OS X El Capitan

OS X 10.11 El Capitan software update is now available for your Mac, get downloading

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2024

Keeping true to its promise, Apple today launched the OS X 10.11 El Capitan software update for the Mac. El Capitan has the same system requirements as Yosemite, meaning it should run on any Mac introduced in 2009 and later, and some models introduced in 2007 and 2008.

The software update offers several new headline features while packing in a bunch of under-the-hood refinements designed to make your Mac run faster and more efficiently than before.

If you don't see the update in the Mac App Store's Updates tab yet, give it a while as these things take time to propagate through the Interwebs. By the way, you can manually run a search for 'El Capitan' in the Mac App Store and install it from there.

Apple seeds OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 beta 2 to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2015

Apple just seeded OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 beta 2 to developers. It follows up its release of OS X 10.11.1 beta 1 back on September 17. The timing for the new beta release is of interest, as Apple is planning on dropping the public version of the free OS X 10.11 El Capitan software update tomorrow.

How to prepare for OS X El Capitan

Jeff Benjamin ∙ September 29, 2015

Tomorrow, Apple is releasing its yearly update to its desktop operating system, OS X 10.11 El Capitan. It rightly caps off a long month of activity that started with Apple's media event, and from there featured the release of iOS 9, followed by the release of the iPad mini 4, two new iPhone's—the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, and culminates with tomorrow's launch.

It's been a busy month of announcements and releases for Apple, and it just feels right that Apple ends the month with an update to the platform that really started it all—the Mac. Tomorrow, likely around 10AM PST, Apple will release OS X El Capitan. It's the follow up to OS X Yosemite, and as its name suggests, it shares a lot in common with that release.

What should you do to prepare for the release? Follow our simple guide for more info.

OS X 10.11 El Capitan software update launching tomorrow on Mac App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2024

OS X 10.11 El Capitan is launching tomorrow and Apple just issued a reminder in the form of a media release alerting customers of the impending update.

“Apple today announced that OS X El Capitan, the latest major release of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, will be available on Wednesday, September 30 as a free update for Mac users,” reads the press release.

Will you be taking the plunge?

Apple seeds first OS X 10.11.1 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ September 17, 2015

Apple on Thursday seeded the first beta of OS X 10.11.1 to developers. The new build is available to registered developers via the Updates section of the Mac App Store or through Apple’s Developer Center.

The update, labeled build 15B17c, comes two weeks before the release of OS X El Capitan to the public. It's similar to the approach we've seen on iOS, where the first iOS 9.1 beta arrived ahead of the iOS 9 launch.

Apple is now asking developers to submit app updates for iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and watchOS 2

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 12, 2018

After the successful launch of the OS X El Capitan, watchOS 2, and the iOS 9 GM seeds, Apple is now requesting that developers submit their app updates to take advantage of the new features present in its latest OS updates. You can read Apple's bulletin via the Developer Center.

How to create a USB install disk for OS X El Capitan the right way

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Now that the final GM version of OS X El Capitan is released, it's time to revisit how to create a USB install disk. Chances are high this GM seed will be the same version of OS X that ships later this month on September 30th.

Not only is the OS X 10.11 GM available to registered Apple developers, but it's also available via Apple's public beta program. With this in mind, you may now deem it the appropriate time to take the plunge, if you already haven't thus far.

In this post, we'll show you how incredibly simple it is to create an OS X El Capitan USB install disk from scratch. All you need is a USB disk with at least 8GB of storage space.

OS X El Capitan Golden Master released to developers and public beta testers

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has seeded the golden master version of the latest update to its desktop operating system, OS X 10.11 El Capitan. The update, which comes with a build number of 15A282b, is now available on Apple's Developer Center for registered developers. It is also available for public beta testers via Apple's beta website.

Like the iOS 9 GM seed, which also was released today, this will likely be the final version of the OS X 10.11 beta before it is released to the public.

Apple seeds OS X El Capitan beta 8 to developers, beta 6 to public testers

Cody Lee ∙ August 31, 2015

Apple on Monday released the eighth OS X El Capitan beta to developers. The new build is available to registered developers via the Updates section of the Mac App Store or through Apple’s Developer Center.

There's also a new build available to those participating in Apple's pubic testing program. It's beta 6, though it's likely identical to today's dev release, and you can either find it in the Mac App Store or click here.

Apple sends out invites for September 9th event: ‘Hey Siri, give us a hint’

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

As expected, Apple has sent out invitations to for its iPhone event to be held on Wednesday, September 9th, 2015. The event will go down at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Fransisco, CA starting at 10am PST.

It's widely expected that the main topic of the event will be the new iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. We also expect to see follow-up details on iOS 9 along with its launch date, along with information on OS X El Capitan.

OS X El Capitan Recovery Update now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Apple on Friday seeded a small update to OS X's Recovery feature to users running a pre-release version of OS X 10.11 El Capitan. The OS X El Capitan Recovery Update includes improvements to the operating system's Recovery partition. Like in prior OS X editions, this feature can be invoked at boot time by pressing the Command - R combo.

Apple seeds OS X El Capitan beta 7 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ August 19, 2015

Apple on Wednesday released the seventh OS X El Capitan beta to developers. The new build is available to registered developers via the Updates section of the Mac App Store or through Apple’s Developer Center.

Today’s update comes just over two weeks after Apple pushed out the sixth beta of OS X El Capitan, and well over two months after its initial release in early June during Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference.