Apple Releases macOS Catalina 10.15.1 Update With New Emoji and AirPods Pro Support

[konqerror]

That link states no such thing. Do you know the difference between a numerical code and computer code? If, for example, a new block of emojis between 0x3f29a0 and 0x3f29af were to represent variants of a programmer wearing different propellor hats, that’s merely a new collection of images that can be referenced, and their descriptions. The algorithms for handling descriptions, such as suggesting an emoji in a message, already exist.

Wrong again. I apparently know a lot more than you and you didn't read anything in the link.

Emojis are not necessarily single characters/codepoints. 👨🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻 Men Holding Hands: Medium-Light Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone is represented in Unicode as 👨 Man + ZWJ + 🏼 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-3 + ZWJ + 🤝 Handshake + ZWJ + 👨 Man +ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2.

As the article says, Unicode 12.0 specifies
👨 Man + ZWJ + 🏼 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-3 + ZWJ + 🤝 Handshake + ZWJ + 👨 Man +ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2

must be treated as equivalent to

👨 Man + ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2 + ZWJ + 🤝 Handshake + ZWJ + 👨 Man +ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-3

in cases where it's Man/Man or Woman/Woman, but NOT Man/Woman. That is, Unicode 12.0 specifies in the case of same-sex Emoji couples with differing skin colors, there is only one Emoji defined out of the two possible orderings of skin color (the darker person on the left). This requires special handling.

Apple proposed and it was accepted in Unicode 12.1 that these cases are no longer equivalent, so the code has to be modified again to strip out the exception because the latter case is a new emoji, 👨🏽‍🤝‍👨🏼 Men Holding Hands: Light Skin Tone, Medium-Light Skin Tone.

And if you actually tried this on an Apple device, you'd see that Apple modified the Emoji picker to let you choose the two skin colors independently, in an order sensitive fashion. So the code and UI for the Emoji picker was changed too.

 

[SRLMJ23]

Running pretty well so far. This alongside iOS 13.2 are the versions of the 2019 operating systems that should have been released in the first place.

I agree completely!

I just did a fresh install of Catalina 10.15.1, and have run into zero issues...so far...knock on wood! This is the first time I waited for a .1 update to install a new Apple OS, as I am pretty quick to install everything new, as I have a paid Apple Developer account and install and test most all the beta software that comes out. However, when I read about the disaster that was launch day Catalina, for the first time ever, I said "No thank you, I'll wait!"

So, I am getting everything setup the way I like it on my MacBook Pro's and honestly, Catalina is running amazingly smooth and very stable! Right now I am setting Catalina up on my 2015 MacBook Pro.

*If you want to know the other machines I am installing/setting up on, just look at my signature.*

I have not run into any issues with missing album artwork (maybe because I did a fresh install???) or any general issues with Catalina not being stable etc. In fact, I have not run into one single problem at all.

For those of you waiting, I would say it is certainly okay to install macOS Catalina 10.15.1! As chris4565 said above, this is the version of Catalina that SHOULD have been released to the public on launch day!

***Also, not to get sidetracked too much, but watchOS 6.1 is running incredible on my Series 5 AW. Battery life is much better, and the watch just seems overall more responsive than it did on 6.0. I would recommend upgrading to that if you have not yet, and it supports AW Series 1 & 2...finally!

iOS & iPadOS 13.2, are also what we should have got on launch day. Very stable, new features, and Deep Fusion is amazing. I will say personally, I never had any issue(s) on any version of iOS 13, however, now with 13.2, things are more polished and with the added features it just works like it is a truly complete version of iOS/iPadOS...and yes I know Apple is always working on their OS's, but at least we have stable and smooth ones to work with now, among other things.***

Good luck everyone!

 

[smulji]

I agree completely!

I just did a fresh install of Catalina 10.15.1, and have run into zero issues...so far...knock on wood! This is the first time I waited for a .1 update to install a new Apple OS, as I am pretty quick to install everything new, as I have a paid Apple Developer account and install and test most all the beta software that comes out. However, when I read about the disaster that was launch day Catalina, for the first time ever, I said "No thank you, I'll wait!"

So, I am getting everything setup the way I like it on my MacBook Pro's and honestly, Catalina is running amazingly smooth and very stable! Right now I am setting Catalina up on my 2015 MacBook Pro.

*If you want to know the other machines I am installing/setting up on, just look at my signature.*

I have not run into any issues with missing album artwork (maybe because I did a fresh install???) or any general issues with Catalina not being stable etc. In fact, I have not run into one single problem at all.

For those of you waiting, I would say it is certainly okay to install macOS Catalina 10.15.1! As chris4565 said above, this is the version of Catalina that SHOULD have been released to the public on launch day!

