Apple today released the third beta of macOS Ventura 13.4 to its public beta testing group, allowing the general public to try out the software ahead of its official launch. The third macOS Ventura 13.4 public beta comes two weeks after Apple seeded the second public beta and a day after the beta was provided to developers.
Public beta testers can download the macOS 13.3 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.
The macOS Ventura 13.4 beta adds a new beta installation method where developers and public beta testers can opt-in to receive beta updates without the need for a profile to be installed. For developers, an Apple ID needs to be associated with a developer account to get access to a developer beta, while public beta testers need to sign up on Apple's public beta website with their Apple ID and then elect to receive beta updates using the System Settings app.
Work on macOS Ventura is winding down as Apple prepares to shift its focus to macOS 14, the as-of-yet-unnamed next-generation version of macOS that we expect to see introduced this June at WWDC.
Thursday August 6, 2026 7:03 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
It is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a...
Apple has expanded support for the Apple Account Card in the Wallet app to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Malta.
The Apple Account Card option for Wallet started rolling out in 2022, and Apple has been gradually expanding to more countries since then.
The card displays the balance associated with a user's Apple Account and can be used to make purchases in the Apple Store, online, or for...
Apple is going to announce at least five new devices next month at its annual iPhone-centric event, though it's possible we'll also get devices that were waiting on Siri AI. Here's what's coming.
iPhone 18 Pro
Rumors suggest the iPhone 18 Pro is going to look a lot like the iPhone 17 Pro, but with a smaller Dynamic Island. It's getting a new Wide camera with a variable aperture for more...
Will upgrade to Ventura in October, Monterrey is stable and super reliable. Thank you all for continued beta testing, carry on!
This year was the first time I never updated any of my devices to the "current OS". Every device is a generation back, and I have no issues or problems that I am aware of. When I sit down to work I work for me, not Apple by trying to debug something they have borked.
There's always the hope that bugs are fixed... There's a truly horrendous bug in 13.3.x on Apple Silicon that randomly ejects external hard drives.
That's the BIG one that I care about too. And it's been an ongoing problem since Big Sur, not just 13.3.x. Only some externals are affected, not all. It seems to be a greater problem for HDD-based enclosures than SSD (but SSDs are not immune). Age is not a factor as I've tested some ancient ones (pulled out of retirement enclosures to test this) that work fine, while some much newer ones will NOT stay connected. Many think it is connected to sleep, but I've seen plenty of ejections while actively transferring files to/from affected drives. It is not brand based as I have 2 from the same (good) brand and one works fine while the other "unexpectedly ejects."
Fans will visit every thread about this issue and redirect to cable, settings, user, firmware, etc- anything other than Apple/macOS- but same drive + cable hooked to an older Mac running macOS BEFORE Big Sur is typically just fine.
There are also plenty of posts by people who simply upgraded on the SAME Mac and crashed into this problem- fine with the prior macOS version, "unexpected ejections" on newer macOS. It mattered enough to some of those people to downgrade back to the prior version of macOS and all was fine again- no cable change, same user, no firmware change, etc. Particularly in those cases, it seems it can only be macOS bugs because EVERYTHING else remained the same.
There are LOTS of threads about this both here and elsewhere (including Apple's own support forums). For some reason, this (almost certainly) buggy port management code cannot seem to get attention at Apple (yet). Hopefully, THIS time someone finally got to it. I've got a great external temporarily retired because I can't keep it attached while using it... unless I hook it back up to any other Mac (or a PC I now own too) and all is fine again. Older Macs running older macOS? All just fine. Latest, greatest, "most powerful ever" Mac running latest macOS? "Unexpected ejections." I really miss "just works" Apple.
.4 already? Looks like we are getting closer to a brand new macOS soon. I can start thinking about installing Ventura on my work machine, but will probably wait to .5 as a year should be enough for Apple team to iron out most of the issues.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
