Apple goes live with first tvOS 11 public beta, macOS High Sierra 'coming soon'

In tandem with Monday's iOS 11 release, Apple today also launched the first public beta of tvOS 11 for the Apple TV, while teasing the forthcoming beta of macOS High Sierra.

The release follows a string of developer-only betas issued since WWDC 2017 earlier this month. Any Mac or Apple TV owner with compatible hardware can sign up to download the new code through Apple's Beta Software Program.

It's not yet clear what if anything is different from the developer beta. tvOS, however, has never before been available for public testing.

The finished versions of both operating systems are due this fall.

High Sierra will transition Macs to the Apple File System, already on iOS 10.3.x devices, and make enhancements to native apps like Safari, Mail, and Photos. It will also support standards like Metal 2 and H.265/HEVC video, and eventually enable use of external GPU enclosures for more PC-level graphics.

tvOS 11 will offer AirPods compatibility, automatic switching between light and dark modes, and Home Screen Sync, allowing households with multiple Apple TVs to stay in check.

3 Comments

jensonb 533 comments · 16 Years

About 7 years ago

I can't see there being much interest in the tvOS Public Beta. They don't really have any headline new features to excite people to use it and risk the instability and bugs. I haven't checked in on the Dev Beta response but I suspect given how little has changed compared to on the iOS side it's a pretty stable Beta as these things go, but what's the point in installing it as a member of the general public unless you really want to give minor bits of feedback?

MacPro 19836 comments · 18 Years

If true, I am surprised the public beta of High Sierra is coming so soon, not for the OS itself which seems rock solid but the new file format APFS. IMHO APFS used by those not sufficiently schooled in dealing with betas and the draconian back up routines they'll need could lead to a world of hurt. Unless there is a public beta of 10.13 lacking HFS+ to APFS conversion maybe, although I doubt it.

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

MacPro said:

If true, I am surprised the public beta of High Sierra is coming so soon, not for the OS itself which seems rock solid but the new file format APFS. IMHO APFS used by those not sufficiently schooled in dealing with betas and the draconian back up routines they'll need could lead to a world of hurt. Unless there is a public beta of 10.13 lacking HFS+ to APFS conversion maybe, although I doubt it.

If you install beta software on a production machine, you have been warned. Seriously, there are warnings, you have to deliberately intend to install it, it's not something that's going to happen by accident, and my sympathy level for you is pretty low if you do it at all, let alone without a backup. Don't install beta software on a machine you need to have working, and can't just reformat. If you lose data because of beta software, it's your own fault.

That said, having tried the APFS conversion in the first developer preview (and not even on a clean drive, I deliberately used a drive that had data - it was scheduled to be wiped anyway, so nothing of value could be lost - it just worked. I honestly didn't expect it to, and since the data was going to be wiped anyway, I didn't care if I had to smash the drive with a hammer if I couldn't wipe it any other way.

But no need. It converted without a problem. I'm impressed, live filesystem conversion is hard, Apple pulled this one off. I don't expect that to happen every time, and even once 10.13 goes final I'm going to recommend that no one even consider upgrading without a backup, but I'm actually expecting this one to go pretty smoothly for the most part.

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