Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available Too]

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.4 update to developers, just under one week after seeding the fifth macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta and over a month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.3.

The sixth macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is available for download through the Apple Developer Center or the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store for those who have previously installed a beta.

macos-10-12-4-beta
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift mode to the Mac for the first time. First introduced on iOS devices with iOS 9.3, Night Shift is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from blue to yellow, cutting down on exposure to blue light. Blue light is said to disrupt the circadian rhythm and is believed to interrupt sleeping patterns.

Night Shift can be activated through the Displays section of System Preferences, where a setting to have it come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise is available. Night Shift can also be toggled on manually through the Notification Center or via Siri.


The 10.12.4 update focuses mainly on Night Shift, but also includes dictation support for Shanghainese, cricket scores for Siri, improved PDFKit APIs, and iCloud Analytics options.

Update: Apple has also made the sixth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 available for public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

Kuo: iPhone 17 Models Won't Have Smaller Dynamic Island

Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
apple power beats pro 2

Apple's First Product Announcement of 2025 is Imminent

Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year. Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...

Top Rated Comments

TMRJIJ Avatar
103 months ago
I hate these beta updates. They're so boring and depressing after a while, hoping for some Macbook 2017, iMac, or other exciting news.
You don't have to install the beta. You also don't have to read this article either.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C DM Avatar
103 months ago
" macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift ('https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/night-shift/') mode " This ive been reading with the past FIVE updates. Uptill now it was just (very many) bug fixes and security holes. With that OS starts to look more and more like Windows!
I hate these beta updates. They're so boring and depressing after a while, hoping for some Macbook 2017, iMac, or other exciting news.
What are people expecting from beta updates for the same version, something new in each beta? That's not really how that works.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xSeaside Avatar
103 months ago
RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bingeciren Avatar
103 months ago
I hope the PDFKit solves the jittery autosave problem, which is my main reason to downgrade and stay with El Cap so far.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
103 months ago
Ok beta testers, are we getting close to a release with this version?
I would say so. Aside from Night Shift, macOS Sierra 10.12.4 adds only a handful of minor features (Siri, PDFKit) and bug fixes.

I was hoping for APFS in-place migration for external volumes but I guess that will wait until 10.13.
[doublepost=1489430035][/doublepost]
Have they said when APFS (Apple File System) is coming to MacOS ?
It's already in macOS Sierra, although it's worth noting that volumes formatted with 10.12.0 may not work on later versions.

If you mean when macOS will be able to use APFS for startup volume, as well as missing support for FileVault, Time Machine, and Fusion Drive, I would say 10.13 in October. Furthermore, many major apps don't work with APFS startup volume (due to hard coded case insensitive file path).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
star-affinity Avatar
103 months ago
" macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift ('https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/night-shift/') mode " This ive been reading with the past FIVE updates. Uptill now it was just (very many) bug fixes and security holes. With that OS starts to look more and more like Windows!
What are you trying to say? I don't think I understand, sorry.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)