macOS Sierra

64 'macOS Sierra' stories June 2016 - October 2019

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macOS Sierra (version 10.12) is the name of Apple’s desktop operating system, and was revealed at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 13, 2016.

After using the “OS X” moniker for the twelve previous versions of the OS, Apple, as long expected, adopted the familiar naming convention that’s present for all of its other platforms, such as iOS and watchOS.

macOS Sierra includes some notable enhancements over the incumbent, OS X El Capitan. Features such as Siri, Apple Pay support for the web, Auto Unlock, Picture in Picture, and Universal Clipboard headline the update.

Users can expect additional new features as well, as has been outlined in our post covering many of the new additions to macOS.

macOS Sierra is currently available as a developer beta, with a public beta expected soon, and a public release scheduled for this fall. Once released, the update will be available free of charge from the Mac App Store, just like past versions of OS X.

Install Mojave Window macOS

Broken macOS Mojave or High Sierra Installer? Expired certificate will require a fresh download

Bradley C Oct 24 2019 - 2:26 pm PT

Longtime macOS users will know that even though the Mac has a built-in recovery partition, it’s always useful to have a dedicated USB drive with a macOS installer. I am a big fan of using a tool like DiskMaker X to create them to keep around if I need to wipe a drive and reinstall macOS quickly. If you have a drive created for Mojave, Sierra, and High Sierra, know that a certificate has expired. If you are getting an error similar to “This copy of the Install macOS Mojave.app application is damaged, and can’t be used to install macOS”, read on to learn how to fix it.

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Fourth macOS 10.12.6 beta rolling out on Mac App Store

Zac Hall Jun 19 2017 - 10:29 am PT

Apple has released the fourth developer beta version of the upcoming macOS 10.12.6 software update. Developers testing the pre-release software can find the update through the Mac App Store.

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Apple rolling out macOS 10.12.4 software update with Night Shift for Mac

Zac Hall Mar 27 2017 - 10:03 am PT

Apple is now rolling out the official macOS 10.12.4 release through the Mac App Store. The latest version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac.

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Apple rolling out macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 6 for Mac

Zac Hall Mar 13 2017 - 9:59 am PT

Apple is rolling out the sixth macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing. The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac.

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Apple rolling out macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 5 for Mac

Zac Hall Mar 7 2017 - 10:01 am PT

Update: The latest build is now available to macOS Public Beta users, as well.

Apple is rolling out the fifth macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing. The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac. Build 16E183b is currently available on Apple’s developer portal and should be available through the Mac App Store soon.

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Apple rolling out macOS 10.12.4 public beta 3 for Mac

Zac Hall Feb 21 2017 - 10:25 am PT

Apple has released the third public beta version of macOS 10.12.4 which includes Night Shift for Mac. macOS 10.12.4 public beta 3 follows the third developer version of the upcoming software update.

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Apple rolling out macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 3 for Mac

Zac Hall Feb 20 2017 - 12:09 pm PT

Apple is rolling out the third macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing. The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac.

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Apple rolling out macOS 10.12.4 public beta 2 for Mac

Zac Hall Feb 8 2017 - 12:59 pm PT

Apple has released the second public beta version of macOS 10.12.4 which includes Night Shift for Mac. macOS 10.12.4 public beta 2 follows the second developer version of the upcoming software update.

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Apple rolling out macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 2 for Mac

Zac Hall Feb 7 2017 - 10:11 am PT

Apple is rolling out the second macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing. The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac.

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macOS 10.12.4 beta code points to expected Kaby Lake MacBook Pro upgrades

Zac Hall Feb 7 2017 - 8:28 am PT

Code discovered in the current macOS 10.12.4 software beta includes references to what is likely Kaby Lake-based MacBook Pro models currently being developed. Apple released the current generation of MacBook Pro models in October. The code discovered in macOS 10.12.4 points to what could be coming in the next lineup.

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Apple releases macOS 10.12.4 public beta 1 with Night Shift for Mac

Zac Hall Jan 26 2017 - 10:13 am PT

Apple has released the first public beta version of macOS 10.12.4 which includes Night Shift for Mac. macOS 10.12.4 public beta 1 follows two days after the first developer version of the upcoming software update.

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PDF-handling problems in Sierra that broke ScanSnap are back in 10.12.2, many apps affected

Ben Lovejoy Jan 3 2017 - 5:22 am PT

Back in September, a major bug with PDF-handling that led to Fujitsu temporarily warning ScanSnap owners to cease using their scanners with Sierra. The problem was later identified as a bug in the PDFKit framework in macOS 10.12.