***Also, not to get sidetracked too much, but watchOS 6.1 is running incredible on my Series 5 AW. Battery life is much better, and the watch just seems overall more responsive than it did on 6.0. I would recommend upgrading to that if you have not yet, and it supports AW Series 1 & 2...finally!

iOS & iPadOS 13.2, are also what we should have got on launch day. Very stable, new features, and Deep Fusion is amazing. I will say personally, I never had any issue(s) on any version of iOS 13, however, now with 13.2, things are more polished and with the added features it just works like it is a truly complete version of iOS/iPadOS...and yes I know Apple is always working on their OS's, but at least we have stable and smooth ones to work with now, among other things.***

Good luck everyone!

Great to hear!

 

[LV426]

Running pretty well so far. This alongside iOS 13.2 are the versions of the 2019 operating systems that should have been released in the first place.

Wrong again. I apparently know a lot more than you and you didn't read anything in the link.

Emojis are not necessarily single characters/codepoints. 👨🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻 Men Holding Hands: Medium-Light Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone is represented in Unicode as 👨 Man + ZWJ + 🏼 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-3 + ZWJ + 🤝 Handshake + ZWJ + 👨 Man +ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2.

As the article says, Unicode 12.0 specifies
👨 Man + ZWJ + 🏼 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-3 + ZWJ + 🤝 Handshake + ZWJ + 👨 Man +ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2

must be treated as equivalent to

👨 Man + ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2 + ZWJ + 🤝 Handshake + ZWJ + 👨 Man +ZWJ + 🏻 Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-3

in cases where it's Man/Man or Woman/Woman, but NOT Man/Woman. That is, Unicode 12.0 specifies in the case of same-sex Emoji couples with differing skin colors, there is only one Emoji defined out of the two possible orderings of skin color (the darker person on the left). This requires special handling.

Apple proposed and it was accepted in Unicode 12.1 that these cases are no longer equivalent, so the code has to be modified again to strip out the exception because the latter case is a new emoji, 👨🏽‍🤝‍👨🏼 Men Holding Hands: Light Skin Tone, Medium-Light Skin Tone.

And if you actually tried this on an Apple device, you'd see that Apple modified the Emoji picker to let you choose the two skin colors independently, in an order sensitive fashion. So the code and UI for the Emoji picker was changed too.

OK, I accept your point that in rare circumstance, modifier character sequences and/or changes to the Unicode standard require interpretation.

 

[stiligFox]

They do, it's in /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications

Oh man, you’re amazing, thank you!!

 

[Zance]

After unchecking yourself from the beta program, you also have to download and install the release version.

I tried that. After I removed my mini from the beta program, I tried refreshing Software Updates to update to official release, but it always said there wasn't any updates available.

I finally got updated today, though. I re-enrolled in the beta program, updated to 10.15 (Developer Beta 11, apparently) and then it finally showed 10.15.1 available. After that, I un-enrolled from the beta program.

 

[tywebb13]

Do you have a direct download link for the Catalina Update?

Also direct download links for for Security Updates for Mohave and High Sierra?

Yes I do.

Here they are

Catalina 10.15.1 delta update: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2022?locale=en_US

High Sierra Security Update 2019-006: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2023?locale=en_US

Mojave Security Update 2019-001: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2024?locale=en_US (the first one for Mojave)

Other new downloads

New Catalina XProtect version 2107: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...w30lnwj8qgm/XProtectPlistConfigData_10_15.pkg

New XProtect for older systems version 2107: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...dsgr9mqz65o/XProtectPlistConfigData_10_14.pkg

Safari 13.0.3 for High Sierra: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...3me1ij8nt7rv7h/Safari13.0.3HighSierraAuto.pkg

Safari 13.0.3 for Mojave: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...40gly7aoyibwnejl4w/Safari13.0.3MojaveAuto.pkg

 

[naples98]

After updating my Mac Mini (2018) to 10.15.1, Bluetooth is unavailable. I've deleted ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist and done an SMC reset. Bluetooth is still unavailable. Anyone else experiencing this? Any other suggestions on how to fix this error? (It worked perfectly prior to installing today's update)

Yes, I am having the exact same problem on my 2012 MacBook Pro. "Bluetooth: Not Available"

My 2014 Mac Mini seems to be working fine though.

 

[toasted ICT]

But no fix for Audiobooks : failures syncing, library corruption, loss of Audiobook chapters, inability to edit metadata, no support for external drives.

but lots more emojis ... so that’s all ok then eh.

 

[chucker23n1]

It consistently breaks after every system update. You have to go to Security in System Preferences, disable the feature, exit, go back in and reenable it. That always fixes it for me.

