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macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (19A583) Released! What’s New?

MrMacintosh.com - macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (19A583) Released! What's New?
macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (19A583) Released! What’s New?

macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (19A583) is LIVE!

The release of macOS Catalina came today and was unexpected for sure. Most MacAdmins felt that we would at least get a 2nd GM Seed to work with.

apple.com/macos/catalina

Whether we like or not, Catalina is here!!!

GM Seed (19A582a) and the 10.15.0 (19A583) Release Notes are the same.

I double checked the release notes for 10.15.0 and compared them against Beta 11 GM Seed and did not find any differences.

How to Block macOS Catalina 10.15.0

MacAdmins Community Notes Document –

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12llwkGUGqmCAVs40TvigIFyEYVTASpqe5beCjxnEkYA/edit?usp=sharing

macOS Catalina 10.15.0 Security Content

support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210634

Apple Catalina News Release

developer.apple.com/news/releases/?id=10072019a

Apple’s Public Developer Documentation

developer.apple.com/documentation/macos_release_notes

Previous 10.15 Beta Releases

  • macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (19A583) – 10/07/19 – Prod Release
  • 11th Catalina 10.15 GM Seed (19A582a) – 10/03/19 – Release Notes
  • 10th Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) – 09/30/19 – Release Notes
  • 9th Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a) – 09/23/19 – Release Notes
  • 8th Catalina 10.15 Beta 8 (19A558d) – 09/10/19 – Release Notes
  • 7th Catalina 10.15 Beta 7 (19A546d) – 08/28/19 – Release Notes
  • 6th Catalina 10.15 Beta 6 (19A536g) – 08/19/19 – Release Notes
  • 5th Catalina 10.15 Beta 5 (19A526h) – 07/31/19 – Release Notes
  • 4th Catalina 10.15 Beta 4 (19A512f) – 07/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 3rd Catalina 10.15 Beta 3 (19A501i) – 07/02/19 – Release Notes
  • 2nd Catalina 10.15 Beta 2 (19A487l) – 06/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 1st Catalina 10.15 Beta 1 (19A471t) – 06/03/19 – Release Notes

How to Download macOS 10.15 Catalina

Direct from Apple

From Apple via open source tools.

New features available with macOS Catalina. – 119 New Changes & Updates.

Music

Designed for Apple Music1

Stream and download more than 50 million songs ad-free. Every time you open the app, you’ll get the best of Apple Music personalized to your tastes with For You.

Music Store

For users who still like to own their music, the iTunes Store is just a click away.

Now Playing

The new Music app includes an updated player. Easily see lyrics while you’re listening and control the music that will play next with just a click. Or switch to MiniPlayer to listen while multitasking.

Library

All your music organized in one place. See artists, albums, songs, playlists, and recent additions with a familiar menu in the new sidebar. And now, type what you’re looking for in the updated library pages to quickly find the exact song in your music collection.

TV

Library

Easily find all your purchased movies and shows in the updated Library tab. Browse by recently added, downloaded, genres, and more.

Movies and TV

Buy or rent new-release movies or explore the catalog of more than 100,000 movies and shows — including the largest catalog of 4K HDR titles.2

Apple TV channels3

Try new Apple TV channels, including HBO, Showtime, Starz, and more. Subscribe and share with up to six family members. Channels play in the Apple TV app ad-free, online or off — no additional apps, accounts, or passwords needed. Try them free and cancel anytime.

Home for Apple TV+

Apple’s new premium streaming service brings you a wide range of exclusive original shows and films from the world’s greatest talent. Apple TV+ will be available in the Apple TV app this fall.

Watch Now

Watch Now is your home in the Apple TV app. Find expertly curated collections and personalized recommendations picked just for you.

Up Next

Watch Now includes Up Next, which helps you quickly find and watch your favorites. It also lets you resume what you’re watching from the moment you left off, across all your devices.

Kids

A new dedicated Kids section helps you discover great, editorially handpicked shows and movies for kids of all ages.

Apple TV app everywhere

You can pick up where you left off on Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, select smart TVs, and now Mac.

Dolby Atmos

Enjoy a thrilling surround sound experience with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, or Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks in the Apple TV app using the built-in speakers on certain Mac models.4

Podcasts

Listen Now

Continue listening to your favorite podcast episodes or see when a new one is available. Or find other shows you might like based on the ones you’re already listening to.

Library

The Apple Podcasts library is the one place for all the shows you’ve subscribed to or added — organized by show title or episode title. Download your favorite episodes to listen offline.

Browse

With over 700,000 shows in the catalog, our editors pick the best shows for you to browse each week. Try a show from New & Noteworthy or check out which shows are trending in Top Charts.

Search

Search provides better results when you’re searching for a topic or people — even find episodes featuring a specific guest or host.

Syncing

Media syncing

All three services — Apple TV, Apple Music, and Apple Podcasts — sync your content through the cloud across your devices. Or sync it from each of the apps if you prefer using a cable.

Back up, update, and restore through the Finder

Each time you connect a device, you can find it in the Finder sidebar. From there you can back up, update, and restore your device.

Photos

All-new Photos tab

A beautiful new browsing experience showcases your photos and memories.

Day, month, and year organization

Photos is organized by day, month, and year views so it’s easy to find photos or relive your memories. Animations and transitions keep your spot in the timeline so you can switch between views without losing your place.

Large photo previews

Photo previews are larger to help you distinguish between shots. Photos uses intelligence to find the best part of your photo in previews, so you see the full, unedited version when you open the photo.

Auto-playing Live Photos and videos

Live Photos and videos begin playing as you scroll, bringing your library to life.

Personalization

Using machine learning on your Mac, Photos can understand who’s in your photos and what’s happening to highlight important moments like birthdays, anniversaries, and trips.

Your best shots

Photos intelligently showcases the best shots in your library, removing duplicates and clutter.

All Photos

The All Photos view displays all your photos and videos in a grid. Choose to zoom in for large previews, or zoom out to get an overview of your entire collection. You can also choose to view your photos and videos in square or original format.

Memory movies

Now you can view Memory movies on your Mac and edit the duration, mood, and title. Edits sync to your other devices when you use iCloud Photos.

Notes

Gallery view

The all-new gallery view displays your notes as visual thumbnails, making it easier than ever to quickly find the note you’re looking for.

Shared folders

Collaborate on entire folders, including all the notes and subfolders inside. Invite others to a folder, and everyone can add notes, attachments, or subfolders.

View-only collaboration

You can now share notes or entire folders as view-only so that you’re the only one who can make changes.

More powerful search

Search can now recognize objects or scenes within the images you’ve added to your notes and can help you find specific text in the items you’ve scanned using the built-in document scanner. Search is also helpful before you type, with suggested searches that you can simply click to view.

New checklist options

Quickly reorder checklist items using drag and drop or keyboard shortcuts, and move checked items to the bottom and out of the way. If you’ve completed the checklist and want to use it again, you can click to uncheck all the items and start over.

Reminders

All-new design

The Reminders app has been completely rebuilt with an all-new user interface and more powerful features, making it easier than ever to create, organize, and keep track of reminders.

New edit buttons

Quickly add dates, times, locations, or flags to reminders using the new edit buttons, all without having to go to another view.

Enhanced Siri intelligence

You can type longer, more descriptive sentences and Reminders understands and provides relevant suggestions. Siri intelligence on your device can also help anticipate your needs by suggesting that you create a reminder while you make plans in Messages.

Attachments

Add attachments to your reminders to make them more informative and useful. You can add photos, scanned documents, or even web links that take you directly to a website related to the reminder.

Tasks and grouped lists

There are more options for organizing your reminders. You can capture tasks associated with a top-level reminder. You can also group multiple lists.

Smart lists

All-new smart lists automatically organize your upcoming reminders into easy-to-find categories like Today, Flagged, Scheduled, or All to see them in a single list.

Customize list appearance

Customize the appearance of your personal or shared iCloud lists, choosing from 12 beautiful colors and 60 expressive symbols.

Messages integration

Tag someone in a reminder and the next time you’re chatting with the person in Messages, you’ll be reminded that now might be a good time to talk.

Safari

Updated start page

An updated start page design includes favorites, frequently visited, and Siri suggestions that surface relevant websites in your browsing history, recently visited sites, bookmarks, reading list, iCloud Tabs, and links you receive in Messages.

Weak password warnings

When you sign in to an account in Safari with a weak, easy-to-guess password, Safari warns you and helps you replace it with a stronger one.

PiP from the tab audio button

Quickly enable Picture in Picture from the tab audio button.

