Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers [Update: Public Beta Testers Too]

Apple today released the sixth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. macOS Sierra beta 6 comes one week after the release of the fifth beta and two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Developers can download today's beta update using the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center.

macossierrabeta
macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a "Universal Clipboard" for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user's devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There's also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and "Tapback" response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.


macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

Update: There's also a new version of macOS Sierra for public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
ipad pro 2024

Gurman: New iPad Pro and MacBook Pro Models With M5 Chips to Launch Later This Year

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:06 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPad Pro models with the M5 chip will "launch this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new iPad Pro models have progressed to an "advanced testing" stage, and he expects mass production of the devices to begin in the second half of this year. If that timeframe is met, the new iPad Pro models could launch...

Top Rated Comments

mdelvecchio Avatar
113 months ago
I dock my iPhone next to my iMac, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that. Being able to use Touch ID instead of a password would save me time and wear on my keyboard.
wear on your keyboard? are you seriously worried about this??
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hideous cheese Avatar
113 months ago
I wonder if I missed it somewhere, but it would be equally nice if we could do this with an iPhone too.
I believe the logic was that getting a phone out and using Touch ID is not any real convenience over conventional log in. Watch proximity, however, is seamless.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scottisloud Avatar
113 months ago
I wonder if I missed it somewhere, but it would be equally nice if we could do this with an iPhone too.
This isn't currently a feature and I don't expect it will be. The watch is always unlocked as long as it remains on the user's wrist, unlike the iPhone which is locked as soon as the display sleeps. To auto-unlock with the iPhone then, the user would still have to locate the iPhone (which may or may not be a big deal, depending on where the phone is at any given moment), authenticate with TouchID, and then they would have access to their Mac. For many people this isn't likely to save them a great deal of time over simply typing in their password. My phone is generally in my pants. I can type my computer user password faster than I can retrieve my phone from my pocket and touchID it.
Many people keep their phones in a purse or bag. That's an even bigger imposition than a pocket! Really the only people who would save time with auto-unlock via iPhone would be those people who happen to have the phone in their hands as they sit down to their computer. This is probably a lot of people at any given moment, but probably NOT a majority.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S.B.G Avatar
113 months ago
New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch
I wonder if I missed it somewhere, but it would be equally nice if we could do this with an iPhone too.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redheeler Avatar
113 months ago
I wonder if I missed it somewhere, but it would be equally nice if we could do this with an iPhone too.
Only 10% of iPhone owners have a Watch, and Apple has plenty of them to sell.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rkuda Avatar
113 months ago
I dock my iPhone next to my iMac, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that. Being able to use Touch ID instead of a password would save me time and wear on my keyboard.
LOL. Come on, if we're making excuses lets not get carried away.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)