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Apple Seeds Third Beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.6 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

Tuesday June 13, 2017 10:06 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.6 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the second 10.12.6 beta and a month after introducing macOS Sierra 10.12.5.

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.


No significant features or notable bug fixes were found in the first two macOS Sierra 10.12.6 betas, and because Apple does not provide beta release notes, we may not know what's included in the update until it sees a public release.

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 is likely to be one of the final updates to the Sierra operating system as Apple transitions to macOS High Sierra, which was introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Update: The third beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.6 is also available for public beta testers.
[ 36 comments ]


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lkrupp
13 months ago

So many betas nowadays :)
Waiting for 10.13 DP 2


I guess there’s no middle ground. Some are always screaming, “Doesn’t Apple test this stuff before they release it.” “Apple’s QA is in the toilet these days” “Steve would never have allowed this.” Now we’re starting hear, “Too many betas.” “Too confusing.” “Take my hand and show me ,step by step, how to back out of this POS beta.” Apple can’t win.
[doublepost=1497378192][/doublepost]

Seems like a cheap way to crowd source bug spotting. The only problem I fear is that internal QC/QA has been cut in response. Some things like security really need to be done right the first time.


See what I mean?
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
asiga
13 months ago

When this goes final, I wonder if this will be the time to upgrade from El Capitan on my daily driver? I don't usually wait so long, but almost all of the new features in Sierra don't apply to me.

After bad experiences from updating soon these last years, I decided to update only once per year, in summer, when they release the last update for the current MacOS. It's somewhat drastic, but it works great for me, as it lets me work with the same level of stability I was used to in the 10.4.x - 10.6.x years. So, yes, I'm updating to Sierra when 10.12.6 gets final.
Rating: 4 Votes
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kalakana
13 months ago

I think high Sierra will just be super stable.

cough...brand new file system, what can go wrong...cough
Rating: 3 Votes
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manhattanboy
13 months ago

So many betas nowadays :)

Seems like a cheap way to crowd source bug spotting. The only problem I fear is that internal QC/QA has been cut in response. Some things like security really need to be done right the first time.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
justperry
13 months ago
High Sierra for me, works well except for a few glithes and a borked install on one of my Macs.
First Sierra beta was better though, no bugs at all for me.
Rating: 1 Votes
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tywebb13
13 months ago
Build number is 16G16b.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
konqerror
13 months ago

I guess there’s no middle ground. Some are always screaming, “Doesn’t Apple test this stuff before they release it.” “Apple’s QA is in the toilet these days” “Steve would never have allowed this.” Now we’re starting hear, “Too many betas.” “Too confusing.” “Take my hand and show me ,step by step, how to back out of this POS beta.” Apple can’t win.

See what I mean?


There's two different types of releases and they're not identical. So there is a middle ground.

You need to beta changes that affect APIs and programs and end behavior, but it takes Apple 3 months and 14 betas to release security and bug fixes. Look at Microsoft: they put out a security and bug patch every month and they don't need betas. Meanwhile, their 6-month feature changes do undergo multiple betas.

The complaint is that security issues and defects drag on for longer than necessary due to this crowd-sourced QA. Microsoft can fix critical problems on an average of 2 weeks, what's Apple got?
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
CristianM
13 months ago

I guess there’s no middle ground. Some are always screaming, “Doesn’t Apple test this stuff before they release it.” “Apple’s QA is in the toilet these days” “Steve would never have allowed this.” Now we’re starting hear, “Too many betas.” “Too confusing.” “Take my hand and show me ,step by step, how to back out of this POS beta.” Apple can’t win.
[doublepost=1497378192][/doublepost]

See what I mean?


Apple keeps hiking the prices of their already expensive computers. At that peice, a user should not be expected to test out buggy beta software for a few months and has every right to expect that everything should work perfectly - that's what we pay all that cash for right?
Rating: 1 Votes
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ncollingridge
13 months ago
I'm still waiting to hear that PDFKit has been fixed before upgrading to Sierra. Why the total radio silence on this issue from all directions?
Rating: 1 Votes
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asiga
13 months ago
Thanks a lot, MR, I was impatient for not seeing more 10.12.6 betas released during these weeks, but I guess it was because of the release of new Macs and High Sierra. I'm really looking forward to 10.12.6, as I suppose it will be the last 10.12.x release and I'll be installing it from scratch in some old Macs that really need a new MacOS install from scratch (they will be kept on 10.12.6 all this year).
Rating: 1 Votes

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