard now supports keyboard shortcuts for over 100 layouts, automatically adapting them for the layout you’re using.
Keyboard Dictation:
On-device dictation:
Keyboard dictation improves as you use your device, personalizing over time. On-device dictation helps protect your privacy by performing all processing completely offline. Dictation in search uses server-based dictation. Available in Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Cantonese (Hong Kong), English (Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK, U.S.), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan), Russian (Russia), Spanish (Mexico, Spain, U.S.), Turkish (Turkey), and Yue Chinese (China mainland).
Continuous dictation:
With on-device dictation, you can dictate text of any length without a timeout (previously limited to 60 seconds).
Mac Experience:
Erase all contents and settings:
System Preferences now offers an option to erase all user data and user-installed apps from the system, while maintaining the operating system currently installed. Because storage is always encrypted on Mac systems with Apple silicon or the T2 chip, the system is instantly and securely “erased” by destroying the encryption keys.
Low Power Mode:
Reduces system clock speed and display brightness to extend battery life.
Automatic window resizing:
Windows now resize to fit the new display as you move them from Mac to a secondary display, another Mac, or even an iPad when using Sidecar, making it easier than ever to use multiple displays.
Mail:
Mail Privacy Protection:
Mail Privacy Protection helps protect your privacy by preventing email senders from learning information about your Mail activity. If you choose to turn it on, it hides your IP address so senders can’t link it to your other online activity or determine your location. And it prevents senders from seeing if you’ve opened their email.
Memoji:
Clothing:
Customize your Memoji with over 40 outfit choices to reflect your style, mood, or the season — and choose up to three different colors. Show it off using Memoji stickers with expressive body language that include the upper body.
Two different eye colors:
Now you can select a different color for your left eye and your right eye.
New glasses:
Customize your Memoji with three new glasses options, including heart, star, and retro shapes. Select the color of your frame and lenses.
New Memoji stickers:
Nine new Memoji stickers let you send a shaka, a hand wave, a lightbulb moment, and more.
Multicolored headwear:
Represent your favorite sports team or university by choosing up to three colors for headwear.
New accessibility options:
Three new accessibility options let you represent yourself with cochlear implants, oxygen tubes, or a soft helmet.
Memoji on Mac login screen:
Choose your Memoji for your login picture to get fun, personalized interactions — like a greeting when you log in or a “see ya later” when you log off. If you type the wrong password, it even shakes its head.
Music:
SharePlay:
Use SharePlay in FaceTime to listen to music together in real time. You can pick out songs with your friends, and everyone can pause, rearrange, or skip tracks in the SharePlay queue
News:
Redesigned News feed:
A new design makes it easier to browse and interact with your News feed. Information like publication dates and bylines are more prominent, and you can save and share stories right from the feed.
Shared with You:
Interesting stories sent over Messages automatically appear in the Shared with You section in the Today feed and sidebar in Apple News. Stories found in News and Safari appear in Shared with You in both apps.
Passwords:
Passwords in System Preferences:
Look up and manage your saved passwords for apps and websites in the new Passwords section of System Preferences.
Import and export passwords:
Import passwords from other password managers to Passwords in System Preferences or Safari. You can export passwords too.
Built-in authenticator:
Generate verification codes needed for additional sign-in security. If a site offers two-factor authentication, you can set up verification codes under Passwords in System Preferences and Safari — no need to download an additional app. Once set up, verification codes autofill when you sign in to the site.
Manage iCloud Passwords on Windows:
Access and manage your passwords saved to iCloud from a Windows device with the new iCloud Passwords app. Included with iCloud for Windows.
iCloud Passwords extension for Edge:
Easily autofill your saved passwords in Edge with the iCloud Passwords for Windows extension. Available in the Microsoft Store.
Photos:
Memories: Fresh new look:
Memories has a fresh new look including animated cards with smart, adaptive titles, new animation and transition styles, and multiple image collages for a cinematic feel.
Memories: Memory looks:
Inspired by the art of cinematography, 12 Memory looks add mood by analyzing each photo and video and applying the right contrast and color adjustment to give them a consistent look — just as the colorists at film studios do.
Memories: Interactive interface
Click to pause, replay the last photo, skip to the next, or jump ahead, and the music keeps playing and the timing adjusts to keep the transitions on the beat. Change the song or Memory look or add or remove photos, and the adjustment happens in real time, without the need for the movie to recompile.
Memories: Browse view:
View all the photos and videos from your memory in one easy-to-navigate grid.
Memories: New memory types:
New memory types include additional international holidays, child-focused memories, trends over time, and improved pet memories, including recognizing individual dogs and cats.
Memories: Watch next:
Memories suggests related memories to watch next after your memory finishes playing.
Shared with You:
Click Shared with You in the sidebar to view photos and videos that have been shared with you in Messages. Photos taken when you were present also appear in All Photos and in Days, Months, and Years views and can appear in your Featured Photos and Memories, including the Photos widget. Save a photo to your library or respond to the sender in Messages.
Richer Info pane:
Copy and paste edits to the location and date taken and learn about objects in the photo that were detected by Visual Look Up.
Faster iCloud Photos library initial sync:
When you upgrade to a new device, iCloud Photos syncs more quickly, so you can get to your photo library faster.
Import photos from another Photos library:
Now you can import original photos, including edits, from a second Photos library.
People identification improvements:
The People album has improved recognition for individuals.
People naming workflow:
Correct naming mistakes more easily in the People album.
Suggest less often:
Click Feature Less to let Photos know you prefer to see less of a specific date, place, holiday, or person across Featured Photos, in the Photos widget, in Memories, or highlighted in the Library tab.
Podcasts:
Personalized recommendations:
Discover new podcasts about topics you’re passionate about. The best podcasts, personalized for you, grouped by topics you care about.
Shared with You:
Share your favorite podcast episodes in the Messages app and find all the episodes shared with you in Listen Now.
Reminders:
Tags:
Tags are a fast and flexible way to organize your reminders. Add one or more tags, like #errands, to your reminders to make them easy to search and filter for across your Reminders lists.
Tag Browser:
A Tag Browser in the sidebar lets you click any tag or combination of tags to quickly view tagged reminders.
Custom Smart Lists:
Create your own Smart Lists to automatically include reminders that matter most to you by selecting for tags, dates, times, locations, flags, and priority. Choose more than one tag (such as #gardening and #errands) and combine them with other setting filters for more specific lists.
Delete completed reminders:
Access quick options to easily delete your completed reminders.
Improved natural language support:
Type more advanced phrases to create reminder settings. Try something like “Jog every other morning” for a specific, recurring reminder.
Expanded suggested attributes:
Choose tags, flags, priority, and people you message with from the Quick Toolbar when creating a reminder.
Screen Time:
Downtime on demand:
Turn on downtime on demand. During downtime, only phone calls and apps you choose to allow will be available. A five‑minute downtime reminder will be sent and downtime will be turned on until the end of the day.
Siri:
Neural text-to-speech voice in more languages:
The latest neural text-to-speech voices are now available in more languages: Swedish (Sweden), Danish (Denmark), Norwegian (Norway), and Finnish (Finland).
Mixed English and Indic language support in Siri:
Ask Siri to play your favorite song, call a friend, and more using a mix of Indian English and your native language. Nine languages are supported: Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, and Punjabi.
System Font:
SF Arabic system font:
The new SF Arabic system font features a refined, contemporary design that is integrated with the SF font, providing a clear, cohesive reading experience.
Tips:
Tips:
Discover new tips for macOS, designed to help you get started or deepen your understanding of your Mac and its amazing features.
Collections:
Tips are organized in collections on specific topics — from what’s new to essential must-know features to favorite genius picks from our experts. And for those new to Mac, there are tips to help you get started.
Notifications:
When a new collection of tips is available, you’ll get a notification.
Personalization:
To make tips more meaningful and relevant to you, macOS uses on-device intelligence to determine which collections to send and which features to highlight for you.
Translate:
System-Wide Translation:
Translate text by Control-clicking it and selecting Translate. Then copy the result, change the language, or replace the selected text with the translation. Using Live Text, you can translate selected text in photos.
TV:
Shared with You:
The Apple TV app now helps you see all the shows and movies your friends and family have shared with you in Messages. See them in a new dedicated section called Shared with You on Watch Now and easily keep the conversation going directly from the Apple TV app.
SharePlay:
The Apple TV app works seamlessly with Messages and FaceTime so you can watch your favorite shows and movies together with friends and communicate using text, voice, or video while you watch. SharePlay lets your friends join in from their iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV — so everyone can watch together wherever and however they want.
Voice Memos:
Playback speed:
Speed up or slow down playback of Voice Memos recordings.
Skip silence:
Voice Memos analyzes your recordings and automatically skips over gaps in your audio with a single click.
Window Management:
Swap out apps in Split View:
Swap out one window for another in Split View. Click the green button for a window, select the option to change windows, and select any of your open windows.
Change a Split View window to full screen:
When you select the option to make a window full screen while in Split View, the window expands to the size of your display and the other window previously in Split View automatically goes full screen as well.
Full-screen menu bar:
You have the option to display the menu bar at all times in full screen so you can easily view the app menu and other glanceable information anytime.

New in macOS Sonoma 11.6 Build 20G165 (Oct 25, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.5.2 Build 20G95 (Aug 12, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.5.1 Build 20G80 (Jul 26, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.5 Build 20G71 (Jul 21, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.4 Build 20F71 (May 25, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.4 Build 20F5055c Beta 2 (May 7, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.4 Build 20F5046g Beta (May 7, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.3.1 Build 20E241 (May 4, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.3 Build 20E232 (Apr 27, 2021)

macOS Big Sur 11.3 adds support for AirTag, includes iPhone and iPad app improvements for Macs with M1, introduces separate skin tone variations for emoji with couples, and adds more diverse voice options for Siri.
AirTag and Find My:
Support for AirTag to keep track of and find your important items like your keys, wallet, backpack and more, privately and securely in the Find My app
The Find My network with hundreds of millions of devices can help you find your AirTag, even when it isn't nearby
Lost Mode notifies you when your AirTag is found, and you can enter a phone number where you can be contacted
IPhone and iPad apps on Macs with M1:
Option to change an iPhone and iPad app's window size
Support for displaying the highest resolution version of an iPhone or iPad app in full screen
Keyboard support for iPhone and iPad games designed to use device tilt
Keyboard, mouse and trackpad support for iPhone and iPad games that support game controllers
Emoji:
Support for separate skin tones for each individual in all variations of the couple kissing emoji and couple with heart emoji
New face emojis, heart emojis, woman with a beard emoji
Siri:
Siri now includes more diverse voice options
Apple Music:
Autoplay keeps music playing by automatically playing a similar song, once you've reached the end of a song or playlist
City charts showcase what's popular in over 100 cities from all over the world
Podcasts:
Podcasts Show Pages are redesigned to make it easier to start listening
Option to save and download episodes, automatically adding them to your Library for quick access
Download behavior and notification settings can be customized on a show-by-show basis
Top Charts and popular categories in Search help you discover new shows
News:
Redesigned News+ feed enables Apple News+ subscribers to quickly find, download, and manage magazine and newspaper issues
All-new Search experience that helps you find relevant topics, channels, and stories
Safari:
Start Page section order can now be customized
Additional WebExtensions API lets developers offer extensions that replace the new tab page
Web Speech API lets developers incorporate speech recognition into their web pages for real-time captioning, dictation, and voice navigation
WebM and Vorbis video and audio format support
Reminders:
Ability to sort Today Smart list
Support for syncing the order of reminders in lists across your devices
Option to print your reminder lists
Gaming:
Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller or Sony PS5 DualSense™ Wireless Controller support
Mac computers with the M1 chip:
Hibernation support
About This Mac:
About this Mac displays Apple warranty status and AppleCare+ coverage in the Service tab when signed in with Apple ID
Support for purchasing and enrolling in AppleCare+ for eligible Mac computers from About This Mac
This release also fixes the following issues:
Reminders created via Siri may be unintentionally set for early morning hours
ICloud Keychain might not turn off
AirPods audio routing to incorrect device for Automatic Switching
AirPods Automatic Switching notifications might be missing or duplicated
External 4K monitors may not display in full resolution when connected over USB-C
Login window may not display properly after restarting Mac mini (M1, 2020)
The Dwell feature may not work in the Accessibility Keyboard

New in macOS Sonoma 11.4 Build 20F5046g Beta (Apr 27, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.3 Build 20E5224a Beta 6 (Apr 1, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.3 Build 20E5210c Beta 4 (Mar 16, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.2.3 Build 20D91 (Mar 9, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.3 Build 20E5196f Beta 3 (Mar 4, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.2.2 Build 20D80 (Mar 2, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.3 Build 20E5186d Beta 2 (Feb 23, 2021)

Accessibility:
New Features in macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2:
Many SF Symbols now get a default accessibility label automatically from a curated list of descriptions. (70305995)
Combine:
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2:
Using Published in a subclass of a type conforming to ObservableObject now correctly publishes changes. (71816443)
Kernel Debug Kit:
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2:
The Kernel Debug Kit (KDK) now runs on Macs with Apple Silicon. (73848762)
Siri:
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2:
When using VoiceOver, the Alex voice now works as expected. (73372007)
SwiftUI:
New Features in macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2:
Added TitleAndIconLabelStyle, a new style for Label views that shows both the title and icon of the label using a system-standard layout. In most cases, labels show both title and icon by default. However, some containers might apply a different default label style to their content, such as only showing icons within toolbars on macOS and iOS. To opt in to showing both the title and the icon, apply the title and icon label style: Label("Lightning", systemImage: "bolt.fill").labelStyle(TitleAndIconLabelStyle()). (64646578)
Types conforming to any style protocol, such as ButtonStyle, ToggleStyle, are now enforced to be value types. Styles must be structures or enumerations, not classes, and conforming a class to a style protocol may trigger an assertion. This is the same restriction that the system has always enforced on types conforming to View. (62886135)
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 2:
Setting .preferredColorScheme(nil) now correctly resets to the system’s preferred color scheme. (67000774)
DocumentGroup apps now show an Open panel on launch, even when iCloud isn’t in use. (66446310)
UIStepper controls in Optimized for Mac Catalyst apps now look and function as expected. (69932695)
Constraints on sheet content using a frame(width:height:alignment:) modifier are no longer lost if the content had a toolbar applied. (70145815)
There is no longer default spacing between sheet content and its associated ToolbarItem elements. Explicit padding should be added if required. (70146121)
GroupBox background colors now resolve correctly on Mac Catalyst. (70751748)
A List now updates as expected when its OutlineGroup data changes between being flat or empty and having hierarchy. (71354760)
Dismissing a sheet no longer causes the window to close unexpectedly. (71541062)
Dynamic properties such as State, Environment, and others now work correctly in ButtonStyle instances. (62886135)
AppStorage property wrappers now work as expected when contained inside an ObservableObject, causing the system to emit the objectWillChange publisher. (65562845)
ProgressView instances that the system initializes with a Progress object now correctly track updates to the Progress object from background threads, and no longer issue a “not allowed” console warning. (69999449)
Using scrollTo(_:anchor:) without specifying an anchor now scrolls the List the minimum amount to make it visible. (70184639)
Xcode:
Known Issues:
Rosetta runtime quits unexpectedly when building and running apps via Xcode with debugger enabled using a Rosetta run destination. (73456059)
Workaround: Disable debugging from the scheme editor.

