Apple Seeds First Beta of Upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.1 Update to Developers

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.1 update to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming five days after the launch of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, the release version of the software.

First Look Big Sur Feature2
Developers can download the macOS Big Sur 11.1 beta using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile from the Apple Developer Center.

There's no word yet on what's included in macOS Big Sur 11.1, but it likely includes performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the release version of macOS Big Sur. We'll update this article should anything new be found in the software update.

Related Forum: macOS Big Sur

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 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. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
best deals green hero

Best Apple Deals of the Week: Early Black Friday Deals Hit AirPods 4, M5 MacBook Pro, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Early Black Friday deals are in full swing this week, with best-ever prices available on AirPods 4, iPhone 17, M5 MacBook Pro, and much more. We're recapping all these deals below and more, also including great sitewide sales at Anker and OWC, plus Woot's popular steep discounts on Apple Watch bands. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Here's When Tesla is Expected to Add Support for Apple CarPlay

Sunday November 16, 2025 6:49 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Tesla plans to add Apple CarPlay support to its vehicles "in the coming months." This is easily the biggest news for the regular version of CarPlay in years, should Tesla actually follow through with offering the system in its vehicles. As noted by Gurman, this would be a stunning reversal for Tesla and its CEO Elon ...

Top Rated Comments

Tommy Hewitt Avatar
65 months ago

If we’re being extremely technical, after 10.10 Yosemite, they started to make less and less sense. 10.1 and 10.10 are the exact same number. Obviously, puma and Yosemite are two different operating systems, but I think you get my point. 10.15, which was Catalina, is actually a smaller number than 10.2 jaguar was. So Apple attempting to get away from that confusing mess is something that I appreciate.
You don't know how version numbers work, do you? 10.1 and 10.10 are not the same numbers because they aren't decimals.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macintoshmac Avatar
65 months ago
It is safe to say this thread could be completely purged and no one would have lost anything meaningful. Or, this thread could simply be renamed to ‘macOS Numbering Discussion’ and a new thread for macOS 11.1 beta could be created where people could report something relevant and meaningful.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FocusAndEarnIt Avatar
65 months ago
I'm disappointed they're going to 11.1. I was hoping they would stay at 11.0.1, then 11.0.2, etc.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xack Avatar
65 months ago
Looks like the major version number will be bumped every year now.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stephen.R Avatar
65 months ago

so that means we'll be getting macOS 13 next year
You know that the next number after '11' is '12', right?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lounge vibes 05 Avatar
65 months ago
I think this confirms that from now on, macOS will get a new version number every year.
so next year we’ll get 12.0, in 2022 we’ll get 13.0, etc.
Or, maybe Apple will start doing what everyones asking, and instead of releasing a new major version every year, they go back to the days where the current version is perfected over a 24 to 30 month period Before we move on.
to be honest, what irritates me more is that all of their operating systems now are on different version numbers. macOS 11, iOS 14, watchOS 7.
let’s unify that. Since next year, we’ll get iOS 15, tvOS 15, and HomePod OS 15, let’s just bump all of the version numbers to 15.
Apple has skipped version numbers in the past, and so has Microsoft, and every other computer company.
or maybe, instead of making things this ultra complex, just introduce all the new operating systems with the year, instead of using the actual version number in marketing.
so next year, at WWDC, Apple would just say “our lineup of operating systems for 2021.”
it makes sense, Microsoft is already doing that, and macOS 11.0.1 isn’t technically 11.0.1. It can actually display itself as macOS 10.16 for applications that won’t support something without a 10 at the beginning.
on top of that, when Apple introduces these major versions, not all the features launch at the same time. iOS 13.0 did not include all the features that it was promised to include. We had to wait until 13.4 to get every single feature. So maybe, if Apple just started introducing them by year, that wouldn’t matter as much.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)