Apple issues first developer beta of macOS 11.2 [U]

AppleInsider

Following Tuesday's iOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.4, watchOS 7.3 and tvOS 14.4 beta releases, Apple has provided developers with the first test version of macOS Big Sur 11.2.

Apple releases new macOS beta

Apple offers downloads of its betas through the Apple Developer Center, for participants in its developer test program, though hardware already running beta software can also receive an over-the-air update. Public beta variants usually arrive a short time after developer versions, and can be accessed through the Apple Beta Software Program website.

Apple did not provide any detailed release notes beyond the usual bug fixes, but if any new features exist in macOS 11.2 they will be discovered soon. Apple has been optimizing their latest Macs running the M1 processor.

The new beta cycle arrives after Apple released macOS 11.1 to the public on December 14. It included support for AirPods Max and new privacy labels on the Mac App Store.

AppleInsider, and Apple itself, highly recommend users don't install betas on to "mission-critical" or primary devices, due to the potential for data loss or other issues. It is instead recommended to install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to ensure there are sufficient backups of important data beforehand.

Find any changes in the new betas? Reach out to us on Twitter at @AppleInsider or @Andrew_OSU, or send Andrew an email at [email protected].

Update, Dec. 17, 2020: Apple has released a public beta version of macOS 11.2.

MacQuadra840av

So it does look like they are changing their version numbering to match iOS, as macOS becomes more and more like iOS.  More and more locked down.  Now you have to restart just to install a printer driver, after a number of pop-up warnings just to install the software.

canukstorm

MacQuadra840av said:

So it does look like they are changing their version numbering to match iOS, as macOS becomes more and more like iOS.  More and more locked down.  Now you have to restart just to install a printer driver, after a number of pop-up warnings just to install the software.

So you automatically macOS is becoming more locked down because of a change in version numbering?

MacQuadra840av

canukstorm said:

MacQuadra840av said:

So it does look like they are changing their version numbering to match iOS, as macOS becomes more and more like iOS.  More and more locked down.  Now you have to restart just to install a printer driver, after a number of pop-up warnings just to install the software.

So you automatically macOS is becoming more locked down because of a change in version numbering?

Did you even read what I said?  It is becoming more like iOS, which is more locked down.  You cannot even modify the system in any way.  macOS is now contained in a locked volume, and with Big Sur, it is worse than Catalina.  Next time learn how to read and comprehend.

PetrolDave

I hope they are doing something about how power hungry Big Sur 11 & 11.1 are - I have to charge my MacBook Air every 3 days instead of every 5 since the very first Big Sur betas.

Rayz2016

PetrolDave said:

I hope they are doing something about how power hungry Big Sur 11 & 11.1 are - I have to charge my MacBook Air every 3 days instead of every 5 since the very first Big Sur betas.

Have you reported it?

elijahg

MacQuadra840av said:

So it does look like they are changing their version numbering to match iOS, as macOS becomes more and more like iOS.  More and more locked down.  Now you have to restart just to install a printer driver, after a number of pop-up warnings just to install the software.

The extra security is fine for your grandma, but it keeps getting in the way for power users and there's no way to turn it off. Broken kernel extensions due to Apple converting to DriverKit are common, Apple's own replacement drivers for common hardware are buggy and unreliable. Modifying kexts as a dev results in all sorts of hoops you have to jump through to get things running. Apple now runs the system from a snapshot, resulting in programs running from some weird "app translocation", which breaks X11 and other cross platform apps that refer to their own application paths - because they aren't running from where they think they are.

There are hard links all over the place to get the snapshots to work, and the partitioning scheme is a mess of volumes. My iMac has 11 partitions, two of which are for Windows, the rest are Mac related. There is the actual APFS volume sat atop an APFS container, atop a CoreStorage volume atop a synthesised disk atop a GUID partition scheme atop the actual disk. If any one of those has a couple of bits flipped, its game over for the rest of the overcomplex stack. You can't even debug system issues with the console any more, as most messages are <private> without an Apple profile. The immutable "security" features are turning macOS into a closed system. Bloat and overcomplexity is growing at a Microsoft-like rate right now too, however Windows on the same iMac actually feels quite a bit faster than macOS does.

xyzzy-xxx

I also hope macOS does not become more locked down an that Apple will lift some restrictions:
- No target disk mode on Apple Silicon Macs
- SW check against Apple server (option to opt out was announced recently)
- Application firewalls cannot filter network traffic from Apple
- Better read only file system (Finder cannot save window size from system volume)

PetrolDave

Rayz2016 said:

PetrolDave said:

I hope they are doing something about how power hungry Big Sur 11 & 11.1 are - I have to charge my MacBook Air every 3 days instead of every 5 since the very first Big Sur betas.

Have you reported it?

Yes I have via the feedback app.