New in macOS Sonoma 11.2.1 Build 20D74 (Feb 16, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.2 Build 20D64 (Feb 3, 2021)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.1 Build 20C69 (Dec 15, 2020)

macOS Big Sur 11.1 introduces support for AirPods Max, TV app enhancements, Apple News widgets, and privacy information on the App Store. This release also includes bug fixes for your Mac.
AirPods Max:
Support for AirPods Max, new over-ear headphones
High fidelity audio for rich sound
Adaptive EQ adapts sound in real time to the personal fit of ear cushions
Active Noise Cancellation to block out environmental noise
Transparency mode to hear the environment around you
Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking for a theater-like listening experience
Apple TV:
An all-new Apple TV+ tab makes it easy to discover and watch Apple Original shows and movies
Enhanced search so you can browse by category such as genre and see recent searches and suggestions as you type
Top search results shown with the most relevant matches across movies, TV shows, cast, channels, and sports
Apple News:
Apple News widgets are now available in Notification Center
App Store:
New privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices
In-game dashboard within Arcade games recommends new Arcade games to play
IPhone and iPad apps on Macs with M1:
New window options for iPhone and iPad apps let you switch between landscape and portrait orientations or expand a window to fill the entire screen
Photos:
Apple ProRAW photos can be edited in the Photos app
Safari:
Ecosia search engine option in Safari
Air Quality:
Available in Maps and Siri for locations in China mainland
Health recommendations are provided in Siri for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Mexico at certain air quality levels
This release also addresses the following issues:
QuickTime Player might quit when opening a movie with a timecode track after upgrading from macOS Catalina
Bluetooth connection status was not displayed in Control Center
Reliability of unlocking your Mac automatically with your Apple Watch
Trackpad scrolling speed may be faster than expected on MacBook Pro models
LG UltraFine 5K Display may incorrectly display at 4K resolution on Macs with M1

New in macOS Sonoma 11.1 Build 20C5061b Beta 2 (Dec 7, 2020)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.1 Build 20C5048k Beta (Nov 18, 2020)

New in macOS Sonoma 11.0.1 Build 20B29 (Nov 12, 2020)

Key Features and Enhancements:
Experience:
Updated menu bar:
The menu bar is now taller and more translucent, allowing your desktop picture to extend from edge to edge. Words lighten or darken based on the color of your desktop picture. And pull-down menus are larger, with more space between the lines to make everything easier to read.
Floating Dock:
The redesigned Dock is lifted from the bottom of your display and is more translucent, allowing your desktop wallpaper to shine through. And app icons are all-new and even easier to recognize.
New icons for apps:
App icons have been redesigned to feel both familiar and fresh. Icons have a uniform shape but retain the stylistic touches and details that give Mac its character.
Lighter window appearance:
Windows have a lighter, more spacious appearance that makes them cleaner and easier to work with. Additional translucency and rounded edges designed to match the radii of Mac create a cohesive look and feel throughout macOS.
Redesigned sheets:
Sheets in apps have been completely redesigned, removing borders and bezels to put the focus on your content. They automatically dim the background and scale into the center of the app.
New and updated sounds:
System sounds are all-new and even more pleasing to the ear. The new system alerts were created using snippets of the originals, so they sound familiar.
Full-height sidebars:
A new look for app sidebars makes it easier to find what you want and gives you more space to get things done. Easily track your Mail inbox, access Finder folders, and organize Photos, Notes, Stocks, and more.
New symbols throughout macOS:
New symbols in toolbars, sidebars, and controls bring clarity and consistency across apps, helping you immediately recognize where to click. When apps share common tasks — like viewing the inbox in Mail or Calendar — they share the same symbol. There are also localized versions of symbols with numbers, letters, and dates to match your system language.
Control Center:
Control Center:
Designed just for Mac, the new Control Center consolidates your favorite menu bar items into a single place to give you instant access to the controls you use most. Just click the Control Center icon in the menu bar and adjust Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirDrop, and other settings — without opening System Preferences.
Customize Control Center:
Add controls for the apps and features you use most, like Accessibility or Battery.
Click for more options:
Click to expand the menu. For example, click Display to see options for Dark Mode, Night Shift, True Tone, and AirPlay.
Pin to menu bar:
Drag and pin your favorite menu items to the top of your menu bar for easy one-click access.
Notification Center:
Updated Notification Center:
A redesigned Notification Center puts all your notifications and widgets into a single, dedicated column. Notifications are automatically sorted by most recent, and redesigned Today widgets deliver information at a glance.
Interactive notifications:
Do more with your notifications on Mac for Apple Podcasts, Mail, Calendar, and more. Simply click and hold the notification to take action or get more information. Reply to an email, listen to the latest podcast, and even expand a Calendar invitation to see where the event falls in your day.
Grouped notifications:
Notifications are grouped by thread or app. Expand each group to see earlier notifications. You can also disable grouped notifications if you prefer to see them individually.
Redesigned widgets:
Experience brand-new widgets and beautifully redesigned widgets for Calendar, Stocks, Weather, Reminders, Notes, and Podcasts. Widgets also come in different sizes, so you can pick the one that works best for you.
Customize widgets:
Easily add new widgets to Notification Center by clicking Edit Widgets. Then customize the size to show the amount of information you want to see and drag it into your widget list.
Discover more third-party widgets
Discover new third-party widgets for Notification Center on the App Store.
Safari:
Customizable start page:
Customize the new start page to make it your own. You can set a background image and select new sections to display on the start page — including Favorites, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, iCloud Tabs, and even a Privacy Report.
Improved performance:
Safari was already the fastest desktop browser — and now it’s even faster. Safari loads frequently visited sites 50 percent faster on average than Chrome.
Improved power efficiency:
Safari is optimized specifically for Mac, so it’s more efficient than other browsers on macOS. Stream video for up to one and a half hours longer and browse the web for up to one hour longer on a Mac notebook compared with Chrome or Firefox.
Favicons in tabs:
Default tab favicons help you easily identify open tabs at a glance.
See more tabs at once:
The new tab bar design displays more tabs onscreen at once so you can quickly move between them.
Website previews:
When you just want a peek at what’s on a tab, hold the pointer over it to get a quick preview of the page.
Translation:
Translate entire web pages in Safari. When you encounter a compatible page, just click the translation icon in the address field to translate into English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Russian, or Brazilian Portuguese.
Safari extensions on the App Store:
An all-new extensions category on the App Store showcases Safari extensions with editorial spotlights and top charts, making it easier to discover great extensions from developers. All extensions are reviewed, signed, and hosted by Apple for your security.
WebExtensions API support:
New support for the WebExtensions API and migration tools allows developers to bring Chrome extensions to Safari — letting you personalize your browsing experience with new Safari extensions from your favorite developers.
Grant extensions website access:
Keep the websites you visit and tabs you use even more private. Safari asks you which websites a Safari extension can work with — and you can grant access for one day or all the time.
Privacy Report:
Safari uses Intelligent Tracking Prevention to identify trackers and help prevent them from profiling or following you around the web. A new Privacy Report shows how Safari protects your browsing across every website you visit. Go to the Privacy Report from your Safari menu and you’ll get an in-depth overview of every cross-site tracker prevented over the last 30 days.
Privacy Report for each website:
See the privacy practices for every website you visit. Just click the Privacy Report button in your Safari toolbar for a summary of all cross-site trackers prevented by Intelligent Tracking Prevention.
Start page Privacy Report:
Add a Privacy Report to your start page — so every time you open a new window or tab, you can see how Safari protects your privacy.
Import passwords and settings from Chrome:
Easily import history, bookmarks, and saved passwords from Chrome into Safari.
Password monitoring:
Safari securely monitors your passwords, automatically keeping an eye out for any saved passwords that may have been involved in a data breach. If a breach is discovered, Safari helps you upgrade existing passwords and even generates secure passwords automatically. Safari keeps your data private and doesn’t reveal your password information to anyone — even Apple.
Messages:
Pin conversations:
Pin your favorite conversations to the top of your list. New messages, Tapbacks, and typing indicators animate in right above the pin. And when there are unread messages in a group conversation, you’ll see the most recent participants circle around the pinned conversation.
Multiple pinned conversations:
You can have up to nine pinned conversations that sync across Messages in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
Search:
It’s easier than ever to search all your past messages for links, photos, and phrases. A new search experience for Messages organizes your results into links and photos and highlights matching terms. It also works great with keyboard shortcuts — just press Command-F to open.
Share your name and photo:
Automatically share your name and photo when you start a conversation or when the other person responds in a message. Share with everyone, just your contacts, or not at all. You can even choose to use a Memoji, image, or monogram for your photo.
Group photos:
Set an image for your group conversations using a photo, Memoji, or emoji. Group photos are automatically shared with all members of the group.
Mentions:
Direct a message to an individual in a group conversation by typing the person’s name or using the @ sign. And choose to receive notifications only when you’re mentioned.
Inline replies:
Messages allows you to reply directly to a specific message in a group conversation. See all related messages in their own view to easily keep track of a thread.
Message effects:
Celebrate special moments with balloons, confetti, lasers, and more. Or send a message loudly or gently, or even slam it. Send a personal message with invisible ink that remains blurred until you swipe over it with your cursor.
#images:
Find trending images and GIFs and quickly add them to any message. Discover popular memes when you open #image, or search by keyword to find images relevant to your conversation.
Memoji editor:
Easily create and edit a Memoji that reflects you. Choose from a wide range of hairstyles, headwear, facial structures, and other features to create one of over a trillion possible combinations.
Memoji stickers:
Express yourself with Memoji stickers. The stickers are automatically generated for your personalized Memoji character, making it quick and easy to share with friends.
Enhanced photo picker:
Use the updated photo picker to quickly access and share your recent photos and albums.
Maps:
Guides:
Discover the best places to eat, shop, and explore in cities around the world with Guides created by brands you trust. Save Guides so you can easily get back to them later. And Guides update automatically when new places are added so you always have the latest recommendations.
Create your own Guides:
Create Guides for all your favorite places, like “best pizzerias in Chicago,” or soon‑to‑be‑favorites, like “sites to see in Paris.“ Then share them with friends and family.
Look Around:
Explore select cities with an interactive 3D experience that lets you pan 360 degrees and move smoothly through streets.
Cycling routes:
Plan your cycling route right on your Mac. See the elevation for your ride, how busy a street is, and whether there are steep inclines or stairs along the way. When you’re ready to ride, send your route directly to your iPhone.
Electric vehicle routing:
When you’re planning a trip with an electric vehicle, Maps automatically adds charging stops along your route and accounts for charging time when calculating the ETA. Add your electric vehicle on iPhone, and Maps will keep track of the current charge and charger type to help you plan the best route.
Indoor maps:
Browse detailed indoor maps of major airports and shopping centers around the world. Find out which restaurants are past security at the airport, where the nearest restroom is, or where your favorite store is at the mall.
Live updates for shared ETA:
When friends send you a shared ETA, you can get live progress updates on the map so you’ll know when they’re expected to arrive.
New maps available in more countries:
Detailed new maps are coming to more countries later this year, including Canada, Ireland, and the UK. See detailed roads, buildings, parks, marinas, beaches, airports, and more.
Congestion zones:
Major cities like London and Paris have congestion zones to help reduce traffic in dense areas. Maps lets you see congestion zone tolls and even helps route you around them.
License plate restrictions:
For cities in China that limit driving through dense urban areas, you can see if you have access based on your vehicle’s eligibility. Enter your license plate number to find out whether you can go through the city or need to reroute. License plate information is stored securely in Maps and never leaves your device.
Privacy:
Privacy information on the App Store:
A new section on each app’s page on the App Store helps you understand the privacy practices of the app before you download it. It’s similar to the way nutrition labels help you understand what’s in food before you buy it.
Self-reported privacy practices:
Developers self-report their app privacy practices on the App Store.9 See the types of data their app might collect — like usage data, contact information, or location — and whether that data is shared with third parties.
Displayed in a simple format:
Just as nutrition labels are convenient and easy to read, an app’s privacy information on the App Store is displayed in a consistent, simple format. This lets you quickly and easily see the app’s privacy practices.
Software Updates:
Faster updates:
Once macOS Big Sur is installed, software updates begin in the background and complete faster than before — so it’s easier than ever to keep your Mac up to date and secure.
Signed system volume:
macOS Big Sur introduces a cryptographically signed system volume that protects against malicious tampering. It also means that your Mac knows the exact layout of your system volume, allowing it to begin software updates in the background while you work.
Even More:
AirPods:
Automatic device switching:
AirPods automatically switch between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac paired to the same iCloud account - making it even easier to use your AirPods with your Apple devices. When you turn to your Mac, a pop-up banner helps you seamlessly switch the audio over. Automatic device switching works for all Apple and Beats headphones featuring the Apple H1 headphone chip.
Apple Arcade:
Friends playing recommendations:
See Apple Arcade games that are popular with your Game Center friends right from the Apple Arcade tab and game pages.
Achievements:
Visit Apple Arcade game pages to see your achievement progress and explore the goals and milestones you can unlock in games.
Continue playing:
Launch the games you’ve recently played across your devices directly from the Apple Arcade tab.
See all games and filter:
Browse the entire Apple Arcade catalog. Sort and filter by release date, updates, category, controller support, and more.
Game Center in-game dashboard:
The in-game dashboard showcases your and your friends’ game progress at a glance. Quickly access your Game Center profile, achievements, leaderboards, and more from within your game.
Coming soon:
Get a sneak peek at upcoming Apple Arcade games and download them as soon as they’re released.
Battery:
Optimized Battery Charging:
Optimized Battery Charging is designed to reduce the wear on your battery and improve its lifespan by ensuring that your Mac notebook is fully charged when unplugged. Optimized Battery Charging learns your daily charging routine and activates only when your Mac predicts that it will be connected to a charger for an extended period of time.
Battery usage history:
Battery usage history displays graphs of battery level and usage for the past 24 hours and the past 10 days.
FaceTime:
Sign language prominence:
FaceTime now detects when a participant is using sign language and makes the person prominent in a Group FaceTime call.
Home:
Home status:
A new visual status at the top of the Home app gives you a summary of accessories that require your attention, have important status changes to share, or can be quickly controlled.
Adaptive Lighting for smart light bulbs:
Light bulbs that change color can be automatically adjusted throughout the day to maximize comfort and productivity. Ease into morning with warmer colors, stay focused midday with cooler colors, and wind down at night by removing blue light.
Face Recognition for video cameras and doorbells:
In addition to person, animal, and vehicle detection, security cameras can identify people you’ve tagged in the Photos app for richer activity notifications. Easily tag people, and choose to be notified based on the person.
Activity Zones for video cameras and doorbells:
With HomeKit Secure Video, you can define Activity Zones within a camera’s view to capture video or receive notifications only when motion is detected in those areas.
Music:
Listen Now:
The new Listen Now tab is designed for playing and discovering your favorite music, artists, interviews, and mixes all in one place. Listen Now starts with a summary of your Top Picks across your music interests. As you play, Apple Music learns what you love and provides new suggestions.
Improved search:
Search has been redesigned to give you quick access to the genres, moods, and activities you love. Suggestions now let you do more, such as view an album or listen to a song. New filters let you refine your results to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
Notes:
Top Hits in search:
Top Hits appear at the top of your search results in Notes and surface the most relevant results — making it easier to find what you need.
Quick styles:
Access additional text styles and formatting options with a click of the Aa button.
Enhanced scanning:
Continuity Camera has never been better. Use your iPhone or iPad to capture sharper scans that are more precisely autocropped, and have them automatically transferred to your Mac.
Photos:
Expanded video editing capabilities:
Adjustments, filters, and cropping are now supported for video editing so you can rotate, increase exposure, or even apply filters to your videos.
Expanded photo editing capabilities:
Now you can apply the Vibrance effect to photos and adjust the intensity of filters and Portrait Lighting effects.
Improved Retouch tool:
The Retouch tool now uses advanced machine learning to remove blemishes, dust specks, and other objects from a photo.
Easy, fluid navigation:
Zoom in and out to quickly get to the photos and videos you’re looking for in views across Photos — including Albums, Media Types, Import, Places, and more.
Add context to photos and videos with captions:
View and edit captions, previously called descriptions, to add context to your photos and videos in the Info pane. With iCloud Photos enabled, captions sync seamlessly across all your devices, including captions you add on your iOS or iPadOS device.
Memories enhancements:
Enjoy a more relevant selection of photos and videos in Memories, a larger selection of music tracks that automatically adapt to the length of your Memory movie, and enhanced video stabilization when playing Memory movies.
Podcasts:
Listen Now:
Listen Now makes it even easier to find what to play next. Easily resume the next episode in your queue from a more focused Up Next. Enjoy a new section devoted to helping you discover the latest episodes in shows you follow. And browse hand-picked episode recommendations.
Reminders:
Assign reminders:
Assign reminders to people you share lists with and they’ll get a notification. It’s great for splitting up tasks and knowing who’s responsible for what so nobody forgets.
Smart suggestions for dates and locations:
Reminders automatically suggests dates, times, and locations for a reminder based on similar reminders you’ve created in the past.
Personalized lists with emoji:
Personalize the appearance of your lists with emoji and newly added symbols.
Reminder suggestions from Mail:
When you’re corresponding with someone in Mail, Siri recognizes possible reminders and makes suggestions for you to create them.
Organize smart lists:
Customize your smart lists in the Reminders app. You can easily rearrange smart lists or hide them.
New keyboard shortcuts:
Easily navigate your lists and smart lists, and quickly move dates of reminders to today, tomorrow, or next weekend.
Improved search:
Find the right reminders by searching for people, locations, and even detailed notes you’ve added.
Spotlight:
Improved performance:
Spotlight is more optimized for speed. Results appear faster than ever, as soon as you start typing.
Streamlined list of results:
Spotlight presents all your results in a streamlined list, making results easier to digest so you can get to the app, website, or document you need even faster.
Support for Quick Look:
With support for Quick Look in Spotlight, you can access a full-size, scrollable preview of almost any document.
Integrated in Find menus:
Spotlight technology now powers the Find menu in apps like Safari, Pages, Keynote, and more.
Siri:
Web answers:
Siri can now help you find answers to a broader set of questions using information from across the web. Ask questions like “How do hybrid cars work?” or “What causes seasons?” and Siri helps you find the answer you’re looking for.
Voice Memos:
Folders:
Folders let you organize your Voice Memos recordings.
Smart Folders:
Smart Folders automatically group Apple Watch recordings, recently deleted recordings, and Favorites — making it even easier to stay organized.
Favorites:
Easily mark recordings as Favorites so you can quickly access them later.
Enhance Recording:
Automatically reduce background noise and room reverb with a single click.
Weather:
Next-hour precipitation:
In the medium-size and large Weather widgets, view a minute-by-minute chart that shows the intensity of rain or snow over the coming hour.
Significant shifts:
The Weather widget indicates when the weather will be much warmer, colder, or wetter in the next day.
Severe weather:
The Weather widget displays government alerts about certain severe weather events including tornados, winter storms, flash floods, and more.
International Features:
New bilingual dictionaries:
New bilingual dictionaries include French–German, Indonesian–English, Japanese–Simplified Chinese, and Polish–English.
Enhanced predictive input for Chinese and Japanese:
Enhanced predictive input for Chinese and Japanese results in more accurate and contextual predictions.
New fonts for India:
New fonts for India include 20 new document fonts. In addition, 18 existing fonts have been upgraded with more weights and italics to give you greater choice.
Localized message effects in Messages for India:
When you send a greeting in one of 23 Indian local languages, Messages will add a corresponding message effect to help you celebrate the moment. For example, send “Happy Holi” in Hindi, and Messages automatically adds confetti to accompany the greeting.