Switch to open tab from the Smart Search field

If you start typing the address of a website that’s already open, Safari directs you to the open tab.

Mail

Block sender

Mail can block all email from specified senders and move their messages directly to the trash. Just as in Messages, you can access this feature by clicking the sender’s name in any email header.

Unsubscribe

An unsubscribe link for email messages from commercial lists now appears above the email header. Clicking Unsubscribe requests removal of your email address from the list.

Mute Thread

Mute Thread prevents notifications from an overly active email thread.

Updated classic layout

Arranges the Mail viewer in a column layout, with an option to preview the current message below or to the right of your message list.

Sidecar5

Extended desktop

Use your iPad as a second display for additional screen space. Refer to one app while you work in another, or see how a presentation looks in presentation mode on your iPad while editing it on your Mac.

View the Sidecar White Paper (PDF)

Mirrored desktop

Mirror the screen on your Mac to have two screens displaying the same content, making it perfect for sharing with others.

Wired or wireless

Connect your iPad to your Mac using a cable to keep it charged, or use it wirelessly — within 10 meters — for greater mobility.

Apple Pencil

Use the precision and intuitiveness of Apple Pencil with your favorite creative Mac apps that support drawing tablets. Draw and write naturally, edit a photo or graphic, and use it to point and click as you do with a mouse.

Gestures

Use the same Multi-Touch gestures you’re familiar with on iPad, along with all-new text editing gestures that let you cut, copy, paste, and undo without lifting your hands from the onscreen keyboard.

Sidebar

Get easy access to your most commonly used controls from the sidebar. Use modifier keys to enable shortcuts in pro apps, and access buttons that allow you to undo as well as display or hide the menu bar, Dock, and keyboard.

Touch Bar

For apps with Touch Bar support, the controls appear at the bottom of your iPad screen — even if your Mac doesn’t have a Touch Bar.

Developer support

Developers don’t need to do anything for Sidecar support — it just works. Apps with advanced stylus support can use Tablet Events in AppKit to enable pressure and tilt for Apple Pencil. Additionally, developers can specify custom behavior for double-tap on the side of Apple Pencil through a changeMode event.

Continuity Markup and Sketch

Continuity Markup

Write and sketch on PDFs or mark up your documents with Apple Pencil. See the updates live on your Mac as you mark them up on your iPad.

Continuity Sketch

Create a sketch on your iPad using Apple Pencil and easily insert it into any document on your Mac.

Screen Time

Usage reports

Screen Time creates usage reports that show you how much time is being spent on your Mac, which apps are used most, and how many notifications are received. With iCloud, Screen Time combines all your usage information and syncs Downtime settings and App Limits across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Downtime

With Screen Time, you can schedule downtime so you (or your child) can only use specific apps you’ve approved.

App Limits

With App Limits, you can set the amount of time you want to use your apps and websites. Set App Limits for total time, categories, or specific apps.

Combined Limits

Create combined limits with a combination of app categories, specific apps, or websites.

One More Minute

When a limit is met, you can tap “One more minute” to give you time to quickly save your work or wrap up a conversation.

Communication Limits*

Communication Limits let you control who your children can communicate with and who can communicate with them throughout the day and during downtime.

Managed contact list for children

Parents can use Screen Time to manage the contacts that appear on their children’s devices.

Family Sharing

Parents can configure Screen Time from any device — iPhone, iPad, or Mac — and have everything set up for their kids on all their devices.

Security

Enhanced Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper will ensure that all new apps you install — from the App Store or the internet — have been checked for known security issues by Apple before you run them the first time and periodically thereafter. This extends the protection from the app’s source to include automated checks for what’s in the app.

Data protections

macOS Catalina checks with you before allowing an app to access your data in your Documents, Desktop, and Downloads folders; iCloud Drive; the folders of third-party cloud storage providers; removable media; and external volumes. In addition, you’re asked before an app can perform key logging or capture a still or video recording of your screen.

Activation Lock

All Mac models with the Apple T2 Security Chip now support Activation Lock — just like your iPhone or iPad. So if your Mac is ever misplaced or lost, the only person who can erase and reactivate it is you.

Dedicated system volume

macOS Catalina runs in a dedicated, read-only system volume — which means it is completely separate from all other data and helps improve the reliability of macOS.

DriverKit and user space system extensions

Previously many hardware peripherals and sophisticated features needed to run their code directly within macOS using kernel extensions, or kexts. Now these programs run separately from the operating system, just like any other app, so they can’t affect macOS if something goes wrong.

Find My

Two great apps in one

Find My iPhone and Find My Friends are now combined in a single, easy-to-use app to help you locate the people and devices that are important to you.

Find offline devices

Locate a missing device even if it’s not connected to Wi-Fi using crowd-sourced location. When you mark your device as missing and another Apple user’s device is nearby, it can detect your device’s Bluetooth signal and report its location to you. It’s completely anonymous and encrypted end-to-end, so everyone’s privacy is protected.

Enhanced location notifications

Location notifications include the ability to schedule notifications for different days of the week, more useful place names, and enhanced privacy controls.

Approve with Apple Watch

View passwords

Anywhere you need to type your Mac password, such as viewing passwords in Safari preferences, you can now double-click the side button on your Apple Watch to authenticate on your Mac.

Approving app installations

Unlock a locked note, approve app installations, unlock settings in System Preferences, and modify root files, all with your Apple Watch.

Accessibility

Voice Control

Voice Control is a new way to fully control your Mac, iOS, and iPadOS devices entirely with your voice.

View the Accessibility White Paper (PDF)

Accurate dictation

Voice Control improves on the existing Enhanced Dictation feature using the Siri speech recognition engine, so you get the latest advances in machine learning for audio-to-text transcription.

Add custom words

Whether you’re writing a biology report, filling out a legal document, or emailing about a favorite topic, you can add custom words to ensure that Voice Control recognizes the words you commonly use.

On-device processing

All audio processing for Voice Control happens on your device, ensuring that your personal data is kept private.

Rich text editing

Thanks to rich text editing commands, you don’t have to rehearse before you speak. Making corrections is quick and easy. You can replace phrases by name. Try saying “Replace I’m almost there with I just arrived.” Fine-grained selection also makes it simple to select text. Try saying “Move up two lines. Select previous word. Capitalize that.”

Word and emoji suggestions

If you need to correct a word, there’s a new interface just for that. Simply ask to correct a word, and you’ll be presented with a list of suggested replacements.

Seamless transitions from dictation to commands

Voice Control understands contextual cues, so you can seamlessly transition between text dictation and commands. For example, say “Happy Birthday. Tap send.” in Messages, and Voice Control sends “Happy Birthday” — just as you intended. You can also say “delete that”, and Voice Control knows to delete what you just typed.

Comprehensive app navigation

You can rely entirely on your voice to navigate an app. Comprehensive navigation is provided by navigation commands, names of accessibility labels, numbers, and grids.

Navigation commands

Navigation commands give you quick ways to interact with macOS and apps. You can open apps, search the web, open Spotlight, and more.

Names

You can easily navigate by telling Voice Control to select the name of an accessibility label for buttons, links, and more.

Numbers

Say “show numbers” to see numbers appear next to all clickable items onscreen. Use this to quickly navigate complex or unfamiliar apps. Numbers automatically appear in menus and whenever you need to disambiguate between items with the same name. Just say a number to click it.

Grids

If you ever need to touch a part of the screen that doesn’t have a control, use Grid overlays. Saying “show grid” superimposes a grid on your screen and allows you to precisely do things, like select, zoom, drag, and more.

Hover Text

Hover Text displays high-resolution zoom of text, text fields, menu items, buttons, and more in a dedicated window. Just press the Control key when hovering over text with your cursor, and a window with zoomed text appears alongside the standard interface — helping you stay contextually aware. Text is crisply displayed in a font and color of your choice. And you can interact with buttons and type right in the zoomed window.

Zoom Display

While using a second display, you can see the same screen up close and at a distance simultaneously. You can keep one monitor zoomed in and another at a standard resolution. Or keep a personal Mac zoomed in while giving a presentation.

Simplified tab navigation

VoiceOver users will enjoy simplified keyboard navigation that requires less drilling into unique focus groups. The Tab key more simply advances through selection of elements — such as window stoplights, toolbar buttons, and scroll bars.

Punctuation in iCloud

VoiceOver users often customize the way punctuation marks are spoken. These customizations are now stored in iCloud, giving you a consistent experience across macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.

Additional international braille tables

macOS Catalina adds more international braille tables and lets you quickly switch between them.

