Apple Releases Second Golden Master of macOS Sierra for Developers

[MacRumors]

Apple today released an updated golden master (GM) version of macOS Sierra to developers, a week and a day after releasing the first golden master following its September 7 event. The golden master represents the final version of macOS Sierra that will be released to the public on Tuesday, September 20.

The golden master update can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center at this time, and it is not clear if it will be available through the Mac App Store. The new GM seed is build 16A323, while the build released last week was 16A320.

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macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a "Universal Clipboard" for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user's devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There's also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and "Tapback" response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.

macOS Sierra will be officially released to the public on September 20 and it will be available for free to all users with a compatible Mac. For full details on all of the new features included in the update, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

Article Link: Apple Releases Second Golden Master of macOS Sierra for Developers

 

[PPFee]

Are you sure its not Build 16A322 ? Because thats what my RMBP is showing and i just installed it today

 

[ksnell]

I thought Golden Master meant that was it?

 

[chrfr]

Are you sure its not Build 16A322 ? Because thats what my RMBP is showing and i just installed it today

16A323 is new today.
[doublepost=1473966686][/doublepost]

I thought Golden Master meant that was it?

They're all "Gold Master Candidates" until the software is released to the public.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The golden master represents the final version of macOS Sierra that will be released to the public...

And here's another one...

 

[decimortis]

I may be ignorant of what Golden Master actually means...

 

[Twimfy]

I may be ignorant of what Golden Master actually means...

Hmm, I'm getting a "this code has already been redeemed" error in the MAS when going straight from the new build in Dev Center.

I wish they would allow direct downloads like the olden days.

 

[daveak]

Hmm, I'm getting a "this code has already been redeemed" error in the MAS when going straight from the new build in Dev Center.

I wish they would allow direct downloads like the olden days.

Seeing the same here

 

[maflynn]

I thought Golden Master meant that was it?

They must have found a major issue that needed to be addressed sooner then later.

 

[twocents]

macOS Sierra is a major update

Bit of a stretch there, isn't it? It's been five years now with Siri and they have just now gotten around to adding it on the Mac. The rest of the couple of features are nice and convenient, but far from extensive or that puts taking on day-to-day tasks to a new level. Reminds me of iOS 6

 

[benjitek]

It's actually the 3rd GM version, the 2nd version, 16A322, was quietly released on 9/13 and 16A323 launched today. Neither of these versions would update by clicking the [Download] button at the developers site, at least they wouldn't when I tried. The only way I could install them was by clicking [Download] in the AppStore purchase-history.

 

[skwood]

This is not the second GM, so far we've seen build 319, 320, 322 and now 323. There have been no delta updates for any of these. You can download the latest by re-downloading macOS Sierra from the Purchased tab in the MAS.

 

[Cougarcat]

I thought Golden Master meant that was it?

All it means is that it's a candidate to be the final version, but if they find bugs they can do another version.

Historically first GMs have almost always been the final version, but last year IIRC El Cap had several.

 

[duervo]

Hmm, I'm getting a "this code has already been redeemed" error in the MAS when going straight from the new build in Dev Center.

I wish they would allow direct downloads like the olden days.

Once you've redeemed the code on the developer site, you just have to use the Mac App Store app to download the newer build after that. If it does not show up under the updates view, then delete the first GM build from your applications folder, and then use the Mac App Store app to download it again. The latest build should be the one that's downloaded at that point.

 

[hassaan22]

Are you sure its not Build 16A322 ? Because thats what my RMBP is showing and i just installed it today

Same with me. It might have been a typo on macrumors end

 

[centracore]

If you have "Install macOS Sierra" downloaded from the Mac AppStore delete it and redownload, that will be build 16A323.

Source: I was trying to update from 16A320 -> 16A322 and ended up with 16A323.

 

[calzon65]

Hopefully an hour after final release Apple won't have to issue an update like IOS 10.

 

[PPFee]

16A323 is new today.
[doublepost=1473966686][/doublepost]
They're all "Gold Master Candidates" until the software is released to the public.

Thanks, in that case they did a poor job with the article because they made it seem like 20 was the last release and 23 was the second.

 

[Larry-K]

I may be ignorant of what Golden Master actually means...

Or perhaps Apple is.

 

[PPFee]

so you can't update from the update center you have to download the image again?

 

[marvz]

Hopefully an hour after final release Apple won't have to issue an update like IOS 10.

What? iOS 10.0.1 was the GM from the beginning.

 

[JulesFM]

Absolutely, I've had 16A319, 320, 322 and today 323. They've been updating every (few and sometimes 1) days.
As centracore says, just download Sierra from the Mac App Store each time, it will always give you the latest version.
Just check developer.apple.com downloads page for the build number of whatever is on the Mac App Store.
Don't keep trying to redeem the code, that won't help you, you already did it.

 

[Makosuke]

I thought Golden Master meant that was it?

It means they think that was it, but the entire point of releasing a GM build publicly before you ship is to make sure that there are no show-stoppers that made it through.

Some companies retroactively declare an existing beta the GM once they determine that that beta is good enough to ship--along the lines of "we've decided beta 6 is good enough to ship, so we're declaring it GM". Apple does it the other way around, where they declare a version they think is ready to ship, but reserve the right to still tweak it if something that they can't justify fixing in a later update appears.

I'm not plugged into Apple's dev program enough to know how frequently they release multiple GM builds, but my memory from news stories like this over the years is that it isn't very often. Any idea what the show-stopper bug was that precipitated a 2nd (or apparently 3rd) GM builds?

 

[JackieTreehorn]

I may be ignorant of what Golden Master actually means...

Inconceivable!

 

[JulesFM]

so you can't update from the update center you have to download the image again?

Correct. Just download the whole thing from the Mac App Store again, and run it. It will do a non-destructive upgrade.