Apple Releases macOS Catalina 10.15.1 Update With New Emoji and AirPods Pro Support

Tuesday October 29, 2019 10:09 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today released macOS Catalina 10.15.1, the first update to the macOS Catalina operating system that was released in October.

‌macOS Catalina‌ can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free using the Update feature in the System Preferences app, and it is available to anyone who has a compatible Mac.

macos catalina wallpaper
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 is a fairly significant update, introducing new emoji characters that were added in iOS 13.2 earlier this week, adding support for the AirPods Pro that are launching tomorrow, and bringing Siri privacy controls to the Mac to allow users to opt out of sharing their Siri recordings with Apple.

HomeKit Secure Video support is included, as is support for adding AirPlay 2-enabled speakers in scenes and automations in the Home app. There are also quite a few bug fixes for Photos, Messages, Contacts, and more. Apple's release notes for the update are below:

The macOS Catalina 10.15.1 update includes updated and additional emoji, support for AirPods Pro, HomeKit Secure Video, HomeKit enabled routers, and new Siri privacy settings, as well as bug fixes and improvements.

Emoji
- Over 70 new or updated emoji, including animals, food, activities, new accessibility emoji, gender neutral emoji, and skin tones selection for couple emoji

AirPods
- Introduces support for AirPods Pro

Home app
- HomeKit Secure Video enables you to privately capture, store, and view encrypted video from your security cameras and features people, animal, and vehicle detection
- HomeKit enabled routers let you control how your HomeKit accessories communicate over the internet or in your home
- Adds support for AirPlay 2-enabled speakers in scenes and automations

Siri
- Privacy settings to control whether or not to help improve Siri and Dictation by allowing Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions
- Option to delete your Siri and Dictation history from Siri Settings

This update also includes the following bug fixes and improvements:
- Restores the ability to view file names in the All Photos view in Photos
- Restores the ability to filter by favorites, photos, videos, edited, and keywords in Days view in Photos
- Fixes an issue where Messages would only send a single notification when the option to repeat alerts was enabled
- Resolves an issue that caused Contacts to launch to the previously opened contact instead of the contact list
- Adds a two-finger swipe gesture for back navigation in Apple News
- Resolves issues that may occur in the Music app when displaying playlists inside folders and newly added songs in the Songs list
- Improves reliability of migrating iTunes library databases into the Music, Podcasts, and TV apps
- Fixes an issue where downloaded titles were not visible in the Downloads folder in the TV app

macOS Catalina is a major update that eliminates iTunes in favor of new Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, nixes support for 32-bit apps, adds a new Find My app, brings a new Photos interface, and includes multiple privacy enhancements and other app refinements.

For full details on what's new in macOS Catalina, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup.

Related Forum: macOS Catalina

Popular Stories

Apple Alerts Stores to iPhone Duo's Display Cracking Issue

Friday October 30, 2026 3:20 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

In a memo shared with Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, and later obtained by MacRumors, Apple provided technicians with guidance on how to diagnose and address the iPhone Duo's inner display cracking issue. If a customer reports the issue, Apple advised technicians to inspect the iPhone Duo and repair or replace it in accordance with their standard procedures....

• 249 comments

Apple Executive Comments on New iPad Mini Lacking 120Hz Display

Thursday October 29, 2026 1:47 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

While the new iPad mini has an OLED display, the device does not support ProMotion, meaning the display's refresh rate is limited to 60Hz instead of 120Hz. ProMotion support would have allowed for the iPad mini's refresh rate to automatically adjust from 10Hz to 120Hz depending on the content being displayed, but evidently Apple has kept the feature exclusive to the iPad Pro among iPad...

• 243 comments

Apple Avoids Showing Pinched Fingers on iPad Mini Page in South Korea

Thursday October 29, 2026 11:52 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

In the U.S. and most other countries, Apple's website shows the new iPad mini being held by pinched fingers, but this is not the case in South Korea. The new iPad mini shown with pinched fingers on Apple's website in the U.S. On its South Korean website, Apple simply shows an image of the iPad mini on its own. The new iPad mini shown without pinched fingers on Apple's website in South Korea ...

• 94 comments

Top Rated Comments

jstn-

92 months ago

I find it comical that Apple takes the time to point out that "over 70" new emoji's have been added to the release (and even give said update its own section in the announcement!).

It really gives you a sense of where Apple's priorities are these days... is there an emoji for that?

Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

turbineseaplane

92 months ago

What about the Mail bug(s) causing data loss? Seems like something that warrants a little .1 attention.

We have new Emoji's though!
Stay focused on what matters friend!
:) ;)

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

highground

92 months ago

What about the Mail bug(s) causing data loss? Seems like something that warrants a little .1 attention.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

DesertNomad

92 months ago

"macOS Catalina 10.15.1 is a fairly significant update, introducing new emoji characters that were added in iOS 13.2 earlier this week"

Maybe in 10.15.2 they can make the OS actually work well?

I think 10.16 they need to rename to emojiOS.

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

LV426

92 months ago

I find it comical that Apple takes the time to point out that "over 70" new emoji's have been added to the release (and even give said update its own section in the announcement!).

It really gives you a sense of where Apple's priorities are these days... is there an emoji for that?

Would you rather that Apple simply ignores the new emojis that the Unicode Consortium put together every few months? Hint: It's not Apple that drives the development of new emojis; they are responding to an ever-evolving standard that is devised by an international consortium.

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)