Apple unveils second developer beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3

AppleInsider · December 18, 2017 6:24PM

One week after the last release, Apple has deployed the second beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 beta for developer testing.

The release notes remain sparse, with no note of any new features or improvements. The beta is build number 17D25b, with the last build having number 17D20a.

Apple's latest beta releases are available to registered developers through the Mac App Store's update mechanism.

lkrupp · December 18, 2017 6:43PM

AppleInsider said:

The release notes remain sparse, with no note of any new features or improvements.

Good, work on stability and bug fixes.

sflocal · December 18, 2017 9:34PM

I'm happy that Apple seems to be focusing on stability and bug fixes. I'm all for new features, but let's focus for a while on tightening up the screws.

bobolicious · December 18, 2017 11:06PM

...so if one orders a $5~$10k~$15k new iMac Pro, are they forced to use an OS that is still 'tightening up the screws' ie. clearly in beta testing...? Is that reasonable ? Should customers and licensees expect to at least be able to install and have Applecare support for an OS of not three months hence...? Let the (pyre like) flames begin...

macxpress · December 19, 2017 12:28AM

bobolicious said:

...so if one orders a $5~$10k~$15k new iMac Pro, are they forced to use an OS that is still 'tightening up the screws' ie. clearly in beta testing...? Is that reasonable ? Should customers and licensees expect to at least be able to install and have Applecare support for an OS of not three months hence...? Let the (pyre like) flames begin...

Not really sure what you're getting at here? All OS releases for any platform are a continuous work in progress. Name me a perfect operating system? Every previous macOS release is no different. I guess my your definition, all operating systems on all platform are always clearly beta.

edited December 2017

tyler82 · December 19, 2017 12:41AM

After rushing to upgrade to High Sierra (mostly to try out the new AFS on my new MacBook Pro) I will now wait at least 6 months before upgrading to any major OS release. Lesson learned.

macxpress · December 19, 2017 12:55AM

tyler82 said:

After rushing to upgrade to High Sierra (mostly to try out the new AFS on my new MacBook Pro) I will now wait at least 6 months before upgrading to any major OS release. Lesson learned.

Well then Apple will have dot dot updates which can also cause issues. So by you're thinking you should just never update. There's no guarantee of any OS being any more stable 6 months out than 2 or 3 months in. The conversion of AFS was a HUGE change. Its amazing Apple hasn't any more issues than what is being reported. Changing the filesystem and converting all of your files is a massive change, one that won't happen for a long time to come again. Apple used HFS+ for a very very long time (1998) and up until High Sierra came out, that was the primary file system.

edited December 2017

mplsp · December 19, 2017 1:37AM

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

The release notes remain sparse, with no note of any new features or improvements.
Good, work on stability and bug fixes.

Ditto. Noticing a lot of slow-downs and times when either Safari or OS X comes close to locking up. Generally resolves if I’m willing to wait 5 - 10 minutes, but that’s why I ditched Windows, so I wouldn’t have to hit ctr-alt-delete any more.

james.saldana · December 19, 2017 1:49AM

Tried to update twice so far. Each time it deletes all of the non-apple apps to include Chrome and Firefox. Yes, all apps are the latest up-to-date versions snd all are 64 bit.

bestkeptsecret · December 19, 2017 5:23AM

There's been no news of AFS support for Fusion Drives yet, has there?

mike eggleston · December 19, 2017 5:44AM

james.saldana said:

Tried to update twice so far. Each time it deletes all of the non-apple apps to include Chrome and Firefox. Yes, all apps are the latest up-to-date versions snd all are 64 bit.

I have never had an OS update (major, minor, or even beta) go an erase a part of the Applications directory, or anything else for that matter. Now, I know I am more of a power user and all, but I don't do anything extravagant before my updates (more often than not, I throw caution to the wind and update with no backup).

james.saldana · December 19, 2017 6:39AM

mike eggleston said:

james.saldana said:

Tried to update twice so far. Each time it deletes all of the non-apple apps to include Chrome and Firefox. Yes, all apps are the latest up-to-date versions snd all are 64 bit.