New in macOS Sonoma Big Sur 11.0.1 Build 20B5022a RC (Nov 6, 2020)

General:
Known Issues:
Important:
Updating to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate from previous versions of macOS might take significantly longer than expected. Data loss could occur if the update is interrupted. (59101197)
Accessibility:
Known Issues:
You might be unable to pair certain braille displays using Bluetooth. (69794099)
Workaround: Connect these devices using USB instead.
AppKit:
See AppKit Release Notes for macOS Big Sur 11.
Apple Security Bounty:
macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate is designated as qualifying for the 50% Apple Security Bounty bonus payment for issues that are unknown to Apple or reintroduced in this release. See Apple Security Bounty for more information.
Installer and Software Update:
Known Issues:
When updating from macOS Big Sur 11 beta 2 to macOS Big Sur 11 beta 3 or later, you might be offered an unexpectedly large download rather than an incremental software update. (65753086)
Workaround: Under the “Another update is available” text, click the “More info…” link. This reveals the incremental update where you can click the Install Now button.
You might need to adjust Energy Saver settings so your Mac doesn’t go to sleep while preparing to install macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate. (63166401)
If macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate is installed into the same APFS container as previous versions of macOS Catalina 10.15, system software updates can no longer be installed on the previous versions of macOS. (64411484)
Workaround: Update the previous version of macOS Catalina to 10.15.6 or later.
Kernel:
Known Issues:
Installing a new kernel extension requires signing in as an Admin user. You must also restart your Mac to load the extension. Kernel extensions using certain deprecated KPIs won’t be loaded. For more information, see Deprecated Kernel Extensions and System Extension Alternatives. (55068348)
Workaround: During development, you can temporarily disable System Integrity Protection to allow these deprecated kernel extensions to load.
New in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate, the system ships with a built-in dynamic linker cache of all system-provided libraries. As part of this change, copies of dynamic libraries are no longer present on the filesystem. Code that attempts to check for dynamic library presence by looking for a file at a path or enumerating a directory will fail. Instead, check for library presence by attempting to dlopen() the path, which will correctly check for the library in the cache. (62986286)
Use only absolute paths with the --volume-root option of kmutil, and don’t use a trailing /. (63773848)
Symbols exported by both xnu and Apple kernel extensions will change. Recompile your kernel extension with each update to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate to ensure compatibility. (64262563)
Mac Catalyst:
Known Issues:
WebGL content in WKWebView might experience reduced performance. (70587571)
A ToolbarItem with automatic placement isn’t placed in the window toolbar. (63690384)
Select UIKit controls, control customizations, and methods throw exceptions when used in the Mac idiom. Unsupported controls and behaviors on macOS Big Sur 11 throw exceptions as follows
UIButton. addGestureRecognizer(_:) throws an exception if the button uses the macOS appearance. setTitle(_:for:) and setImage(_:for:) throws an exception for any state except UIControlStateNormal.
UISlider. setThumbImage(_:for:), thumbTintColor, setMinimumTrackImage(_:for:), minimumTrackTintColor, setMaximumTrackImage(_:for:), maximumTrackTintColor, minimumValueImage, and maximumValueImage all throw an exception.
UISwitch throws an exception when title is set in a non-Mac idiom view.
UIStepper throws an exception when this control is added to a Mac idiom view.
UIRefreshControl throws an exception when this control is added to a Mac idiom view.
UIPickerView throws an exception when this control is added to a Mac idiom view.
This helps ensure that your app won’t see unexpected configurations or appearances, if these behaviors change. Use caution when reading the userInterfaceIdiom from a UIDevice or UIScreen to guard Mac idiom behaviors in case your app targets CarPlay or uses AirPlay to stream to another screen.
The button configuration for the preferredAction is the default button with the key equivalent of return.
The button configuration for the action with UIAlertAction.Style.cancel has the key equivalent of escape.
Button configurations for actions with UIAlertAction.Style.destructive will be configured with hasDestructiveAction.
If you apply both preferredAction and UIAlertActionStyleCancel to the same action, preferredAction takes precedence. It’s not possible to have a default button with the escape key equivalent.
The system adds an Open Recent menu automatically to applications that support opening files. The menu identifier is UIMenuOpenRecent.
UISceneActivationRequestOptions has a new collectionJoinBehavior property. A scene collection is a group of scenes that display together. In Catalyst, this is used to add windows to an NSWindowTabGroup.
The default placement is UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.automatic and the new scene will follow system preferences for joining collections.
Set the placement value to UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.preferred to have the new scene attempt to join the collection that contains the requestingScene, or any compatible collection if requestingScene is not set.
Set the value to UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.disallowed to create a new collection for the scene, ignoring system preferences.
Set the value to UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.preferredWithoutActivating to add the new scene without deactivating the requestingScene. Otherwise this propery behaves the same as preferred.
UISwitch has a new preferredStyle property that can alter the appearance of the switch in Catalyst apps running in the Mac idiom, see Optimize the Interface of your Mac Catalyst App — WWDC20 for more information.
Set the preferredstyle value to UISwitch.Style.sliding to give the traditional iOS switch appearance; it will look like a native switch in Optimized Catalyst apps.
Set the preferredstyle value to UISwitch.Style.checkbox to give a traditional macOS checkbox in optimized Catalyst apps. When set to the checkbox style, the system displays the new title property in a label within the clickable bounds of the checkbox. The title property is inert with the sliding style.
The UISwitch preferredstyle property defaults to automatic and renders as a sliding switch in all idioms except the Mac idiom — the only idiom where the checkbox is available.
A notable consequence of this default style of the sliding switch is that if you’re using the checkbox style UISwitch, you may need to call sizeToFit() or provide a frame through other means where the intrinsic size alone was sufficient.
The default context menu presented from a UITextView or UITextField has missing items related to spelling and formatting.
The text you use in a UITextView or UITextField to look up definitions may be out of sync with the visual selection.
UITitlebar has a new UITitlebarSeparatorStyle property that gives control over the appearance of the hairline bar in between a macOS window’s titlebar and its content. This property is especially useful when designing interfaces in the style of the new macOS Big Sur full-height sidebar.
Safari:
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate:
Safari no longer quits unexpectedly if iCloud Tabs are enabled. (70625636)
SwiftUI:
Known Issues:
ProgressView generic type signature has changed, adding the currentValueLabel generic parameter. This change doesn’t require any source changes, but it causes apps compiled using an earlier beta SDK to quit unexpectedly. (63580200)
Workaround: Re-compile apps for macOS Big Sur 11 Beta 6 or later to resolve this issue.
Third-Party Apps:
Known Issues:
You might experience kernel panics when using earlier versions of Parallels Desktop 16. (67358596)
Workaround: Upgrade to the most-recent version of Parallels Desktop 16.
Some third-party scripts might produce unexpected results due to the change in macOS version from 10.x to 11. (62477208)
Workaround: Set SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=1 in the calling environment, for example: $ SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=1 legacy_script.pl
Wallet:
Known Issues
isPassLibraryAvaila:ble() doesn’t ensure uniform availability of pass library functionality between platforms and devices. (60697880)
Workaround: Call a more specific API to check available functionality, such as canAddPasses().
Xcode:
Known Issues:
Legacy Xcode versions prior to 11.5 might unexpectedly quit when launched. (59991056)
Workaround: Run the following command in Terminal: defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTDisableMainThreadChecker 1, then deselect Main Thread Checker in the Diagnostic tab of the Run and Test actions for each scheme in your project.

