Apple Seeds Second OS X 10.11 El Capitan Beta to Developers

Apple today released the second beta of OS X 10.11 El Capitan to developers for testing purposes, just over two weeks after unveiling the new operating system at its 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference. Any new changes found in the second El Capitan beta will be detailed below.

The update, build 15A204h, is available through the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Apple Developer Center. Apple has also released OS X Server 5.0 beta 2.

os_x_el_capitan_roundup
OS X El Capitan largely builds on the features introduced with OS X Yosemite, focusing on improving performance and user experience. Behind-the-scenes improvements in El Capitan have made a number of apps and processes on the Mac much faster, and the introduction of Metal makes system-level graphics rendering 40 percent more efficient.

Along with a new systemwide font, El Capitan includes a revamped Mission Control feature, a new Split View feature for using two full-screen apps at once, deeper functionality for Spotlight, and several new features for Safari, including Pinned Sites for housing frequently-visited websites and a universal mute button that quiets all tabs.

Mail's been updated with new iOS-style gestures and Smart Suggestions, and Photos, Notes, and Maps have also gained small improvements.

OS X 10.11 El Capitan is currently only available to registered developers, but Apple plans to offer a public beta of the software in July. Following testing, El Capitan will see a final release in the fall of 2015.

Related Forum: OS X El Capitan

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 18 Pro Max Rumored to Deliver Next-Level Battery Life

Friday February 6, 2026 5:14 am PST by
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker. Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
139 months ago
Perhaps you'd prefer its inverse, @redheeler:



[SPOILER="1024x1024 verson"]
[/SPOILER]

Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MikhailT Avatar
139 months ago
anyone could check the graphic performance improvement? i have iMac 27 5k and expose is dreadfully slow in yosemite. thanks in advance!
Expose or Mission Control pretty much got an overhaul and is quick on all Macs, they changed how it is rendered. Even the weak rMB saw major improvements.

I have 5K iMac and I can say it is a huge improvement from Yosemite.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theSeb Avatar
139 months ago
I thought these updates were only for us devs... first thing I do is open up Xcode to continue my project, only to see that it doesn't work with El Capitan Beta 2 anymore.

"No problem", I said to myself, "there's a 6.4 beta that should work fine". Except it doesn't.

Xcode 7 isn't an option because I consider releasing my game within the next 2 weeks and if I convert it to Swift 2.0 it'll get rejected because it's a beta language that has been compiled with a beta compiler.

Seriously ? o_O

Luckily, if you Show the Package Contents of Xcode.app, then go under /MacOS/, you can start Xcode 6 through the terminal. Not like they bothered telling us or anything ........
Yes, seriously. Please tell me that you are not really running a pre-release BETA operating system on your "production" machine?

I don't get the shock and indignation. You should not be running beta software on your production system. Beta software is for testing in a VM, or another computer. Why would you install a beta operating system if you're actively working on an application that will be released in the next two weeks? That's very dangerous.

Yes, these are previews are for devs. They are for devs to get their apps working with the latest SDKs and operating systems so that they are ready WHEN the new versions of the operating systems are out of beta and released to the public. They are not there to continue working on applications that you're planning to release before the next operating system is released. This is not rocket science to understand.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redheeler Avatar
139 months ago
I'm assuming it's the Apple Watch San Francisco one.
It's not quite the same.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rudy69 Avatar
139 months ago
Could the 3 OS updates just have been put in one article?
3 articles = ~2-3 times the views!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
luisfelipesv Avatar
139 months ago
I always see developers complaining about non developers who install DP on their devices, saying that it's not right for them to download betas since betas are for developers, while that's true, they have the freedom to do that and I don't see that as a bad thing, I think they are just curious about the new things and curiosity it's a good thing, maybe curiosity is what lead most of developers to become that, maybe downloading betas without being a developer could be their first step to become one.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)