What’s New in the macOS Catalina 10.15.2 Update (19C57)?
macOS Catalina 10.15.2 (19C57) is now Available.
10.15.2 is Catalina’s second update and was released about a month after the 10.15.1 Supplemental Update for the new 16″ MBPro. The combo update is now available for download as a full installer.app, delta and combo update. Let’s take a quick look at the Catalina 10.15.2 Update (19C57) and see what’s new.
10.15.2 Patch Notes Summary
5 New Features
12 Resolved Issues
13 Security Fixes
Apple’s Public Patch Notes / Release Notes Documentation
The macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update improves the stability, reliability and performance of your Mac and is recommended for all users.
New Features
Apple News • New layout for Apple News+ stories from The Wall Street Journal and other leading newspapers
Stocks • Get links to related stories or more stories from the same publication at the end of an article • “Breaking” and “Developing” labels for Top Stories • Stories from Apple News are now available in Canada in English and French
New Resolved Issues
Music • Restores the column browser view for managing the music library • Resolves an issue that may prevent album artwork from appearing • Fixes an issue that may reset music equalizer settings during playback
iTunes Remote • Adds support for using an iPhone or iPad to remotely control the Music and TV apps on a Mac
Photos • Resolves an issue that may cause some .AVI and .MP4 files to appear as unsupported • Fixes an issue that prevents newly created folders from appearing in Albums view • Addresses an issue where manually sorted images in an album may be printed or exported out of order • An issue that prevents the zoom-to-crop tool from working in a print preview
Mail • Addresses an issue that may cause Mail Preferences to open with a blank window • Resolves an issue that may prevent using undo from retrieving deleted mail
Other • Improves the reliability of syncing books and audiobooks to your iPad or iPhone through Finder • This Fixes an issue where reminders may be out of order in the Today smart list in the Reminders app • Resolves an issue that may cause slow typing performance in the Notes app
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 Supplemental Update (19B2106) & Forked Full Installer.
The much-awaited MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) was just released this morning! You can’t get it just yet, but very soon. (November 15th)
To accompany the new 16″ MacBook Pro, we have a forked Build Version of macOS Catalina 10.15.1 (19B2106) Installer.app. We also have a macOS Catalina 10.15.1 supplemental update.
The macOS Catalina 10.15.1 supplemental update improves the stability and reliability of displays and peripherals with MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019).
Catalina 10.15.1 supplemental update notes
Supplemental Update ? (UPDATE)
I am not sure what’s going on with this update. You would think that all the new 16″ MacBook Pro’s would just ship with (19B2106). If not then what is the Supplemental update for ?
I am downloading the Supplemental Update now so I can investigate.
UPDATE!
I found the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) shipping 10.15.1 Build Version.
10.15.1 (19B2093)
This means that as soon as you receive the new 16″ MacBook Pro, the 10.15.1 Supplemental Update (19B2106) will show as available.
macOS Catalina 10.15 Supplemental Update Re-Released as (19A603)
Apple Re-Released macOS Catalina 10.15 Supplemental Update (19A603)
In another surprise today Apple re-released the Supplemental update for macOS Catalina 10.15. Many MacAdmins are scratching their heads wondering what this update is. Let’s get right into it.
10.15.0 (19A602)
Update Size 984.4mb
BridgeOS Version 17.16.10572
Original Patch Notes
Product ID = 061-18879
10.15.0 (19A603)
Update Size 985.4mb = 1mb Larger
BridgeOS Version 17.16.10572 = Same
Patch Notes = Same
Product ID = 061-18879 = Same
Will the Re-Released Update (19A603) show up in Software Update for (19A583) Users?
Yes
Will the Re-Released Update (19A603) show up in Software Update for (19A602) Users?
No
BridgeOS update
BridgeOS was NOT updated in the Re-Released Catalina Supplemental Update (19A603). It shows as Build Version 6.
New and Previous Build Versions of 10.15
10.15.0 = (19A603) October 21st 2019
10.15.0 = (19A602) October 15th 2019
10.15.0 = (19A583) October 7th 2019
If I deployed/cached the old 10.15 (19A602) Installer.app for OS Upgrades, do I need to redeploy?
Do I have to replace my deployable 10.15 Installer.app?– Probably Not
If you deployed the old version of the 10.15 (19A602) Installer, you most likely do not need the new (19A603) Version. As noted above, Apple did not change the patch notes and did not mention any changes to this Build Version. The Update most likely has only very minor changes.
If I deployed/cached the old 10.15 (19A583) Installer.app for OS Upgrades, do I need to redeploy?
Do I have to replace my deployable 10.15 Installer.app?– Yes
If you deployed the old version of the 10.15 (19A583) Installer, you should update it to the new (19A603). If you don’t your users will have to install the New Catalina Supplemental Update after installing or upgrading.
What’s included in the Catalina 10.15 Supplemental Update?
NOTE: The patch notes for (19A602) are exactly the same as (19A603)
The macOS Catalina 10.15 Supplemental update includes installation and reliability improvements, and is recommended for all users. This update:
This update: – Improves installation reliability of macOS Catalina on Macs with low disk space – Fixes an issue that prevented Setup Assistant from completing during some installations – Resolves an issue that prevents accepting iCloud Terms and Conditions when multiple iCloud accounts are logged in – Improves the reliability of saving Game Center data when playing Apple Arcade games offline
10.15 Supplemental Update Links
Catalina Supplemental Update = Will update when download link becomes available.
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
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Which version of the 10.14.6 update does my Mac need?
Software Update will always point you to the right update.
Any Build Version of 10.14.6 = Supplemental Update #3
10.14.0-10.14.4 = Combo Update
10.14.5 = Delta Update
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.
Apple Today Released macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #2 (18G95)
Apple has now released two Supplemental updates for macOS Mojave 10.14.6. The first macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #1 (18G87) was released on August 1st. You can take a look at what was included inside the first Supplemental Update in the link below. The second one, which was released today is called macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update #2 (18G95). Apple does not call the updates #1 or #2 but I am so you can understand that two different Build Versions are out there.
The macOS Mojave 10.14.6 update improves the stability and reliability of your Mac, and is recommended for all users. This update:
Resolves an issue that may cause certain Mac notebooks to shut down during sleep
Fixes an issue that may degrade performance when working with very large files
Addresses an issue that may prevent Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, and GarageBand from updating
Which 10.14.6 Update Does Your Mac Need?
Software Update will always point you to the right update.
Supplemental Update #2 = 10.14.6 (18G87)
Combo Update = 10.14.0-10.14.6 (18G87)
Delta Update = 10.14.5
Updated 10.14.6 Full Installer.app 10.8 – 10.14.6 (18G87)
New and Previous Build Versions of 10.14.6
July 22nd version of 10.14.6 = (18G84)
August 1st version of 10.14.6 = (18G87)
August 26th Version of 10.14.6 = (18G95) = Current
T2 Security Chip= BridgeOS update
BridgeOS was also updated and brings the current version to
16.16.6571.0.0
If I deployed/cached the old 10.14.6 Installer.app for OS Upgrades, do I need to redeploy?
Do I have to replace my deployable 10.14.6 Installer.app? – YES!!!
If you deployed the old version of the 10.14.6 (18G87) Installer, you should update it to the new (18G95). If you don’t your users may be stuck with a sleep-wake issue and have to install the 2nd Supplemental Update to fix it again!
The macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update fixes an issue that may prevent certain Macs from waking from sleep properly.
UPDATE: 08/28/19
Apple has released a 2nd 10.14.6 Supplemental update to address additional wake from sleep kernel panic issues. Click on the link below for more information.
MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update was released today.
On the heels of the 2019-004 Security update rereleases, today Apple released one new update (Supplemental Update) and rereleased 10.14.6 updates.
1. 10.14.6 Supplemental Update – New
2. 10.14.6 Full Installer.app – Rereleased & Fixed
3. 10.14.6 Combo Update – Rereleased & Fixed
4. 10.14.6 Delta Update – Rereleased & Fixed
I say Rereleased & Fixed because the OS version is still 10.14.6, but the Build Version changed and now has the Supplemental update fixes built-in.
“Fixes an issue that may prevent certain Macs from waking from sleep properly.”
When the 2019-004 Security Update wake from sleep Kernel Panics started to happen, most of the reports were from 10.13 High Sierra. I did see a few from 10.12 Sierra and a few from 10.14 Mojave. The issue was coming mostly from users reports on Apple’s Discussion Forum, Reddit, MacRumors & Emails / Comments to me.
