MacOS Big Sur

Providing some indication as to how the pre-release operating system may have been viewed internally at Apple during its development cycle, documentation accompanying the initial beta release of macOS Big Sur referred to its version as "10.16", and when upgrading from prior versions of macOS using the Software Update mechanism to early beta releases, the version referred to was "10.16". An exception to this was the Developer Transition Kit, which always reported the system version as "11.0". ==System requirements==

Unlike macOS Catalina, which supported every standard configuration Mac that Mojave supported, Big Sur drops support for various Macs released in 2012 and early 2013. Big Sur runs on the following Macs: • iMac (Mid 2014 or later) • iMac Pro (2017) • MacBook (Early 2015 or later) • MacBook Air (Mid 2013 or later) • MacBook Pro (Late 2013 or later) • Mac Mini (Late 2014 or later) • Mac Pro (Late 2013 or later) • Developer Transition Kit (only up to Big Sur 11.3 beta 2) By using patcher tools (such as OpenCore Legacy), macOS 11 Big Sur can be installed on earlier computers that are officially unsupported, such as the 2012 iMac and the 2012 MacBook Pro. Using these methods, it is possible to install macOS Big Sur on computers as old as a 2008 MacBook Pro and iMac and 2009 Mac Mini running smooth with non-metal graphics. ==Changes==

Design macOS Big Sur refreshes the design of the user interface, described by Apple as the biggest change since the introduction of Mac OS X. Compared to iOS, Big Sur's icons include more shading and highlights to give a three-dimensional appearance. Its aesthetic has been described as "neumorphism", a portmanteau of new and skeuomorphism. System sounds are redone as well. The new OS also brings further integration with Apple's SF Symbols, enabling easier use by third-party developers as UI elements for their applications through AppKit, SwiftUI, and Catalyst, which makes it possible to unify third-party applications with the existing Apple-made design language. The Siri icon in macOS Big Sur was an all-white, outlined version of the Siri waveform/globe, contained within the new standard rounded-rectangle app icon shape. This design was part of the broad redesign of app icons in Big Sur to promote visual consistency across the Apple ecosystem. In macOS Sequoia, the Siri interface was updated as part of the new Apple Intelligence features. The traditional circular "orb" or "globe in a rectangle" look was replaced with a new visual effect: the borders of the screen glow when Siri is active, rather than a distinct icon appearing at the bottom of the screen. Interface Control Center An interface with quick toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, screen brightness and system volume has been added to the menu bar. The chip mentioned in demo videos, and used in the Developer Transition Kit, is the A12Z Bionic. On November 10, 2020, Apple announced the first Mac Apple silicon chip, the Apple M1, in the Late 2020 Mac Mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. Apple has said that it will support Intel Macs "for years to come", and most software that has not been ported to run on ARM Macs can use Rosetta 2, an x86 emulator and compatibility layer. Likewise, Apple also labeled multi-architecture binary files containing both x86-64 and ARM64 code as Universal 2 binaries, allowing developers to package their applications so that they can run natively on both ARM64 and x86-64 processors. Support for iOS and iPadOS applications On Macs based on Apple silicon, macOS Big Sur can run iOS and iPadOS applications natively and without any modifications needed from developers, aside from allowing the app to be available on the Mac App Store. According to Apple, this enables "faster, more compact, and more reliable backups" than were possible previously with HFS+-formatted backup destinations. An independent evaluation of this claim found that Time Machine on macOS 11 in conjunction with APFS was 2.75-fold faster upon initial local backup and 4-fold faster upon subsequent backups relative to macOS 10.15's Time Machine implementation using HFS+. Non-core applications and user data can be restored in full using Migration Assistant, preceded by a system reinstall if necessary. Spotlight Spotlight, the file system indexing-and-search mechanism introduced in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, is faster and the interface has been refined. Spotlight is now the default search mechanism in Safari, Pages, and Keynote. This includes adding an SHA-256 hash for every file on the system volume, preventing changes from third-party entities and the end user. Software updates Software updates can begin in the background before a restart, thus requiring less downtime to complete. Because system files are cryptographically signed, the update software can rely on them being in precise locations, thus permitting them to be effectively updated in place. Encryption macOS Big Sur supports encryption at the file level. Earlier versions of macOS (10.15 Catalina and older) supported encryption only at the level of entire volumes. ==Application features==

