El Capitan

OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 is out with full Live Photos sharing, password-protected Notes and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

After spending more than two months in beta, OS X 10.11.4, a fourth major update to OS X El Capitan, today released for public consumption. The software update is now available and recommended for all OS X El Capitan users.

Even though it comes with a few noticeable outward-facing changes, OS X 10.11.4 does pack in some newsworthy improvements—namely in stock Messages, Notes and Photos apps. Full sharing of Live Photos via iMessages has been implemented throughout the system, too. Like other major OS X releases, 10.11.4 includes a handful of under-the-hood changes and tons of bug fixes and performance optimizations.

Apple seeds OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 beta 7 to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2016

Just 24 hours after seeding iOS 9.3 beta 7 to developers and public testers, Apple on Tuesday released a seventh beta of the forthcoming OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 software update.

The new version with a build number of 15E64a is available as an over-the-air update through the Mac App Store's Purchased tab on Macs authorized for software development through the Apple Developer Program and on computers enrolled into the Apple Beta Software Program.

OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 beta 6 now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 7, 2016

In addition to releasing new betas of the forthcoming iOS 9.3 and watchOS 2.2 software updates, Apple on Monday seeded a sixth beta of OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (build number 15E61b) to members of the Apple Developer and Apple Beta Software program.

The new beta is available through the Updates tab in the Mac App Store on Macs with a prior El Capitan beta installed while a standalone installer will appear shortly on Apple's portal for developers.

Latest El Capitan beta has fixed Safari’s mishandling of shortened Twitter “t.co” links

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 10, 2016

An annoying issue pertaining to broken Twitter links, which has persisted in Safari for Mac since November 2015, has been fixed in the third beta of the forthcoming OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan software update, according to user reports on the Apple Support Communities forums.

The “Safari can’t open the page because the server where this page is located is not responding” error page no longer appears when clicking shortened “t.co” Twitter links with the secure HTTPS protocol in Safari and third-party apps like Tweetbot.

Apple’s Notes app in OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan can import files from Evernote

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 9, 2016

The forthcoming OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan software update, currently in testing, will bring out the ability to import Evernote content into the stock Notes application, Apple's Vice President of Marketing, Brian Croll, has confirmed in an interview with Japanese publication PC User, as relayed yesterday by the Japanese blog Mac Otakara.

Through a new Import Notes menu command, Mac owners will be able to import Evernote files into Notes, which in OS X 10.11.4 supports Evernote's proprietary .enex file format.

How to move Photos library to an external drive

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 1, 2018

In addition to moving your multi-gigabyte iTunes library to an external drive, a significant amount of Mac storage space can be freed up by moving your photo libraries onto a separate drive.

If you take a lot of pictures with a DSLR camera or your iOS devices and import them in Photos, you'll fairly quickly run out of free space on most Macs.

This tutorial will guide you through the process of moving an entire library of photos to an external drive, preferably to a much larger external hard drive, in a way that won't disrupt your photography workflow.

How to disable transparency effects on your Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 17, 2019

The release of OS X Yosemite in 2014 gave the Mac's user interface a fresh coat of paint in part through adopting much of the transparency effects that Apple added to iOS 7 in prior year.

Transparency is used throughout macOS and can be observed on the desktop and seen in drop-down menus, title bars, sidebars and toolbars.

This post will teach you how to disable transparency for all user interface elements that have a translucent appearance on your Mac.

About OS X System Integrity Protection aka ‘Rootless’ and how to disable it

Anthony Bouchard ∙ January 31, 2016

All Macs with OS X El Capitan installed on them have a new layer of security known as System Integrity Protection, which has been given the nickname 'Rootless' because it closes off a lot of system files to user access to prevent malicious programs and code from causing harmful changes to the core of OS X.

For some, the added security feels like a must for protection of your personal information, but for more advanced users who poke their noses into system files quite often, the feature can get in the way and prevent user modifications to the operating system. In this tutorial, we'll give you an overview of System Integrity Protection and show you a way to disable it.

Public beta testers: iOS 9.3 beta 2 and OS X 10.11.4 now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2016

Two days after seeding OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan beta 2 and iOS 9.3 beta 2 to members of the Apple Developer Program, public beta testers who are signed on the Apple Beta Software Program can now freely deploy these new beta builds on their Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

iOS 9.3 beta 2 is available as an over-the-air update in Settings → General → Software Update on enrolled devices. OS X 10.11.4 beta 2 can be downloaded through the Mac App Store's Purchased tab for those who are enrolled in Apple's beta testing program.

Apple seeds OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan beta 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2016

Following the public release of tvOS 9.1.1 for the new Apple TV with the Podcasts app earlier this morning, Apple today seeded a second beta of OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan to members of its Apple Developer Program alongside iOS 9.3 beta 2, watchOS 2.2 beta 2 and tvOS 9.2 beta 2.

A standalone 10.11.4 beta 2 download should be available shortly via the Apple Developer Center and can be grabbed now through the Purchased tab in the Mac App Store on Macs with a prior beta.

Apple seeds OS X 10.11.4 beta 1 to public testers

Cody Lee ∙ January 14, 2016

In addition to iOS 9.3, Apple also seeded the first beta of OS X 10.11.4 to public beta testers on Thursday. If you are a member of Apple's public testing program, or would like more information, you can find the latest releases and details here.

Today's releases follow developer seeds of iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4 on Monday. While 9.3 includes a number of major additions, the 10.11.4 features just a handful of changes, such as support for Live Photos in Messages and passwords in Notes.

Apple seeds OS X 10.11.3 El Capitan beta 2 to developers and public beta testers

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 6, 2016

Three weeks after releasing the first beta of OS X 10.11 El Capitan's third major software update, and 48 hours after seeding iOS 9.2.1 beta 2 to developers and public beta testers, Apple on Wednesday released a second beta of OS X 10.11.3 El Capitan.

It can be installed on machines running a prior beta through the Mac App Store's Updates tab and downloaded through Apple's portal for members of the Apple Developer Program.

The pre-release software is also available to public beta testers who signed up for Apple's Beta Software Program.