Apple Releases OS X 10.11.5 El Capitan With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements

Apple today released OS X 10.11.5 to the public, marking the launch of the fifth update to the El Capitan operating system that was first released on September 30, 2015. OS X 10.11.5 comes nearly two months after the release of OS X 10.11.4, an update that introduced Live Photos for Messages and password protected notes in the Notes app.

The OS X 10.11.5 update can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. It is available to all OS X El Capitan users.

elcapitanmacbook
Most of the updates to OS X El Capitan have focused largely on under-the-hood improvements, bug fixes, and security enhancements rather than outward-facing changes, and OS X 10.11.5 is no exception. No obvious feature changes were discovered in the beta, and according to Apple's release notes, OS X 10.11.5 includes bug fixes, performance improvements, and security updates.

Prior to releasing the OS X 10.11.5 update, which has been in testing since April 6, Apple seeded four betas to developers and public beta testers.

Related Forum: OS X El Capitan

Popular Stories

iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...

Top Rated Comments

efktd Avatar
117 months ago
I hope this fixes the issue where my iMac randomly looses it, freezes and restarts all by itself. A $3,000 machine shouldn't do this, especially in the middle of work.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Romf Avatar
117 months ago

What on earth are you guys doing to your system that causes issues ? Not with Yosemite or this current OS have I had any problems. Of course I don't fool around with things. Everything stock and all have worked well. Only downloaded app would be a weather app.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-pro-2015-with-osx-el-capitan-10-11-4-system-wide-freeze.1963711/

Yeah, all these ppl are just messing their mac with crappy apps...
Everytime there is a bug that doesn't touch everyone we have this kind of comments :rolleyes:

Oh, and btw, didn't know a mac had to be used only with stock apps. Thanks for letting me know!:rolleyes:
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kevinkyoo Avatar
117 months ago
God, any picture of any MacBooks on MacRumors will make me jump a little
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
garylapointe Avatar
117 months ago
Has Apple been better at releasing more timely bug fixes this year than they've been for the past few years?

With 10.11, Apple has had 6 releases in 8 months.
With 10.10, Apple had 6 releases in 11 months.
With 10.9, Apple had 6 releases in 12 months.

If Apple keeps up the current pace, they could hit 10.11.7 before moving on to 10.12. Might be a more stable version than they've had in a long time...
Or maybe it's just had more bugs that they've had to fix?

I'm not trying to be negative, I'm being logical...

Gary
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
velcrovan Avatar
117 months ago
What on earth are you guys doing to your system that causes issues ? Not with Yosemite or this current OS have I had any problems. Of course I don't fool around with things. Everything stock and all have worked well. Only downloaded app would be a weather app.
Speaking for myself…I never had any problems either, until 10.11.4. I’ve installed such crazy apps as MS Office, a text editor, Steam, Scrivener. No crazy hacks.

Maybe, you know, when a lot of people start having the same problem after an OS upgrade ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-users-reporting-widespread-system-freezes-with-os-x-el-capitan-10-11-4-update.1972409/unread')…maybe it was a bug in the OS that caused it? Not the people who are just using their computers in ordinary ways?

If you never install any software then why the **** did you waste money on a Macbook?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ScooterComputer Avatar
117 months ago
hubris
The exact word I have been using and trying to get out there about Apple for several years. This "situation" isn't something that happened over night, signs have been there for a while. Having been close to Apple during the late 1980s and through the 1990s (working for and selling/consulting), I've seen this all before. Then I saw it again, at a distance, as Microsoft went through it. That hubris has once again seemingly taken such deep root at Apple is disheartening.

(As an aside, I know from having been in meetings with Apple VPs before Jobs' return that the Apple executive team at the time, perhaps contrary to the public perception, was crapping bricks about what was happening at Apple. They were lost. And scared. The "Apple Death Watch" narrative that the terrible, mean tech press was out to get Apple was the public story, but behind the scenes the team knew the end was nigh. Only, they were about 5 years too late to do much about it, and they were unable to create the Reality Distortion Field necessary to "magically" fix things. Steve, luckily, did that. But none of us should be under the illusion that "magic" is real; Steve's RDP didn't "save" Apple, it bought time, interest, and a loyalty and buy-in from the best and brightest in the company to come together and innovate their asses off. When I look at Apple today, I don't see that kind of hard work being done. Instead, I see a lot of fluff. "Bobby Trendy" talk about design method in puffy designer speak; what I don't see is good, clean engineering execution. I know Apple employees that are frustrated, afraid to speak out, and unhappy with the obvious diminished quality. I see, once again, a devout Apple press lapping up what Apple pushes, undercritically, with an intensely rabid "fanboy" community that lashes out against any critique. I've seen it before, just like this. It bred a destructive hubris that brought down the company. But at least then the execs were scared; now, I get no feel that Cook, Cue, et all are the slightest bit in tune with things. Instead, they see a $200BILLION dollar cash hoard as justification. They're doing everything right! CusSat is off the charts! Lemmings are buying, Vogue is running cover stories, and they're driving MOVEMENTS, maaaan. I wish them luck. Could be a rough next five years.)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)