Improved VoiceOver support in Xcode

VoiceOver now reads aloud warnings, line numbers, and breakpoints in the Xcode text editor.

Display color filters

Users with color vision deficiencies can adjust display colors using new color filter options. Your Mac shifts the colors onscreen, helping you easily differentiate areas of confusion. And you can turn this preference on and off through the Accessibility Options pane using Command-Option-F5.

Tint your entire display

A new display option lets you tint your entire screen using a color of your choice. Some users may find that certain color tints help make text easier to read.

Apple ID Account Information

One place for your Apple ID account details

Now you can access all your important Apple ID account information right from System Preferences on your Mac.

Overview and helpful notifications

A new overview pane allows you to quickly review important tips and notifications to help ensure that your account is properly signed in and secure, and that all the features you expect are set up and working correctly.

Basic account and security details

Easily review account details such as your name, contact info, password, security details, payment and shipping info, and email newsletter preferences.

iCloud settings

Review and update your iCloud settings and manage or upgrade your storage plan anytime.

Media and purchases

Get easy access to your current subscriptions, past purchases, and account settings related to the App Store, iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple Books, Apple News, Apple TV, and more.

Family Sharing

View which subscriptions you’re sharing, which services are enabled, who has Ask to Buy turned on, and more.

View all your devices

View a list of all the devices you’re signed in to with your account. Review device details such as last backup completed, Find My status, and more.

QuickTime Player

Picture in Picture (PiP)

With a single click in the navigation controller, you can play video in a resizable window that isn’t blocked by other windows, allowing you to watch while working on other things.

Enhanced Movie Inspector

The Movie Inspector pane shows you even more in-depth technical information about the currently open media file. See key details such as video color space, HDR format, bit depth, scale, and aspect ratio.

Open Image Sequence

Create an H.264, HEVC, or ProRes-encoded movie file by navigating to a folder of sequentially numbered images, then choosing your desired resolution, frame rate, and encoding quality.

Timecode support

When QuickTime Player opens a media file with embedded timecode, it shows the time information in the onscreen navigation controller.

Transparent video support

Transparency in ProRes 4444 files can optionally be preserved when exporting to the HEVC format.

Home

HomeKit Secure Video

With a home hub such as an Apple TV or HomePod, securely record video to iCloud when activity by a person, animal, or vehicle is detected by your HomeKit-enabled cameras. Choose to receive notifications when clips are recorded and view them in the Home app on your Mac. In the Home app, a timeline of recordings is available to play from iCloud. You can also share a recording, delete it, or save it to your Photos library.

Audio in scenes and automations

HomePod and AirPlay 2–enabled speakers can now play songs, playlists, and radio stations from Apple Music in scenes and automations with your other HomeKit accessories.

International Features

New multilingual setup for macOS

Choose your languages, including those for keyboard and dictation, in Setup Assistant, and customize your language preferences from the start.

New relationship labels in Contacts

Contacts now includes hundreds of new, more specific relationship labels to help you manage your contact list. Examples include “younger cousin” and “elder cousin.”

Cantonese keyboard predictions

The new Cantonese predictions for Traditional Chinese Cangjie, Sucheng, Stroke, and Handwriting keyboards bring more relevant character and emoji predictions to Cantonese users.

Improved Japanese predictions

A new neural language model takes words typed earlier in the sentence into account, so predictions are more grammatically consistent and relevant to the subject matter.

New fonts for Indian languages

Get 34 new fonts, including four system fonts and 30 document fonts, for languages like Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, and many more.

New Indian English Siri voices

All-new Indian English male and female Siri voices allow Siri to be more natural and expressive.

New dictionaries

New dictionaries include Thai-English and Vietnamese-English.

Other Features

iCloud Drive folder sharing*

You can now share folders with a private link. Anyone who has access can see the folder in iCloud Drive, add new files, and get the latest versions of files.

Restore from snapshot

If your third-party software is incompatible with an update you just installed, use macOS Recovery to restore from a snapshot of your computer taken right before the installation. macOS and all your apps will work just as they did before you installed the update.

What’s New in macOS Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 Beta 11 (19A582a)

MrMacintosh.com - What's New in macOS Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 Beta 11 (19A582a)
What’s New in macOS Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 Beta 11 (19A582a)

UPDATE: 10/9/19 – macOS 10.15.0 is LIVE, What’s New? – mrmacintosh.com/macos-catalina-10-15-0-19a583

Today Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 Beta 11 (19A582a)

Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 is here! GM stands for Gold Master, this term is from way back when CD and DVD media was still a thing. The GM build was the final production version of the OS burned to CD or DVD. Now that Catalina GM Build is live, we should be very close to the public release of 10.15.

This article is meant to save you time going through the notes to find what is new and what is still leftover from the last beta. I went through both Beta 10 and the new Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 (19A582a) release notes to find all the changes. When Apple releases the next Beta patch notes, the previous patch notes are overwritten and taken down.

10.15 GM Seed #1 or Beta 11 ?

NOTE: I am calling this GM Seed #1 because it’s my bet that we will see a GM Seed #2. The evidence is that Apple is still calling this release.

Install macOS Catalina Beta.app

I don’t know for sure though. Apple could just release the current build and change the name!!!

I for one really hope this is the case, as we still have some things that need to be addressed before launch.

Summary of GM Seed #1 Patch Notes

  • 1 New Features
  • 1 New Resolved issues
  • 0 New Known Issues
  • 0 New Deprecations

Report your bugs NOW!

This may be the final beta left to test. The public Release of Catalina is only a week or two away! You will want to get any bugs that you find into Apple now. If you get them in now, they could be fixed in the current beta cycle instead of waiting until after Octobers’s release date. If you wait it could be months before the fix is put into a dot release combo update.

Apple’s Public Developer Documentation

developer.apple.com/documentation/macos_release_notes

Previous 10.15 Beta Releases

  • 11th Catalina 10.15 GM Seed (19A582a) – 10/03/19 – Current
  • 10th Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) – 09/30/19 – Release Notes
  • 9th Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a) – 09/23/19 – Release Notes
  • 8th Catalina 10.15 Beta 8 (19A558d) – 09/10/19 – Release Notes
  • 7th Catalina 10.15 Beta 7 (19A546d) – 08/28/19 – Release Notes
  • 6th Catalina 10.15 Beta 6 (19A536g) – 08/19/19 – Release Notes
  • 5th Catalina 10.15 Beta 5 (19A526h) – 07/31/19 – Release Notes
  • 4th Catalina 10.15 Beta 4 (19A512f) – 07/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 3rd Catalina 10.15 Beta 3 (19A501i) – 07/02/19 – Release Notes
  • 2nd Catalina 10.15 Beta 2 (19A487l) – 06/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 1st Catalina 10.15 Beta 1 (19A471t) – 06/03/19 – Release Notes

How to Download macOS 10.15 Catalina Beta

AppleSeed Patch Notes & Some Fixes not listed?

Keep in mind, I can only publish public data. If you are an AppleSeed for IT member you can access additional 10.15 Catalina Beta Patch Notes in the AppleSeed Portal. AppleSeed information is protected by Apple’s NDA.

Some fixes are not going to be listed. Many issues are from #MacAdmins who have filed FeedBack Requests and Enterprise Support tickets. Most of these issues are resolved but are never publicly noted.

1. New Features in GM Seed #1

REMOVED!!! – Installing third party kernel extensions now requires that you restart your Mac before they’re permitted to load. (50340461)

New Resolved Issues in GM Seed #1

Privacy – Fixed an issue where turning on Curtain Mode prevented you from being able to control a remote Mac. (52900397)

New Known Issues in GM Seed #1

None

New Deprecations in GM Seed #1

None

What’s New in Xcode 11.2 Beta (11B41)

MrMacintosh.com - What's New in Xcode 11.2 Beta (11B41)
What’s New in Xcode 11.2 Beta (11B41)

Today Apple released Xcode 11.2 Beta (11B41) to Developers.

Xcode 11.2 Beta (11B41) is now available for developers to test with. What’s new in this release?

I added links to my previous Xcode 11 Change Notes below. I also included Xcode Requirements and Mac App Store download links.

Summary of New Xcode 11. GM Seed Patch Notes

  • 4 New Features
  • 9 New Resolved issues
  • 3 New Known Issues
  • 0 New Deprecations

A Full List of changes is listed below, along with the full patch notes list.

Xcode 11 Links

Main Xcode Page – https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

Release Notes Archive developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode_release_notes

Xcode 11 Mac App Store Download Link

Previous Xcode “What’s New” Articles

macOS Requirements

macOS Mojave 10.14.4 or later

What’s New in Xcode 11.2 Beta

Overview

Overview -Xcode 11.2 beta includes SDKs for iOS 13.2, macOS Catalina 10.15, watchOS 6.1, and tvOS 13.2. Xcode 11.2 beta supports on-device debugging for iOS 8 and later, tvOS 9 and later, and watchOS 2 and later. Xcode 11.2 beta requires a Mac running macOS Mojave 10.14.4 or later.

Debugging

Known Issues

  • Watch apps might fail to launch on Apple Watch from Xcode with the error: ”Failed to use existing instance 0 for app with bundle identifier: com.apple.Carousel.” This can occur when the iPhone and Apple Watch are too far from the wifi network base station and have a weak signal, the wifi network is congested, or the network doesn’t support peer-to-peer connections. (51431622)Workaround: Disable wifi on the Apple Watch in Settings to force use of bluetooth, or set up a separate 2.4GHz wifi base station and disable auto-connecting to the ‘bad’ wifi network.

Interface Builder

New Features

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed an issue with UITabBarController where decoding an instance from a storyboard would create extra views at the left end of the screen. If you worked around this issue on Xcode 11.0 or 11.1 by creating a subclass of UITabBarController and hiding extra views in the initializer you can remove the workaround. (55310448)
  • Fixed a crash that occurred in iOS/tvOS projects when reselecting the currently selected color in a user-defined runtime attribute. (55464140)
  • The host system’s appearance no longer affects which fallback color is archived for an adaptive asset catalog color. (55570108)

Localization

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed a crash when importing a localization with xcodebuild into a project referencing a Swift package. (55636751)

Simulator

New Features

  • simctl video recording now produces smaller video files, supports HEIC compression, and takes advantage of hardware encoding support where available. In addition, the ability to record video on iOS 13, tvOS 13, and watchOS 6 devices has been restored. (50625716, 54409532, 55207068).NoteThe flags and arguments supported by simctl video recording have changed. See xcrun simctl help io for more information.
  • Simulator now has a menu item and keyboard shortcut to bring up the app switcher in iOS simulators. (54793361)

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed a crash loop that could occur on macOS 10.15 Catalina when using iCloud Drive in simulated devices running older versions of iOS. (51392951, 54282967, 54818084)
  • Fixed an issue causing simulated devices running iOS 13 to display a black window instead of enabling an external display or a CarPlay display. (53966664)

Swift Compiler

New Features

  • Swift function builders use a new type checking algorithm that improves compile times and eliminates many instances of ”unable to type-check this expression in reasonable time” errors for SwiftUI-heavy code. (50150793)

Resolved Issues

  • The enum NEHotspotConfigurationError in the NetworkExtension framework changed back to NS_ENUM (from NS_ERROR_ENUM), as it was before Xcode 11.0. (54134493)
  • Fixed a runtime crash that would occur when running watch apps statically linked with Swift libraries. (55082864)

Swift Packages

Resolved Issues

  • The scheme autogenerated for a Swift package will be automatically updated when the package adds or removes targets. (50586754, 54777895)

SwiftUI

Known Issues

  • Certain downloadable project files from the SwiftUI tutorials inside Xcode’s documentation viewer might fail during the download process. (55575465)Workaround: Open the web link using the sharing button and download the sample files directly from the online version of the tutorial.

watchOS

Known Issues

  • watchOS applications built with the watchOS 6 SDK and a deployment target of watchOS 5.3 will crash on launch. (55360395)Workaround: Set the __WKEXTENSIONMAIN_LEGACY_TARGET_5_3 build setting to “legacy,” or use another deployment target instead of 5.3.

What’s New in macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c)

MrMacintosh.com - Today Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) to Developers, What's New?
Today Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) to Developers.

UPDATE: 10/03/19 – Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 is now live! What’s New ?mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-macos-catalina-10-15-gm-seed-1-beta-11-19a582a/

Today Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) to Developers.

This article is meant to save you time going through the notes to find what is new and what is still leftover from the last beta. I went through both Beta 9 and the new Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) release notes to find all the changes. Like usual, I also have included the entire patch notes list as an archive. When Apple releases the next Beta patch notes, the previous patch notes are overwritten and taken down.

Summary of Beta 10 Patch Notes

Nothing! Apple has not documented any changes in the Public Developer Release Notes between Beta 9 and Beta 10.

Report your bugs NOW!

This may be the final beta left to test. The public Release of Catalina is only a few weeks away! You will want to get any bugs that you find into Apple now. If you get them in now, they could be fixed in the current beta cycle instead of waiting until after September’s release date. If you wait it could be months before the fix is put into a dot release combo update.

Link to Apple’s Public Developer Documentation

developer.apple.com/documentation/macos_release_notes

Previous 10.15 Beta Releases

  • 10th Catalina 10.15 Beta 10 (19A578c) – 9/30/19 – Current Release
  • 9th Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a) – 09/23/19 – Release Notes
  • 8th Catalina 10.15 Beta 8 (19A558d) – 09/10/19 – Release Notes
  • 7th Catalina 10.15 Beta 7 (19A546d) – 08/28/19 – Release Notes
  • 6th Catalina 10.15 Beta 6 (19A536g) – 08/19/19 – Release Notes
  • 5th Catalina 10.15 Beta 5 (19A526h) – 07/31/19 – Release Notes
  • 4th Catalina 10.15 Beta 4 (19A512f) – 07/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 3rd Catalina 10.15 Beta 3 (19A501i) – 07/02/19 – Release Notes
  • 2nd Catalina 10.15 Beta 2 (19A487l) – 06/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 1st Catalina 10.15 Beta 1 (19A471t) – 06/03/19 – Release Notes

How to Download macOS 10.15 Catalina Beta

AppleSeed Patch Notes & Some Fixes not listed?

Keep in mind, I can only publish public data. If you are an AppleSeed for IT member you can access additional 10.15 Catalina Beta Patch Notes in the AppleSeed Portal. AppleSeed information is protected by Apple’s NDA.

Some fixes are not going to be listed. Many issues are from #MacAdmins who have filed FeedBack Requests and Enterprise Support tickets. Most of these issues are resolved but are never publicly noted.

1. New Features in Beta 10

None

New Resolved Issues in Beta 10

None

New Known Issues in Beta 10

None

New Deprecations in Beta 10

None

macOS updates 9/26/19 – Mojave 10.14.6 #3 – 10.13 & 10.12 (2019-005)

MrMacintosh.com - macOS updates 9/26/19 – Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 – 10.13 & 10.12 (2019-005)
macOS updates 9/26/19 – Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 – 10.13 & 10.12 (2019-005)

Today Apple released macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 and Security Updates 2019-005 for High Sierra 10.13 and Sierra 10.12. If Apple’s previous update release history is any guide, 2019-005 will be the final Security Update for Sierra. Once macOS 10.15 Catalina is released in October, Mojave will be security patched for two more years. High Sierra will be supported for one year and Sierra will be dropped.

10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 ??? Wait.. What? Apple is calling it the 2nd Supplemental Update.

Not sure where Apple got out of order here, but this is the 10.14.6 Build Version release schedule.

  • 1. 10.14.6 Mojave First Release (18G84) – 7/22/19
  • 2. 10.14.6 Mojave Supplemental Update #1 (18G87) – 8/05/19
  • 3. 10.14.6 Mojave Supplemental Update #2 (18G95) – 8/26/19
  • 4. 10.14.6 Mojave Supplemental Update #3 (18G103) – 9/26/19

Which version of the 10.14.6 update does my Mac need?

Software Update will always point you to the right update.

  1. Any Build Version of 10.14.6 = Supplemental Update #3
  2. 10.14.0-10.14.4 = Combo Update
  3. 10.14.5 = Delta Update
  4. 10.8 – 10.14.6 Upgrade = Updated 10.14.6 (18G103) Full Installer.app

How do you keep track of all the macOS Build Versions?

I document all of all macOS versions along with most Apple Applications, XProtect, Gatekeeper and MRT updates in one database. You can check out the link below.

mrmacintosh.com/macos-system-status-version-info-for-macadmins/

MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 (18G103)

Information on new features and fixes included in the Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 (Note this was only listed as a security update)

Security information for macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3, High Sierra 10.13 2019-005 & Sierra 10.12 2019-005

Enterprise Content

  • None

Security Information

Foundation

Available for: macOS Sierra 10.12.6, macOS High Sierra 10.13.6, and macOS Mojave 10.14.6

Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2019-8641: Samuel Groß and Natalie Silvanovich of Google Project Zero

Update Notes

  • None

High Sierra 10.13 – 2019-005 (17G8037)

Sierra 10.12 – 2019-005 (16G2136)

Safari 13.0.1 for High Sierra & Sierra

  • 10.13 – Safari13.0.1HighSierraAuto-13.0.1 (software update only)
  • 10.12 – Safari13.0.1SierraAuto-13.0.1 (software update only)

Full 10.14.6 Installer Safari Note!

