Apple Releases macOS Sierra 10.12.4 With New Night Shift Mode

Apple today released macOS Sierra 10.12.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sierra operating system that launched on September 20. macOS Sierra 10.12.4 has been in testing since January 24, with Apple having seeded eight betas ahead of its public release.

macOS Sierra 10.12.4 is a free update for all customers who are running macOS Sierra. The update can be downloaded using the Software Update function in the Mac App Store.

sierra 10
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift mode to the Mac for the first time. Night Shift, first introduced on iOS devices in iOS 9.3, is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from blue to a subtle yellow, cutting down on exposure to blue light. Blue light is believed to interrupt the circadian rhythm, disrupting sleep patterns.

Night Shift is 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. It can also be set to turn on and off at custom times. Night Shift can also be toggled on manually using the Notification Center or Siri.


The 10.12.4 update focuses primarily on Night Shift, but the update also includes dictation support for Shanghainese, cricket score integration for Siri, improved PDFKit APIs, and new iCloud Analytics options.

Update: Apple has also released a new 2017-001 security update for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
New Intel Logo

Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

Friday November 28, 2025 7:33 am PST by
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027. Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Black Friday iPhone Deals Still Available

Friday November 28, 2025 6:24 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
113 months ago
No APFS? Beyond that, a welcome update. :)
They're being really, really careful with the APFS on macOS! So much can go wrong compared to iOS, which is completely locked down. You can have lots of different partitions on a Mac, different boot drives, different structures, Time Machine backups... honestly they can't be too careful with testing it. There's an awful lot that can go wrong!

That said, I too am eagerly awaiting APFS on Sierra. :oops: :D
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gudi Avatar
113 months ago
Woo, LaTeX notation in Pages. :cool:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ashdelacroix Avatar
113 months ago
The Combo Update is now available:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1910?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blaichch Avatar
113 months ago
iWork update as well. I couldn't be happier!

Attachment Image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newdeal Avatar
113 months ago
Don't care at all about night shift. Do care about bug fixes especially in safari and custom keyboard shortcuts hopefully those are packed in there
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
113 months ago
No APFS? Beyond that, a welcome update. :)
To be fair, APFS has been. in macOS 10.12 from the beginning, albeit in "developer" quality implementation (e.g., command line commands to reformat disk into APFS, no in-place migration, external volumes only, backward compatibility issues between volumes formatted with 10.12.0 and 10.12.1).

I would love to see Disk Utility get APFS support, but other than that, macOS won't get full APFS until 10.13.
[doublepost=1490635326][/doublepost]
Don't care at all about night shift. Do care about bug fixes especially in safari and custom keyboard shortcuts hopefully those are packed in there
Night Shift works considerably smoother than f.lux so I welcome it.

Having said that, macOS is still prone to random freezes with 2016 MacBook Pros.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)