xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

macOS Big Sur release date

As it happens every year, Apple doesn’t disclose the exact date when the new macOS will finally be released. We may expect to update our Macs to macOS Big Sur in late September or early October. macOS 10.15 Catalina was available to install on October 7th, 2019, so we can expect the new OS similarly in the middle of autumn.

The macOS Big Sur developer beta is now available at Apple’s Developer website. The beta version can contain some bugs and performance issues, so it’s not recommended to run it unless you’re sure how to handle those.



If you don’t have an Apple Developer account, you can wait till the public beta of macOS Big Sur is available, which is expected to arrive in July.

Can your Mac run Big Sur?

There is only one thing to check before you get all excited to install a new release – compatibility. Unfortunately, not every Mac can run macOS Big Sur. The new operating system has its own system requirements, so if your Mac is compatible with those, you can install a new OS. So, here’s a list of all Macs that are compatible with the macOS Big Sur update:

MacBook Air models from 2013 or later
MacBook Pro models from 2013 or later
Mac Pro models from 2013 or later
Mac mini models from 2014 or later
iMac models from 2014 or later
iMac Pro (all models)
MacBook models from early 2015 or later

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

After installing Catalina last year, I had some problems with Lightroom. The problems were resolved with a call to Adobe.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

It seems some software developers are “ready” for improved OS, but not all...I had similar challenges Kmgw9v.

Cheers!

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Cheered to you too!
Stay safe.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

I have a silly question. I'm an exclusive Apple user, but I'd like to know ... with the updates, and we can use Catalina update for example, what did you gain with the Catalina update??????

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Not a silly question at all. Very good question. I updated to Catalina because it was available. Clearly, I am not a computer guy, but I do post process with Lightroom, and ON1. That said, I cannot specify what I gained from the Catalina update.

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

You gained the new features Catalina provided, here's a quick video outlining Catalina's new features:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-NgzB5dEqU

As well as any new security updates.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

I have been avoiding Catalina on my 3 Macs simply because of issues with Photoshop CS. Last I looked it was unclear to me if those issues have been resolved.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

Thanks for the link. I installed Catalina largely because I assumed it improved my iMac's security and while it does do this somewhat, most of the improvements seem to related to peripheral devices which I really don't care about.

His best piece of advice, seems to be "wait 2 or 3 weeks before updating so any problems can surface and be addressed."

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

I was not shocked to read his advice. I'm a long time fan of Apple, but I've been disappointed that ... when upgrading, one needs to ask what *software, or *hardware have I just lost. Over the past ten years, I've lost two printers, one scanner, and one Wacom tablet. So all of this hardware had to be purchased again, of course. Fortunately, in most cases, the software companies would provide upgrade based on my previous purchases. This all said, I know our world of Apple is far better than my previous world in PC's. But still, I do my best to -not- upgrade.

And thanks Fourlocks, I'm glad to hear that you found little gain from the Catalina upgrade.

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

Hope they do us the courtesy of providing updated drivers for our peripherals - i have just had to get rid of a Canon A3+ printer as Apple failed to update driver for Mac OS Catalina - did seem strange as I have been using this printer since I switched to Catalina within days of it's introduction without any problems.

I assumed that Canon provided the drivers but in my complaint to them they advised that Apple took a decision some years ago that THEY would provide the drivers for their OS systems.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

And it was the absence of drivers, that I had to 'toss' away both the Wacom tablet and a excellent operating scanner.

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

My MacBook still runs fine on Mojave. Didn't see much advantage to Catalina, and didn't want to try to fix what wasn't broken.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

My Mac Mini could run Catalina but won't run Big Sur. My Macbook Pro can't run Catalina. Both work fine with the software and peripherals I now have, so I think I'm done with OS upgrades.

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom