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Apple Releases Second OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan Beta to Public Beta Testers

Wednesday January 27, 2016 9:06 am PST by Juli Clover
OS X El Capitan LogoApple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 beta to public beta testers, just a few days after releasing the second OS X 10.11.4 beta to developers and just over a week after releasing OS X 10.11.3.

The second beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store for those who are enrolled in Apple's beta testing program. Those wishing to join the program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website.

OS X 10.11.4 includes a couple of new features, such as the ability to support password protected notes in the Notes app, but like the recent OS X 10.11.3 update, it appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements with few noticeable outward-facing changes.

Apple is likely to release OS X 10.11.4 in the spring, alongside iOS 9.3, watchOS 2.2, and tvOS 9.2.

Tag: OS X 10.11.4
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Paradoxally
47 months ago

Get rid of Rootless (system integrity protection). Please and thank you.


There is zero reason to compromise on security for the sake of true root access. The majority of users will benefit from added security, as they do not need root. Those who do know how to do disable it anyway.
Rating: 4 Votes
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chucker23n1
47 months ago

How exactly? (Comparison with Yosemite would be handy.)


Significantly lowered vector of stability and security issues.

Isn't it nice of Apple to not release dev and pub betas on the same day, thus giving Macrumors EIGHT new articles to post?


Yes, I'm sure increasing Macrumors's ad impressions is a top priority for Apple's beta release schedule.
Rating: 4 Votes
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chucker23n1
47 months ago

I wonder if they'll fix the Safari full screen youtube bug that's been around since El Capitan came out...


Fix Mail not sending mail, some Apps need to be 100% guaranteed to work, sadly Apple thinks otherwise.


Have you guys considered, y'know, reporting those issues?

(FWIW, I can watch YouTube in full-screen in Safari, and I can send mail with Mail. I have been able to in 10.11.3, 10.11.2, 10.11.0, and, well, for a long time.)
Rating: 4 Votes
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dogslobber
47 months ago

When I said "exactly" I didn't mean "by saying something that actually means nothing whatsoever but sounds smart". If you come with a statistic of 99.99% of users benefitting, please follow that real world examples where that happens, ideally with numbers confirming the 99.99% percentage. Thanks in advance!


SIP protects users who would blindly type admin password to allow their system to be root kitted. That means even if they type that sudo root password indiscriminately, SIP will protect those system files from being altered or overwritten. Or that's what is generally claimed. I think it's a good idea for the majority who don't do OS or kernel development.

In terms of TotalFinder and such hacks, those lead to OS instability through using undocumented interfaces so it reduces the barrier for support needs as it's more of a hassle to disable SIP than be bothered with some wacky app.
Rating: 3 Votes
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KALLT
47 months ago

How exactly? (Comparison with Yosemite would be handy.)


I always found it odd that an operating system predominantly targeted at consumers would allow unrestricted root access. Access that could destroy an entire system with one single command, a command that could be executed by any program. Perhaps the times are not as bad on the Mac yet and maybe it is premature in El Capitan specifically, but future-proofing OS X for such attack vectors is not a bad idea in my opinion. I also love to see how some developers scrambled to fix their applications just so that it would continue to work without problems, so why not stick to Apple’s security guidelines to begin with?

So far the only reasonable complaints I heard were from people who like to used hacks like TotalFinder or XtraFinder or swap application icons. If you you are experienced enough, you will find the tool to turn SIP off and use OS X just like before. No big deal. I’d wager that the mentioned percentage of 99.9% is equal to the percentage of people who did not turn off SIP.
Rating: 3 Votes
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bladerunner2000
47 months ago

Rootless benefits 99.99% of users. For advanced users:

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/


It doesn't though. Did you or anyone else ever have any kind of detriment with the lack of SIP in all of the years prior?

All SIP has done is restrict choice/options to the consumer even more and effectively destroyed 3rd party developers like TotalFinder or XtraFinder.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Dwalls90
47 months ago

Get rid of Rootless (system integrity protection). Please and thank you.


Rootless benefits 99.99% of users. For advanced users:

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/
Rating: 2 Votes
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BaltimoreMediaBlog
47 months ago
I've filed bug reports on various Macs, but I've noticed a lot of them are being ignored. I used to get requests for further documentation and such. No more. It appears Apple's recent announcement to not support certain Macs that were previously supported when Yosemite and El Capitan were first released are being ignored. If you've been filing bug reports on the newly unsupported Macs that are ALLEGEDLY SUPPORTED under El Capitan, don't bother. Since that Apple press release, they've started throwing bug reports for 2009 Mac Pro's in the trash like Publisher's Clearing House Winning submissions! You're wasting your time. Apple doesn't care. :(

For those wondering, I still have MAIL accounts that are corrupted, inaccessible. I have one that I can send/receive mail on but not view the account settings. It doesn't even show up? How could they be so dumb as to cause this bug?

The iPhone connect/Bluetooth Crash issue still persists. They asked me to test different cables. Doesn't make a difference. This one is really big since it requires a complete shutdown and sometimes a PRAM reset to fix.
No more responses from Apple on that one. :(

With 12GB of memory and only running 4 programs, I would think I wouldn't get spinning beachballs still huh? Haven't fixed that either. :(

Like I've said before, if Mavericks works fine for you and you don't need any of the new "features", stick with it.
Rating: 2 Votes
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bladerunner2000
47 months ago
Get rid of Rootless (system integrity protection). Please and thank you.
Rating: 2 Votes
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ChasInVictoria
47 months ago
You guys understand that if you're seeing an issue and 99 percent of the many millions of people who are using El Cap aren't seeing it and have no idea what you're talking about, it's just local to you and probably not something Apple is going to fix because it's not actually a problem in OS X, right?

(looking directly at Traverse, and justperry specifically)
Rating: 2 Votes

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