Apple Seeds Fourth OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan Beta to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third OS X 10.11.4 beta and more than a month after releasing OS X 10.11.3. OS X 10.11.4 has been in testing since January 11.

The fourth OS X 10.11.4 beta, build 15E49a, can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or via the Software Update Mechanism in the Mac App Store.

os_x_el_capitan_roundup
OS X 10.11.4 offers a couple of new features, such as Live Photos support in Messages, the ability to password protect notes in the Notes app, and an option to import notes from Evernote, but like the recent OS X 10.11.3 update, it appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements. Almost all of Apple's OS X updates to date have been smaller updates that improve performance rather than introduce new features.

We'll update this post with any features or significant changes that are discovered in the third beta of OS X 10.11.4. OS X 10.11.4 is likely to see a spring release alongside iOS 9.3, tvOS 9.2, and watchOS 2.2.

Related Forum: OS X El Capitan

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...
apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
macbook air march 2020

Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September. The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...
Apple Fitness Plus hero

Apple Announces New Fitness+ Workout Programs, Strava Challenge, and More

Friday January 2, 2026 6:43 am PST by
Apple today announced a number of updates to Apple Fitness+ and activity with the Apple Watch. The key announcements include: New Year limited-edition award: Users can win the award by closing all three Activity Rings for seven days in a row in January. "Quit Quitting" Strava challenge: Available in Strava throughout January, users who log 12 workouts anytime in the month will win an ...

Top Rated Comments

Ebenezum Avatar
129 months ago
I would like Apple to finally start including detailed listing of changes and bug fixes in 10.11.4 once it is released. I am not expecting miracles but the information that Apple has provided for 10.11.1-11.1.3 is seriously lacking to say the least...

Is it really too much to ask given the Apples resources? :(
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anonymous123 Avatar
129 months ago
Would love to know if the MacRumors staff is capable of posting one of these without the first two words being "Apple today".
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kagharaht Avatar
129 months ago
Focus Areas

* iBooks
* Messages
* Notes
* Photos

Useless. No WiFi Sleep Wake, BTMM, HomeSharing, Powernap, Finder, Slow SMB, Bonjour Problems.

It's all FLUFF no MEAT for Apple these days.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
129 months ago
Useless. No WiFi Sleep Wake, BTMM, HomeSharing, Powernap, Finder, Slow SMB, Bonjour Problems.

It's all FLUFF no MEAT for Apple these days.
Well, let's see. The BOM mentions, among many other things:

"WiFi Sleep Wake"

Wireless Diagnostics.app
WiFiAgent.app
CoreWLANKit.framework
CoreWiFi.framework

"BTMM"

awdl_d2d.bundle
BTMMPortInUseAgent.plugin

"HomeSharing"

Not sure what you mean by this. In iTunes?

"Powernap"

powermetrics
powerd.bundle
AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext

"Finder"

FinderKit.framework
com.apple.Finder.axbundle
Finder.app
FinderSync.framework

"Slow SMB"

SMBClient.framework
mount_smbfs
smbutil
smbd
smbfs.kext
smb.bundle
smbfs.fs

"Bonjour Problems"

BonjourEvents.plugin
com.apple.bonjour.plugin
mDNSResponder
mDNSResponder.bundle

You're right, though. Clearly, 10.11.4 only contains a new version of Finder for marketing reasons. Useless.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SlipperySlop Avatar
129 months ago
Useless. No WiFi Sleep Wake, BTMM, HomeSharing, Powernap, Finder, Slow SMB, Bonjour Problems.

It's all FLUFF no MEAT for Apple these days.
First of all, you have absolutely NO proof that no work has been done on areas that interest you, do you?

Secondly, doesn't it take a lot of **** to think that just because you think something is fluff should mean that everyone should consider it the same way? Please. There are issues in those apps that you hate that many love and need that need to be addressed, despite your irrational dismissal of those apps. I will just never understand the mentality of many of those who post here. It's already almost impossible to extract useful information from the childishness and fluff that pervades these forums.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
till213 Avatar
129 months ago
('https://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/22/apple-seeds-os-x-10-11-4-beta-4/')


Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third OS X 10.11.4 beta ('https://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/08/apple-seeds-third-10-11-4-el-capitan-beta/') and more than a month after releasing OS X 10.11.3 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2016/01/19/apple-releases-os-x-10-11-3/'). OS X 10.11.4 has been in testing ('https://www.macrumors.com/2016/01/11/apple-seeds-first-osx-10-11-4-beta/') since January 11.

The fourth OS X 10.11.4 beta, build 15E49a, can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center ('https://developer.apple.com/osx/download/') or via the Software Update Mechanism in the Mac App Store.



OS X 10.11.4 offers a couple of new features, such as Live Photos support in Messages, the ability to password protect notes in the Notes app, and an option to import notes from Evernote, but like the recent OS X 10.11.3 update, it appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements. Almost all of Apple's OS X updates to date have been smaller updates that improve performance rather than introduce new features.

We'll update this post with any features or significant changes that are discovered in the third beta of OS X 10.11.4. OS X 10.11.4 is likely to see a spring release alongside iOS 9.3, tvOS 9.2, and watchOS 2.2.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Fourth OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan Beta to Developers ('https://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/22/apple-seeds-os-x-10-11-4-beta-4/')
Downloading right now...
[doublepost=1456165291][/doublepost]
I would like Apple to finally start including detailed listing of changes and bug fixes in 10.11.4 once it is released. I am not expecting miracles but the information that Apple has provided for 10.11.1-11.1.3 is seriously lacking to say the least...

Is it really too much to ask given the Apples resources? :(
Sorry, but an added "Implemented NSA backdoor" just doesn't read so good in the Release Notes...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)