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

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

The fifth 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.


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: The fifth macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is now available for public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

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Top Rated Comments

Böhme417 Avatar
109 months ago
IMO ... nightshift is not such an important feature.... particularly for a non-mobile operating system.
The vast majority of workforce don't look at their computer screens at night so this doesn't benefit them.

Apple should spend their effort improving other areas of OSX.
Workforce? Pretty sure there are plenty of people using their computers at night who can benefit from this...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DEMinSoCAL Avatar
109 months ago
Night Shift, Shanghainese and cricket scores? This is about the least exciting macOS update I can remember.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tywebb13 Avatar
109 months ago
I really wish they'd save the front page posting of this news until they have some substance regarding what's changed in the release. If we never get substance, then it never goes on front page.

It's just that a version bump in itself isn't really news, it's a change of a digit.
Totally disagree. Sorry.

But if there was no "substance" as you call it, then apple would not have released a new beta.

"Just a version bump"? Well there has to be a reason for it otherwise apple wouldn't have done it just for the sake of changing the number.

And it certainly IS news. I often find out about new betas on the front page of macrumors before logging into apple's developer portal to get the new seed note and checking for updates in the mac app store.

So I would be happy for macrumors to continue posting such information on their front page.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StyxMaker Avatar
109 months ago
Night Shift, Shanghainese and cricket scores? This is about the least exciting macOS update I can remember.
Not if you live in Shanghai or are one of the millions of cricket fans around the world.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Milli*5410 Avatar
109 months ago
Hope it fixes the Safari bug I was experiencing page scrolling down by its self.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mytdave Avatar
109 months ago
What's this obsession with Night Shift? How about more stability, compatibility, and restoration of lost features (i.e. Disk Utility currently stinks, bad)?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)