Safari Big Sur includes Safari 14, which was also released for macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave on September 16, 2020. Safari 14 includes features such as a new home page in which users can customize what features are visible in addition to being able to set a custom wallpaper. It also allows the viewer to preview a page and favicon before visiting it. Safari 14 also includes built-in web page translations in English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Chinese and Portuguese as well as support for 4K HDR content from Netflix on Macs with an Apple T2 chip, although none of these were made available for macOS Catalina and Mojave. Privacy features such as iCloud Keychain (which notifies users of compromised passwords), extension privacy management and Privacy Report (which monitors privacy trackers and further increases Safari's security) were added for Safari 14. Users were now also able to import password from Google's Chrome browser in addition to being notified of compromised passwords. Safari 14 also supports WebExtensions API, the WebP image format as well as VP9 decoding, the latter of which allows for the playback of 4K and HDR content from YouTube. In addition, it allowed for better performance and power efficiency. Safari 14 ended support for Adobe Flash Player in September, three months prior to its end-of-life on December 31, 2020. to enable it to have feature parity with its iOS counterpart and to reduce development time and cost. The new version of the app included a refined design as well as the ability to pin up to nine conversations that can sync across iOS, iPadOS and macOS. Users were also now allowed to search for messages and share their names and photos. Photo thumbnails could now also be used for group chats on the app. In addition, users could mention contacts by putting the @ symbol in front of their name. They were also able to reply to specific messages. Memojis, 3d avatars were also made available on Messages. On Messages, users could now select photos based on parameters. In India, text message effects were added when users sent certain texts (e.g., texting "Happy Holi" will result in users seeing effects). Changes to the Mac App Store Refinements and new features of the Mac App Store include: • A new "nutrition label" section dedicated to the data and information an app collects, also featured in the iOS App Store • A new extensions category for Safari • Third party Notification Center widgets, similar to those also added in iOS and iPadOS 14. • The ability to share in-app purchases and subscriptions on the Mac via iCloud Family Sharing Notes • Collapsible pinned section • Quick text style and formatting options • Scanning enhancements Photos • New editing capabilities • Improved Retouch tool • New zooming feature in views Maps • Rewritten as a Catalyst app, reducing development time and improving iOS parity. • "Look Around" interactive street-level 360° panoramas, first implemented in the iOS 13 version of Maps, have been incorporated into the macOS version of Maps. • Availability of directions for cyclists. • Electric vehicle routing, based on proximity to charging stations and monitoring of battery levels (on selected car models). • Guides for exploring new places. Voice Memos • A file structure has been implemented to allow organization of recordings in folders • Recordings can be marked as Favorites for easier subsequent access • Smart Folders automatically group Apple Watch recordings, recently deleted recordings, and Favorites • Audio can be enhanced to reduce background noise and room reverb ==Removed functionality==

• Calculator Notification Center Widget • Option to toggle Font Smoothing in System Preferences • Removed the option not to have a clock in the menu bar. ==Criticism==

The rollout of Big Sur came with several problems. Upgrading to the initial public release of Big Sur (version 11.0.1) bricked some computers, rendering them unusable. Many of these were 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pros, though problems were also observed on a 2019 MacBook Pro and an iMac from the same year. The initial rollout also disrupted Apple's app notarization process, causing slowdowns even on devices not running Big Sur. Users also reported that the update was slow or even might fail to install. macOS Catalina and Big Sur apps were taking a long time to load because of Gatekeeper issues. The issues with the COVID-19 pandemic meant it was hard for users to visit an Apple Store to get their machines fixed. Shortly afterwards, Apple released a series of steps explaining how these Macs could be recovered. Certain Apple applications running on early versions of Big Sur were reported to bypass firewalls, raising privacy and security concerns. This was addressed with the release of macOS Big Sur 11.2, which removed the whitelist for built-in programs. Conversely, security experts have reported that Big Sur will check an application's certificate every time it is run, degrading system performance. There have been reports that the operating system sends a hash back to Apple of every program run and when it was executed. Apple responded that the process is part of efforts to protect users from malware embedded in applications downloaded outside of the Mac App Store. When upgrading Macs from 10.13, 10.14 and 10.15 to Big Sur the upgrade process could become stuck for seemingly unclear reasons. Only a full system restore from backup would solve this problem. In October 2021, a solution became known that required removal of up to several hundred thousand excess temporary files in the system folders. The problem was fixed in December 2021 in the Big Sur 11.6.2 Full installer. ==Vulnerability==

In 2021, there were reports of two pieces of malware that infected macOS and include both x86-64 and ARM64 code. The first one was detected in early 2021. The second one, Silver Sparrow, was detected on nearly 30,000 Macs in February 2021. ==Release history==

The public release of macOS 11 Big Sur began with 11.0.1 for Intel Macs. Version 11.0 was preinstalled on Apple silicon Macs, and Apple advised those with that version to be updated to 11.0.1. ''See Apple's main pages for Big Sur release notes: for consumers, for enterprise, as well as their current security content page.'' ==References==