What’s New in macOS Big Sur 11 Beta 10 (20A5395g)?

Today Apple released macOS Big Sur Beta 10 (20A5395g) to Developers

UPDATE 10/15 12:30PM – Surprise! macOS Big Sur Beta 10 Full Installer is now available.

UPDATE 10/15 10:00AM – New Beta 10 Features found

• 1. New Feature – You can now press the power button to lock your screen!
• 2. New Menu Bar item – “Now Playing”. This was hidden away since Beta 1 but was now added to the menu bar by default in Beta 10.
• 4. New Feature – Redesigned Dynamic Wallpaper selection menu
• 5. New Wallpaper – “Big Sur Aerial”
• 6. Some users are reporting issues with YouTube and Netflix in Safari.

UPDATE 10/14 4:30PM – Looks like we are not going to get a full installer for this release. The good news is that Active Directory login seems to be fixed in Beta 10!!!

MacOS Big Sur 11 Beta 10 (20A5395g) was released on October 14th, 2020. The release comes 1 day after the Apple October Phone Special Event and two weeks after Beta 9. We could get a GM release in 1-2 weeks with a launch not much longer after that. MacOS Catalina had 11 beta releases including the gold master, so again we are getting very close to release.

If you are having issues getting Beta 10 to show up in Software Update, take a look at my Big Sur Beta troubleshooting article. – mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-11-beta-not-showing-up-in-software-update-troubleshooting/

NEW! My Mac Transition to Apple Silicon “Everything you need to know” Article – mrmacintosh.com/mac-transition-to-apple-silicon-everything-you-need-to-know-updated/

Keep an eye on my Big Sur Need to Know changes article. I will be constantly updating it as new info comes in. mrmacintosh.com/macos-big-sur-11-0-updated-index-of-need-to-know-changes-links/

macOS Big Sur Beta 10 Patch Notes Summary

• 10 – Resolved Issues
• 14 – Standing Known Issues
• 1 – AppleSeed New Feature
• 4 – AppleSeed Resolved Issue

AppleSeed Notes Link = appleseed.apple.com/

Developer Public Link = developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-big-sur-11-beta-release-notes

Apple DTK Mac Mini Notes = developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-big-sur-11-universal-apps-beta-release-notes

MacAdmin Patch Notes of Interest

• AppleSeed = 1 new MDM Feature & 4 resolved issues appleseed.apple.com
• 1. Full installer = unknown
• 2. Updating to macOS Big Sur 11 beta from previous versions of macOS might take significantly longer than expected. Data loss could occur if the update is interrupted. (59101197)

Previous Big Sur 11 Beta Releases

• 10. Big Sur 11 Beta 10 (20A5395g) – 10/14/20 – Current Release
• 9. Big Sur 11 Beta 9 (20A5384c) – 09/29/20 – My Release Notes
• 8. Big Sur 11 Beta 8 (20A5374i) – 09/22/20 – My Release Notes
• 7. Big Sur 11 Beta 7 (20A5374g) – 09/17/20 – My Release Notes
• 6. Big Sur 11 Beta 6 (20A5364e) – 09/03/20 – My Release Notes
• 5. Big Sur 11 Beta 5 (20A5354i) – 08/19/20 – My Release Notes
• 4. Big Sur 11 Beta 4 (20A5343i) – 08/04/20
• 3. Big Sur 11 Beta 3 (20A5323l) – 07/22/20
• 2. Big Sur 11 Beta 2 (20A4300b) – 07/07/20 – My Release Notes
• 1. Big Sur 11 Beta 1 (20A4299v) – 06/22/20 – My Release Notes

macOS Big Sur 11 Installer Info

Note: Combo and Delta updates are not available as standalone downloads.

Full Installer.app

Link – developer.apple.com or installinstallmacos.py

Size = 12.22GB

Big Sur Beta Delta Update

This is the update is for updating from Beta 9 > Beta 10

Size = 4.2GB

Big Sur Beta Combo Update

This is update should be for updating from Beta 1-9 > Beta 10

Size = 4.56GB

T2 BridgeOS Update

The Version of BridgeOS for your T2 Security Chip was updated.

BridgeOS version = 18.16.12402.5.2

Size = 441.9MB

Product ID = 001-59617

• 5. Previous Beta 9 = 18.16.12390.5.1
• 4. Previous Beta 8 = 18.16.12380 BuildVersion 3
• 3.Previous Beta 7 = 18.16.12380
• 2. Previous Beta 6 = 18.16.12370.5.1
• 1. Previous Beta 5 = 18.16.10358.5.2

New Software Update Catalog URL

https://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-10.16seed-10.16-10.15-10.14-10.13-10.12-10.11-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog

Report Bugs NOW!

Now that macOS Big Sur 11.0 Beta is live, start testing as soon as you can! You will want to submit any bugs that you find into Apple ASAP. If you get bugs in quickly, they could be fixed in the current beta cycle instead of waiting until after the public release. If not, you could be waiting months before the fix is put into a dot release combo update.

macOS Big Sur 11 Beta 10 (20A5395g) Release Notes

General

Known Issues

Important

Updating to macOS Big Sur 11 beta from previous versions of macOS might take significantly longer than expected. Data loss could occur if the update is interrupted. (59101197)

AppKit

• See AppKit Release Notes for macOS Big Sur 11.

Apple Security Bounty

• macOS Big Sur 11 beta 10 is designated as qualifying for the 50% Apple Security Bounty bonus payment for issues that are unknown to Apple or reintroduced in this release. See Apple Security Bounty for more information.

Core Data

Resolved Issues

• Core Data’s model editor no longer displays a blank Detail area for an Entity. (69472812)

Installer and Software Update

Known Issues

• When updating from macOS Big Sur 11 beta 2 to macOS Big Sur 11 beta 3 or later, you might be offered an unexpectedly large download rather than an incremental software update. (65753086)Workaround: Under the “Another update is available” text, click the “More info…” link. This reveals the incremental update where you can click the Install Now button.
• You might need to adjust Energy Saver settings so your Mac doesn’t go to sleep while preparing to install macOS Big Sur 11 beta. (63166401)
• If macOS Big Sur 11 beta is installed into the same APFS container as previous versions of macOS Catalina 10.15, system software updates can no longer be installed on the previous versions of macOS. (64411484)Workaround: Update the previous version of macOS Catalina to 10.15.6 or later.

Kernel

Known Issues

• Installing a new kernel extension requires signing in as an Admin user. You must also restart your Mac to load the extension. Kernel extensions using certain deprecated KPIs won’t be loaded. For more information, see Deprecated Kernel Extensions and System Extension Alternatives. (55068348)Workaround: During development, you can temporarily disable System Integrity Protection to allow these deprecated kernel extensions to load.
• New in macOS Big Sur 11 beta, the system ships with a built-in dynamic linker cache of all system-provided libraries. As part of this change, copies of dynamic libraries are no longer present on the filesystem. Code that attempts to check for dynamic library presence by looking for a file at a path or enumerating a directory will fail. Instead, check for library presence by attempting to dlopen() the path, which will correctly check for the library in the cache. (62986286)
• kmutil install might fail to build a development kextcache. (63772702)Workaround: Copy the release .elides to the locations of the development .elides:sudo cp /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.elides /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.development.elidessudo cp /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.elides /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.kasan.elides sudo cp /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.elides /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.debug.elidessudo cp /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/SystemKernelExtensions.kc.elides /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/SystemKernelExtensions.kc.development.elidessudo cp /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/SystemKernelExtensions.kc.elides /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/SystemKernelExtensions.kc.kasan.elidessudo cp /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/SystemKernelExtensions.kc.elides /path/to/livemount/System/Library/KernelCollections/SystemKernelExtensions.kc.debug.elides
• Use only absolute paths with the --volume-root option of kmutil, and don’t use a trailing /. (63773848)
• Symbols exported by both xnu and Apple kernel extensions will change. Recompile your kernel extension with each update to macOS Big Sur 11 beta to ensure compatibility. (64262563)

Localization

Known Issues

• Certain languages might exhibit clipped or misaligned layout. (63105445)
• Certain languages might display unlocalized text. (63105674, 64040564, 64045718)

Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11 beta 10

• Notes and Photos no longer quit unexpectedly if the system language is set to Greek. (69548692)

Mac Catalyst

Known Issues

• A ToolbarItem with automatic placement isn’t placed in the window toolbar. (63690384)

Network Extension

Resolved Issues

• You must adopt the NETransparentProxyProvider API in your transparent proxy implementation in order for it to function correctly. (65228404)

SwiftUI

Known Issues

• ProgressView generic type signature has changed, adding the currentValueLabel generic parameter. This change doesn’t require any source changes, but will cause apps compiled using an earlier beta SDK to quit unexpectedly. (63580200)Workaround: Re-compile apps for macOS Big Sur 11 Beta 6 or later to resolve this issue.
• DisclosureGroup‘s isExpanded binding doesn’t work as expected in a List. (58820037)
• Adding a Widget that uses a Text with dynamic Text.DateStyle presentations will cause Notification Center to quit unexpectedly. (70059211)

Resolved in macOS Big Sur 11 beta 10

• Dynamically updating OutlineGroup content updates correctly. (58820037)
• Standard menu items, such as Open Recents or Window menu items, are no longer missing from the main menu. (63998004)
• High-contrast asset catalog images are correctly used by Image when in an environment with colorSchemeContrast == .increased. (65164844)
• Xcode Previews no longer quit unexpectedly when previewing a view using FetchRequest. (65544435)
• Scrolling a selected NavigationLink far offscreen no longer deactivates that link or dismisses its presented destination. (62092320)
• Dynamic CommandMenu and CommandGroup constructions now update correctly on App state changes. (67735428)
• You can now reorder a List using SidebarListStyle as expected. (66386684)
• ScrollView now has a correct default scroll position when underneath the titlebar. (64319463)
• A TextField that you are editing inside a selected List row now has correct text foreground colors. (68545878)

Third-Party Apps

Known Issues

• You might experience kernel panics when using earlier versions of Parallels Desktop 16. (67358596)Workaround: Upgrade to the most-recent version of Parallels Desktop 16.
• Some third-party scripts might produce unexpected results due to the change in macOS version from 10.x to 11. (62477208)Workaround: Set SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=1 in the calling environment, for example: $ SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=1 legacy_script.pl

Wallet

Known Issues

• isPassLibraryAvailable() doesn’t ensure uniform availability of pass library functionality between platforms and devices. (60697880)Workaround: Call a more specific API to check available functionality, such as canAddPasses().

Xcode

Known Issues

• Legacy Xcode versions prior to 11.5 might unexpectedly quit when launched. (59991056)Workaround: Run the following command in Terminal: defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTDisableMainThreadChecker 1, then deselect Main Thread Checker in the Diagnostic tab of the Run and Test actions for each scheme in your project.

Big Sur Beta 10