Take Control of Preview co-author Adam Engst (via Daring Fireball), says that although Apple applied fixes in 10.12.1, it has reintroduced bugs in 10.12.2 – to the extent that he now advises against using Preview for PDF editing at all for now …

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How to hide and show app updates on the Mac App Store [Video]

Jeff Benjamin Jan 2 2017 - 3:47 pm PT

Have you ever wanted to hide a particular app update on the Mac App Store? I often do so with some of the supplemental content provided by Apple Motion and Final Cut Pro X. In this brief tutorial, I’ll show you how to quickly hide app updates, and how to bring back hidden updates just as fast.
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Why Apple is removing ‘time remaining’ battery life estimates following MacBook Pro complaints

Jordan Kahn Dec 13 2016 - 10:00 am PT

Following a flurry of media coverage highlighting battery life complaints for Apple’s 2016 MacBook Pros, we’ve learned an internal investigation by the company has determined there isn’t a hardware flaw to address with the new machines. Instead, Apple is today removing inaccurate “time remaining” battery life estimates from macOS, a move that it hopes will address concerns among users.

There has been a lot of confusion over battery life estimates on the new 2016 MacBook Pros. Some were reporting estimates lower than expected via the macOS battery life status menu which offered an on the fly prediction of remaining juice, but there was a clear misunderstanding about how the feature worked.

Apple didn’t have a ton of public information about how the battery life estimations were calculated, but we’ve talked to those in the know to get the scoop on why they’ve decided to remove it entirely following the MacBook Pro battery life concerns.

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Apple releases macOS 10.12.2 with new emoji, wallpapers, graphics & System Integrity Protection fixes, more

Zac Hall Dec 13 2016 - 10:00 am PT

Apple is releasing the macOS 10.12.2 software update for Mac today. The new version includes Unicode 9 emoji like iOS 10.2 plus four new wallpapers and plenty of bug fix improvements. macOS 10.12.2 is available as an update from the Mac App Store including for developers and public beta testers. Release notes below:

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Apple rolling out macOS 10.12.2 beta 6 for developers

Zac Hall Dec 8 2016 - 1:03 pm PT

Apple is rolling out macOS 10.12.2 beta 6 for Mac — the second release in three days. The new update follows the initial macOS 10.12.2 beta at the end of October and multiple additional builds since. Today’s build is available on the developer center and will likely hit the Mac App Store soon [update: OTA available now].

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Apple releases macOS 10.12.2 beta 5 for developers

Zac Hall Dec 5 2016 - 9:58 am PT

Apple has released macOS 10.12.2 beta 5 for Mac. The new update follows the initial macOS 10.12.2 beta at the end of October and multiple additional builds since. Today’s build is 16C60b compared to 16C53a and is available from the Mac App Store.

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macOS 10.12.2 beta 4 includes new ‘Color Burst’ wallpapers from MacBook Pro marketing

Zac Hall Nov 28 2016 - 4:11 pm PT

The latest version of macOS Sierra update includes new Color Burst wallpapers that were previously seen in MacBook Pro with Touch Bar marketing material. Check out and download each of the new wallpapers below…

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Apple releases macOS 10.12.2 beta 4 for developers

Zac Hall Nov 28 2016 - 10:22 am PT

Apple has released macOS 10.12.2 beta 4 for Mac. The new update follows the initial macOS 10.12.2 beta at the end of October and multiple additional builds since. Today’s build comes in at version 16C53a, up from 16C48b, and is available from the Mac App Store.

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Apple releases macOS 10.12 Sierra open source Darwin code

Jeff Benjamin Nov 24 2016 - 9:35 am PT

As it has done in the past, Apple has released the open source Darwin code for macOS 10.12 Sierra. The code, located on Apple’s open source website, can be accessed via direct link now, although it doesn’t yet appear on the site’s home page.

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Apple releases macOS 10.12.2 beta 2 with new emoji

Zac Hall Nov 8 2016 - 10:02 am PT

Apple has released macOS 10.12.2 beta 2 for Mac. The new update follows the initial macOS 10.12.2 beta at the end of October, followed by a slightly updated build earlier this month. Today’s build has version 16C41b, up from 16C32f, and is available from the Mac App Store.

macOS 10.12.2 includes Unicode 9.0 emoji support, which matches compatibility in beta versions of iOS 10.2 and watchOS 3.1.1.

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Apple releases updated macOS 10.12.2 beta build with new emoji

Zac Hall Nov 3 2016 - 12:01 am PT

Apple has rolled out an updated beta version of macOS 10.12.2 for Mac. The new build comes in at version 16C32f compared to 16C32e from the first beta release and may require installing an update utility from the developer center. Note that the new build is not macOS 10.12.2 beta 2 as it still lists version 1.0 on the release, just a newer build for some reason.

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macOS Sierra

macOS 10.12.1 software update is now available through the Mac App Store

Zac Hall Oct 24 2016 - 10:21 am PT

Apple has officially released macOS 10.12.1 for all macOS Sierra users. The Mac software update is available through the Mac App Store after previously only being available in beta to developers and public beta testers.

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macOS Sierra

How-To: Dock Picture-in-Picture videos anywhere on macOS Sierra [Video]

Jeff Benjamin Oct 19 2016 - 12:46 pm PT

By default, Picture-in-Picture videos on macOS Sierra are docked in one of the four corners of your Mac’s display. If you try to move the window elsewhere, it will quickly snap back to one of the four default corners. This is very similar to how Picture-in-Picture mode works on the iPad.

But it’s also possible to dock videos anywhere on your display by using a handy keyboard combination. Watch our brief hands-on video for the quick how-to.
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