The 10.14.6 Full installer (18G103) still includes the OLD version of Safari Version 12.1.2. HT to MacAdmins Slack User macbm.

Other New Updates Released

  • EDIT: HT @howardnoakley for pointing out that this is the same BridgeOS version that was released with the previous 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #2!
  • BridgeOS – BridgeOS Update 16.16.6571 Build Version 4

Previous Releases

macOS 10.14.6 (18G103) 2019-005

What’s New in Xcode 11.1 GM Seed (11A1027)

MrMacintosh.com - What's New in Xcode 11.1 GM Seed (11A1027)?
What’s New in Xcode 11.1 GM Seed (11A1027)?

On Tuesday Apple released Xcode 11.1 GM Seed to Developers.

The Production version of Xcode 11 was released to the Mac App Store just 6 days ago. We now have the first beta version of Xcode 11.1 available for developers to test with. What’s new?

I have added links to my previous Xcode 11 Change Notes below. Also included is Xcode Requirements and “What’s New”

Summary of New Xcode 11. GM Seed Patch Notes

  • 1 New Features
  • 3 New Resolved issues
  • 6 New Known Issues
  • 0 New Deprecations

A Full List of changes is listed below, along with the full patch notes list.

Xcode 11 Links

Main Xcode Page – https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

Xcode Release Notes Archive https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode_release_notes

Xcode 11 (11A420a) Production Version – mrmacintosh.com/xcode-11-11a420a-is-now-available-in-the-mac-app-store-whats-new/

Xcode 11 GM (11a420a) Seed #2 Release Notes Changes – mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-xcode-11-gm-seed-2-11a420a/

Xcode 11 GM (11a419C) Seed #1 Release Notes Changes – mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-xcode-11-gm-seed-1-11a419c/

Xcode 11 Beta 7 (11m392r) Release Notes Changes – mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-xcode-11-beta-7-11m392r/

Xcode 11 Mac App Store Download Link

macOS Requirements

macOS Mojave 10.14.4 or later

What’s New in Xcode 11.1 GM Seed

Overview

  1. Xcode 11.1 includes SDKs for iOS 13.1, macOS Catalina 10.15, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13. 2. Xcode 11.1 supports on-device debugging for iOS 8 and later, tvOS 9 and later, and watchOS 2 and later. 3. Xcode 11.1 requires a Mac running macOS Mojave 10.14.4 or later.

Asset Catalogs

Known Issues

  • Images in the asset catalog won’t be found at runtime when running on watchOS 4. (55395258)

Interface Builder

New Features

  • You can now preview your interface for the 7th generation iPad. (53957165)

Known Issues

  • There is an issue with UITabBarController where decoding an instance from a storyboard will create some extra views at the left end of the screen. Developers may remove these by applying a workaround. (55310448)Workaround: To remove the extraneous views from Storyboard, create a subclass of a UITabBarController and add the following snippet in the class’s init(coder:)method:class WorkaroundTabBarController: UITabBarController { required init?(coder: NSCoder) { super.init(coder: coder) // This must be run immediately after the call to super. if (tabBar.subviews.count > 1) { tabBar.subviews[0].isHidden = true } } }

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when compiling XIB files in iOS projects that backwards deploy to iOS versions earlier than 13.0. (55271752)

Localization

Known Issues

  • UITableViewCell labels in storyboards and XIB files do not use localized string values from the strings file at runtime. (52839404)

Simulator

Known Issues

  • On macOS Catalina, iCloud Drive will crash in a loop on simulated devices running older versions of iOS. (51392951, 54282967, 54818084)Workaround: Log out of iCloud in impacted simulators to halt the crash cycle.

Resolved Issues

  • CarPlay works on iOS 13.1 simulators. (54492162)

Swift

Known Issues

  • The NEHotspotConfigurationError enum from the NetworkExtension framework changed from NS_ENUM to NS_ERROR_ENUM, which can cause compiler errors in existing Swift code that uses the enum. For example, in code like this:let code = NEHotspotConfigurationError(rawValue: errorCode) You will see the error message: “error: incorrect argument label in call (have ‘rawValue:’, expected ‘_nsError:’).” (54134493)Workaround: Replace references of NEHotspotConfigurationError with NEHotspotConfigurationError.Code. For the above example, change the code to:let code = NEHotspotConfigurationError.Code(rawValue: errorCode)

SwiftUI

Resolved Issues

  • Fixed an issue with Xcode Previews where debugging a preview would no longer pin the preview, and navigating would lose the debug session. (54758098)

Swift Packages

Known Issues

  • If an iOS, tvOS, or watchOS app uses a Swift Package that builds a dynamic library, it cannot be submitted to the App Store. (55564324)Workaround: Modify the Package manifest to build a static library.

Google Chrome Keystone is Removing /var symlink on non SIP Macs Causing Boot Issues

MrMacintosh.com - Google Chrome Keystone Updater is removing the /var symlink causing account and boot issues.
Google Chrome Keystone Updater is removing the /var symlink causing account and boot issues.

UPDATE: 10/03/19

Google has posted an update that they found the issue in the Keystone Update and fixed it. They are are pushing the updated version now. The push started last night and the new version should be 1.2.13.79 or 1.2.13.80.

Google has been able to reproduce the bug. Chromium bug – bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1007358

Google now is recommending that you reinstall macOS to fix the issue. support.google.com/chrome/thread/15235262

Statement From AVID 9/25- avid.com/92419issue

See Index #7 for the Updated Fix from Google Support

#Varsectomy FAQ- Index

  • 1. What is going on here? – #Varsectomy
  • 2. Which macOS Versions are affected ?
  • 3. Specific Mac Hardware ?
  • 4. SIP – System Integrity Protection
  • 5. AVID or Google Chrome Keystone Update causing this issue ?
  • 6. How can I check my /var symlink?
  • 7. How can I fix the issue = 2 ways to fix.
  • 8. What about Hackintosh users? A fix for you!
  • 9. Should I disable Chrome Auto Updates
  • 10. Jamf Pro Extension Atribute
  • 11. Links
  • 12. Credit – Investigation by #MacAdmins & Apple

1. What is going on here ? – #Varsectomy

The purpose of this article is to gather all known information and data around the current issues some AVID and NON SIP protected Macs are experiencing. The issue first started on Monday 9/23/19.

Late Yesterday some #MacAdmins started to report that a few of their systems would not boot properly. They would have the following issues.

  • 1. After rebooting the affected system it would Kernel Panic. The system will reboot only to KP again
  • 2. User Logs out and the system shows the Setup Assistant.
  • 3. The System Kernel Panics into a boot Loop.

AVID users were some of the first to report the issue. AVID.com says

Avid empowers media creators with innovative technology and collaborative tools to entertain, inform, educate and enlighten the world.

Sometimes AVID Media Creators use 3rd Party Graphics cards connected to their Mac Pro. When the issue hit yesterday, it was thought that AVID was the main cause of the problems since all the users experiencing the issue had AVID software.

Only later after a MacAdmins deep dive investigation was it found that AVID was NOT the cause of the problem. It was Google Chrome Keystone Updater!

Join the #Varsectomy channel in MacAdmins Chat for the latest info!

2. Which macOS Versions are affected ?

MacOS 10.9 – 10.14 Mojave

NOTE: macOS 10.9 & 10.10 so not have SIP. System Integrity Protection was introduced in macOS 10.11 El Capitan.

3. Specific Mac Hardware ?

At first it was first reported that the 2013 Mac Pro was affected, this is not true.

Now it seems the issue affects all Macs that have SIP (System Integrity Protection) Disabled or turned OFF

Check if SIP is enabled by running csrutil status

  • System Integrity Protection status: enabled.
  • System Integrity Protection status: disabled

4. SIP – System Integrity Protection

All Reports so far look to be from Macs that have SIP Disabled!

Please do not disable SIP, it was created to protect macOS from this very issue.

5. AVID or Google Chrome Keystone Update causing this issue ?

At first the issue seemed to be caused by Avid Media Composer. After further investigation it was found that AVID was not the problem! Some AVID users may need to DISABLE SIP for 3rd party Video Card support.