New in macOS Sonoma Big Sur 11.0.1 Build 20B5012d Beta (Nov 2, 2020)

Accessibility:
Known Issues:
You might be unable to pair certain braille displays using Bluetooth. (69794099)
Workaround: Connect these devices using USB instead.
AppKit:
See AppKit Release Notes for macOS Big Sur 11.
Apple Security Bounty:
macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta is designated as qualifying for the 50% Apple Security Bounty bonus payment for issues that are unknown to Apple or reintroduced in this release. See Apple Security Bounty for more information.
Installer and Software Update:
Known Issues:
When updating from macOS Big Sur 11 beta 2 to macOS Big Sur 11 beta 3 or later, you might be offered an unexpectedly large download rather than an incremental software update. (65753086)
Workaround: Under the “Another update is available” text, click the “More info…” link. This reveals the incremental update where you can click the Install Now button.
You might need to adjust Energy Saver settings so your Mac doesn’t go to sleep while preparing to install macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta. (63166401)
If macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta is installed into the same APFS container as previous versions of macOS Catalina 10.15, system software updates can no longer be installed on the previous versions of macOS. (64411484)
Workaround: Update the previous version of macOS Catalina to 10.15.6 or later.
Kernel:
Known Issues:
Installing a new kernel extension requires signing in as an Admin user. You must also restart your Mac to load the extension. Kernel extensions using certain deprecated KPIs won’t be loaded. For more information, see Deprecated Kernel Extensions and System Extension Alternatives. (55068348)
Workaround: During development, you can temporarily disable System Integrity Protection to allow these deprecated kernel extensions to load.
New in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta, the system ships with a built-in dynamic linker cache of all system-provided libraries. As part of this change, copies of dynamic libraries are no longer present on the filesystem. Code that attempts to check for dynamic library presence by looking for a file at a path or enumerating a directory will fail. Instead, check for library presence by attempting to dlopen() the path, which will correctly check for the library in the cache. (62986286)
Use only absolute paths with the --volume-root option of kmutil, and don’t use a trailing /. (63773848)
Symbols exported by both xnu and Apple kernel extensions will change. Recompile your kernel extension with each update to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta to ensure compatibility. (64262563)
Localization:
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta:
Certain languages no longer exhibit clipped or misaligned layout. (63105445)
Certain languages no longer display unlocalized text. (63105674, 64040564, 64045718)
Mac Catalyst:
New Features in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta:
Optimized for Mac is a new option for Catalyst apps. When optimized for Mac, Catalyst apps use Mac controls, appearances, spacing, and true font metrics, and content is no longer scaled by 77%. A new constant, UIUserInterfaceIdiom.mac, has been introduced to support the new idiom. For more information on the new idiom and optimizing your Mac Catalyst app, see Choosing a User Interface Idiom for Your Mac App, and Optimize the Interface of your Mac Catalyst App — WWDC20.
When you deliver your iPad app on the Mac via Catalyst, your existing users on iOS no longer need to purchase your app a second time. In addition, you can manage the capabilities and App Store metadata of your app in one place.
Application preferences that include no items users can set are instead shown in the About box.
Known Issues:
A ToolbarItem with automatic placement isn’t placed in the window toolbar. (63690384)
Select UIKit controls, control customizations, and methods throw exceptions when used in the Mac idiom.
The button configuration for the preferredAction is the default button with the key equivalent of return.
The button configuration for the action with UIAlertAction.Style.cancel has the key equivalent of escape.
Button configurations for actions with UIAlertAction.Style.destructive will be configured with hasDestructiveAction.
If you apply both preferredAction and UIAlertActionStyleCancel to the same action, preferredAction takes precedence. It’s not possible to have a default button with the escape key equivalent.
The system adds an Open Recent menu automatically to applications that support opening files. The menu identifier is UIMenuOpenRecent.
UISceneActivationRequestOptions has a new collectionJoinBehavior property. A scene collection is a group of scenes that display together. In Catalyst, this is used to add windows to an NSWindowTabGroup.
The default placement is UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.automatic and the new scene will follow system preferences for joining collections.
Set the placement value to UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.preferred to have the new scene attempt to join the collection that contains the requestingScene, or any compatible collection if requestingScene is not set.
Set the value to UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.disallowed to create a new collection for the scene, ignoring system preferences.
Set the value to UISceneCollectionJoinBehavior.preferredWithoutActivating to add the new scene without deactivating the requestingScene. Otherwise this propery behaves the same as preferred.
UISwitch has a new preferredStyle property that can alter the appearance of the switch in Catalyst apps running in the Mac idiom, see Optimize the Interface of your Mac Catalyst App — WWDC20 for more information.
Set the preferredstyle value to UISwitch.Style.sliding to give the traditional iOS switch appearance; it will look like a native switch in Optimized Catalyst apps.
Set the preferredstyle value to UISwitch.Style.checkbox to give a traditional macOS checkbox in optimized Catalyst apps. When set to the checkbox style, the system displays the new title property in a label within the clickable bounds of the checkbox. The title property is inert with the sliding style.
The UISwitch preferredstyle property defaults to automatic and renders as a sliding switch in all idioms except the Mac idiom — the only idiom where the checkbox is available.
A notable consequence of this default style of the sliding switch is that if you’re using the checkbox style UISwitch, you may need to call sizeToFit() or provide a frame through other means where the intrinsic size alone was sufficient.
The default context menu presented from a UITextView or UITextField has missing items related to spelling and formatting.
The text you use in a UITextView or UITextField to look up definitions may be out of sync with the visual selection.
UITitlebar has a new UITitlebarSeparatorStyle property that gives control over the appearance of the hairline bar in between a macOS window’s titlebar and its content. This property is especially useful when designing interfaces in the style of the new macOS Big Sur full-height sidebar.
Network Extension:
Resolved Issues:
You must adopt the NETransparentProxyProvider API in your transparent proxy implementation in order for it to function correctly. (65228404)
Safari:
Known Issues:
Safari might quit unexpectedly if iCloud Tabs are enabled. (70625636)
Workaround: Bypass the Start Page by clicking a URL in a different application, such as Mail or Notes, to open Safari. In Safari > Preferences > General, set “New windows open with:” and “New tabs open with:” to “Empty Page”.
SwiftUI:
Known Issues:
ProgressView generic type signature has changed, adding the currentValueLabel generic parameter. This change doesn’t require any source changes, but it causes apps compiled using an earlier beta SDK to quit unexpectedly. (63580200)
Workaround: Re-compile apps for macOS Big Sur 11 Beta 6 or later to resolve this issue.
Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta
DisclosureGroup’s isExpanded binding now works as expected in a List. (58820037)
The system now lazily evaluates List updates. (58820037)
Adding a Widget that uses a Text with dynamic Text.DateStyle presentations no longer causes Notification Center to quit unexpectedly. (70059211)
Third-Party Apps:
Known Issues:
You might experience kernel panics when using earlier versions of Parallels Desktop 16. (67358596)
Workaround: Upgrade to the most-recent version of Parallels Desktop 16.
Some third-party scripts might produce unexpected results due to the change in macOS version from 10.x to 11. (62477208)
Workaround: Set SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=1 in the calling environment, for example: $ SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=1 legacy_script.pl
Wallet:
Known Issues:
isPassLibraryAvailable() doesn’t ensure uniform availability of pass library functionality between platforms and devices. (60697880)
Workaround: Call a more specific API to check available functionality, such as canAddPasses().
Xcode:
Known Issues:
Legacy Xcode versions prior to 11.5 might unexpectedly quit when launched. (59991056)
Workaround: Run the following command in Terminal: defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTDisableMainThreadChecker 1, then deselect Main Thread Checker in the Diagnostic tab of the Run and Test actions for each scheme in your project.

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.7 Build 19H2 (Sep 25, 2020)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.6 Build 19G73 (Jul 16, 2020)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.5 Build 19F101 (Jun 2, 2020)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.4 Build 19E266 (Mar 25, 2020)

macOS Catalina 10.15.4 introduces iCloud Drive folder sharing, Screen Time communications limits, Apple Music time-synced lyrics view, and more. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.
Finder:
ICloud Drive folder sharing from Finder
Controls to limit access only to people you explicitly invite, or to grant access to anyone with the folder link
Permissions to choose who can make changes and upload files and who can only view and download files
Screen Time:
Communication limits for controlling who your children can communicate with and be contacted by throughout the day and during downtime
Playback control of music videos for your children
Music:
Time-synced lyrics view for Apple Music, including the ability to jump to your favorite part of a song by clicking a line in lyrics view
Safari:
Option to import Chrome passwords into your iCloud Keychain for easy AutoFill of your passwords in Safari and across all your devices
Controls for duplicating a tab and for closing all tabs to the right of the current tab
HDR playback support on compatible computers for Netflix content
App Store with Apple Arcade:
Universal Purchase support enables the use of a singular purchase of a participating app across iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV
Recently played Arcade games appear in the Arcade tab so you can continue playing on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV
Pro Display XDR:
Customized reference modes that you can tailor to specific workflow needs by selecting from several color gamut, white point, luminance, and transfer function options
Accessibility:
Head pointer preference for moving a cursor on the screen based on the precise movements of your head
This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements:
High Dynamic Range output to HDR10-compatible third-party displays and TVs connected with DisplayPort or HDMI
OAuth authentication support with Outlook.com accounts for improved security
CalDav migration support when upgrading to iCloud reminders on a secondary device
Resolves an issue where text copied between apps may appear invisible when Dark Mode is active
Fixes an issue in Safari where a CAPTCHA tile may display incorrectly
Resolves an issue where Reminders may send notifications for completed reminders
Fixes an issue with screen brightness for the LG UltraFine 5K display after waking from sleep

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.3 Build 19D76 (Jan 29, 2020)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.2 Build 19C57 (Dec 11, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.1 Build 19B88 (Oct 31, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15.1 Build 19B68f Beta (Oct 17, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15 Build 19A583 (Oct 7, 2019)

macOS Catalina gives you more of everything you love about Mac. Experience three all-new media apps: Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts. Locate a missing Mac with the new Find My app. And now coming to Mac, your favorite iPad apps. You can even extend your desktop using iPad as a second display. Now you can take everything you do above and beyond.
Apple Music:
Stream and download over 50 million songs with an Apple Music subscription.
Access the iTunes Store to purchase songs or albums.
Find all the music you’ve purchased, downloaded, or imported from CDs organized in the improved library.
Apple TV:
Buy or rent the latest movie releases.
Subscribe to Apple TV channels to watch popular shows on demand and ad-free, online or off.
Start watching on one device and pick up where you left off on any of your other devices, including Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and compatible smart TVs.
 
Apple Podcasts:
Find podcasts by title, topic, guest, host, and content.
Subscribe to your favorite podcasts to receive the latest episodes automatically.
Begin listening to an episode on your Mac, then seamlessly resume on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch when you’re on the go.
Syncing and backup:
Sync content and back up, update, and restore software from the Finder when you connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac.
App Store with Apple Arcade:
Play 100+ groundbreaking new games with one subscription — no ads or additional purchases.
Browse the latest games, personalized recommendations, and exclusive editorial content in the all-new Arcade tab on the App Store.
Enjoy games across iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.
Mac Catalyst:
Enjoy a new class of Mac apps built from your favorite iPad titles.
Sidecar:
Expand your Mac workspace by using your iPad as a second display.
Place one app on each screen, or put your main canvas on your Mac and your tools and palettes on your iPad.
Use Apple Pencil for tablet input when using your favorite creative pro Mac apps.
Continuity Sketch and Markup:
Create a sketch on your iPad or iPhone and insert it into any document on your Mac.
Use your iPad or iPhone to sign a PDF or mark up a screenshot on your Mac. 
Accessibility:
Control your Mac entirely with your voice using Voice Control.
Enable Hover Text to display large, high-resolution text in a dedicated window.
Zoom in closely on one screen when using two displays for improved legibility with Zoom Display.
Security:
Feel secure knowing that the apps you use have been checked by Apple for known malware.
Authorize access to data when apps request it using new data protections.
Find My:
Keep track of your devices and find friends and family with an easy-to-use new app.
Help locate devices even if they’re not connected to Wi-Fi or cellular.
Use Activation Lock to protect Mac models with the Apple T2 Security Chip.
Photos:
Enjoy a new immersive, dynamic experience that showcases your best photos and memories.
View Memory Movies and edit their duration, mood, and title.
Safari:
Browse using an updated start page that surfaces sites from your history, bookmarks, reading list, iCloud Tabs, and even links sent to you in Messages.
Help secure your accounts using strong passwords suggested by Safari.
Notes:
View notes as visual thumbnails in gallery view.
Enjoy a more powerful search that recognizes text in items you’ve scanned and objects within images.
Share an entire folder of notes using shared folders.
Reminders:
Use new edit buttons to add dates, locations, flags, attachments, and more to reminders.
Mail:
Take control of your inbox by muting a thread, blocking a sender, or unsubscribing from a mailing list.
Screen Time:
Gain insight into time spent using apps and websites and set usage limits.
Set up Family Sharing to use Screen Time with your family’s devices.

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.6 Build 18G84 (Jul 29, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Catalina 10.15 Build 19A512f Beta 4 (Jul 17, 2019)

General:
New Features:
Installing third party kernel extensions now requires that you restart your Mac before they’re permitted to load. (50340461)
Known Issues:
macOS Catalina beta 4 does not support the MacBook Air model released in Summer 2019. A future beta of Catalina will add support for MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019).
During installation of macOS 10.15 you might be prompted to enter your administrator password multiple times to allow installation to proceed. (51206649)
Warning:
Your Secure Token might be lost if FileVault is enabled on a non-APFS formatted volume while upgrading to macOS 10.15. You might be able to work around this by disabling FileVault before upgrading to macOS 10.15, then reenabling FileVault once the upgrade has completed. (51091312)
Resolved Issues:
You can unlock a Mac that has Activation Lock enabled when you use Recovery Assistant to erase it when reinstalling macOS. (52017040)
You no longer see only third-party applications when you click the Applications shortcut in the Finder sidebar if you used Migration Assistant to migrate your data to a Mac running macOS Catalina beta. (51651200)
Apps consistently relaunch after installation or applying an update. (51228752)
Deprecations:
macOS frameworks are now thinned for the x86-64 architecture. Apps that execute i386 code now fail with the EBADARCH error code. The remaining stub frameworks are nonfunctional and exist only for compatibility purposes. (51236070)
Accessibility:
Resolved Issues:
VoiceOver feedback sounds are available while in macOS Recovery. (48218068)
AirDrop:
Known Issues:
AirDrop doesn’t work when a VPN is connected with the includeAllNetworks and excludeLocalNetworks options enabled.
Workaround: Disconnect the VPN before using AirDrop. (52618489)
App Store:
Known Issues:
You might receive an error when downloading or updating apps. (49755328)
Workaround: Sign out of your account using the Store menu, then sign back in and retry your download.
Resolved Issues:
Apps such as Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, and iMovie can consistently be found using Search. (51245576)
Apple CryptoKit:
Resolved Issues:
Users are prompted to authenticate when using the SecureEnclave API with access control set on keys. (51279188)
Apple TV:
Known Issues:
Support for signing in with an account from a different country is currently unavailable. (51240948)
AppleEvents:
New Features:
To enhance security, AppleEvents and AppleScripts that target an app on a remote system must authenticate as the same user on the remote system. An AppleEvent that targets an app running as a different user receives a procNotFound error.
To allow remote AppleEvents to target apps in any user session, run the following command in Terminal on the server:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AEServer RestrictAccessToUserSession -bool false
Then disable and reenable Remote Apple Events in System Preferences > Sharing. (5353592)
Audio:
New Features:
You can now enable voice processing mode on AVAudioEngine. (50906329)
You can use new AVAudioNode types to wrap a user-defined block for sending or receiving data in real-time.
A new method is available for an AVAudioEngine based app to retrieve a list of all nodes attached to an AVAudioEngine instance.
A new rendering mode in AVAudioEnvironmentNode selects the best spatial audio rendering algorithm automatically based on the output device.
A new AVAudioSession property allows system sounds and haptics to play while the session is actively using audio input.
A new property, AVAudioSession.PromptStyle informs apps which style of voice prompt they should play based on other audio activity in the system.
The AVAudioSession.RouteSharingPolicy enumeration is extended to allow apps to specify route sharing policies so their audio and video is routed to the same location as AirPlay.
Audio Unit Extensions now support user presets that are available across all host apps.
Deprecations:
The OpenAL framework is deprecated and remains present for compatibility purposes. Transition to AVAudioEngine for spatial audio functionality.
AUGraph is deprecated in favor of AVAudioEngine.
Inter-App audio is deprecated. Use Audio Units for this functionality.
Carbon component-based Audio Units are deprecated and support will be removed in a future release.
Legacy Core Audio HAL audio hardware plug-ins are no longer supported. Use Audio Server plug-ins for audio drivers.
AVFoundation:
New Features:
AVFoundation now supports encoding video with alpha channels using HEVC. Videos encoded in this manner are broadly supported in AVFoundation APIs and by Safari within web pages. Technical details of the format can be found in the Interoperability Profile specification. (8045917)
Deprecations:
The previously deprecated 32-bit QuickTime framework is no longer available in macOS 10.15.
The symbols for QTKit, which relied on the QuickTime framework, are still present but the classes are non-functional.
Books:
Resolved Issues:
Audio books appear correctly after migrating. (50823065)
You can consistently import books into your library. (50962112)
Locally downloaded cloud items don’t move back to iCloud after upgrading to macOS Catalina beta. (51306790)
If the ‘Restrict books with explicit content’ setting is enabled, your purchased books are no longer unexpectedly hidden. (51602141)
Books stored in iCloud Drive appear without delay in your Library. (51435740, 50776390)
Camera:
Known Issues:
Apps using Picture Taker must specify the NSCameraUsageDescription key to access the FaceTime camera. (47916725)
Console:
Resolved Issues:
Applying a filter to console messages consistently succeeds. (51524242)
Core Image:
New Features:
The init(imageURL:options:) and init(imageData:options:) initializers no longer support RAW decoder versions earlier than 6. Version 6 and later remain supported. (50911303)
Added new APIs for instantiating and modifying the built-in Core Image filters.
The CICoreMLModel filter is enhanced to support models with an input or output of type MLFeatureType.multiArray.
Metal CIKernel instances now support arguments with arbitrarily structured data.
Metal CIKernel instances now support returning a group of two by two pixels.
The integer values of CIFormat symbols, such as ARGB8, have changed to a new set of values which are consistent across platforms. The former values remain supported for backward compatibility; however, you should avoid dependancies on specific numerical values.
Core Media:
Resolved Issues:
You no longer see unexpected results when creating 10-bit HEVC video content. (50322535)
Device Management:
Resolved Issues:
Sending a Volume Purchase Program download request to a client from a Mobile Device Management server might cause an authorization dialog to appear on the client. (49376544)
DriverKit:
Known Issues:
DriverKit drivers don’t build in macOS Catalina beta 4. Continue using beta 3 for DriverKit development. (52858797)
Resolved Issues:
The Filter Packet network extension type and NWEthernetChannel API now work with network interface drivers implemented using DriverKit. (48709552)
EndpointSecurity:
Known Issues:
High frequency AUTH events such as ES_EVENT_TYPE_AUTH_READLINK triggered by logd might cause the client to become unresponsive. (52211117)
The es_mute_process(_:_:) interface doesn't mute processes. (53017708)
es_copy_message(_:) isn’t functional. (53013028)
Resolved Issues:
Your Mac starts correctly when an EndpointSecurity extension that contains the NSEndpointSecurityEarlyBoot key is installed and then uninstalled. (52010655)
The exec and open events are cached and invalidated correctly when the file is manipulated. (45497117)
The cache flag for es_respond_auth_result(_:_:_:_:) and es_respond_flags_result(_:_:_:_:) is no longer ignored. (49071387)
EndpointSecurity system extensions have access to early boot events. (49487645)
The original_ppid field of es_process_t is set properly. (50746916)
Deprecations:
The kauth API will be removed in a future release. (50419013)
FileVault:
Resolved Issues:
Password reset for FileVault volumes from macOS Recovery functions as expected. (50455695)
Final Cut Pro:
Resolved Issues:
You can consistently access content from your Photos library. (51600540)
Finder:
Resolved Issues:
Finder no longer quits unexpectedly when you try to restore using the Time Machine interface. (49398715)
Files can be copied from and deleted on an iOS device using the Files tab in Finder. (48649759)
You can now download folders from iCloud properly. (50855741)
When iCloud Desktop is enabled, attempting to drag a volume mounted on the desktop no longer results in the volume being copied to the Desktop. (51187890)
iCloud:
Known Issues:
If you’re using iCloud Desktop and Documents and documents saved to your Desktop aren’t appearing, turn iCloud Drive off and then on again. (51569326, 52731989)
The Cloud Files section in About This Mac > Storage > Manage might inaccurately represent the current state of files on your Mac. (50362095)
Even when Optimize Storage is switched off, iCloud Drive might fail to automatically download all files. (50667204)
Workaround: Download files individually.
When creating a new Pages, Numbers, or Keynote document in a shared folder, you might see the message “Couldn’t connect to iCloud”. (50827963)
Workaround: Close and reopen the document.
Resolved Issues:
All of your iCloud Drive data is consistently present after upgrading to macOS Catalina beta. (51787170, 51950018)
Documents download correctly in iCloud Drive. (52295165)
There are no longer multiple empty Application libraries within iCloud Drive. You can safely remove any empty folders. (51635803)
The content of folders inside an iCloud Shared Folder is available to other users viewing your shared folder. (51591135)
Turning off the Siri switch in iCloud settings correctly stops Significant Locations from syncing. (50908297)
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents in shared folders correctly show an error message when you try to access them from iCloud.com. (50738067)
iWork:
Known Issues:
Attempting to open iWork documents in Finder will unexpectedly create a .cpgz file if the corresponding iWork app isn’t installed. (40693892)
Workaround: Install the corresponding app from the App Store before opening the document.
Localization:
Known Issues:
Certain languages might exhibit clipped or misaligned layout. (51068688,50983852)
Certain languages might display unlocalized text. (47765173,51196633)
Mac Catalyst:
Known Issues:
MPMediaPickerController might not display the contents of your library. (51785735)
AppKit and Mac Catalyst apps are currently view-only clients of PencilKit. (51146823)
In order to show a share sheet from a toolbar item using the UIActivityViewController, create the NSToolbarItem using the init(itemIdentifier:) initializer and pass it a UIBarButtonItem configured as a UIBarButtonItem.SystemItem.action. There is no need to set the barButtonItem property. (47292316)
The UIScreen class’s isCaptured API isn’t currently supported. (48360589)
The current property on UIDevice and the OS Product Name is currently returned as iOS rather than macOS, which can affect diagnostic logs generated by your system. (49792004)
Event handling in extension contexts may produce unexpected results, including failure to deliver trackpad pinch and zoom gestures. (50145462)
When sending Mail attachments via MessageUI, each attachment might appear as two icons when viewed by the recipient. (50369995)
Controls drawn with accent color incorrectly maintain their active color when the window is inactive. There is no need to work around this in your app. (50563638)
The UIKit module currently doesn’t import the newly added NSToolbar and NSTouchBar headers, NSToolbar+UIKitAdditions.h and NSTouchBar+UIKitAdditions.h. You can import these headers directly in Objective-C, or you can create a bridging header to import them for Swift. Be sure to import Foundation before importing these headers. (50704322)
When your Mac Catalyst app is launched directly into the background, it experiences all the state transitions of a regular app launch — such as application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) and applicationDidBecomeActive(_:) — followed by state transitions to return to background state from there — applicationWillResignActive(_:) and applicationDidEnterBackground(_:). This will soon be updated to match iOS, where your app will receive only applicationDidFinishLaunching(_:), and only if it wasn’t already running. (50742219)
For Mac Catalyst apps to save to Photos Library, explicitly linking the Photos framework is required. (50781430)
Opening a CloudKit share URL might not launch a Mac Catalyst app that’s present on the system. Additionally, the system might not take the user to the appropriate App Store page to download an app which isn’t present on the system. (50877241)
Action and share extensions might exhibit visual anomalies. (51005363)
All assets at 3x scale factor are currently ignored when compiling the asset catalog for Mac Catalyst apps. Because the search begins with the universal asset, assets for a specific memory or graphics class won’t be found. For example, if you provide an image and only give a 6GB and Metal 5v1 asset, it won’t be found at runtime. It’s recommended that you provide all images as vectors to allow generation of the correct scale factors, or at minimum provide 2x versions of the assets. If you’re classifying resources based on memory and graphics families then you should provide "Any Memory" and "Any Graphics”. (51033745)
CallKit CXAction instances might return an error. (51074735)
When creating a Mac Catalyst app from your iPad app, Xcode automatically generates a unique Mac bundle identifier. If you have an existing Mac bundle identifier you’d prefer to use, you can do so by using manual signing in Xcode. (51076014)
Follow these steps to configure your project, AppID, and provisioning profile:
Sign in to Apple Developer, then select Certificates, Identifiers, and Profiles.
In the Identifiers section, select your iOS app identifier to edit.
Check the Mac Catalyst capability to enable it, then click the Configure button.
Choose Use an existing macOS AppID and select the identifier you'd like to use from the popup menu. Click the Save button to finish editing your AppID.
In the Profiles section, click the + button to create a new profile, select ‘macOS App Development’, and click Continue.
Select your iOS AppID from the popup, click Continue, and complete the rest of the profile creation flow. When finished, click the Download button.
In Xcode, select your project to view the Project Editor and select your app’s target. Then select the Build Settings tab.
Set the Derive Mac Catalyst Product Bundle Identifier setting to No.
Expand the Product Bundle Identifier build setting to view its configurations. Next to the Debug configuration, click the + button to add a conditional value.
For the build setting condition, select Any macOS from the popup menu. Edit the value of the conditional build setting to match the macOS bundle identifier you want to use. Repeat this step for all configurations in your project.
In the Signing & Capabilities tab, uncheck Automatically manage signing.
For your macOS app, select Import Profile from the Provisioning Profile popup and then select the profile you downloaded earlier.
Resolved Issues:
Apps no longer launch in the foreground without user input if the app uses APIs that might result in a background launch. (51287556)
The UIGraphicsRenderer class’s default() function no longer returns the nonextended color range renderer format by default. (51303954)
The UIDevice class’s name properly reports itself in Mac Catalyst apps. (51304085, 49792004)
You can now import AppKit and UIKit modules in the same compilation unit. (48094910)
The completion handler is no longer invoked with an error when donating interactions using the INInteraction class on macOS. (48371526)
The productsRequest(_:didReceive:) method from StoreKit currently returns with didFailWithError and products aren’t loaded. (51028870)
MTKView objects might render correctly. (51084042)
Mail:
Known Issues:
If your Mac contains both macOS Mojave 10.14 and macOS 10.15 volumes, you might experience issues searching in Mail. (46611310)
Workaround: While running macOS Mojave 10.14, open Terminal and execute the following command:
sudo touch /.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
Reboot into macOS 10.15, open Terminal and execute the following command:
sudo touch /System/Volumes/Data/.metadata_never_index_unless_rootfs
Reboot into macOS Mojave 10.14, open Terminal and execute the following command:
sudo mdutil -E /
Depending on the size of your Mail database, it might take many hours to reindex all content.
Music:
Known Issues:
Navigating using the back button might produce unexpected results. (51248128)
You might be unable to scroll content on shelves. (51248128)
Artwork changes might not immediately appear; playlists will be added in an upcoming beta. (51201715)
Music might not remember the previously selected tab when it’s relaunched. (50922604)
Resolved Issues:
Music launches at the expected speed. (51207753)
You can log into the store regardless of whether you're logging in from the country in which you’re currently located. (51105585)
Networking:
New Features:
All URLSessionTask instances with a GET HTTP method which contain a body will now produce the error NSURLErrorDataLengthExceedsMaximum. (46025234)
Known Issues:
The NWEthernetChannel API doesn’t currently support VLAN interfaces. NEPacketTunnelProvider will see both tagged and untagged frames arriving on physical interfaces. Depending on the Ethernet driver, VLAN tags might be processed by hardware and thus stripped off the Ethernet frames thus NEPacketTunnelProvider won’t see the VLAN tag. (51275655)
Resolved Issues:
An active Network Extension content filter configuration no longer interrupts the boot process indefinitely following a kernel panic. (50965627)
Deprecations:
Support for FTP and File URL schemes for Proxy Automatic Configuration (PAC) is removed. HTTP and HTTPS are the only supported URL schemes for PAC. This affects all PAC configurations including but not limited to configurations set using Settings, System Preferences, profiles, URLSession APIs such as connectionProxyDictionary, and CFNetworkExecuteProxyAutoConfigurationURL(_:_:_:_:). (28578280)
SPDY support is removed from the URLSession and NSURLConnection APIs. Servers should use HTTP 2 or HTTP 1.1. (43391641)
The Network Kernel Extension API is now deprecated. (49284108)
NetBIOS is disabled in macOS 10.15 to speed up mounting, browsing, and connecting to SMB shares. Some older printers and file servers may require NetBIOS to connect. (51119111)
To enable NetBIOS, you can create or edit the /etc/nsmb.conf file. If your system doesn't already have an /etc/nsmb.conf file, use the following Terminal commands while logged in as an Administrator:
echo "[default]" | sudo tee -a /etc/nsmb.conf
echo "port445=both" | sudo tee -a /etc/nsmb.conf
To disable NetBIOS, you can safely delete the /etc/nsmb.conf file.
Photos:
New Features:
To improve the Photos upgrade experience, Photos is testing database upgrades using a clone of the Photo Library. This clone doesn’t include the content of each photo, but does include faces metadata and a thumbnail image of each person in your library. It also contains metadata such as the asset name and the geographic location of the photo. It is created at ~/Pictures/macOS 10.15 Pre-Upgrade Backup, and you can manually remove this backup at any time. The clone will be removed automatically before the final release of macOS 10.15. (51033690)
Podcasts:
Known Issues:
The sidebar might render unexpectedly until quitting and relaunching the app. (51340728)
Deleting podcasts using About This Mac > Storage > Manage doesn’t update what’s shown in the Podcasts app until it’s relaunched. (50354510)
Setting “Automatically Download Episodes” to “Never” might not take effect. (50960777)
Manually checking for feed updates when Option-clicking the Podcasts app in the dock isn’t currently available. (50958585)
Workaround: Quit and relaunch the app.
If Podcasts is placed in Full Screen mode, some UI elements might be obscured by the toolbar. (47125303)
Resolved Issues:
Writing a review behaves as expected. (46173722)
Browse and Top Charts consistently display content from the expected country. (51681853)
A migration is no longer triggered even if there’s no content to migrate the first time you launch Podcasts. (51145044)
Privacy:
Known Issues:
Apps that previously asked for access to services in the System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy pane might ask for approval again after updating to macOS Catalina beta 4. (51312574)
Quartz Composer:
Deprecations:
Starting in macOS 10.15, the Quartz Composer framework is deprecated and remains present for compatibility purposes. Transition to frameworks such as Core Image, SceneKit, or Metal. (50911608)
Screen Sharing:
Resolved Issues:
If the Mac you’re screen sharing with is running macOS 10.15 beta, you can now drag and drop onto the screen share. (50791710)
Screen Time:
Known Issues:
Users can click ‘One more minute’ multiple times per day instead of only once each time they reach a limit for that app. (48773803)
Screen Time > Content & Privacy > Content > Web Content > Allowed Websites Only isn’t currently enforced in macOS 10.15 beta. (50462899)
Scripting Language Runtimes:
Deprecations:
Scripting language runtimes such as Python, Ruby, and Perl are included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. Future versions of macOS won’t include scripting language runtimes by default, and might require you to install additional packages. If your software depends on scripting languages, it’s recommended that you bundle the runtime within the app. (49764202)
Use of Python 2.7 isn’t recommended as this version is included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. Future versions of macOS won’t include Python 2.7. Instead, it’s recommended that you run python3 from within Terminal. (51097165)
Security:
Known Issues:
Opening some .dmg files signed before June 1, 2019 using a Developer ID might incorrectly display an error message. All .dmg files signed using a Developer ID after June 1, 2019 must be notarized. For more information about notarization, see Notarizing Your App Before Distribution. (52234399)
Workaround: Control-click the .dmg file in Finder and choose Open.
Spotlight:
Known Issues:
Mail messages might not display previews. (35678035)
Resolved Issues:
Drives formatted using exFAT and FAT are searchable using Spotlight. (52271781)
SwiftUI:
New Features:
The EnvironmentValues structure has four new properties for reading accessibility values from the environment: accessibilityDifferentiateWithoutColor, accessibilityReduceTransparency, accessibilityReduceMotion, and accessibilityInvertColors. (51712481)
The color(_:) modifier is renamed foregroundColor(_:) for consistency with the more general foregroundColor(_:) modifier. (50391847)
The BindableObject protocol’s requirement is now willChange instead of didChange, and should now be sent before the object changes rather than after it changes. This change allows for improved coalescing of change notifications. (51580731)
The Collection protocol is extended to include a remove(atOffsets:) method and the MutableCollection protocol is extended to include a move(fromOffsets:toOffset:) method. Each new method takes IndexSet instances that you use with the onMove(perform:) and onDelete(perform:) modifiers on ForEach views. (51991601)
Added improved presentation modifiers: sheet(isPresented:onDismiss:content:), actionSheet(isPresented:content:), and alert(isPresented:content:) — along with isPresented in the environment — replace the existing presentation(_:), Sheet, Modal, and PresentationLink types. (52075730)
Updated the APIs for creating animations. The basic animations are now named after the curve type — such as linear and easeInOut. The interpolation-based spring(mass:stiffness:damping:initialVelocity:) animation is now interpolatingSpring(mass:stiffness:damping:initialVelocity:), and fluidSpring(stiffness:dampingFraction:blendDuration:timestep:idleThreshold:) is now spring(response:dampingFraction:blendDuration:) or interactiveSpring(response:dampingFraction:blendDuration:), depending on whether or not the animation is driven interactively. (50280375)
Added an initializer for creating a Font from a CTFont. (51849885)
You can style a NavigationView using two new style properties: stack and doubleColumn. By default, navigation views on iPhone and Apple TV visually reflect a navigation stack, while on iPad and Mac, a split-view styled navigation view displays. (51636729)
When using the doubleColumn style, you can provide two views when creating a navigation view — the first is the master and the second is the detail. For example:
NavigationView {
MyMasterView()
MyDetailView()
.navigationViewStyle(.doubleColumn)
Known Issues:
Using Xcode 11 beta 3 with macOS Catalina beta 4 prevents SwiftUI previews from working. Update to Xcode 11 beta 4 when it becomes available. (52082331)
Image instances don’t use resizing information configured in asset catalogs. Configure the size of an image using the resizable(capInsets:resizingMode:) modifier instead. (49114577)
Resolved Issues:
View modifier methods return opaque views (some View) rather than complex generic types. (46140669)
ScrollView instances always size themselves as expected for their content. (49204262)
The tabItemLabel(_:) modifier — now named tabItem(_:) — now accepts @ViewBuilder closures. (51502668)
Deprecations:
The identified(by:) method on the Collection protocol is deprecated in favor of dedicated List(_:id:) and ForEach(_:id:) initializers. (52976883)
The relativeWidth(_:), relativeHeight(_:), and relativeSize(width:height:) modifiers are deprecated. Use other modifiers like frame(minWidth:idealWidth:maxWidth:minHeight:idealHeight:maxHeight:alignment:) instead. (51494692)
SystemExtensions:
Resolved Issues:
Approving system extensions using Mobile Device Management is now available. (50553712)
Upgrading system extension versions is now supported. (48943883)
Voice Memos:
Resolved Issues:
Location-based naming is now available. (48048663, 50743045)
Voice Memos synced from iCloud might not finish downloading. (49512619)
The File menu might be unexpectedly empty. (51475831)
Xcode:
Resolved Issues:
Swift interfaces for several new URLSession APIs are now available. (50517967)
Deprecations:
Command line tool support for Subversion — including svn, git-svn, and related commands — is no longer provided by Xcode. If you need Subversion or related command line tools, install the Command Line Tools package by running xcode-select --install. (50266910)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.6 Build 18G78a Beta 5 (Jul 17, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.5 Build 18F132 (May 14, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.5 Build 18F118d Beta 3 (Apr 23, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.5 Build 18F108f Beta 2 (Apr 9, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.3 Build 18D109 (Feb 8, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.4 Build 18E174f Beta (Jan 25, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.3 Build 18D42 (Jan 23, 2019)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.2 Build 18C54 (Dec 6, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma 10.14.2 Build 18C31g Beta (Nov 2, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14.1 Build 18B75 (Oct 31, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma Mojave 10.14 Build 18A391 (Sep 24, 2018)