Is this issue the same as the 2019-004 Sleep/Wake issue?
I’m not sure if Mojave had the same issue, but it sure looks like it. I tried many times to reproduce this issue but couldn’t on multiple Mac models. Most likely, this means that a very particular software setup caused the problem.
New and Previous Build Versions of 10.14.6
July 22nd version of 10.14.6 = (18G84)
August 1st version of 10.14.6 = (18G87)
Download Links for the new 10.14.6 Updates
10.14.6 Delta Update – Still old July 22nd version do not downloadfrom apple.com/downloads until the page is updated!!!
10.14.6 Combo Update – Still old July 22nd version do not downloadfrom apple.com/downloads until the page is updated!!!
Do I need to reinstall the new 10.14.6 update? & Which update do I need if I’m on a previous version of 10.14?
1. Do I need to reinstall the new 10.14.6 update? – The answer is it depends!
10.14.6 = New Supplemental Update
10.14.5 = New Delta Update
10.14.0 – 10.14.4 =New Combo Update
2. Which update do I need if I’m on a previous version? – The above chart now answers this one ^
If I deployed/cached the old 10.14.6 Installer.app for upgrades, do I need to redeploy?
Do I have to replace my deployable 10.14.6 Installer.app? – YES!!!
If you deployed the old version of the 10.14.6 (18G84) Installer, you should update it to the new (18G87). If you don’t your users may be stuck with a sleep-wake issue and have to install the Supplemental Update to fix it!
What if I cached the old 10.14.6 Update to all my systems?
What will happen if I already cached the old version of 10.14.6 to my users?
My guess was once the Mac reached out to software update it would find the new version of 10.14.6 and download it. Pcrandom ran this test and found that this is, in fact, true with one catch. The old version was still in /Library/Updates.
“I am seeing some Macs that have both copies when running du -hd1 /Library/Updates:“
2.8G /Library/Updates/041-88928
2.8G /Library/Updates/041-94407
202M /Library/Updates/041-86543
5.9G /Library/Updates
I wanted to test installing the new update to see if the old one was removed, but we did not get a chance to test.
Keep in mind that in 10.14 /Library/Updates is SIP protected, so you will not be able to delete the old update if it remains!
Softwareupdate knows all.
If you are using softwareupdate to deploy updates to your Macs, you will be fine. It will let you know which update you need to install. If you want to check just run a quick softwareupdate -l and you will see what’s available for your particular situation.
No, we didn’t time travel 3 weeks into the past. A new version of macOS Mojave 10.14.5 (18F2059) was released yesterday.
Today for some reason and maybe for the first time, Apple released an update to a previous full installer release. The previous build version macOS 10.14.5 (18F2058) was released on July 9th and covered the new 2019 13″ MacBook Pro and 2019 MacBook Air. Apple released MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 (18G84) on July 22 and unified all builds. That means you can install 10.14.6 on any Mac.
I honestly have no clue! Again since 10.14.6 is a unified build we should have no need for a updated installer of a previous build. A user in MacAdmins Slack mentioned that this might be an update to 2058 for the factory restores. If that was the case why was it just now released and not 3 weeks ago? Or maybe this build version was for Internet recovery or something, again though this does not make any sense since agin 10.14.6 is unified.
This page will be updated when new 10.15 new information or links come in.
WWDC 2019
WWDC is here again! On Monday, June 3rd, 2019 Apple Released macOS 10.15 Catalina. The first question MacAdmins have is, what changes do I need to know about and how will they affect my macOS deployments? Hopefully, I will help you answer that question with this article. I am following the same format as my previous Notarization Index post. MacAdmins have told me they really liked having all the important information on a topic in one place. MacAdmins like Robert Hammem, Charles Edge and Rich Trouton are already crushing it by gathering information on all the latest changes. In this post, I will keep an updated index of changes and links to keep you informed of the latest public information regarding macOS 10.15 Catalina.
zsh is now the default shell instead of Bash – Starting with the macOS Catalina beta, your Mac uses zsh as the default login shell and interactive shell. You can make zsh the default in earlier versions of macOS as well. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208050
Python 2.7 is deprecated.
Scripting language runtimes such as Python, Ruby, and Perl are included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. Future versions of macOS won’t include scripting
language runtimes by default, and might require you to install additional packages. If your software depends on scripting languages, it’s recommended that you bundle the runtime within the app.
Use of Python 2.7 isn’t recommended as this version is included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. Future versions of macOS won’t include Python 2.7. Instead, it’s recommended that you run python3 from within Terminal.
32 Bit applications are now deprecated
If you still have older software that is 32bit they will NOT load.
Profile installation using the profiles command-line tool will be deprecated in future releases of macOS.
New Activation Lock Option for T2 Macs. – 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. More info: forums.developer.apple.com/message/363374
New Read-Only Filesystem Partition. User data is stored on the 2nd partition “Macintosh HD — Data”. MacOS Catalina runs in a dedicated, read-only system volume — which means it is completely separate from all other data, and nothing can overwrite your critical operating system files.
NOTE: Beta 1 – The Macintosh HD Read Only Partition is writeable
If you want to enable read only you have to place a file in the root of the drive.
sudo touch /.rootro
Then reboot to enable read-only mode.
Verify by trying to create /.rootro2
sudo touch /.rootro2
You should get touch /.rootro2: Read-Only file system
NOTE #2: Beta 2 – The Macintosh HD Read Only Partition is now protected by default
When checking on beta 2 you should get touch /.rootro2: Read-Only file system from running sudo touch /.rootro
TCC now covers the users Desktop & Documents Folder, cloud and external drives. – 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.
User Space System Extensions and SDriverKit. – 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.
Marzipan is now Project Catalyst – Allowing iOS apps to be ported over to macOS using Xcode.
lpadmin: Printer drivers are deprecated and will stop working in a future version of CUPS. CUPS printer drivers and backends are deprecated and will no longer be supported in a future feature release of CUPS. Printers that do not support IPP can be supported using applications such as ippeveprinter.
Enterprise Connect is transforming from an app into a new Apple first-party Single Sign-On macOS extension. This new extension delivers improved Kerberos support on macOS. Developers can now build SSO extensions that integrate with websites or native apps and support identity providers like Microsoft Azure AD, Okta and Ping. 10.14 and under will still support the old application for 1 year.
SecureToken BootStrap or Active Directory BootStrap Tokens will be a new way for Active Directory Accounts to get a SecureToken. This will need to be applied from a UAMDM via profile. This new feature will be for the 2nd 3rd or 4th Active Directory SecureToken User only, NOT the first user to log into the system.
4. Security Changes
Notarization is now enforced for all packages, applications and installers built or after June 1st 2019EDIT: See Update Below.
This includes Kexts, but enforcement was already put into place on macOS Mojave 10.14.5.
Gatekeeper Improvements – 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.
UPDATE: 10/03/19 – Apple has changed this and Kexts will NOT require a reboot! – Kernel Extensions (Kexts) now require a reboot to load – Installing third party kernel extensions now requires that you restart your Mac before they’re permitted to load.
Requirements for trusted certificates in macOS 10.15 – Learn about new security requirements for TLS server certificates in iOS 13 and macOS 10.15. support.apple.com/en-us/HT210176
FileVault & fdesetup changes – FileVault FV2 now requires User-Approved MDM Enrollment or UAMDM. You also can’t pass username/password authentication to fdesetup enable. These changes may break existing scripts, workflows or MDM agents. Be sure to check man fdesetup in 10.15 beta to read more about the new Authorization policy. You will need to follow at least one path to use fdesetup to enable FileVault Encryption.
Advances in macOS Security– We are on a journey to continuously improve macOS security, with a particular focus on preventing malware and protecting user data. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/701/
Network Extensions for the Modern Mac – Learn about powerful new APIs in macOS that you can use to create apps that extend and customize the networking capabilities of macOS without using kernel extensions. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/714
What’s New in Apple File Systems – Learn about what’s new in file system technology, including changes to file system layout and imaging technologies. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/710/
What’s New in Managing Apple Devices – Learn about the latest management enhancements for iOS, macOS, and tvOS and the evolution of management tools over the past year. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/303
App Distribution – From Ad-hoc to Enterprise – Whether you want to share your app with a few colleagues, deliver it to employees within an organization, or release it to the world, there’s a distribution mechanism designed to fit your needs. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/304
Advances in Networking – Part 1 – Keep up with new and evolving networking protocols and standards by leveraging the modern networking frameworks on all Apple platforms and following best practices for efficiency and performance. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/712/
Advances in Networking – Part 2 – Take your networking apps to the next level with advances in Bonjour, custom message framing handlers, and the latest in security. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/713/
Introducing Sign In with Apple – Sign In with Apple is the fast, easy way for people to sign in to apps using the Apple IDs they already have. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/706/
System Extensions and DriverKit – One of the next steps in modernizing and improving the security and reliability of macOS is to provide a better architecture for kernel extensions and drivers. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/702
All About Notarization – Notarization is all about identifying and blocking malicious Mac software prior to distribution, without requiring App Review or the Mac App Store. developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/703
7. MacAdmins Blog Links
This list is specifically for MacAdmins. This will be an ongoing list of articles and posts that will help you learn the latest 10.15 changes.
