macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 RC 2 launches ahead of the initial Big Sur public release tomorrow

Following yesterday’s Apple Silicon Macs special event, Apple has now released the second Release Candidate of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 to its registered developers. The update will most likely come pre-installed on the new M1-powered Mac computers. Apple has also confirmed that the macOS 11.0 Big Sur software will release publicly Thursday, November 12.

The new Big Sur build came one week after the first Release Candidate was released.

Registered developers with the macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur Release Candidate 1 installed on their system can update to Release Candidate 2 via System Preferences → Software Update.

Aside from a revamped user interface, a new iOS-style Control Center feature, the Notification Center with redesigned widgets, an overhauled Messages app rebuilt from the ground up, Safari and Maps improvements and a bunch of other perks, macOS Big Sur is required to support the Apple Silicon Mac models the company unveiled yesterday.

Ahead of tomorrow’s Big Sur launch, Apple invited developers to submit their Mac app updates with Big Sur compatibility. Universal binaries with both Intel and Apple Silicon code are now accepted in the Mac App Store as well.