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Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available Too]

Monday March 13, 2017 10:02 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.4 update to developers, just under one week after seeding the fifth macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta and over a month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.3.

The sixth macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is available for download through the Apple Developer Center or the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store for those who have previously installed a beta.

macos-10-12-4-beta
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift mode to the Mac for the first time. First introduced on iOS devices with iOS 9.3, Night Shift is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from blue to yellow, cutting down on exposure to blue light. Blue light is said to disrupt the circadian rhythm and is believed to interrupt sleeping patterns.

Night Shift can be activated through the Displays section of System Preferences, where a setting to have it come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise is available. Night Shift can also be toggled on manually through the Notification Center or via Siri.

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Hands-On with Night Shift in macOS 10.12.4 Beta MacRumors

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The 10.12.4 update focuses mainly on Night Shift, but also includes dictation support for Shanghainese, cricket scores for Siri, improved PDFKit APIs, and iCloud Analytics options.

Update: Apple has also made the sixth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 available for public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

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Top Rated Comments

126 months ago

I hate these beta updates. They're so boring and depressing after a while, hoping for some Macbook 2017, iMac, or other exciting news.

You don't have to install the beta. You also don't have to read this article either.

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

126 months ago

" macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift ('https://www.geekwebguides.com/roundup/night-shift/') mode " This ive been reading with the past FIVE updates. Uptill now it was just (very many) bug fixes and security holes. With that OS starts to look more and more like Windows!

I hate these beta updates. They're so boring and depressing after a while, hoping for some Macbook 2017, iMac, or other exciting news.

What are people expecting from beta updates for the same version, something new in each beta? That's not really how that works.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

126 months ago

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

126 months ago

Ok beta testers, are we getting close to a release with this version?

I would say so. Aside from Night Shift, macOS Sierra 10.12.4 adds only a handful of minor features (Siri, PDFKit) and bug fixes.

I was hoping for APFS in-place migration for external volumes but I guess that will wait until 10.13.
[doublepost=1489430035][/doublepost]

Have they said when APFS (Apple File System) is coming to MacOS ?

It's already in macOS Sierra, although it's worth noting that volumes formatted with 10.12.0 may not work on later versions.

If you mean when macOS will be able to use APFS for startup volume, as well as missing support for FileVault, Time Machine, and Fusion Drive, I would say 10.13 in October. Furthermore, many major apps don't work with APFS startup volume (due to hard coded case insensitive file path).

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

126 months ago

" macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift ('https://www.geekwebguides.com/roundup/night-shift/') mode " This ive been reading with the past FIVE updates. Uptill now it was just (very many) bug fixes and security holes. With that OS starts to look more and more like Windows!

What are you trying to say? I don't think I understand, sorry.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

126 months ago

I hope the PDFKit solves the jittery autosave problem, which is my main reason to downgrade and stay with El Cap so far.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Read All Comments

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