Apple Seeds Second Public Beta of macOS Big Sur 11.3

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the second public beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming two weeks after the first public beta.

Public beta testers can download ‌macOS Big Sur‌ 11.3 from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 introduces more customization options for Safari, adding a way to rearrange the different sections on the Start Page like Favorites, Reading List, Siri Suggestions, Privacy Report, and more. Developers also have access to a new integration to develop features for the Start Page.

The update includes optimizations for using iOS apps on M1 Macs. When running iPhone and iPad apps on M1 Macs, there's a Touch Alternatives preference pane that allows users to set keyboard commands for touch input alternatives, plus iPadOS apps launch with a larger window if the Mac's display allows it. Touch Alternatives can be enabled for iPhone or iPad apps by clicking on the app's name in the menu bar and then selecting the Preferences option. Touch Alternatives let you customize taps, swipes, and drags.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 also adds support for the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X/S controllers for use with macOS games.

In the Reminders app, reminder lists can be sorted by Due Date, Creation Date, Priority, or Title, and there is an option to print lists by going to File > Print. Reminders can also be moved manually across lists with drag and drop, something that wasn't possible before.

Apple is adding a new "Made For You" library shortcut in Apple Music for finding personal mixes and Replay playlists, and the Listen Now section has been updated with support for highlighting live events. In the second beta, there's a new autoplay feature in the Apple Music app that allows the streaming service to continue to play music after a playlist or music queue ends. Apple Music sources music similar to what's in a person's Apple Music library, similar to the autoplay feature added in iOS 14.

With this feature enabled, Apple Music audio will not end even after a playlist or album is over. To check that it's on, play a playlist or album and then click on the three dot/line menu button in the upper right hand corner. From there, make sure the infinity symbol is toggled on.

In the Apple News app, there's a redesigned Apple News+ tab with a dedicated "For You" section and a new Browse tab that makes it easier to browse through available content. The new For You section is designed to help Apple News+ users find favorite magazines and newspapers much faster, plus it adds new tools for managing downloaded issues.

There's also an updated "Support" interface when accessing "About This Mac." The new design includes details on your warranty and it allows for starting a repair right from the Mac interface.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 adds support for HomePod Stereo pairs, allowing a set of paired HomePods to be set as the default sound output option, with the two HomePods showing up as a single selectable speaker rather than separate as in prior versions of macOS.

Code in the update suggests that the Optimized Battery Charging feature will now make sure the Mac's battery is fully charged before a scheduled calendar event. The Mac will charge to 100 percent three hours before a calendar event's start time.

Optimized Battery Charging is designed to preserve the lifespan of the Mac's battery by limiting the amount of time that a Mac sits at 100 percent battery.

In Safari, there's support for WebM video playback, allowing users to play WebM videos using Apple's browser. WebM is a niche video format designed to be a royalty-free alternative to the H.264 codec used in the MP4 format. WebM allows video files to remain small without sacrificing quality and can be played with little processing power, making it ideal for webpages and browsers.

More on macOS Big Sur can be found in our macOS Big Sur roundup. The software is expected to see a release this spring.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Second Public Beta of macOS Big Sur 11.3

 

[Realityck]

Just saw PB of 11.3 Beta 2 come online, downloading now (3.44 GB), the previous beta 1 was very stable in my usage.

 

[GylesM]

Will 11.3 fix the Mail problems caused by fast user switching?

 

[fumi2014]

I bet this doesn't offer anything further for all the monitor wake issues with DisplayPort.

 

[Unsupported]

Will 11.3 fix the Mail problems caused by fast user switching?

Or even the long time problems of no new mail sounds and flaky new mail Notifications?

There are mnay problems that need fixing in Mail.app...

 

[LFC2020]

hopefully fixes the issue of trackpad becoming unresponsive on boot up M1 pro, happened twice so far, prior update and current 11.2.1, had to power down manually and reboot to get the trackpad to work again.

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

Fix my iCloud tabs please

 

[SkyRom]

Big Sur has been the worst Apple OS I've ever used, bar none. It was not ready for primetime. Too many issues to even bother listing. Apparently they spent all their time making COVID emoji's to explain how the 'talent' were treated during their filming instead of making a stable product.

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

Big Sur has been the worst Apple OS I've ever used, bar none. It was not ready for primetime. Too many issues to even bother listing. Apparently they spent all their time making COVID emoji's to explain how the 'talent' were treated during their filming instead of making a stable product.

Don't worry! Instead of actually fixing the many, many bugs, they will be releasing still MORE emojis with this update!

