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Apple Seeds Eighth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday August 29, 2016 1:22 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released the eighth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. Public beta testers have also been provided with their seventh beta version. macOS Sierra beta 8 comes one week after the release of the seventh beta and more than two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Developers and public beta testers can download today's update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Developers can also download the beta from the Apple Developer Center.

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macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a "Universal Clipboard" for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user's devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There's also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and "Tapback" response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.

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macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall, with Apple possibly announcing a release date at its September 7 media event. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

[ 95 comments ]


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towg
37 months ago
If Safari carries on getting snappier at this rate it'll be opening before I click the icon.
Rating: 11 Votes
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gsmornot
37 months ago
There is no guessing this beta schedule.
Rating: 7 Votes
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SandboxGeneral
37 months ago
Sheesh, lol, I just got around to updating last weeks release 2 days ago. I just updated today's release an hour ago so now I'm up-to-date again. Nice to see them pushing updates frequently and hopefully fixing many things.

So far, even since the first PB release Sierra has been exceptionally stable for me.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Goldfrapp
37 months ago
Download. Install. Rinse. Repeat.
Rating: 5 Votes
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antmarobel
37 months ago

pubic beta?


Public beta.
Rating: 5 Votes
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hydr
37 months ago
Safari is snappier
Rating: 5 Votes
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SoyCapitanSoyCapitan
37 months ago
Does Sierra let us use split view without creating a new virtual desktop or do we have to wait for 10.18 Mount Trump?
Rating: 5 Votes
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Loismustdie1
37 months ago

Safari is snappier

Shut up, Meg.
Rating: 5 Votes
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FunClown
37 months ago
I genuinely wonder how often people will be using Siri on their Mac. I have had the beta since the beginning and I would NEVER use it at work, and, even at home, would just do a quick search. Hmmm.
Rating: 3 Votes
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DaveOP
37 months ago

Has this ever happened before? Releasing regular betas so close to release?

Remember, usually OS X/macOS is an October/November release. Does not always coincide with iOS releases.
Rating: 3 Votes

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