Apple issues first public beta of macOS 10.12.5

Apple on Thursday released the first public beta of its next update for macOS Sierra 10.12.5, a minor update largely anticipated to focus on bug fixes and speed improvements.

The new software is available to anyone registered with Apple's Beta Software Program. Signing up is free, and grants access to future public betas of both macOS and iOS.

The latest 10.12.5 beta follows an initial developer release on Tuesday. Apple simultaneously posted the first developer seeds of iOS 10.3.2, watchOS 3.2.2, and tvOS 10.2.1.

It's not clear what changes are in macOS 10.12.5, since Apple hasn't included any release notes, though no major changes or feature additions have been discovered in testing. Typically that means an update is maintenance-oriented.

The finished version of macOS 10.12.4 was released on Monday and brought minor enhancements, like Night Shift for the Mac, new PDFKit APIs, cricket results in Siri, and more options for iCloud Analytics.

It also expanded internet recovery options, but may have introduced a glitch affecting USB headsets.

4 Comments

alexmac 49 comments · 8 Years

About 7 years ago

I got the the 10.12.4 on a ntb 13 MacBookpro and the battery life is awesome. Anyone else notice this? Now without any doubt is the best mbp ever imho

MacPro 19836 comments · 18 Years

About 7 years ago

alexmac said:

I got the the 10.12.4 on a ntb 13 MacBookpro and the battery life is awesome. Anyone else notice this? Now without any doubt is the best mbp ever imho

The 15" is my next wish list item, I hope the battery is as good.

I just got dev 10.12.5 on all my Macs and haven't seen any differences yet, I cold be wrong but I suspect the comment above that it's just a maintenance update is correct, or perhaps security patches?

Talking of security, given all the ISP news lately, I'd like to see AI do an in-depth review of the best VPN 256bit encryption systems ideal for the Apple eco system. I like the idea of the router based approach for a home network but there is the need for a software implementation for mobile use. All the companies I've read about offer an either or , or both paid separately. I've yet to find all inclusive bundle approach.

Which also brings me to a long held wish Apple entered the ISP world offering VPN and encryption built in. With Apple I trust they'd never sell any customer data anyway, even with a lunatic running the FCC.

lorin schultz 2744 comments · 10 Years

About 7 years ago

MacPro said:

The 15" is my next wish list item, I hope the battery is as good.

I've got a maxed out 15" (my wallet is still recovering from the hit 2TB of flash storage delivered). I don't know if battery life is affected by the GPU, but mine is the 460 in case it matters.

I don't really pay much attention to the battery meter because my machine is connected to shore power several times a day. The pattern is an hour or two on battery, an hour or two at the desk (connected to power), another hour or two on battery, back to the desk, etc. However, the few times I've looked, the impression I got is that the ten-hour claim is probably about right. Today, after using the machine for about 75 minutes or so, the battery is at 90%. Yesterday, after a little over two hours, it was at 83%. If we extrapolate that out to 0% we get somewhere over ten hours.

theothergeoff 2081 comments · 14 Years

About 7 years ago

on topic of the beta, on my 13" MBP (2015), 10.12.5b1 feels more 'responsive' a couple hours after the upgrade. But like 10.12.4b7, it has a hiccup configuring Messages on the Mac... I needed to reenter my iCloud credentials inside the app preferences, and then restart the app... then it works (entering the credentials into the System Preferences at restart doesn't seem to affect Messages).