- New About Macos Catalina
- What Is New About Macos Catalina Patcher
- Upgrade To Macos Catalina
- What Is New In Catalina
- What's New in macOS Catalina 10.15.1 Beta 2 (19B77a) Today Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15.1 Beta 2 (19B77a) to Developers. Two days have passed since Apple released the 10.15 Supplemental Update. Some of the fixes included in that update were pretty.
- MacOS Catalina (version 10.15) is the sixteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.' S desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to macOS Mojave and was announced at WWDC 2019 on June 3, 2019 and released to the public on October 7, 2019. Catalina is the first version of macOS to support only 64-bit applications and the first to include Activation Lock.
- MacOS Catalina 10.15.6 introduces local news in your Today feed in Apple News and improves the security and reliability of your Mac.
If you are running macOS 11 - Big Sur, please follow this article instead: Support for macOS 11- Big Sur macOS 10.13, 10.14 and 10.15 (High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina) Either Click the Open Security Preferences button in the above-mentioned dialog box (which will take you to step 5) or click on the Apple menu from the taskbar then select System.
macOS Catalina updates improve the stability, performance, or compatibility of your Mac and are recommended for all Catalina users. To get these updates, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu , then click Software Update. Learn more about updating the software on your Mac.
For details about the security content of these updates, see Apple Security Updates.
- macOS 10.15
macOS Catalina 10.15.7
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 provides important security updates and bug fixes for your Mac.
- Resolves an issue where macOS would not automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks
- Fixes an issue that could prevent files syncing through iCloud Drive
- Addresses a graphic issue that may occur on iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) with Radeon Pro 5700 XT
Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.
macOS Catalina 10.15.6
macOS Catalina 10.15.6 introduces local news in your Today feed in Apple News and improves the security and reliability of your Mac.
Apple News
- Local news in your Today feed provides extensive coverage of San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City
- More stories available from local news providers with a subscription to Apple News+
- Your daily newsletter from Apple News can now be personalized with stories that reflect your interests
This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements.
- Adds a new option to optimize video streaming on HDR-compatible Mac notebooks for improved battery life
- Fixes an issue where the computer name may change after installing a software update
- Resolves an issue where certain USB mouse and trackpads may lose connection
Enterprise content:
- When using the built-in keyboard with a non-U.S. keyboard layout on some Mac models, passwords with certain characters are no longer rejected at the Mac login window
- Allows command-line tools that don't use CFNetwork, such as
curl(1)
, to continue connecting to TLS servers that use certificates issued by the recently expired AddTrust External CA Root - Major new releases of macOS can be hidden when using the
softwareupdate(8)
command with the--ignore
flag, if the Mac is enrolled in Apple School Manager, Apple Business Manager, or a user-approved MDM.
This change also affects macOS Mojave and macOS High Sierra after installing Security Update 2020-004.
Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.
macOS Catalina 10.15.5
macOS Catalina 10.15.5 introduces battery health management in the Energy Saver settings for notebooks, a new option to disable automatic prominence in Group FaceTime calls, and controls to fine-tune the built-in calibration of your Pro Display XDR. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.
Battery Health Management
- Battery health management to help maximize battery lifespan for Mac notebooks
- Energy Saver preference pane now displays battery condition and recommends if the battery needs to be serviced
- Option to disable battery health management
For more information, please visit https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211094
FaceTime Prominence Preference
- New option to control automatic prominence on Group FaceTime calls, so video tiles do not change size when a participant speaks
Calibration Fine-Tuning for Pro Display XDR
- Controls to fine-tune the built-in calibration of your Pro Display XDR by adjusting the white point and luminance for a precise match to
your own display-calibration target
This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements:
- Fixes an issue that may prevent Reminders from sending notifications for recurring reminders
- Addresses an issue that may prevent password entry on the login screen
- Fixes an issue where System Preferences would continue to show a notification badge even after installing an update
- Resolves an issue where the built-in camera may not be detected when trying to use it after using a video conferencing app
- Addresses an issue for Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip where internal speakers may not appear as a sound output device in Sound preferences
- Fixes a stability issue with uploading and downloading media files from iCloud Photo Library while your Mac is asleep
- Resolves a stability issue when transferring large amounts of data to RAID volumes
- Fixes an issue where the Reduced Motion Accessibility preference did not reduce the speed of animations in a Group FaceTime call
Enterprise content:
- Improves performance on certain Mac models when enabling hardware acceleration in GPU-intensive apps such as those used for video conferencing
- Addresses an issue where Microsoft Exchange accounts were unable to sign in during account setup when using Conditional Access
- Apple Push Notification Service traffic now uses a web proxy when specified in a PAC file via the Proxies payload
- Resolves an issue that prevented some displays connected to MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) from waking from sleep when the Mac wakes
- Major new releases of macOS are no longer hidden when using the
softwareupdate(8)
command with the--ignore
flag
This change also affects macOS Mojave and macOS High Sierra after installing Security Update 2020-003.
macOS Catalina 10.15.4
macOS Catalina 10.15.4 introduces iCloud Drive folder sharing, Screen Time communication limits, Apple Music time-synced lyrics view, and more. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.
