Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 to Developers [Updated]

Monday March 5, 2018 9:04 AM PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the third beta and two weeks after the release of a macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Supplemental Update to address a bug that could cause apps to crash when receiving a character from the Indian language Telugu.

The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.


macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

The update offers support for some features that are available in iOS 11.3, like Messages on iCloud, which uploads all of your iMessages to the cloud. It will also support Business Chat, a feature coming when iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4 are released to the public, and it includes improved support for eGPUs.

The macOS 10.13.4 update also brings the smoke cloud wallpaper that was previously only available on the iMac Pro, it replaces the "iBooks" app with the new renamed "Books" app, and it introduces a warning when opening up a 32-bit app as part of an effort to phase them out.

In the future, Apple plans to phase out 32-bit Mac apps, just like it did with 32-bit iOS apps. Apple says macOS High Sierra is the last version of macOS that will support 32-bit apps without compromises.

Update: Apple has also seeded a fourth beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 for public beta testers.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
53 comments


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imageWIS
16 weeks ago

When is 10.13.5? My mac is close to useless to me with Preview distorting images. I have use my antique MacBook 2009 to edit images.


Metal 2 is not ready for prime-time and HS has massive amounts of graphics issues... I feel your pain.
Rating: 4 Votes
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revenire
16 weeks ago
Wonder when they will support fusion drives?
Rating: 4 Votes
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star-affinity
16 weeks ago

We live in an SSD world now.

Antiquated, compromised tech - like fusion drives - are not long for this world. While Apple may support APFS for fusion drives by 10.13.5. or 10.13.6, the real question is why would you even think it would make a difference?

If you want to really make a difference, bite the bullet and get a 1tb or 2tb SDD, wash your hands of spinning drive tech forever ... and walk away. :)

2TB? Too small. 8 TB, please. :)
But really, for storage of lots of data (for a reasonable amount of money) SSDs still have a way to go it seems.
Rating: 4 Votes
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hanser
16 weeks ago



About 10 years ago we paid $500 for a 1tb spinning drve (more if you factor in inflation).

So if you, like me, thought a 1tb spinning drive was worth $500 ten years ago, you certainly cant suggest $500 for a 2tb ssd, which is light years faster (and more durable) ... isnt worth that now.

Honestly. Get a little persepctive. The amazing speed and endurance you get for the price in ssd’s these days is a dream compared to the days we geeked out about the minor speed differences between a 5400rpm spinning drive and a 7200rpm drive. Each of which not long ago we were glad to shell out hundreds of dollars for several hundred gigs of space for


Your comparison is flawed, because 10 y ago you needed only a fraction of disc space. everything is getting bigger: Programs, Photo data, movie data (first HD then 4K). So you cańt compare 1 TB 10 y ago with today.
Rating: 3 Votes
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heymonroe
16 weeks ago
I hope they fixed the weird iMessage showing messages out of order bug.
Rating: 3 Votes
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BWhaler
16 weeks ago
Please tell me this fixes the Messsages out of order bug. It’s brutal, and my “normal” non-tech friends bash Apple relentlessly for it. It’s a bug which really is hurting their brand in the mainstream.

Anyway, anyone know if this bug is fixed?
Rating: 3 Votes
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nycnftm
16 weeks ago
When is 10.13.5? My mac is close to useless to me with Preview distorting images. I have use my antique MacBook 2009 to edit images.
[doublepost=1520399976][/doublepost]

Don't think so, people were complaining about searching for books in Books instead of iBooks, you get irrelevant information when using the word books instead of iBooks.

Could they change Photos back to iPhoto for that reason
Rating: 3 Votes
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Guyfromtheswamp
16 weeks ago

Wonder when they will support fusion drives?


We live in an SSD world now.

Antiquated, compromised tech - like fusion drives - are not long for this world. While Apple may support APFS for fusion drives by 10.13.5. or 10.13.6, the real question is why would you even think it would make a difference?

If you want to really make a difference, bite the bullet and get a 1tb or 2tb SDD, wash your hands of spinning drive tech forever ... and walk away. :)
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
chucker23n1
16 weeks ago

Prohibitively expensive? Who you kidding? A few years ago a 2tb ssd was about $4000, now its $450 or so. For the speed and endurance you get - thats incredibly afforable. Especially for a Mac guys (like we are) who spend 2k on our computers.


But sometimes you don't need the speed, but rather the capacity. A family may not be able to store their entire photo and video library on SSDs because it'd be prohibitively expensive to do so, and because the speed benefits would be near-irrelevant for archival purposes. Similarly, SSDs are a poor fit for backup.
[doublepost=1520332408][/doublepost]

Just an observation: the Books app has been removed from macOS 10.13.4 beta 4 and iBooks is back.

I suspect this is a temporary situation while fixing some bug with the Books app.


Maybe they're waiting to announce some change to the book store.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Guy Clark
16 weeks ago

We live in an SSD world now.

Antiquated, compromised tech - like fusion drives - are not long for this world. While Apple may support APFS for fusion drives by 10.13.5. or 10.13.6, the real question is why would you even think it would make a difference?

If you want to really make a difference, bite the bullet and get a 1tb or 2tb SDD, wash your hands of spinning drive tech forever ... and walk away. :)

Its only a mere six years ago Fusion drives became available so it is not exactly antiquated tech. Seagate SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive) is excellent which I use on my secondary 2009 iMac
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/solutions/solid-state-hybrid/

One of the best drives I have ever used is spinning which is the one I currently have on my primary 2011 iMac. It is WD Black (High Performance) HDD and is available up to 6TB capacity.
https://www.wdc.com/products/internal-storage/wd-black-desktop.html
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2TB? Too small. 8 TB, please. :)
But really, for storage of lots of data (for a reasonable amount of money) SSDs still have a way to go it seems.

Laughable really as the very first 1TB Hard Drive was only released a mere eleven years ago in 2007 which was a major milestone
https://www.pcworld.com/article/128400/article.html
Rating: 2 Votes
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