Apple Seeds First Beta of Upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.4 Update to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.4 update to its public beta testing group, with the new public beta coming five days after the release of the first developer beta.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the new ‌macOS Catalina‌ beta through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile.

Catalina
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.

The macOS Catalina 10.15.4 update introduces Screen Time Communication Limits, a feature that was brought to the iPhone in the iOS 13.3 update. Screen Time Communication Limits allow parents to limit who their children contact and when communication apps are available.

The update also includes a new Head Pointer Accessibility option that allows the mouse cursor to be controlled with head movements using the Mac's built-in camera.

References to new AMD processors were discovered in the macOS 10.15.4 beta, leading to speculation that Apple is working on AMD-based Macs, but it's not clear if these references are simply for internal testing rather than evidence of an AMD Mac.

Though not directly related to ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.4, Apple is adding a new universal purchase option for macOS and iOS apps, which will allow Apple device users to purchase one app that works across multiple platforms.

Related Forum: macOS Catalina

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...
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...
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...

Top Rated Comments

Freida Avatar
76 months ago
Catalina is the first macOS that I'm completely skipping. I'll wait for WWDC and see what gets introduced there but I really hope they will focus on performance, stability etc. We need another snow leopard :)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MikhailT Avatar
76 months ago

Catalina is the first macOS that I'm completely skipping. I'll wait for WWDC and see what gets introduced there but I really hope they will focus on performance, stability etc. We need another snow leopard :)
What we need is a longer release cycle where Apple developers can spend several months optimizing and debugging like in Snow Leopard and previous releases with 18-36 month release schedule.

Snow Leopard wasn't that good the first year, it was buggy and has some really bad bugs like the guest account deleting data. It was only the second year where they managed to make it work. The second year part is what we're missing badly, they're just shipping too fast and not spending enough time fixing their bugs.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
katewes Avatar
76 months ago
The one year release cycle, introduced by Tim Cook, is the hallmark of Apple being now controlled by a bean-counter rather than someone driven by the engineering. Apple literally cannot care a stuff about perfecting their macOS software. One year is not enough to get it rock stable.

I used to remember how horrific each new OSX was at launch that I used to postpone upgrading, such as with Snow Leopard, until around version .7. That is laughable now since it never gets to version 7.

The thing I hate about the one year release cycle is that major software gets incompatible with each macOS, and many software developers charge big money to upgrade every year.

e.g.
Microsoft - previous versions not compatible.
VMWare Fusion - every version is not compatible, and they charge lots of money for upgrades
Phase One - Capture One - every version is not compatible, and they charge lots of money for upgrades

Virtually every software developer has to update their software. (Do Windows developers have to do this with every annual update?)

If the features of each upgrade were worth it, I would sort of not mind. But most macOS updates are irrelevant to me. I just use basic features. So each cycle of macOS every year, even if Apple does not charge money, is a major expense for me because software vendors do charge for the upgrades!@()(*W*$%&&^W#)_$(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Max T Avatar
76 months ago
I hope the urgently needed bug fixes are finally coming.
Since I updated my iMac to Catalina, Bluetooth devices like mouse and keyboard, as well as the Wifi connection are extremely unstable.
I would have no problem with an update cycle of 24-36 months as long as the system is stable.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
luvbug Avatar
76 months ago
Given the number of issues that seem to touch an iCloud-related-dependent function, I'd suggest that not all these issues may be Catalina. Keep in mind that Apple, in a much less transparent way (is that possible?), is updating the iCloud infrastructure and software on an ongoing, virtually continuous, basis. There are so many moving parts to the OS/App/Cloud/Network entity that is getting "really complicated" to keep it all running perfectly. This all supports the notion that a one-year update cycle is just crazy. Meanwhile, Apple can't manage to update TimeMachine to support its OS migration to APFS, go figure.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
benshive Avatar
76 months ago

The update also includes a new Head Pointer Accessibility option that allows the mouse cursor to be controlled with head movements using the Mac's built-in camera.
Oh that's pretty cool. I hadn't heard of this feature. Has anyone tried this out yet and know how well it works?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)