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Apple Releases macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 With WebKit Security Fix
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Well, the last number on a 3 digit version is the patch/bugfix number. So, bugs are fixed.
It's build up like: Major.Minor.Patch, so from 11.2.2 to 11.2.3 is patches and bugfixes.
32 years of Bluetooth and it still can't compete with a serial cable.
Ain't oligopoly grand?
I would assume it’s because it’s also updating the APIs like WKWebView and SKSafariViewController which are included in many apps.
That and the fact that Safari is part of the system volume (and an integral part of macOS), so editing that requires a little bit of restart magic (a somewhat reasonable security measure).
Damn, that seems like a pain. I have a Dell U2718Q 27" 4K monitor and am using a generic HDMI to USB C adapter from monoprice.com and have no issues like this. 2018 15.6" MB Pro.
I feel ya, my benQ 4K can only do 30hz on my m1 MBA despite Apple advertising it can do 4K.
That does seem rather odd. I triple checked to be sure that 14.0.3 was what I'm using right now, and it is.
It's the WIN-DOS Experience. Apple saw how Windows ties everything together and tightly knits Explorer to the OS, creating so many dependecies that you simply need to update everything, and then they hired those programmers to do the same thing on the Mac. While they're at it, they copied the Experience further, by making the update take forever and require many reboots, using the left hand screen, then the right hand screen, changing the resolution as well...
All while Ubuntu just downloads the files, puts them in place and reboots. As it should be. How it used to be on the Mac.
Not exactly "absurd", but inconvenient. First, this is not "patching the browser", but patching the underlying WebKit libraries, developed upstream from Apple. It was considered a hot fix. WebKit lives on the System Volume which, especially now with Big Sur's SSV, is difficult to update "piecemeal". True, one can update WebKit on Linux (libwebkitgtk) without rebooting. However, on Linux it is not baked into the OS--nor, for that matter, is a GUI.
Its nice that they release things fast when they are getting bad publicity but how about fixing problems with the new OS that we didnt have to worry about before? We shouldn't have to wait till the third quarter to get a stable OS that is yet again going to be replaced by a newer one that brings its own bugs.
Probably because there is more room for problems if they update a system with heavy modifications. The installers aren't smart enough to know that everything installed correctly, so they probably have all the files they need in case some are missing or altered in the target system. But that wasn't a problem before when Apple wasn't so tight fisted with its OS and hardware.
Mojave (and Catalina) gets an update to Safari as well. The app itself remains at 14.0.3 but the build number increments higher: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212223
Users have reported this is fixed in 11.3 beta, so this should come soon, although long overdue.
Those who don't use Safari as their default browser might be able to skip this one. Firefox and Chrome, to name a couple, don't use WebKit.
Yes, the download size sucks, but it is what it is for reasons I've explained (which is different than "defended") above. Still, I updated the four Macs in my office in pretty short order. Content Caching was my friend.
Seems like I'm not the only one with external monitor issues.
I have an older 13" MBA that only use in clamshell mode, because the monitor is dead. Since installing 11.1, what happens when I disconnect the charger is that the external monitor turns off. The external monitor works again when I connect the charger. I didn't change the settings (I barely use the computer), it just suddenly did this after installing 11.1 and also 11.2. What is going on??
So I tried updating my new MacBook Air M1 - Yikes so the update stalled in the install screen, after restarting. Then it went to the recovery options, I didn't have any time machine backup, and the other option was to re-install Big Sur. I tried restarting the machine and it booted up normally and it's at version 11.2.3.
I hope it's ok.
I hope it's ok.
It's likely that this macOS update contains more than just the patch to WebKit.
In fact, Apple has released standalone Safari updates in the past, both to the current version of macOS as well as previous versions of macOS.
Note that Apple has rarely released a macOS/iOS update to patch a single issue. In the past two decades, this has only happened a couple of times in my recollection and yes, those patches were quite small.
Yes, I just installed it on my Mojave VM. Apple is maintaining a Safari 14 fork for these two older systems. However, it appears unrelated to the Big Sur update, which updates the underlying WebKit libraries (this is what requires the reboot.) Likely this will be rolled into their security updates, which will coincide with 11.3.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Big Sur Safari build number also went up similarly, but WebKit, not Safari, is what the excitement was about here.