Finder
- iCloud Drive folder sharing from Finder
- Controls to limit access only to people you explicitly invite, or to grant access to anyone with the folder link
- Permissions to choose who can make changes and upload files, and who can only view and download files
Screen Time
- Communication limits for controlling who your children can communicate with and be contacted by throughout the day and during downtime
- Playback control of music videos for your children
Music
- Time-synced lyrics view for Apple Music, including the ability to jump to your favorite part of a song by clicking a line in lyrics view
Safari
- Option to import Chrome passwords into your iCloud Keychain for easy AutoFill of your passwords in Safari and across all your devices
- Controls for duplicating a tab and for closing all tabs to the right of the current tab
- HDR playback support on compatible computers for Netflix content
App Store with Apple Arcade
- Universal Purchase support enables the use of a singular purchase of a participating app across iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV
Pro Display XDR
- Customized reference modes that you can tailor to specific workflow needs by selecting from several color gamut, white point, luminance, and transfer function options
Accessibility
- Head pointer preference for moving a cursor on the screen based on the precise movements of your head
This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements:
- High Dynamic Range output to HDR10-compatible third-party displays and TVs connected with DisplayPort or HDMI
- OAuth authentication support with Outlook.com accounts for improved security
- CalDav migration support when upgrading to iCloud reminders on a secondary device
- Addresses an issue where text copied between apps may appear invisible when Dark Mode is active
- Resolves an issue in Safari where a CAPTCHA tile may display incorrectly
- Fixes an issue where you may receive notifications for updated or completed reminders
- Fixes an issue with screen brightness for the LG UltraFine 5K display after waking from sleep
Enterprise content:
- Apple Push Notification Service traffic now uses a web proxy when specified in a PAC file
- Resolves an issue where updating the login keychain password after resetting a user password would cause a new keychain to be created
- After enabling 'Search directory services for certificates' in Keychain Access preferences, searching by email address in Keychain Access or Mail now locates a user certificate stored in directory services
- When setting the DisableFDEAutoLogin key in com.apple.loginwindow, you can now sync your FileVault password with the Active Directory user password after updating the user password
- Reinstates the ability to update or restore iOS, iPadOS, or tvOS devices by dragging .ipsw files to the device in an Apple Configurator 2 window
- Addresses an issue where sending the EraseDevice MDM command might not cause the device to be erased
- When logging in as an Active Directory user after using deferred FileVault enablement, the user is now prompted for their password to enable FileVault
Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.
macOS Catalina 10.15.3
The macOS Catalina 10.15.3 update improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users.
- Optimizes gamma handling of low gray levels on Pro Display XDR for SDR workflows when using macOS
- Improves multi-stream video editing performance for HEVC and H.264-encoded 4K video on the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
macOS Catalina 10.15.2
The macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update improves the stability, reliability and performance of your Mac and is recommended for all users.
This update adds the following 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
This update includes the following bug fixes:
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
- Fixes an issue that prevents the zoom-to-crop tool from working in a print preview
- 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 the Finder
- 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
Enterprise content
- Fixes an issue where the user password might not be accepted at the login window after upgrading a Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip to macOS Catalina
- Improves compatibility with video conferencing apps on MacBook Pro models introduced in 2018
- Users logged in as a standard user can now install apps from the App Store
macOS Catalina 10.15.1
The macOS Catalina 10.15.1 update includes updated and additional emoji, support for AirPods Pro, HomeKit Secure Video, HomeKit-enabled routers, and new Siri privacy settings, as well as bug fixes and improvements.
Emoji
- Over 70 new or updated emoji, including animals, food, activities, new accessibility emoji, gender-neutral emoji, and skin tones selection for couple emoji
AirPods support
- AirPods Pro support
Home app
- HomeKit Secure Video enables you to privately capture, store, and view encrypted video from your security cameras and features people, animal, and vehicle detection
- HomeKit enabled routers let you control how your HomeKit accessories communicate over the internet or in your home
- Adds support for AirPlay 2-enabled speakers in scenes and automations
Siri
- Privacy settings to control whether or not to help improve Siri and Dictation by allowing Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions
- Option to delete your Siri and Dictation history from Siri Settings
This update also includes the following bug fixes and improvements:
- Restores the ability to view file names in the All Photos view in Photos
- Restores the ability to filter by favorites, photos, videos, edited, and keywords in Days view in Photos
- Fixes an issue where Messages would only send a single notification when the option to repeat alerts was enabled
- Resolves an issue that caused Contacts to launch to the previously opened contact instead of the contact list
- Adds a two-finger swipe gesture for back navigation in Apple News
- Resolves issues that may occur in the Music app when displaying playlists inside folders and newly added songs in the Songs list
- Improves reliability of migrating iTunes library databases into the Music, Podcasts, and TV apps
- Fixes an issue where downloaded titles were not visible in the Downloads folder in the TV app
Enterprise content
- When using the built-in keyboard with a non-U.S. keyboard layout, passwords with certain characters are no longer rejected at the Mac login window
- When sign in with Apple ID is not allowed by a configuration profile, the Sign In button in System Preferences is now dimmed
macOS Catalina 10.15
It's time to say goodbye to iTunes. The software, which has been around for almost 20 years, was eliminated in Apple's latest macOS update.
