Apple Releases macOS Sierra 10.12.4 With New Night Shift Mode

Apple today released macOS Sierra 10.12.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sierra operating system that launched on September 20. macOS Sierra 10.12.4 has been in testing since January 24, with Apple having seeded eight betas ahead of its public release.

macOS Sierra 10.12.4 is a free update for all customers who are running macOS Sierra. The update can be downloaded using the Software Update function in the Mac App Store.

sierra 10
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift mode to the Mac for the first time. Night Shift, first introduced on iOS devices in iOS 9.3, is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from blue to a subtle yellow, cutting down on exposure to blue light. Blue light is believed to interrupt the circadian rhythm, disrupting sleep patterns.

Night Shift is 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. It can also be set to turn on and off at custom times. Night Shift can also be toggled on manually using the Notification Center or Siri.


The 10.12.4 update focuses primarily on Night Shift, but the update also includes dictation support for Shanghainese, cricket score integration for Siri, improved PDFKit APIs, and new iCloud Analytics options.

Update: Apple has also released a new 2017-001 security update for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 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. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
105 months ago
No APFS? Beyond that, a welcome update. :)
They're being really, really careful with the APFS on macOS! So much can go wrong compared to iOS, which is completely locked down. You can have lots of different partitions on a Mac, different boot drives, different structures, Time Machine backups... honestly they can't be too careful with testing it. There's an awful lot that can go wrong!

That said, I too am eagerly awaiting APFS on Sierra. :oops: :D
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gudi Avatar
105 months ago
Woo, LaTeX notation in Pages. :cool:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ashdelacroix Avatar
105 months ago
The Combo Update is now available:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1910?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blaichch Avatar
105 months ago
iWork update as well. I couldn't be happier!

Attachment Image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newdeal Avatar
105 months ago
Don't care at all about night shift. Do care about bug fixes especially in safari and custom keyboard shortcuts hopefully those are packed in there
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
105 months ago
No APFS? Beyond that, a welcome update. :)
To be fair, APFS has been. in macOS 10.12 from the beginning, albeit in "developer" quality implementation (e.g., command line commands to reformat disk into APFS, no in-place migration, external volumes only, backward compatibility issues between volumes formatted with 10.12.0 and 10.12.1).

I would love to see Disk Utility get APFS support, but other than that, macOS won't get full APFS until 10.13.
[doublepost=1490635326][/doublepost]
Don't care at all about night shift. Do care about bug fixes especially in safari and custom keyboard shortcuts hopefully those are packed in there
Night Shift works considerably smoother than f.lux so I welcome it.

Having said that, macOS is still prone to random freezes with 2016 MacBook Pros.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)