Apple Seeds Second Release Candidate Version of macOS Big Sur 11.2 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

Apple today seeded a second RC version of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.2 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new update coming a week after the first RC and two months after initial macOS Big Sur release.

macOS 11
Developers can download the updated ‌‌macOS Big Sur‌‌ 11.2 release candidate using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile from the Apple Developer Center.

macOS Big Sur 11.2 eliminates a feature that allowed Apple apps bypass third-party firewalls, security tools, and VPN apps. macOS Big Sur 11 included a ContentFilterExclusionList that let Apple's apps like the App Store, Maps, iCloud, and more to avoid firewall and VPN apps that users had installed. These apps were not able to filter or inspect traffic for some built-in Apple apps. That functionality has been removed in macOS Big Sur 11.2.

When macOS Big Sur 11.2 sees a release, Apple apps will be compatible with VPN apps and will no longer be able to bypass firewalls and other security tools.

According to Apple's release notes, the update also improves Bluetooth reliability and includes multiple bug fixes.

macOS Big Sur 11.2 improves Bluetooth reliability and fixes the following issues:
- External displays may show a black screen when connected to a Mac mini (M1, 2020) using an HDMI to DVI converter
- Edits to Apple ProRAW photos in the Photos app may not save
- iCloud Drive could turn off after disabling the iCloud Drive Desktop & Documents Folders option
- System Preferences may not unlock when entering your administrator password
- Globe key may not display the Emoji & Symbols pane when pressed

The update addresses a bug that could cause external displays to show a black screen when connected to an M1 Mac mini using an HDMI to DVI converter, and it fixes an issue that resulted in edits to Apple ProRaw photos in the Photos app not to save. It also includes fixes for iCloud Drive, System Preferences, and more.

Related Forum: macOS Big Sur

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

Here is Everything New for the Apple TV in the tvOS 18.3 Update So Far

Tuesday December 17, 2024 6:25 am PST by
Apple on Monday seeded the first tvOS 18.3 beta to developers for testing. The update will likely be released in January. So far, there are only minor changes for the Apple TV, with one new feature and a few code changes discovered. Below, we outline what is new in tvOS 18.3 so far. Robot Vacuum Support in Home App First, tvOS 18.3 will add robot vacuum support to the Home app on the...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

srbNYC Avatar
51 months ago

Still AirPods don’t auto correct
Did autocorrect incorrectly correct "auto connect" to "auto correct"? ?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PDubNYC Avatar
51 months ago
really hope it fixes the spontaneous reboot issue I'm seeing with M1 MBP's
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheGeneralist Avatar
51 months ago

Their primary focus is selling hardware, software is what they sell along with. They have been great at both through time, but so long as people buy the hardware, they are fine taking months to fix issues with their flagship machines, often into the next year by the time the next major release is scheduled. And a sample of people here on this forum find that acceptable. I would say most in the world are okay with it, going by the sales numbers and Apple's refusal to get around this habit.
I'd say that's an accurate summary on where software QA is today at Apple.
Additionally, some clearly recognizable / daily visible bugs seem to persist over years and several generations of macOS, like for example the almost-always-wrong account balance in the lower left corner of App Store App (being persistent without any improvement since at least the first days of Mojave), or the permanent problems with Apple Watch unlock (appearing in most macOS dot revisions since introduction of this feature) or with Handoff - just to name a few.

Looks like they can afford to do so, as most customers don't care / don't even understand what's happening when they are hindered by OS bugs. And the alternatives are even weaker - Windows in terms of stability, Linux in terms of effort and knowledge required for configuration and maintenance. Although I seriously doubt Windows can still be regarded as less stable if just compared to Catalina - there were so many Macs with a multitude of serious problems even up to the latest release of Catalina (including my 2014 iMac) that Windows suddenly looked like the more reliable alternative.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that it will continue that way. Typing this text on a M1 Mac, I cannot ignore that they did an extremely good job setting up the new architecture with all components required for the transition. Rosetta 2 really performs well and this machine is just a pleasure to work with. Of course there are still quite some bugs (especially with peripherals like Bluetooth devices and external Monitors, but also quite a number of other issues), but things are definitely not even nearly as bad as they were in Catalina one year before. This leads me to the assumption that maybe the "Catastrophina" was also caused by focusing most of the energy towards the next-year OS generation in order to ensure a smooth architecture transition.

So, l'm looking forward, optimistic that the remaining issues in Big Sur will be fixed in a reasonable time period (despite having experienced the opposite last year).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nortonandreev Avatar
51 months ago
RC1 is 20D53, RC2 is 20D62. Quite a big of a jump for one working day between releases. Interesting.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
decypher44 Avatar
51 months ago
Come on, BT improvement!!!! ?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Donza Avatar
51 months ago
Also out for the Public Beta testers. Here's hoping there is further improvements to Bluetooth.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)