After investigation from some of the top minds in the MacAmins Slack Chat #varsectomy channel it was found that the Google Keystone Updater was at the heart of the issue.

The Google Chrome Keystone updater lives here (if set to only update for the user who installed Chrome) – ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/

If set to install for ALL users. (This also prompts for admin access for install) Thanks Jeff Johnson /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/

You can run the Google Chrome Keystone Updater Manually to kick off an update check. (NOTE: Google has disabled the updater for now!) see bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1007358

~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent -runmode oneshot

Thank you eholtam for the VM investigation and Screenshots!

Google Chrome Keystone Update Policy Running.

After kicking off the update you can see the problem below.

“Found and deleted symlink at path /var”

Found and deleted symlink at path /var

6. How do I check my /var symlink?

Check to see if your /var symlink was modified by running the following command.

ls -ldO /var

You should get one of the following outputs. The first one below means that your /var volder is SIP protected (notice the restricted flag) and the proper sym link /var -> private/var

lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root wheel restricted,hidden 11 Apr 1 2018 /var -> private/var

The next one means that your symlink is broken and the folder is NOT SIP Protected.

drwxr-xr-x 5 503 wheel - 170 Sep 24 14:37 /var

If you find /var in this condition you are affected! If you LOGOUT, SHUTDOWN OR RESTART your Mac will NOT Boot! You will need to boot into recovery, repair the /var symlink and reset the restricted flags. Fix below.

7. How can I fix the issue? 2 ways to fix.

UPDATE: 9/25 – Rich Trouton posted a great article showing you step by step how to fix both 10.9-10.10 & 10.11-10.14 systems – derflounder.wordpress.com/2019/09/25/google-keystone-update-breaks-macs-ability-to-boot-if-system-integrity-protection-is-disabled/

1st Fix from MacAdmins User Juest 

First you have to fix the /var symlink so it shows /var -> private/var

Then you can remove the affected LaunchAgents

Boot to macOS Recovery by holding down Command R

Steps for 10.11 -10.14 SIP Supported Systems

1. Boot into Recovery
2. Launch Terminal
(only if you're on 10.11+ with SIP)
# chroot /Volumes/[affected install] 
# mv var vv
# ln -s private/var var
# chflags -h restricted /var
# chflags -h hidden /var
# xattr -sw com.apple.rootless "" /var

Steps for 10.9-10.10 NON SIP Systems

10.10 or older:
only do symblink and the hidden chflag and 
remove launch agents from 
/Users/[affected user]/Library/LaunchAgents/
OR 
/Library/LaunchAgents/
- com.google.keystone.agent.plist
- com.google.keystone.xpcservice.plist
# exit
(recommended) # csrutil enable (10.11+)
8. Reboot

UPDATE: 9/28 – 2nd Fix is from Google Support

Google is now recommending that you reinstall macOS if you had this issue.
https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/15235262

NOTE: The information below is from Google. Link Below.

chroot /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD          #(Macintosh HD is the default)
rm -rf /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle
  mv var var_back               #(Var may not exist, but this is fine)      
  ln -sh private/var /var
  chflags -h restricted /var
  chflags -h hidden /var
  xattr -sw com.apple.rootless "" /var

NOTE: Commenter stockmind has noted that the GoogleSoftwareUpdate.Bundle could reside in the USERS folder. In that case you need to run this string instead. Change USERNAME to your Username. Thanks for the tip!

rm -rf /Users/USERNAME/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle

Official Fix from Google support.google.com/chrome/thread/15235262

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21066472 & 9to5google.com/2019/09/24/avid-mac-crashing-google/

8. What about Hackintosh users? A fix for you!

I had a few Hackintosh users reach out for a fix. Good News! u/Fargo_Newb on Reddit has a fix for you. – reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/d8tm8z/psa_google_chrome_updaterkeystone_rendering/

9. Should I disable Chrome Auto Updates ?

You shouldn’t need to disable Chrome Auto updates at this time. From the Chromium bug report – bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1007358 Google has disabled Keystone updates for now until the issue is found and resolved.

If you would like to disable Google Chrome Keystone automatic updates, the article below will show you. applehelpwriter.com/2014/07/13/how-to-remove-googles-secret-update-software-from-your-mac/

10. Jamf Pro Extension Attribute

This will help you find machines that are in a state where the /var sys link is broken. Thanks @neilmartin83 & @rmanly

#!/bin/bash

if [[ -h /var ]]; then
    echo "<result>symlink</result>"
elif [[ -d /var ]]; then
    echo "<result>directory</result>"
fi

exit 0
symlink = System OK!

11. Links

Below are a few of of the reports. It first started out as “AVID Hollywood Mac Pro boot problem“.

Jeff Rosica AVID CEO statement early on 9/24.

Chromium Bug Report 9/25 – https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1007358

Google Official Response 9/25 & 9/27 – support.google.com/chrome/thread/15235262

Official AVID Statement 9/25 – avid.com/92419issue

Rich Trouton step by step fix guide 9/25 –derflounder.wordpress.com/2019/09/25/google-keystone-update-breaks-macs-ability-to-boot-if-system-integrity-protection-is-disabled/

Scott Simmons 9/24 – provideocoalition.com/avid-editors-editors-in-general-be-on-alert-about-this-potential-rebooting-issue/

SlashDot Report 9/26 – https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/09/25/2152236/mysterious-mac-pro-shutdowns-likely-caused-by-chrome-update

Ars Technica Report 9/26 – arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/no-it-wasnt-a-virus-it-was-chrome-that-stopped-macs-from-booting/

Daring FireBall by John Gruber 9/26 – daringfireball.net/linked/2019/09/25/mr-macintosh-chrome-updater

Forbes Report 9/26 – forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2019/09/26/google-confirms-buggy-chrome-update-is-breaking-apple-macs/#5aad7747391c

Hacker News Discussion Thread 9/25- news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21064663

Gizmodo.com Report 9/25 – gizmodo.com/whoops-google-says-mysterious-wave-of-unbootable-macs-1838430057

Hackintosh Fix 9/25 – reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/d8tm8z/psa_google_chrome_updaterkeystone_rendering/

Updated Report from 9to5google.com 9/25 – 9to5google.com/2019/09/24/avid-mac-crashing-google/

Variety Updated Report 9/25 – variety.com/2019/digital/news/mac-pro-avid-shutdowns-chrome-update-keystone-1203348549/

Variety Report 9/24- variety.com/2019/digital/news/avid-mac-pro-corrupted-hollywood-1203347033/

MacRumors Report 9/24 – macrumors.com/2019/09/24/hollywood-mac-pros-hit-by-avid-issue/

Bleeping Computer Report 9/24 –bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/avid-users-are-suddenly-finding-that-their-macs-won-t-boot/

Some of the first reports on the AVID FaceBook Group 9/24 – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156759822188022&set=p.10156759822188022&type=3&theater

Disable Google Chrome Keystone Automatic Updates – applehelpwriter.com/2014/07/13/how-to-remove-googles-secret-update-software-from-your-mac/

12. Credit! – Further investigation by #MacAdmins & Apple

It needs to be stated that many MacAdmins and Apple Engineers worked together and after investigating with users who had the issue. Great work guys!!!

  • @rtrouton for the cool /var Logo!
  • @bradtchapman for #Varsectomy
  • @eholtam for investigation and screen shots.
  • @Juest for investigation and fix commands
  • All active users in MacAdmins Chat #varsectomy

What’s New in macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a)

MrMacintosh.com - What's New in macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a)

UPDATE: 10/03/19 – Catalina 10.15 GM Seed #1 is now live! What’s New ? mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-macos-catalina-10-15-gm-seed-1-beta-11-19a582a/

Today Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15 (19A573a) Beta 9 to Developers.

This article is meant to save you time going through the notes to find what is new and what is still leftover from the last beta. I went through both Beta 8 and the new Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a) release notes to find all the changes. Like usual, I also have included the entire patch notes list as an archive. When Apple releases the next Beta patch notes, the previous patch notes are overwritten and taken down.

Summary of Beta 9 Patch Notes

  • 1 New Features
  • 2 New Resolved issues
  • 2 New Known Issues
  • 0 New Deprecations

Report your bugs NOW!

This may be the final beta left to test. The public Release of Catalina is only a few weeks away! You will want to get any bugs that you find into Apple now. If you get them in now, they could be fixed in the current beta cycle instead of waiting until after September’s release date. If you wait it could be months before the fix is put into a dot release combo update.