I have never had an OS update (major, minor, or even beta) go an erase a part of the Applications directory, or anything else for that matter. Now, I know I am more of a power user and all, but I don't do anything extravagant before my updates (more often than not, I throw caution to the wind and update with no backup).

I always have backups so rolling back was a non-issue. I guess I'll have to wait this on out.

macgui · December 19, 2017 10:47AM

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

The release notes remain sparse, with no note of any new features or improvements.
Good, work on stability and bug fixes.

Ditto. I wouldn't mind of the next major OS (and iOS) were nothing but bug fixes and UI fixes. I'm running iOS 11 on a 5s with a significantly bad battery (I've got an iFixIt battery and tool kit to deploy) and I really dislike the Podcasts app and the various font changes that have occurred since iOS 7. With each subsequent iOS, some features, reliability, functionality, and elegance (yes, that last bit is subjective) have been lost.

I won't say that it's the crapware that many claim 11 is, but I'm not happy with several of its aspects.

command_f · December 19, 2017 3:21PM

MplsP said:

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

The release notes remain sparse, with no note of any new features or improvements.
Good, work on stability and bug fixes.

Ditto. Noticing a lot of slow-downs and times when either Safari or OS X comes close to locking up. Generally resolves if I’m willing to wait 5 - 10 minutes, but that’s why I ditched Windows, so I wouldn’t have to hit ctr-alt-delete any more.

But this is a Beta of HS, not reasonable to compare it to Windows unless that too was a Beta. Unlike full releases, Betas are supposed not have been fully tested.

command_f · December 19, 2017 3:32PM

macgui said:

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

The release notes remain sparse, with no note of any new features or improvements.
Good, work on stability and bug fixes.

Ditto. I wouldn't mind of the next major OS (and iOS) were nothing but bug fixes and UI fixes. <snip>

I won't say that it's the crapware that many claim 11 is, but I'm not happy with several of its aspects.

I seem to be in the minority in really liking iOS 11 (thinking mostly of iPad but no issues on my phone either).

HS, on the other hand, is rather amateur hour. Two installer releases and an interim update all identifying themselves as 10.13 (no further dots) is just silly whilst not needing a password to enable and log-in as root is getting serious. There's a raft of other problems, showing a clear lack of testing/maturity, that are gradually getting fixed too. So, yes, bug-fixes over new features for the next year please.

macpro · December 19, 2017 8:51PM

tyler82 said:

After rushing to upgrade to High Sierra (mostly to try out the new AFS on my new MacBook Pro) I will now wait at least 6 months before upgrading to any major OS release. Lesson learned.

I have several Macs running High Sierra including my oldest, a 2010 MBP which as an SSD installed internally. It runs very well with High Sierra and APFS as do all newer Macs. What was your issue on a new MBP?

brian green · December 20, 2017 12:27AM

macxpress said:

tyler82 said:

After rushing to upgrade to High Sierra (mostly to try out the new AFS on my new MacBook Pro) I will now wait at least 6 months before upgrading to any major OS release. Lesson learned.

Well then Apple will have dot dot updates which can also cause issues. So by you're thinking you should just never update. There's no guarantee of any OS being any more stable 6 months out than 2 or 3 months in. The conversion of AFS was a HUGE change. Its amazing Apple hasn't any more issues than what is being reported. Changing the filesystem and converting all of your files is a massive change, one that won't happen for a long time to come again. Apple used HFS+ for a very very long time (1998) and up until High Sierra came out, that was the primary file system.

As a Gen 1 5k iMac user, I'm looking forward to APFS on Fusion Drives. With only 181GB remaining on my 1TB internal drive, I'm not up against the wall yet, but I'm hoping for some additional wiggle room with the new APFS. That said, I'd rather they take their time and get it right for those of us with mechanical drives, including externals & RAID's.

Apple unveils second developer beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3

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