Dark Mode:
Experience a dramatic new look for your Mac that puts your content front and center while controls recede into the background.
Enjoy new app designs that are easier on your eyes in dark environments.
Desktop:
View an ever-changing desktop picture with Dynamic Desktop.
Automatically organize your desktop files by kind, date, or tag using Stacks.
Capture stills and video of your screen using the new Screenshot utility.
Finder:
Find your files visually using large previews in Gallery View.
See full metadata for all file types in the Preview pane.
Rotate an image, create a PDF, and more — right in the Finder using Quick Actions.
Mark up and sign PDFs, crop images, and trim audio and video files using Quick Look.
Continuity Camera:
Photograph an object or scan a document nearby using your iPhone, and it automatically appears on your Mac.
Mac App Store:
Browse handpicked apps in the new Discover, Create, Work, and Play tabs.
Discover the perfect app and make the most of those you have with stories, curated collections, and videos.
iTunes:
Search with lyrics to find a song using a few of the words you remember.
Start a personalized station of any artist’s music from the enhanced artist pages.
Enjoy the new Friends Mix, a playlist of songs your friends are listening to.
Safari:
Block Share and Like buttons, comment widgets, and embedded content from tracking you without your permission with enhanced Intelligent Tracking Prevention.
Prevent websites from tracking your Mac using a simplified system profile that makes you more anonymous online.
Apple News:
Read Top Stories selected by Apple News editors, trending stories popular with readers, and a customized feed created just for you.
Keep your favorite topics, channels, and saved stories up to date on your Mac and iOS devices.
Stocks:
Create a customized watchlist and view interactive charts that sync across your Mac and iOS devices.
Browse business news driving the markets curated by Apple News editors.
Voice Memos:
Make audio recordings, listen to them as you work with other apps, or use them in a podcast, song, or video.
Access audio clips from your iPhone on your Mac using iCloud.
Home:
Organize and control all of your HomeKit accessories from your desktop.
Receive real-time notifications from your home devices while you work.

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.6 Build 17G65 (Jul 13, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.5 Build 17F77 (Jun 1, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.4 Build 17E199 (Mar 30, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.3 Build 17D2102 (Feb 20, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.3 Build 17D47 (Jan 23, 2018)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.2 Build 17C88 (Dec 6, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13.1 Build 17B48 (Oct 31, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma High Sierra 10.13 Build 17A365 (Sep 25, 2017)

Apple File System (APFS):
APFS is a new, advanced storage architecture providing an extensible foundation to support new features and future storage technologies on the Mac.
APFS brings support for the latest high-capacity storage devices and delivers enhanced performance, security and reliability.
With APFS, common operations such as copying files and directories are nearly instantaneous.
Data is protected from power outages and system crashes thanks to advanced data integrity features.
APFS currently supports every Mac with all‑flash internal storage — support for Fusion and HDD Mac systems will be available in a future update.
High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Support:
HEVC (H.265) is a new industry standard that enables extremely efficient compression, streaming and playback of video.
HEVC enables users to watch 4K video files at full quality, while requiring 40 percent less storage space than the current H.264 standard.1
With HEVC, Apple is enabling high-quality 4K video streaming on networks where only HD streaming was previously possible.2
Hardware acceleration on the new iMac and MacBook Pro delivers incredibly fast and power-efficient HEVC encoding and playback.
Developers like Adobe, Blackmagic Design, GoPro and more are joining Apple in adopting HEVC.
Metal 2:
Metal is Apple’s advanced graphics technology and the fastest, most efficient way to tap into GPU power on the Mac.
Metal 2 supports next-generation experiences like machine learning used in speech recognition, natural language processing and computer vision.
Metal 2 features a refined API and improved performance that’s helping developers, including Unity, Epic, Valve, Pixelmator and more, accelerate their future apps.
With the combination of Thunderbolt 3 and Metal 2, the most demanding Mac users can now access powerful external GPUs.
Core ML:
With Core ML, Apple brings the power of machine learning to all Apple developers, enabling the creation of entirely new kinds of apps.
Core ML takes full advantage of Metal and Accelerate, delivering incredible power, speed and efficiency to machine learning operations such as computer vision, natural language and support for convolutional and recurrent neural networks.
All of the computation and processing driven through Core ML is done on-device in a way that respects customers’ data and privacy.
Developers are already using Core ML to enhance apps like Pixelmator Pro, which uses machine learning to detect and understand various features within images and create intelligent editing solutions.
Virtual Reality Support:
macOS High Sierra adds support for VR content creation for the first time, enabling developers to create immersive gaming, 3D and VR content on the Mac.
Leading VR companies are working with Apple to drive VR innovation on the Mac with features coming later this year.
Valve is optimizing its SteamVR platform for macOS and enabling connection of the HTC Vive headset, while Unity and Epic are bringing their VR development tools to macOS.
Later this year, Final Cut Pro X will add support for professional 360-degree VR workflows with the ability to import, edit and export 360-degree video on the Mac.
Photos Update:
An updated, always-on sidebar and new filtering and selection tools make photo organization quick and easy.
A refreshed editing UI includes powerful new editing tools like Curves, for fine-tuning contrast, and Selective Color, for making adjustments to a specific color range.
Live Photos can now be edited with fun effects, like Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure, and users can also choose a different key photo.
Third-party editors like Photoshop, Pixelmator and other apps can be launched from Photos, with edits saved back to the Photos library.
Support for third-party project extensions provides access to printing and publishing services from Shutterfly, WhiteWall, Wix, ifolor, Mimeo and Mpix from right within the app.
Additional app refinements:
Safari stops media with audio from automatically playing in the browser, and Reader can automatically open articles in a clean, uncluttered format.
Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari detects and eliminates cookies and other data used by advertisers for cross-site tracking, to help keep a user’s browsing private.
Siri on the Mac responds with a more natural voice and learns music preferences, creates custom playlists and answers music trivia when using Apple Music.
Touch Bar on MacBook Pro gets new Control Strip options plus an improved color picker and more video controls.
Notes adds simple tables, allowing a user to type in cells, make edits and move rows and columns.
Spotlight provides flight status information, including departure and arrival times, delays, gates, terminals and even a map of the flight path.