The new macOS was first announced in spring 2019, but it didn't arrive until the fall. Now users are switching over.
What is Catalina and what changes does it bring with it? This guide has all your answers.
What is Catalina for?
MacOS Catalina is officially version 10.15. It replaces Mojave.
Not every Mac device will be able to support Catalina. If you want to upgrade to the new OS, you'll need to have one of the following:
- 12' MacBook (2015 and later)
- MacBook Air (2012 and later)
- MacBook Pro (2012 and later)
- Mac mini (2012 and later)
- iMac (2012 and later)
- iMac Pro (2017)
- Mac Pro (2013 and later)
If your device is an older version, it won't support Catalina.
Trading 32-Bit for 64-Bit
New About Macos Catalina
Perhaps the most major change in macOS 10.15 is the switch from 32-bit apps to 64-bit apps. This has to do with how much RAM an app can use. Older apps may be 32 bits, and they won't run on Catalina.
If you have an app you're not sure will work with the new update, you can check it out using one of several tools. Most up-to-date apps are 64 bit already.
Checking to see if an app is 32- or 64-bit is fairly easy. If you do have a 32-bit app you need, it's time to see if you can upgrade. If there's no 64-bit version available, it's time to look for another app.
What is Changing with Catalina?
The software developers working on macOS updates are always able to roll out some interesting new features. Catalina is no exception to the rule.
Catalina is a hefty update for the OS, and one of the reasons for that is its integration with iPad devices.
With the Catalina update, Mac users can now use their iPad as a second screen. Developers will also be happy to know their work on iOS13 and iPadOS will port over to macOS.
The feature is called 'Project Catalyst.' It represents a move to integrating mobile devices with desktop devices more thoroughly. It's unlikely iOS will merge with macOS, but the change does make syncing your devices easier.
Another sign of the times is that iTunes, the software that came with Apple's revolutionary iPod, is no more. The Catalina update discontinues this program.
Your music isn't going anywhere though. Catalina splits iTunes into three distinct apps:
- Apple Music
- Apple Podcasts
- Apple TV
Dividing the app makes sense. Each app can support a different streaming function better than iTunes ever could.
If you want to buy music, the iTunes store is still available. You can also choose to subscribe to Apple Music's streaming service instead.
The macOS Finder app will now handle syncing your mobile devices. This echoes Project Catalyst's move toward integration. Apple claims it will be easier to drag and drop with Finder, making transfers between devices much faster.
Other Updates
Safari, Mac's native browser, has also received an overhaul. Its new startup page uses Siri Suggestions to help you navigate.
What Is New About Macos Catalina Patcher
Mail has some new features as well. You can now block senders, mute threads, and send unsubscribe requests. Reminders has also been updated.
Catalina also boasts improvements to the Photos and Notes apps. The new Find My app combines Find My Friends and Find My iPhone into one app.
One app has made the leap from iOS to macOS 10.15 as well. iOS 12 featured 'Screen Time,' which tracks how much time you're spending on your devices.
As the app makes the leap to macOS, the information will sync across devices. This gives users a more complete picture of how much screen time they have each day.
A new 'one more minute' feature allows you to finish up a game or work if you've reached your screen time limits for the day.
Catalina also adds voice controls. Security also gets an upgrade with the Gatekeeper app. Siri's settings now let you opt out of sharing recordings with Apple.
New emojis, support for AirPods, and more round out the features of the update.
What is Catalina's Biggest Problem?
As with almost any software update, macOS updates usually roll out with a few bugs. Catalina has been no exception.
Upgrade To Macos Catalina
The macOS Catalina problems users have faced so far range from the run-of-the-mill to some more unusual ones.
Typical issues are the update failing to install properly or getting stuck during installation.
Issues unique to Catalina seem to be stemming from Sidecar, which allows it to use an iPad as a second screen. For some users, the Sidecar app isn't working at all.
The issue may be that your iPad's OS is outdated. Your Apple laptop or computer may also be too old. Although Catalina is supported by devices dating back to 2012, Sidecar is only compatible with devices newer than 2015.
Catalina's switch to 64-bit apps is also causing some issues. Older apps may no longer be supported. As we mentioned, your best bet is to update or find an alternate.
Other common issues include Internet connections, Bluetooth problems, and the dock disappearing.
Some issues may be caused by your Mac not being in tip-top condition. Check for apps that could be taking up extra storage or draining your battery life. It's a good idea to do some spring cleaning on the hard drive before upgrading to Catalina.
What Is New In Catalina
To Upgrade or Not
Now you know the answer to the question, 'What is Catalina?' You may be deciding whether or not you want to upgrade.
Apple has already sent macOS 10.15.2 to beta testing. You might want to wait just a little longer before updating.
Once you've upgraded, you'll want to keep your machine in great condition. Check out our library for tips on keeping your computer running as long as possible and so much more.