Link to Apple’s Public Developer Documentation

developer.apple.com/documentation/macos_release_notes

Previous 10.15 Beta Releases

  • 9th Catalina 10.15 Beta 9 (19A573a) – 09/23/19 – Current Release
  • 8th Catalina 10.15 Beta 8 (19A558d) – 09/10/19 – Release Notes
  • 7th Catalina 10.15 Beta 7 (19A546d) – 08/28/19 – Release Notes
  • 6th Catalina 10.15 Beta 6 (19A536g) – 08/19/19 – Release Notes
  • 5th Catalina 10.15 Beta 5 (19A526h) – 07/31/19 – Release Notes
  • 4th Catalina 10.15 Beta 4 (19A512f) – 07/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 3rd Catalina 10.15 Beta 3 (19A501i) – 07/02/19 – Release Notes
  • 2nd Catalina 10.15 Beta 2 (19A487l) – 06/17/19 – Release Notes
  • 1st Catalina 10.15 Beta 1 (19A471t) – 06/03/19 – Release Notes

How to Download macOS 10.15 Catalina Beta

AppleSeed Patch Notes & Some Fixes not listed?

Keep in mind, I can only publish public data. If you are an AppleSeed for IT member you can access additional 10.15 Catalina Beta Patch Notes in the AppleSeed Portal. AppleSeed information is protected by Apple’s NDA.

Some fixes are not going to be listed. Many issues are from #MacAdmins who have filed FeedBack Requests and Enterprise Support tickets. Most of these issues are resolved but are never publicly noted.

1. New Features in Beta 9

iCloud – Launch daemons and launch agents introduce new user privacy protections. Specifying privacy-sensitive files and folders in a launchd property list might not work as expected and prevent the service from running. Having Program or ProgramArguments pointing to an executable in a privacy sensitive location is currently allowed, but may be restricted in a future release. (49702405)To comply with the new privacy protections, resources for a launchd service must be stored in locations that aren’t privacy sensitive. If necessary, the app can set up resources during its execution rather than using launchd property list keys, making it possible to grant the app access using System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy. The following launchd property list keys are affected: KeepAlive, PathState, QueueDirectories, Sockets, SockPathName, StandardErrorPath, StandardInPath, StandardOutPath, and WatchPaths.

2. New Resolved issues

Localization – Fixed an issue where certain languages might exhibit clipped or misaligned layout. (51068688, 50983852)

Localization – Fixed an issue where certain languages might display unlocalized text. (47765173, 51196633)

3. New Known Issues

Mac Catalyst – DOM keyboard events aren’t dispatched as expected in WKWebView when pressing or releasing keys. Web apps needing to track typed characters can instead listen for DOM input events. (54580414)

Remote Desktop – Turning on Curtain Mode prevents you from being able to control a remote Mac. (52900397)

4. New Deprecations

Xcode 11 (11A420a) Is now available in the Mac App Store. What’s New?

MrMacintosh.com - Xcode 11 (11A420a) Is now available in the App Store
Xcode 11 (11A420a) Is now available in the App Store

Today Apple released Xcode 11 to the Mac App Store.

The Production version of Xcode 11 was released to the Mac App Store today. The Build Number is the same as Xcode 11 Seed #2. I also double checked the release notes are they are the same.

I have added links to my previous Xcode 11 Change Notes below. Also included is Xcode Requirements and “What’s New”

Xcode 11 Links

Main Xcode Page – https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

Xcode Release Notes Archive https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode_release_notes

Xcode GM (11a420a) Seed #2 Release Notes Changes – mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-xcode-11-gm-seed-2-11a420a/

Xcode 11 GM (11a419C) Seed #1 Release Notes Changes – mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-xcode-11-gm-seed-1-11a419c/

Xcode 11 Beta 7 (11m392r) Release Notes Changes – mrmacintosh.com/whats-new-in-xcode-11-beta-7-11m392r/

Xcode 11 Mac App Store Download Link

macOS Requirements

macOS 10.14.4 or later

What’s New in Xcode 11

Xcode 11 includes Swift 5.1 and SDKs for iOS 13, tvOS 13, watchOS 6, and macOS Catalina 10.15

SwiftUI

SwiftUI framework and design tools work together to enable a new way to build user intefaces

Declarative syntax defines your user interface using easy-to-read Swift code

Design tools make it as easy as drag-and-drop to construct and edit your views

Code you write is always in sync with the design and preview canvas

Library of controls and modifiers make it easy to build complex interfaces

Animations are built using simple commands that describe the action you want to see

Preview your real app running on multiple device types, orientations, and font sizes

Share common code across all Apple platforms, and add custom experiences for each OS

* NOTE: SwiftUI requires iOS 13, watchOS 6, tvOS 13, or macOS Catalina. To use the SwiftUI design canvas Xcode 11 must be running on macOS Catalina, coming this Fall.

Mac Catalyst brings iPad apps to the Mac

Click a single checkbox in your iPad project to add a native Mac app

One project and set of source code creates iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions of your app

Customize elements of your app for an experience unique to Mac

Add new SwiftUI code to your project along side existing UIKit code

Submit to the Mac App Store or notarize for outside distribution

Swift and Swift Packages

Swift packages are supported throughout, including build, debug, and SCM workflows

Use Swift packages from GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, or your own hosts

Download packages automatically based on dependency analysis

Create your own packages to share code among all your apps, or to publish for the community

iOS dark mode

Switch between light and dark mode instantly while developing and debugging

Asset catalog makes it easy to control images and colors for dark and light mode

Editor

Editor minimap gives a bird’s eye view of your code so you can quickly jump to any line

Each editor view has its own preview, assistant, or other complementary views

Split any editor pane to layout your workspace exactly as you want

Other improvements

Build stand-alone watchOS apps with a faster debugging experience

Simulator launches quickly and uses the GPU to accelerate Metal code

Test plans give you greater control of your test harness with sharable results bundles

Automatically generate localized screenshots using UI tests as part of your test plan

Source control adds support for stash and cherry-pick operations

Simulate device conditions such as a slow network or thermal warnings while debugging

Metrics tab in the Organizer shows how efficiently your app runs on customer devices

10.14.6 Update Causes Kernel Panic When Using FaceTime Camera (UPDATE!)

MrMacintosh.com - 10.14.6 Update Causes a Kernel Panic When Using the Built-In FaceTime Camera.
10.14.6 Update Causes a Kernel Panic When Using the Built-In FaceTime Camera.

NEW UPDATE: 4/08/20 – I am getting multiple reports that users are having issues applications that use Hardware Accelerated Video with the latest 10.14 and 10.13 2020-002 Security updates. The system will 100% freeze up during video conference, video or heavy app usage and you will have to hard power down. I posted all the new information about the freezing issue in a new article here – https://mrmacintosh.com/2020-002-update-causes-some-macs-to-freeze-up-while-using-vid-conf-apps/

FINAL UPDATE: 1/22/20 – Multiple users have contacted me to let me know that the latest macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Security Update 2019-002 (18G2022) has fixed the issue for them! The T2 BridgeOS version is 17.16.12551 or newer.

UPDATE: 10/03/19 – I am hearing from readers and commenters that Zoom has confirmed that this issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15. This could very well mean that we will not get a fix for Mojave. 🙁

UPDATE: 9/27/19 – Apple just released 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3, but this does NOT fix the FaceTime Camera bug. – mrmacintosh.com/macos-updates-9-26-19-mojave-10-14-6-3-10-13-10-12-2019-005/

UPDATE: 9/18/19 – Added additional workarounds.

After Apple released the 10.14.6 Update, some users of 2019 & 2018 15″ MacBook Pros started to report Kernel Panics when using the Built-In FaceTime Camera.

I reported on a similar issue about a month ago when the 2019-004 Security Update for High Sierra and Sierra started causing a Kernel Panic after waking from sleep.

In this article, I will give you the lowdown of the issue. In the end, I will also give you a workaround until Apple releases a fix.

If you are interested in the 2018-004 Security Update Wake from Sleep issue you can read my report Below.

mrmacintosh.com/apple-pulls-2019-004-high-sierra-and-sierra-security-updates-after-kernel-panics/

Let’s dive right in and see what’s going on here.

Who, What, When, Where & Why Index

  • 1. Affected macOS 10.14.6 Build Versions
  • 2. Affected Mac Hardware
  • 3. This issue does NOT affect most 10.14.6 users.
  • 4. Kernel Panic Reports
  • 5. Why rolling back will NOT work.
  • 6 Built-In FaceTime Camera
  • 7. Camera Software that causes the KP’s
  • 8. Workarounds
  • 9. Will Apple fix this issue? 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 ?
  • 10. 10.14.6 FaceTime Camera Kernel Panic Links
  • 11. 3rd Party Vendor Responses

1. Affected macOS 10.14.6 Build Versions

This issue affects all macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Build Versions.

  • (18G84) Update Released July 22nd, 2019
  • (18G87) Supplemental Update #1 Released August 5th, 2019
  • (18G95) Supplemental Update #2 Released August 26th, 2019

2. Affected Mac Hardware

I have looked over many reports on the Apple Discussion Forums and MacAdmins Slack Chat. It looks like the only affected Mac Hardware is…

  • MacBookPro15,1
  • 2018 15″ MacBook Pro
  • 2019 15″ MacBook Pro

If you have the issue on a 2018-2019 13″ MacBook Pro/Air Please do not hesitate to Contact Me.

3. This issue does NOT affect most 10.14.6 users.

I tried time and time again to reproduce this issue. Having both a 2018 and 2019 15″MacBook Pro for testing, I figured that I would be able to reproduce the issue. Having FaceTime.app open for hours and using Zoom Conference call for 4 hours, produced zero crashes. This could be a clue as to an additional cause on the reported users computers, but I’m not sure.

4. Kernel Panic Reports

What do the Kernel Panic Reports look like? Looking over the report it looks like BridgeOS is crashing. Below is a sample report.

{“caused_by”:”unknown”,”macos_version”:”Mac OS X 10.14.6 (18G84)”,”os_version”:”Bridge OS 3.6 (16P6568)”,”macos_system_state”:”running”,”incident_id”:”6DCB8540-C363-4FC9-999E-9E38E276621A”,”timestamp”:”2019-07-25 15:44:33.33 +0000″,”bug_type”:”210″} { “build” : “Bridge OS 3.6 (16P6568)”, “product” : “iBridge2,3”, “kernel” : “Darwin Kernel Version 18.7.0: Tue Jun 25 21:35:19 PDT 2019; root:xnu-4903.270.47~9\/RELEASE_ARM64_T8010”, “incident” : “6DCB8540-C363-4FC9-999E-9E38E276621A”, “crashReporterKey” : “c0dec0dec0dec0dec0dec0dec0dec0dec0de0001”, “date” : “2019-07-25 15:44:33.08 +0000”, “panicString” : “panic(cpu 0 caller 0xfffffff01bca5bec): \”void AppleEmbeddedPCIeUpLinkMgmt::_linkInterruptAction(IOInterruptEventSource *, int): \” \”A link timeout has been seen after 100000 microseconds and 49999 iterations.\”@\/BuildRoot\/Library\/Caches\/com.apple.xbs\/Sources\/AppleEmbeddedPCIeUpLinkMgmt\/AppleEmbeddedPCIeUpLinkMgmt-76.260.2\/AppleEmbeddedPCIeUpLinkMgmt.cpp:3982\nDebugger message: panic\nMemory ID: 0x6\nOS version: 16P6568\nmacOS version: 18G84\nKernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 18.7.0: Tue Jun 25 21:35:19 PDT 2019; root:xnu-4903.270.47~9\/RELEASE_ARM64_T8010\nKernelCache UUID: DB4E28E6354462E8ADC412A804EB32E1\nKernel UUID: 9FC93C85-B7C5-3723-92B7-293273AB9C4F\niBoot version: iBoot-4513.270.14\nsecure boot?: YES\nx86 EFI Boot State: 0xe\nx86 System State: 0x0\nx86 Power State: 0x0\nx86 Shutdown Cause: 0x5\nx86 Previous Power Transitions: 0x40504000200\nPCIeUp link state: 0x94721611\nPaniclog version: 13\nKernel slide: 0x000000001559c000\nKernel text base: 0xfffffff01c5a0000\nmach_absolute_time: 0xa75d527f88\nEpoch Time: sec usec\n Boot : 0x5d37ad8f 0x000c3155\n Sleep : 0x5d39a45e 0x000defae\n Wake : 0x5d39ab5f 0x0006d1c2\n Calendar: 0x5d39ce41 0x000cb6eb\n\nPanicked task 0xffffffe000881680: 8160 pages, 207 threads: pid 0: kernel_task\nPanicked thread: 0xffffffe000c4b3e0, backtrace: 0xffffffe01633b590, tid: 280\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c6ae2a4 fp: 0xffffffe01633b620\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c79b5a4 fp: 0xffffffe01633b760\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c679610 fp: 0xffffffe01633b770\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c6ad848 fp: 0xffffffe01633bae0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c6adbc0 fp: 0xffffffe01633bb20\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c6ada14 fp: 0xffffffe01633bb40\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01bca5bec fp: 0xffffffe01633bbd0\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01cb35fc4 fp: 0xffffffe01633bc10\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01cb34ad8 fp: 0xffffffe01633bc50\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01cb3434c fp: 0xffffffe01633bc90\n\t\t lr: 0xfffffff01c684614 fp: 0x0000000000000000\n\n”, “panicFlags” : “0x2”, “otherString” : “\n** Stackshot Succeeded ** Bytes Traced 112560 **\n”, “macOSPanicFlags” : “0x0”, “macOSPanicString” : “BAD MAGIC! (flag set in iBoot panic header), no macOS panic log available”, “memoryStatus” : {“compressorSize”:0,”compressions”:0,”decompressions”:0,”busyBufferCount”:0,”pageSize”:16384,”memoryPressure”:false,”memoryPages”:{“active”:8141,”throttled”:0,”fileBacked”:10933,”wired”:10886,”purgeable”:0,”inactive”:5798,”free”:3029,”speculative”:2344}},

5. Why rolling back will NOT work.

You might think, what if I roll back to a previous version of Mojave like 10.14.5? In the past, this might have worked! It will NOT work when the issue is caused by BridgeOS. Apple has made it impossible to roll back the version of your T2 BridgeOS.

After you updated to 10.14.6, your BridgeOS was also updated. If you try to reinstall 10.14.5, this version will still work but the newer BridgeOS will still be installed. This is also why if you got your MacBook Pro replaced at the Apple Store, the issue could STILL be happening to you.

The only way you could get this to work is if you got ahold of a 10.14.5 system on BridgeOS version 16.16.5601 or lower.

6. Built-In FaceTime Camera

The crash ONLY happens when you use the MacBook Pro Built-In FaceTime Camera. It does not matter what you do. From the many reports that I have looked through, the crash could happen the very second you activate the camera or 2 hours after. Most of the reports seem to be from 10min to 1 hour of use.

7. Camera Software that causes the KP’s

The following software can cause your Mac to Kernel Panic

  • FaceTime.app
  • WebEx
  • Zoom
  • Slack
  • Google Hangouts
  • Skype
  • Teams
  • gotomeeting
  • BlueJeans

You get the idea, basically ANY application that uses the Built-In FaceTime Camera.

8. Workarounds

Most issues like this have some type of workaround. Sometimes a workaround is found by accident or after hours of testing. This time around a few users on the Apple Discussion Forums found at least one workaround.

  • Plug in an additional Web Camera. This could be a USB Web Camera or even a monitor with a built-in camera like the Apple 27″ ThunderBolt Display.
  • You don’t even have to use the secondary camera. For some reason with the second camera plugged in reports say that you can use the built-in FaceTime Camera without crashes. Found by user edgonz305
  • Run a Windows Fusion VM with Skype in that VM. The problem does not occur using integrated camera. This is not a solution for everyone, but for me it works better than using an external camera. Additional workaround from OaSOakover
  • You can prevent the crashes by just disabling video on the meeting. (This one is pretty obvious if you don’t need to use the FaceTime Cam)
  • macOS Catalina Beta may fix the issue. Reported by Commenter Dave!

9. Will Apple fix this issue? 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #3 ?

With the end of support coming up fast for Mojave, will Apple fix this issue? I think the answer is YES. This is coming from reports that Apple DOES know about the issue and is still investigating. My guess is that Apple will release one final Supplemental Update to fix this.

If you or any of your users are having this issue, please contact Apple Support.

10. 10.14.6 FaceTime Camera Kernel Panic Links

6 Page Apple Discussions Forum Post https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250524925

15 Page Apple Discussions Forum Post https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250546239

11. 3rd Party Vendor Responses

Zoom Response -“We found it not only influences ZOOM but also FaceTime, Skype and other Camera involving Apps, we are still working with Apple to fix it but currently as a workaround, please turn off your video when joining ZOOM meetings or use external camera by USB.”

If you have any information on the 10.14.6 FaceTime Kernel Panic issue that you would like added to this article, please Contact Me.

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