It broke for me once (I had to go through the entire dance of signing out of iCloud, which is a bit scary with all the sync that entails), but that was years ago; has been solid since. (This is with a Series 0.)
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What you don't understand is that literally every single program in the OS is dependent on text/string handling. And we've seen that bugs in Unicode software cause multiple real, exploitable security issues on iOS and macOS. Therefore, any time you touch that stuff, it requires great care and testing.

Apple to Fix Telugu Character Bug Causing Devices to Crash in Minor iOS Update

Apple has confirmed that a fix for a recently discovered bug that causes apps like Messages to crash on iPhone, iPad, and Mac has been included in...

www.macrumors.com

Yes, Unicode is hard to implement, and Apple has had its share of bugs in that area, but the general sentiment that adding emoji requires developers who would otherwise be tasked to fix bugs in the OS is just grossly simplistic. So please don’t feed that narrative.

(This particular release did require some dev work, such as to add the new UI that lets you pick and choose multiple skin colors. But generally speaking, literally all they need to do is extend the sbix table with more PNGs.)
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And how is it hard to understand that Apple should prioritize making the os stable vs adding emojis and then making that a highlight of the update

How hard is it to understand that that’s not a zero-sum game?
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So in other words, in this entire Unicode universe of emoji that is being created, each and every one of them represent a potential new attack vector?

Not any more than each and every line of code does.

 

[Chris The Bipolarbear]

Anyone trying to get the full installer use terminal with the following script
softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer
The Get info on the Installer is Version 15.1.03 and it now comes out at 8.14GB
(when this first 15.1 went live it dowloaded an installer for Instal macOS High Sierra for some reason then when I tried again it kept failing , but it worked first thing this morning (UK tIme))

 

[tywebb13]

Anyone trying to get the full installer use terminal with the following script
softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer
The Get info on the Installer is Version 15.1.03 and it now comes out at 8.14GB
(when this first 15.1 went live it dowloaded an installer for Instal macOS High Sierra for some reason then when I tried again it kept failing , but it worked first thing this morning (UK tIme))

The command softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer is a little too non-specific which may have been the cause of your difficulties.

You can be more specific with the following command instead which may avoid such difficulties in future:

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 10.15.1

Beware however that these commands ONLY work in Catalina (and probably future versions of macos).

I too have the full installer for 10.15.1. But I used installinstallmacos.py instead. I prefer that script because it actually gives you somewhat more control over what happens.

One thing I should say about installinstallmacos.py though is that for the first time ever I saw it fail for 10.15 beta 4. Never seen that before. But I quickly found out why. Apple moved stuff inside the full installer which seemed to confuse installinstallmacos.py. Furthermore there is a bug in the catalina installer. The updated installinstallmacos.py has overcome these difficulties and if you use installinstallmacos.py be sure you are using the latest version from https://github.com/munki/macadmin-scripts/blob/master/installinstallmacos.py

I also now have a bootable usb of 10.15.1.

 

[Chris The Bipolarbear]

The command softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer is a little too non-specific which may have been the cause of your difficulties.

You can be more specific with the following command instead which may avoid such difficulties in future:

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 10.15.1

Beware however that these commands ONLY work in Catalina (and probably future versions of macos).

I too have the full installer for 10.15.1. But I used installinstallmacos.py instead. I prefer that script because it actually gives you somewhat more control over what happens.

One thing I should say about installinstallmacos.py though is that for the first time ever I saw it fail for 10.15 beta 4. Never seen that before. But I quickly found out why. Apple moved stuff inside the full installer which seemed to confuse installinstallmacos.py. Furthermore there is a bug in the catalina installer. The updated installinstallmacos.py has overcome these difficulties and if you use installinstallmacos.py be sure you are using the latest version from https://github.com/munki/macadmin-scripts/blob/master/installinstallmacos.py

I also now have a bootable usb of 10.15.1.

don't know what script you use to make usb but I use:-
sudo /Applications/macOS\ Catalina.app\ /Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/UNTITLED && echo Catalina Boot Drive Created

 

[tywebb13]

don't know what script you use to make usb but I use:-
sudo /Applications/macOS\ Catalina.app\ /Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/UNTITLED && echo Catalina Boot Drive Created

For making the bootable usb I made a thread at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/bootable-catalina-usb-installer.2183859/

But for new versions of Catalina basically it's

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

if the usb is called Untitled

 

[DinkThifferent]

yes it is
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one issue that I note that is still present is that my series 4 Apple Watch is still not unlocking; ill report back if it starts to work

I'm not sure if this applies to you, but after updating my Series 3 to WatchOS6.1 it failed to unlock my iMac. Solution was to unpair and re-pair my apple watch. Now it is working again. Took me 25 minutes, but a series 4 should do it much faster. (I'm running Mojave by the way!)

 

[Ifti]

More new emoji's??
Seriously, how many more do we need?

Instead, I hope this update has some affect on the lack of search working in Mail!