New in macOS Sonoma 10.12.6 Build 16G29 (Jul 19, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma 10.12.5 Update for 2017 iMacs (Jun 5, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma Sierra 10.12.5 Build 16F73 (May 15, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma Sierra 10.12.4 Build 16E195 (Mar 27, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma Sierra 10.12.3 Build 16D32 (Jan 24, 2017)

New in macOS Sonoma Sierra 10.12.2 Build 16C67 (Dec 13, 2016)

New in macOS Sonoma Sierra 10.12.1 (Oct 24, 2016)

New in macOS Sonoma Sierra 10.12 (Sep 20, 2016)

Get things done by asking Siri, the intelligent assistant now on your Mac:
Enjoy your favorite features from iOS as well as new ones optimized for Mac.
Send messages, create reminders, search the web, and more while you work.
Drag and drop or copy and paste Siri results into your documents.
Pin Siri results in Notification Center and reference them later.
Find files, adjust settings, and get system information just by asking Siri.  Copy and paste between your devices with Universal Clipboard:
Copy a quote, image, or video from an app on one device and paste it into an app on another device.
Automatically log in with Auto Unlock:
Log in to your Mac automatically when you wear your Apple Watch — no need to type your password.
Enjoy the convenience and security of Apple Pay when you shop on the web:
Use Apple Pay to make easy, secure payments when shopping in Safari on your Mac.
Complete your purchase with Touch ID on your iPhone or with your Apple Watch.
Access files on your Mac desktop from your iPhone with iCloud Desktop and Documents:
Automatically store all the files on your desktop and in your Documents folder in iCloud, and access them from all your devices.
Keep the same desktop and Documents folder on your other Mac.  Easily free up space on your Mac with Optimized Storage:
Automatically store seldom-used files in iCloud, where they’ll be available on demand.
Additional tools help you remove files you don’t need, to save even more space.
Get control of your desktop with tabs in apps:
Use tabs to manage multiple windows in Maps, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and more.
Work with tabs in your favorite third-party apps — no developer adoption required.
Keep an eye on the big game or your favorite video with Picture in Picture:
Float a video window from Safari or iTunes over your desktop as you work.
Place the Picture in Picture window in any corner, and it stays put when you switch spaces or work in full screen.
Rediscover the most meaningful moments in your Photos library:
Enjoy favorite and forgotten occasions from your photo library with Memories.
View your images by who’s in them. Photos uses advanced face recognition technology to automatically group photos of the same person together.
Search your photos by what’s in them, such as beaches, dogs, or concerts, thanks to intelligent search that can recognize objects and scenes.
Track your photo expeditions across an interactive world map. 
Enjoy an all-new Apple Music experience in iTunes.
Easily navigate your library with the redesigned Apple Music.
Discover great new music thanks to expert curation and advanced machine learning that give you the best recommendations.
Liven up your Messages conversations:
See web content previews and watch web videos right in a conversation.
Respond to messages with quick, handy Tapbacks.
Express yourself with 3x larger emoji.
View the stickers, Digital Touch, invisible ink, and handwritten messages that friends send from their iOS devices.

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11.6 (Jul 18, 2016)

IMPROVES THE STABILITY, COMPATIBILITY, AND SECURITY OF YOUR MAC:
apache_mod_php:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code
Description: Multiple issues existed in PHP versions prior to 5.5.36. These were addressed by updating PHP to version 5.5.36.
Audio:
Impact: A local user may be able to cause a system denial of service
Description: A null pointer dereference was addressed through improved input validation.
Audio
Impact: A local user may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
Audio:
Impact: A local user may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed through improved input validation.
Audio:
Impact: Parsing a maliciously crafted audio file may lead to the disclosure of user information
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed through improved bounds checking.
bsdiff:
Impact: A local attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: An integer overflow existed in bspatch. This issue was addressed through improved bounds checking.
CFNetwork:
Impact: A local user may be able to view sensitive user information
Description: A permissions issue existed in the handling of web browser cookies. This issue was addressed through improved restrictions.
CoreGraphics:
Impact: A local user may be able to elevate privileges
Description: An out-of-bounds read issue existed that led to the disclosure of kernel memory. This was addressed through improved input validation.
CoreGraphics:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
FaceTime:
Impact: An attacker in a privileged network position may be able to cause a relayed call to continue transmitting audio while appearing as if the call terminated
Description: User interface inconsistencies existed in the handling of relayed calls. These issues were addressed through improved FaceTime display logic.
Graphics Drivers:
Impact: A local user may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved input validation.
ImageIO:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
ImageIO:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service
Description: A memory consumption issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
ImageIO:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
Intel Graphics Driver:
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
IOHIDFamily:
Impact: A local user may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A null pointer dereference was addressed through improved input validation.
IOSurface:
Impact: A local user may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A use-after-free was addressed through improved memory management.
Kernel:
Impact: A local user may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
Kernel:
Impact: A local user may be able to cause a system denial of service
Description: A null pointer dereference was addressed through improved input validation.
libc++abi:
Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with root privileges
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
libexpat:
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted XML may lead to unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
LibreSSL:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code
Description: Multiple issues existed in LibreSSL before 2.2.7. These were addressed by updating LibreSSL to version 2.2.7.
libxml2:
Impact: Multiple vulnerabilities in libxml2
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
libxml2:
Impact: Parsing a maliciously crafted XML document may lead to disclosure of user information
Description: An access issue existed in the parsing of maliciously crafted XML files. This issue was addressed through improved input validation.
libxslt:
Impact: Multiple vulnerabilities in libxslt
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
Login Window:
Impact: A malicious application may be able to gain root privileges
Description: A type confusion issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
Login Window:
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code leading to compromise of user information
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved input validation.
Login Window:
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code leading to the compromise of user information
Description: A type confusion issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
Login Window:
Impact: A local user may be able to cause a denial of service
Description: A memory initialization issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
OpenSSL:
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code
Description: Multiple issues existed in OpenSSL. These issues were resolved by backporting the fixes from OpenSSL 1.0.2h/1.0.1 to OpenSSL 0.9.8.
QuickTime:
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted SGI file may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved input validation.
QuickTime:
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted Photoshop document may lead to unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved input validation.
QuickTime:
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted FlashPix Bitmap Image may lead to unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
QuickTime:
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved input validation.
Safari Login AutoFill:
Impact: A user's password may be visible on screen
Description: An issue existed in Safari's password auto-fill. This issue was addressed through improved matching of form fields.
Sandbox Profiles:
Impact: A local application may be able to access the process list
Description: An access issue existed with privileged API calls. This issue was addressed through additional restrictions.

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11.5 (May 16, 2016)

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11.4 (Mar 21, 2016)

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11.3 (Jan 19, 2016)

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11.2 (Dec 8, 2015)

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11.1 (Oct 21, 2015)

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11 (Sep 30, 2015)

Builds on the groundbreaking features and beautiful design introduced in OS X Yosemite, refining the experience and improving performance in lots of ways that you’ll enjoy everyday.
Make the most of your screen with Split View:
Focus on two apps at once – neatly arranged side by side — in full screen without distractions.
Take control of your desktop with Mission Control:
View all your open windows in a single layer with no overlap, so you can instantly find that window you’re looking for.
Create a new desktop space easily by dragging a window to the top of your screen.
Smarter search in Spotlight:
Search for weather, stocks, sports, web video, and transit information right in Spotlight.
Use your own words to search for files on your Mac, like “Documents I edited yesterday.”
Resize the Spotlight window and move it anywhere on the screen.
Handy improvements in Mail:
Use your trackpad to manage your inbox with a swipe, just like on iPhone. Swipe right to mark as read or unread, or swipe left to delete.
Mail automatically suggests contacts and events from your messages to help you keep your Contacts and Calendar organized.
An improved full-screen view lets you switch between your inbox and your draft email messages.
A simple and powerful all-new Notes app:
Format your notes with titles, paragraph headings, bullets, numbers, and checklists.
Save rich content like photos, videos, documents, PDFs, web links, and map locations.
Easily search and browse the content from all your notes in the Attachments Browser.
Add content to a note directly from other OS X apps using the Share menu.
Create notes on your Mac and they’ll automatically sync to your iOS devices using iCloud.
New ways to organize and enhance your images in Photos:
Photos automatically organizes your library and helps you edit like a pro with simple and powerful editing tools.
Access your library on all your devices with iCloud Photo Library.
Add or edit location data, and batch change titles, descriptions, and keywords.
Sort your albums and the photos in them by date, title, and more.
Use third-party editing extensions to take your photo editing to the next level.
Better surfing in Safari:
Keep your favorite websites open, up to date, and easily accessible with Pinned Sites.
Choose a font and theme for Reader, including Sepia and Night themes.
Mute web page audio from the Smart Search field.
Maps, now with Transit view:
See transit lines and stations for select cities, including subway, train, bus, and ferry routes.
Plan your trip based on when you want to leave or arrive.
Research your trip on your Mac and share it to your iPhone or iPad for use on the go.
New fonts:
Designed for Retina displays, beautiful system font San Francisco is crisp, clear and space efficient.
PingFang (苹方), the new Chinese system font, is designed for crisp readability in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
Hiragana Sans, the Japanese system font, now features additional weights.
Four new Japanese fonts let you add a personal touch to documents and presentations.
Improved input methods for Chinese and Japanese:
Type Chinese more quickly with an improved character prediction engine and a smarter candidate window.
Write multiple Chinese characters using the trackpad and the new, roomier Trackpad window.
Live conversion automatically transforms Hiragana into written Japanese as you type.
Faster graphics with Metal:
Enjoy faster, more efficient system-level graphics rendering.
Experience a richer, more immersive gaming experience.
Create content more quickly with accelerated high-performance apps.
Snappier performance for everyday tasks:
Launch apps and switch between them more quickly.
Access email and render PDFs more quickly.

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11 Beta 7 (Aug 20, 2015)

New in macOS Sonoma Yosemite 10.10.5 (Aug 13, 2015)

New in macOS Sonoma El Capitan 10.11 Beta 1 (Jul 10, 2015)

