Apple on Tuesday released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1, an update to the Mac operating system. According to the release notes, 11.2.1 “addresses an issue that may prevent the battery from charging in some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models.”
My situation - after upgrading to Big Sur, I was unable to get to SMB shares on the Mac from Windows Vm's and physical machines. For some reason, when looking at 'More info' on the shared folder/drives, permissions on an 'unknown' user were in limbo. Could be an old account I had, but I blew it away, and applied to all enclosed items. Apple’s macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 update could have a huge impact on your Mac’s performance. While some of you should install the firmware today, others are better off waiting. Like macOS Big Sur.
Patched Sur is a UI patcher for macOS Big Sur, designed to make it easy to run macOS 11 on unsupported Macs. This patcher hopes to allow any user of any knowledge to patch their Mac, while still giving you freedom on how you want to use your Mac. Then, you can select whether you want to update. As the most revolutionary update to Apple’s operating system in years, the macOS 11 Big Sur is a major milestone in macOS history.
9to5Mac reports that the update includes a fix for the Sudo bug that was revealed recently. There are also fixes for a couple of bugs with the Intel Graphics Driver.
The update comes about a week after Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.2, which included several bug fixes and security updates.
How to update macOS Big Sur
Before updating your Mac, it’s a good idea to back up your data, just in case the update causes problems.
To install the update, you need an internet connection. Also, your Mac will need to restart in order to finish the installation. Here are the steps.
Click on the Apple menu.
Select About this Mac.
In the window that appears, go to the Overview tab if it’s not already open.
Click on the Software Update button. This will open the Software Update system preference.
You can click the More info link if you want to learn more about the update.
When you are ready to install, click on the Update Now button. The installation takes several minutes, depending on the speed of the internet connection.
We all know that it’s important to “stay patched, so you stay secure.” But macOS is making that a bit harder these days. Apple really wants you to upgrade to macOS Big Sur, but if you’re not ready for that big jump, it may be hard to notice that you have macOS Catalina and Safari updates to apply.
macOS Big Sur is a huge change and it’s usually a good idea to let the bleeding edge folks work out the kinks. It’s also not a bad idea to wait for Apple to make at least its first update before jumping on the new hotness. You may have applications that are not yet macOS Big Sur-compatible so be cautious with a big upgrade like this. I’m not a proponent of waiting a long time to upgrade to the latest OS but caution, especially on such a big change, is definitely warranted. While you’re waiting for the OS to stabilize, you want to keep macOS Catalina up to date, but Apple makes it difficult to see just how to do that.
While you’re still on macOS Catalina, if you open System Preferences and select Software Update, you’ll see the icon for macOS Big Sur with an obvious “Upgrade Now” button. But we don’t want to upgrade to macOS Big Sur just yet.
When I took the screenshot for this post, I actually had updates to macOS Catalina and Safari waiting for me, but it sure wasn’t obvious they were there.
Under the icon for macOS Big Sur, there was some smaller text that said, “Other updates are available” and blue link text that said “More info…”
Click on that tiny More info link to reveal the updates you really need to apply. In my example, I had macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update waiting, and the notes below clearly say that this update “improves the security of macOS.” There was also a Safari update to 14.0.1 which had some speed enhancements but also security fixes, including the removal of support for Adobe Flash. You really want this update!
Update Mac Os To Big Sur
After you apply any Safari or macOS Catalina updates, the Software Update Preference Pane will still say “More info…” As shown below:
But if you click the link now, it will take you to the Apple web page telling you about all the awesome features of macOS Big Sur. I presume this “More info…” link will change back to showing you security updates for macOS Catalina and Safari when new ones are available, so you’ll have to be vigilant and pay attention in looking for the updates.
I don’t like that Apple has made it so undiscoverable that security updates are awaiting us. I would really prefer that they had made two equally-obvious buttons, one to upgrade to macOS Big Sur and one to update macOS Catalina and Safari. They’re doing a disservice to the community by making it this hidden. As I said up front, I’m a big proponent of getting on a new OS when it’s practical to do so, but it is the user’s decision when to do it and shouldn’t be tricked into what could be a catastrophic upgrade.
Apple Mac Os Big Sur Update
Since you’re probably the family nerd if you’re reading or hearing this, please pass this post along to your friends and family so they stay patched so they stay secure.