 

[yukari]

I hope this fixes open/save dialog box sizing...

 

[MauiPa]

Or even the long time problems of no new mail sounds and flaky new mail Notifications?

There are mnay problems that need fixing in Mail.app...

and yet mine works fine. I have been trying to duplicate the problems on posts like this - all to no avail. so what gives? Is there something else going on on your computer that is triggering it?

As an aside, I heard about the complaints about Safari crashing, well it never happened to me, until it did, I tried tracing the logs and the only thing close that I could find was a library that sat duplicate found, which one chosen is undefined. Now, not being one to trust all the hackers and whackers out there, I did a clean install (super easy with iCloud and other cloud backups), only downloaded applications I was actually using, and the problem was fixed, and I have been fine since.

It is not all the hard, and if you are having issues that are not universal, it is worth considering.

and btw, if you don't prefer to use Mail, don't. Use one of the other applications out there, for me it works great

 

[MauiPa]

I hope this fixes open/save dialog box sizing...

Not having any issues with this at all. Maybe you can be more specific instead of making such a generic complaint. I don't know, computer, display mode, application where it is occurring, what is it doing?

 

[MauiPa]

Don't worry! Instead of actually fixing the many, many bugs, they will be releasing still MORE emojis with this update!

Do you have a list of the "many, many bugs"? I am not seeing any, notta, zilcho, zero-ony. so many, many strikes me as a bit of a false narrative. are some of them specific to certain hardware? I guess many many must be at least 20, right?

 

[MauiPa]

Fix my iCloud tabs please

that could be more specific. I am not seeing any iCloud issues. But, if I read way, way, way, between the lines of your one line comment, can I presume you are talking about open tabs on other devices on Safari?

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

that could be more specific. I am not seeing any iCloud issues. But, if I read way, way, way, between the lines of your one line comment, can I presume you are talking about open tabs on other devices on Safari?

There is a lengthy, ongoing thread about this issue elsewhere on the forum (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/icloud-tabs-not-syncing.2266397/).

The tl/dr is that many people seem to be having this problem but many people do not. The Apple software engineering team knows about it and are working on a fix as they continue to collect data from people whose iCloud accounts have been put in a state of "escalation."

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

Do you have a list of the "many, many bugs"? I am not seeing any, notta, zilcho, zero-ony. so many, many strikes me as a bit of a false narrative. are some of them specific to certain hardware? I guess many many must be at least 20, right?

Sure. Some are major, some aren't major. Apple Music still throws up errors of "Failed to load" when browsing around the app. When logging out and then logging back into a user account (without restarting the machine), iMessage notifications show up as phone numbers rather than as contacts. When channeling audio from a phone call to a nearby Mac, using the audio selection circle on the call screen, the call cuts off. There are other issues that I've run into that seem more difficult to reproduce. This is all in addition to the iCloud tabs issue I mentioned in my previous comment, which might or might not relate specifically to macOS software. Everybody has different usage patterns than everybody else, so it's possible that some folks like you might not have encountered many or even any bugs. But many of us here on this forum, heck even in this very thread, have.

None of these issues existed for me under Catalina. Zilcho, notta, zero-ony. So while this might be a "false narrative" in your case (in which case I am actually happy things are working smoothly for you!), it's not false for all too many people. I don't know why anybody would try to disseminate a "false narrative" about a computer operating system they are using. That strikes me as ... odd.

 

[Realityck]

Sure. Some are major, some aren't major. Apple Music still throws up errors of "Failed to load" when browsing around the app. When logging out and then logging back into a user account (without restarting the machine), iMessage notifications show up as phone numbers rather than as contacts. When channeling audio from a phone call to a nearby Mac, using the audio selection circle on the call screen, the call cuts off. There are other issues that I've run into that seem more difficult to reproduce.

Hi are you using 11.3 beta 2 to see if that corrects some of your issues? are you M1 or Intel? I am running this on a late 2015 iMac and everything that I normally use is stable. Music is 1.1.4.78.

 

[lucas]

I hope they fix the 4k over DisplayPort problem that’s got a 30 page thread going on the apple forums

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

Hi are you using 11.3 beta 2 to see if that corrects some of your issues? are you M1 or Intel? I am running this on a late 2015 iMac and everything that I normally use is stable. Music is 1.1.4.78.

No, I'm not on beta track. I would be curious to see if any of the issues I mention are addressed in them, especially the iCloud tabs issue, which has been driving me up the wall for months now.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm using Intel machines. My music release is the one that came out with 11.2 -- version 1.1.3.3

 

[MauiPa]

There is a lengthy, ongoing thread about this issue elsewhere on the forum (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/icloud-tabs-not-syncing.2266397/).