MAJOR FEATURES:
Metal:
Metal is now available in OS X. The Metal framework supports GPU-accelerated advanced 3D graphics rendering and data-parallel computation workloads. Metal provides a modern and streamlined API for fine-grained, low-level control of the organization, processing, and submission of graphics and computation commands, as well as the management of the associated data and resources for these commands. A primary goal of Metal is to minimize the CPU overhead incurred by executing GPU workloads.
Window Management:
OS X v10.11 provides flexible and efficient new controls for managing windows.
Split View:
You can now put two windows in a full-screen space. These windows may belong to the same application or two different applications.
There are two ways to create a split-view space. First, you can long-press on the green full-screen button of a window that supports full screen. Place the first window on one half of the screen, then choose a second window from an exposé arrangement of eligible windows.
Alternatively, you can drag a window that supports full screen up through the menu bar to open Mission Control. In Mission Control’s Spaces Bar, you are given an option to create a new full-screen space. You can then select a second window and drag it on top of the full-screen thumbnail to create a split view.
Window minimum sizes are respected, so you are only able to combine two windows if their combined minimum widths fit within the width of the screen.
Once in a split-view space, you can drag the divider between the two windows left or right to resize them. You can drag the toolbar of either window to the other side to cause the two windows to swap sides.
Mission Control:
Mission Control gives you easier access to your windows. The Spaces Bar is minimized in Mission Control, providing maximum real estate for window arrangement. You can move the mouse over the Spaces Bar to show the full thumbnails for each space.
Swift:
Error Handling. Now you can create routines that throw, catch and manage errors in Swift. You can surface and deal with recoverable errors, like “file-not-found” or network timeouts. Swift 2.0’s error handling interoperates seamlessly with NSError.
Availability. Availability features enable you to mark up methods with the OS that they are available on, providing compile time checking and preventing unavailable methods from being used. You can adopt new APIs while still deploying back to older OS versions, and provides compile-time errors when you’re using API that isn’t guaranteed to be available on the deployment target.
Protocol extensions. You can now add methods and properties to any class that conforms to a particular protocol, allowing you to reuse more of your code. For example, in the standard library, instead of having to use global functions for all of the generic algorithms in the standard library (such as map, filter, and sort), those generic algorithms are now available as methods on all of the collection types.
Testability. With testability, you are now able to write tests of Swift 2.0 frameworks and apps without having to make all of your internal routines public. Use @testable import {ModuleName} in your test source code to make all public and internal routines usable by XCTest targets, but not by other framework and app targets.
Objective-C Updates:
Generics. Allow you to specify type information for collection classes like NSArray, NSSet, and NSDictionary. The type information improves Swift access when you bridge from Objective-C and simplifies the code you have to write.
Nullability annotation. Lets you indicate in Objective-C source when to expect a value to be nil or non-nil, smoothing the use of Objective-C frameworks and modules from Swift code.
Kind-Of. Objects declared as __kindof types express “some kind of X” to the compiler and can be used within generic parameters to constrain types to a particular class or its subclasses. Using __kindof allows constraints to be more flexible than an explicit class, and more explicit than just using id.
These new language features help the Objective-C/Swift interaction. They express more information to the compiler about your expectations in the code rather than in documentation, which provides a means for Xcode to inform you of problems earlier in the development cycle, before your code is run. See Using Swift with Cocoa and Objective-C for more details.
Security Enhancements:
App Transport Security (ATS):
App Transport Security (ATS) enforces best practices in the secure connections between an app and its back end. ATS prevents accidental disclosure, provides secure default behavior, and is easy to adopt; it is also on by default in OS X v10.11 and iOS 9. You should adopt ATS as soon as possible, regardless of whether you’re creating a new app or updating an existing one.
If you’re developing a new app, you should use HTTPS exclusively. If you have an existing app, you should use HTTPS as much as you can right now, and create a plan for migrating the rest of your app as soon as possible. In addition, your communication through higher-level APIs needs to be encrypted using TLS version 1.2 with forward secrecy. If you try to make a connection that doesn't follow this requirement, an error is thrown. If your app needs to make a request to an insecure domain, you have to specify this domain in your app's Info.plist file.
System Integrity Protection:
A new security policy that applies to every running process, including privileged code and code that runs out of the sandbox. The policy extends additional protections to components on disk and at run-time, only allowing system binaries to be modified by the system installer and software updates. Code injection and runtime attachments to system binaries are no longer permitted.
New Web Technologies in Safari:
Shared Links Extensibility. App developers can use the new Shared Links API extension to add link suggestions to the shared links feed on Safari for OS X and iOS.
Load-blocking API for Safari extensions. Safari extension developers can easily block loading content from a large collection of sources with minimal resources and incredibly high performance.
Force Touch Trackpad Mouse Events. Create interactivity like never before using new events and force information from the Force Touch Trackpad.
CSS Scroll Snapping. Use CSS scroll snapping to keep the focal point of your content in view when scrolling momentum stops.
AirPlay for HTML5 Media. If you use custom controls for your HTML5 media, use JavaScript AirPlay support to add your own control to stream audio and video to AirPlay devices.
HTML5 Video PiP. Use new JavaScript PiP support to add your own picture-in-picture control to custom controls for HTML5 videos.
FairPlay Streaming. Stream premium web video content securely with FairPlay Streaming support in Safari on OS X.
Backdrop Filters. Add advanced image filters to the backdrop of your elements to achieve modern iOS and OS X material effects in your web content layouts.
Expanded Force Touch Trackpad Support:
AppKit contains new APIs for interacting with Force Touch trackpads. You can now write apps that provide haptic feedback at specific times, such as when objects snap into alignment or when the user reaches the end of something, such as a track view in an audio/video app. New pressure configuration features provide greater control over the behavior and progression of pressure gestures, such as whether acceleration or force clicks are supported. New spring loading features make it easier to activate objects, such as buttons and segmented controls, by force clicking during drag operations. New APIs allow you to implement actions, such as swipe to delete, on table view rows.
WebKit also introduces new APIs for detecting and responding to force pressure from within HTML pages.
Energy Efficiency Guide for Mac Apps:
Even small inefficiencies in apps add up, significantly affecting battery life, performance, and responsiveness. As an app developer, you have an obligation to make sure your app runs as efficiently as possible. Energy Efficiency Guide for Mac Apps provides comprehensive guidelines and recommendations for developing energy efficient Mac apps that perform great help users achieve all-day battery life.
Auto Layout Enhancements:
Layout Guides: Traditionally, there were a number of Auto Layout techniques that required dummy views—empty views that did not have any visual elements of their own. Instead, they simply served to define a rectangular region in the view hierarchy. NSLayoutGuide provide a lightweight alternative. Layout guides define a rectangular region that can interact with Auto Layout. and can be used to define negative space or to group a number of individual items.
Layout Anchors: Provide a fluent interface for programmatically creating Auto Layout constraints. This new API produces simpler, cleaner code that is easier to read, while also providing additional type check information to help prevent the accidental creation of invalid constraints.
NSStackView:
NSStackView has additional subview distribution options, and is also available on iOS.
CloudKit Enhancements:
If you have a CloudKit app, you can use CloudKit web services or CloudKit JS, a JavaScript library, to provide a web interface for users to access the same data as your app. You must have the schema for your databases already created to use a web interface to fetch, create, update, and delete records, zones, and subscriptions.
App Extensions for Photos:
Provide users access to filters and editing tools directly from within the Photos app on Mac.
FRAMEWORKS AND FRAMEWORK TECHNOLOGIES:
New Frameworks:
Contacts (Contacts.framework). Provides a modern object-oriented replacement for the Address Book framework. To learn more, see Contacts Framework Reference.
GameplayKit (GameplayKit.framework). Provides foundational technologies for building games. Use GameplayKit to develop gameplay mechanics, and combine it with any high-level graphics engine—such as SceneKit or SpriteKit—to build a complete game. To learn more about GameplayKit, see GameplayKit Programming Guide and GameplayKit Framework Reference.
Metal (Metal.framework). Provides GPU-accelerated 3D graphics rendering and data-parallel computation workloads. See Metal Programming Guide and related references.
MetalKit (MetalKit.framework). Contains functions and classes that reduce the effort required to create a Metal application. See MetalKit Framework Reference and MetalKit Functions Reference.
Model I/O (ModelIO.framework). The Model I/O framework provides a system-level understanding of 3D model assets and related resources. To learn more about Model I/O, see Model I/O Framework Reference.
Network Extension (NetworkExtension.framework). Provides support for configuring and controlling Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnels.
Accelerate Framework Changes:
AppKit Framework Changes:
The following sections highlight changes and enhancements in the AppKit framework. For detailed information about changes in the AppKit programming interfaces, see AppKit Release Notes for OS X v10.11.
NSCollectionView:
The power, flexibility, and scalability of the iOS UICollectionView class is now available on OS X 10.11. The new NSCollectionView can present heterogeneous collections of variable-sized items, allows for completely customizable layout, supports sections with optional header and footer views, and recycles and lazily instantiates items to enable scaling to large numbers of objects.
NSStackView:
The NSStackView class is significantly updated. It creates significantly fewer constraints to accomplish its layouts, and removes private views from its view hierarchy, instead using NSLayoutGuide where needed.
TextKit:
All the functionality available in the iOS version of TextKit is now available on OS X. Features include exclusion paths, the maximum number of lines restriction, CGGlyph-based NSLayoutManager API, detailed layout controls via NSLayoutManagerDelegate Protocol, and more.
NSWindow / Full Screen:
The NSWindow class now supports full-screen tiling. The system implicitly determines candidate windows for a full-screen tile based on window properties, such as the window being resizable and not a panel or sheet. Secondary full screen tiles do not need to be full-screen capable windows.
New NSSplitViewItem properties:
The NSSplitViewItem class adds several properties that describe the associated metrics.
NSSplitViewItem also has support for flexible sidebars, which have the ability to auto-hide as the window shrinks, which is especially useful in split screen.
NSTableView:
The NSTableView class supports a new feature called “Swipe To Delete.” The delegate can implement tableView:rowActionsForRow:edge: and return an array of NSTableViewRowAction objects that represent buttons.
NSTableView also has methods to hide individual rows.
NSMenu:
The NSMenu class provides a userInterfaceLayoutDirection property for explicit control of the menu content layout direction. If not specified, a menu uses the layout direction of the application.
NSSearchField Option for Centered Placeholder:
A new centersPlaceholder property controls whether the placeholder, magnifier search button and search menu are centered when the search field does not have focus and does not contain text. When it has focus, the control animates its contents to the edge.
Audio Unit Framework Changes:
Defines version 3 of the widely-used Audio Unit plug-in model.
AVFoundation Framework Changes:
AVAudioConnectionPoint adds support for splitting an audio signal chain in AVAudioEngine.
AVAudioConverter and AVAudioCompressedBuffer add support for working with encoded audio formats.
AVAudioSequencer plays back MIDI compositions to instruments using AVAudioEngine.
For file-based assets, AVMediaSelectionGroup objects for the media constant AVMediaCharacteristicAudible now consolidate multiple encodings of the same audio content, such as AAC and AC-3 encodings, into a single AVMediaSelectionOption object. The choice of which of the available encodings to employ for an AVMediaSelectionOption object is made internally, by AVPlayer Class Reference. If your code assumes that an AVMediaSelectionOption object for audio content should or should not be selected based on its mediaSubTypes property, you may need to account for this new, smarter behavior for file-based content.
The AVMutableMovie adds the ability to perform edits on QuickTime movies and ISO-based media formats such as .mp4.
You can apply CoreImage filters to movies for playback and export purposes.
You can mix HLS (streaming) and file-based items in any instance of AVPlayer, including AVQueuePlayer objects.
Core Animation Framework Changes:
Core Animation has adopted Metal as its rendering engine, improving rendering performance and efficiency.
The CASpringAnimation class provides a representation of a physical mass on a spring with a damper system.
Core Data Framework Changes:
Added batch delete functionality and remote merge notification capability. Core Data Programming Guide is significantly updated.
Core Image Framework Changes:
Metal is now supported as a rendering path. You create a CIContext that targets a specific Metal device and use it to render to a MTLTextureDescriptor Class Reference object.
The same filters and image detectors are available on both iOS and OS X.
A common infrastructure for kernels can be used to write custom image kernels once and deploy them on both iOS and OS X.
A new image detector, CIDetectorTypeText, finds regions of text inside an image.
EventKit Framework Changes:
Added the ability to access calendar delegates.
Foundation Framework Changes:
The following sections highlight changes and enhancements in the Foundation framework. For detailed information about changes in the Foundation programming interfaces, see Foundation Release Notes for OS X v10.11.
NSNotificationCenter:
NSNotificationCenter and NSDistributedNotificationCenter no longer send notifications to registered observers that may be deallocated. If the observer is able to be stored as a zeroing-weak reference the underlying storage stores the observer as a zeroing weak reference. Alternatively, if the object cannot be stored weakly (because it has a custom retain/release mechanism that would prevent the runtime from being able to store the object weakly) the object is stored as a non-weak zeroing reference. This means that observers are not required to un-register in their deallocation method.
NSProgress:
NSProgress has a -resume method, which parallels the behavior of the existing -pause method.
NSProgress supports composition of progress objects into trees both implicitly and explicitly.
NSCoder:
In OS X 10.10 and earlier, instances of NSCoder communicated errors primarily through NSException, even if the underlying problem was not a programmer error. All NSCoder implementations now have support for error notification through NSError out-parameters, making it much easier to unarchive data in Swift.
NSUndoManager:
NSUndoManager supports block undo operations.
NSString:
NSString exposes API for transliteration. This was available in CFString previously.
Variable Width Presentation Strings:
You can now provide different width-variations for a string in a stringsdict file, the same file meant for different cardinalities. The -[NSBundle localizedStringForKey:value:table:] method reads the stringsdict file and creates an NSString object that knows about the different variations.
NSError:
In order to make instances of NSError as rich as possible, with localized description, failure reason, recovery attempter, and so forth, the NSError class allows you to specify a block as the userInfoValueProvider for a domain.
MapKit Framework Changes:
Adds support for querying transit ETAs and launching Maps into transit directions.
MKMapView supports a 3D flyover mode.
MKAnnotations can be fully customized.
Map Kit and CLGeocoder search results provide a time zone for the result.
SceneKit Framework Changes:
Metal rendering support. See the SCNView and SCNSceneRenderer classes to enable high-performance Metal rendering on supported devices.
New Scene Editor in Xcode. Build games and interactive 3D apps with less time and less code by designing scenes in Xcode.
Positional audio. See the SCNAudioPlayer and SCNNode classes to add spatial audio effects that automatically track the listener’s position in a scene.
WEBKIT FRAMEWORK CHANGES:
Features Based on Standards or In-Process Standards:
Support for backdrop filters. Allows websites to apply a filter (for example, blur or grayscale) to all the content behind a specific piece of web content.
Scroll snapping. Allows websites to add sophisticated scrolling behavior (for example, snapping from photo to photo in a gallery rather than scrolling to a random point based on the user’s momentum) with a few lines of CSS.
CSS4 support. Allows more sophisticated selector matching behaviors, and allows you to collapse repeated rules into a single rule.
ES6 support. Adds new class syntax, template strings, improvements to Number object, and more.
Unprefixed CSS properties. Allows you to simplify your CSS rules.
Features Based on Apple Technologies:
Support for AirPlay. The same JavaScript API previously available on iOS is now available on OS X, allowing you to add AirPlay support to your custom media controls.
Support for Force Trackpads. JavaScript API allows you to listen for changes in the user’s force and when the user force clicks.
Tools and Web Inspector Features:
New Design. Web Inspector has a tab-based design for easier tool access.
Responsive Design Tool. Safari features a Responsive Design tool that makes it easier for you to create websites that are responsive to various widths.
Type Profiler. Web Inspector supports a type profiler that annotates your JavaScript source with inferred type information, making it easier to debug.
Code Coverage. Web Inspector provides a code coverage mode highlighting code that has been run, making it easier to see relevant code during debugging.
Paint Indicator. Web Inspector has a paint indicator that flashes when elements get repainted, making it easier for you to improve responsiveness in your website by seeing if portions of the web page are painting too much.
Frame Rendering Track. Web Inspector has a Rendering Frames track to see where a website is not getting 60 fps