The macOS 10.15 SDK provides support for developing apps for Macs running macOS Catalina 10.15. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 11 beta available from Beta Software Downloads. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 11, see Xcode 11 Beta Release Notes.
Installing third party kernel extensions now requires that you restart your Mac before they’re permitted to load.
Deprecations
macOS frameworks are now thinned for the x86-64 architecture. Apps that execute i386 code now fail with the EBADARCH error code. The remaining stub frameworks are nonfunctional and exist only for compatibility purposes.
9. macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta 1 Known Issues
Migration Assistant is currently unable to correctly migrate data from a Mac running macOS 10.15 to another Mac running macOS 10.15.
WarningYour Secure Token might be lost if FileVault is enabled on a non-APFS formatted volume while upgrading to macOS 10.15. You might be able to work around this by disabling FileVault before upgrading to macOS 10.15, then reenabling FileVault once the upgrade has completed.
During installation of macOS 10.15 you might be prompted to enter your administrator password multiple times to allow installation to proceed.
macOS 10.15 cannot be installed onto an encrypted volume unless it is already in the APFS format.
During upgrades to macOS 10.15, files and folders stored at the root-level of a volume are moved aside to /Library/SystemMigration/History/Migration-UUID/QuarantineRoot/.
If your Mac currently has macOS 10.10 or earlier installed, you must first upgrade to macOS Mojave 10.14 before upgrading to macOS 10.15.
The Install macOS 10.15 app might quit unexpectedly when run on macOS 10.9.
On Macs with the Apple T2 Security Chip, if you’ve used Startup Security Utility to lower Secure Boot to Medium Security or No Security, you’re currently unable to modify Secure Boot settings after upgrading to macOS 10.15.
Workaround: Set Secure Boot to Full Security before upgrading to macOS 10.15. Alternatively, disabling and reenabling FileVault might resolve the issue.
Some apps might not automatically relaunch after installation or updating and must be manually relaunched.
On Macs with the Apple T2 Security Chip, VoiceOver is currently unavailable while in macOS Recovery.
When using the SecureEnclave API with access control set on keys, users might not be prompted to authenticate. This might cause subsequent operations requiring authentication to fail.
Volume replication shouldn’t be used with Fusion volumes, either as a source or destination.
Today Apple released a new BuildVersion of macOS Mojave, 10.14.4 (18E227). The previous build version was 10.14.4 (18E226). The last time a new BuildVersion was released like this with no documented changes was macOS High Sierra. The BuildVersion went from (17G65) to (17G66).
18E227 6.52GB
If you look at 18E226 we do have a size difference.
18E226 6.53gb
The size difference between the 2 updates is very small but still different. Opening up both installers in Suspicious Package.app I looked inside InstallESD.dmg. Inside was the Core.pkg. I compared 18E266 to 18E227 and they both have 460,632 files installing 12.63GB to the system.
This is only for the full “Install macOS Mojave.app” installer. This is not an combo update or security update.
You do not have to replace 18E226 with 18E227. If you are preparing for upgrades and already cached 18E226 to your Macs, you dont have to re-cache 18E227. As far as we know this is only a re-write of the original 10.14.4 (18E226) installer. 18E226 is no longer available for download.
BridgeOSUpdate also released
Apple also re-released the BridgeOSUpdateCustomer with the Product ID 041-56509.
BridgeOSUpdate Product ID 041-56509
The previous BridgeOSUpdate 041-49224 was only a few bytes smaller. As of April 18th 2019 the current T2 BridgeOS/iBridge version is 16.16.4507.0.0,0