The tl/dr is that many people seem to be having this problem but many people do not. The Apple software engineering team knows about it and are working on a fix as they continue to collect data from people whose iCloud accounts have been put in a state of "escalation."

Now its clear and the post is informative. thank-you

 

[MauiPa]

Hi are you using 11.3 beta 2 to see if that corrects some of your issues? are you M1 or Intel? I am running this on a late 2015 iMac and everything that I normally use is stable. Music is 1.1.4.78.

same here, very stable, 2014 MBP 15 here. Full disclosure, I had to clean install last build, there was a gremlin that got in somewhere, and it was causing safari to crash, clean install fixed it. With cloud, it is so easy, and a great way to clean up stuff as you don't need all the stuff you don't need, and with all the hackers and whackers, who knows what got smuggled onto my machine (Was running chrome when they had that security breach).

 

[Phantom iCloud tabs]

same here, very stable, 2014 MBP 15 here. Full disclosure, I had to clean install last build, there was a gremlin that got in somewhere, and it was causing safari to crash, clean install fixed it. With cloud, it is so easy, and a great way to clean up stuff as you don't need all the stuff you don't need, and with all the hackers and whackers, who knows what got smuggled onto my machine (Was running chrome when they had that security breach).

Part of what is so frustrating about the bugs I (and clearly many others) are experiencing is, at least from my perspective, the new OS introduces positive changes, including the aesthetics. I do appreciate the new look, the redesigned menu bar, etc.

 

[itrends]

Another update, still no ability for the Mac to remember my screen resolutions after a reboot or to turn off both screens in stand by.

Specifically
Mac mini M1
2 x ultra wide Red Eagle displays
One of those is rotated 90 degrees

I can set everything up.
If I log out the screens get messed up.
If I log in they go back as expected.
If I shut down / reboot they are messed up.
Logging in after reboot they remain entirely messed up until I configure them again.

The native resolutions are not shown unless I option click the 'scaled' radio button.

I appreciate the fact I can even use my screens is positive, but it's astounding to me how broken external displays STILL are for others in additional to my own situation.

I'm tired of submitting the same bug reports. But I'll do it once again.

Good luck everyone.

EDIT// that didn't last long. Now it's not even waking one of the monitors at all (DP) one.

And FWIW it saves my resolutions after reboot as long as I don't have either one of them rotated 90 degrees. But the resolutions are still always messed up whatever the case at the login screen.

Computers + inputs + displays. These are the basics of computing. The essentials. That fact that the basic peripherals are in this state leaves me incredibly worried at this point.

 

[RamGuy]

A fair warning to all of you considering to jump onto the BETA-train. My Apple M1 Mac mini is next to useless with 11.3 BETA2. kernel_task and spindump is using 80+% CPU all the time and my Mac mini is lagging like crazy. Basically useless.

Luckily I always have Time Machine Backups at hand so I did a revert and it got back to normal. But this BETA seems to be horrible for Apple M1 users.

 

[hybrid_x]

I think it's hilarious that Apple is adding calendar awareness to charging of all things, when they've totally broken the calendar awareness of things like Do Not Disturb (no more "… until the end of this event"), and have broken the options for snoozing notifications as well (no more options for how an alert gets snoozed… the only option is "snooze" which is 9 minutes, no more "until it's time to leave," "until X minutes before start time" or anything… just… snooze). Considering they've been trying to make macOS more iPhone-like, this is one area where they have fallen down badly.

And another thing, while I'm here…

I just plugged in an external display for the first time since upgrading to Big Sur, and holy crap, have they ever turned display spanning into a hot mess.

You get a menu bar on every display now, not just your Primary display. This was confusing to me at first, but I can see how it might come in handy.

Auto-show/hide of the dock on spanned displays is also now a complete mess. The dock no longer automatically shows when the cursor is touched to the bottom of the primary display. You have to put the cursor there and click for the dock to appear. Again, unexpected and undocumented behaviour. I can see where it might be handy, but it's weird and feels broken. There is also no longer a keyboard shortcut (command+option+D) to manually show/hide the dock.

---

UPDATE: It turns out, this issue was actually being caused by a mouse that was acting as if it had a button held down, which was interfering with several other click/gesture inputs.

---

Also, the little "displays" widget we used to get in the menu bar? It's only there for "mirroring" now. If you're spanning your display, you get nothing in the menu bar or the Control Center. Apparently display spanners are second-class citizens compared to mirroring now.