Apple issues third macOS Big Sur beta to developers

Apple on Wednesday released a third beta version of its upcoming macOS Big Sur operating system to developers for testing.

The latest beta seed follows a second iteration released to developers two weeks ago. Apple issued an initial test version at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

When it debuts this fall, Big Sur will bring a host of graphical improvements, new features, ARM Mac support and more to Apple's flagship desktop operating system. Messages, for example, will adopt iOS 14 capabilities like rich group chats and pinned messages, while Safari is set to benefit from native translation tools, new extensions, wallpaper customization and more.

Support for Apple silicon is arguably the biggest change coming to macOS. Big Sur will offer compatibility with future ARM Macs as Apple transitions away from intel processors.

Apple on Wednesday also released third beta versions of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7 and tvOS 14 to developers for testing.

Today's Big Sur beta can be downloaded through Apple's Developer Center or through an over-the-air update on Macs running an earlier version of the operating system.