 

[GalileoSeven]

I performed a fresh install of Catalina with DP 4 in late June on this 2019 rMBP and with this new release of 10.15.1 I am still missing directories at the root level of iCloud Drive that my rMBP running Mojave and my iOS devices running 13.2 release can access, namely iPrint&Scan, Pages, Playgrounds, Shortcuts, Preview, TextEdit and V1Driver. Numbers directory re-appeared in the last beta but with 1/2 the files I had before. Thank God I have backups. Feedback claims more than 10 have reported this problem. Really Apple? How do I escalate this problem? Software quality has gone down the drain. I have fed them feedback with every release but nothing happens. How many others have lost data? The latest incompetence comes with the bricked HomePods with 13.2
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Hell no

FFS Apple..........

 

[Babygotfont]

How hard is it to understand that some software updates require significant effort while some (like adding new emojis) require trivial effort?

Exactly!

 

[jonnysods]

I feel like the bug repair list on this one is a lot longer, and a lot more detailed than Apple provided.

It's so weird that they put Emoji at the very first thing they describe as a feature for the .1 update.

 

[Winni]

Would you rather that Apple simply ignores the new emojis that the Unicode Consortium put together every few months? Hint: It's not Apple that drives the development of new emojis; they are responding to an ever-evolving standard that is devised by an international consortium.

You know, pictograms were important in the time when mankind had not yet developed the alphabet, but wanted to archive significant events for the coming generations. But that was thousands of years ago. Selling emojis as a core part of a computer operating systems just says that the company and its customers! have completely lost their focus and the sense for what is actually important.
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That was only two weeks after the initial macOS 10.15! And now they've managed to basically sync the releases of all their OS. Good to know!

Or, in other words: If they had waited two more weeks with the initial release, the OS might have been in a much better shape than it was and Apple's customers would have had a much better experience. Not that any of that matters anymore...

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Anyone know how to get Software Update to actually check for an update? My last check was on the 15th. I've tried turning it off and on, to no avail.

Edit: Never mind. I rebooted and it's available now.

 

[Winni]

Simple solution. Apple needs to stop making a big deal out of it and focus on the OS and fixing it. Until they do, we will keep torching them. This entire cycle of OS releases has been a mess. I just want email to work again.

Since nobody sells client operating systems for money anymore, all client platforms have basically become rolling releases (like Debian Sid, just to give a reference for a properly labelled rolling release). Pretending that the "service packs" that Apple and Microsoft are releasing every few months are "new" operating systems is not even good - or interesting - marketing anymore.

The only significant change in Catalina is the fact that they killed off 32-Bit backwards compatibility. Now I'm not sure if I would want to sell this as a ground-breaking new feature... Other than that, the last half dozen of macOS releases have more or less felt and looked the same. Mojave became uglier to look at on non-Retina displays - which is also not a "feature" I would mention too loudly if I were Apple - but other than that there was no real change from High Sierra. It all just got crappier and less compatible, but I cannot name one single thing that has gotten BETTER or more useful since, I don't know, Mountain Lion?

 

[EdwardC]

This update did not fix the equalizer issue with Apple Music. My remote app for iOS no longer works so looks like I'll be using Spotify, at least the remote feature works with them.

 

[falkon-engine]

10.15.1 is buttery smooth on the hackintosh... very very smooth. Too bad Apple and nVidia fell out... I'm looking forward to a GTX 3080 Ampere when it comes out. Hopefully the future macOS kernel will support AMD's competitor to Ampere.

 

[chucker23n1]

I feel like the bug repair list on this one is a lot longer, and a lot more detailed than Apple provided.

It's so weird that they put Emoji at the very first thing they describe as a feature for the .1 update.

Not weird at all. Unlike what some resident forum curmudgeons believe, emoji are loved by hundreds of millions of Apple customers of all ages. Highlighting it means they get an incentive to install the update and stay secure.
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Since nobody sells client operating systems for money anymore, all client platforms have basically become rolling releases (like Debian Sid, just to give a reference for a properly labelled rolling release). Pretending that the "service packs" that Apple and Microsoft are releasing every few months are "new" operating systems is not even good - or interesting - marketing anymore.

The only significant change in Catalina is the fact that they killed off 32-Bit backwards compatibility.

Apple has major releases once a year. They’re not rolling; they don’t do the Google “evergreen” junk.

Catalina comes with tons of new APIs, including the entirety of Catalyst and Swift UI, so while there may not be many user-facing features, it’s hardly devoid of them.
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You know, pictograms were important in the time when mankind had not yet developed the alphabet, but wanted to archive significant events for the coming generations. But that was thousands of years ago.

You know, “ha ha, emoji are a lot like hieroglyphs” was a mildly amusing take the first thousand times this was observed. Jokes do become tired and repetitive.