Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of macOS High Sierra to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the fourth public beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra update to public beta testers, two weeks after releasing the third public beta. The fourth public beta of macOS High Sierra is likely identical to the fifth developer beta, which was provided to developers earlier this week.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program are able to download the fourth macOS High Sierra beta through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store after the proper profile has been installed.

macos hs beta
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. For instructions on how to install the public beta, check out our how to, and make sure to make a backup before giving the software a try. Don't install the beta on a main machine, because betas are notoriously unstable.

The macOS High Sierra update is designed to improve and refine the existing macOS Sierra operating system. Along with a new, more efficient file system (APFS) designed for modern storage, the update introduces Metal 2, the next-generation version of Apple's Metal graphics API with support for machine learning, external GPUs, and VR content creation.


High Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC aka H.265) is coming in High Sierra, and many existing apps are being updated. Photos features a new persistent side view and editing tools for Curves, Selective Color, and Live Photos, for example, while Siri gains a more natural voice and support for more music-related commands.

Safari offers a new autoplay blocking feature for videos and Intelligent Tracking Prevention to protect your privacy, and Mail storage is being optimized to take up 35 percent less space. iMessages can now be stored in iCloud, plus there are new iCloud Drive file sharing options and new iCloud storage family plans.

For a full overview of the new features you can expect to see when macOS High Sierra is released in the fall, make sure to check out our macOS High Sierra roundup.

Related Forum: macOS High Sierra

Top Rated Comments

OperatorJ81 Avatar
87 months ago
I gave up on this Beta unfortunately. My MacBook (mid 2015 Retina Pro) basically got bricked by the 3rd beta. My MacBook refused to download or run anything, Box/Dropbox/Cloud sync service applications stopped working, and I wound up calling Apple. They couldn't even get my MacBook to properly screen share so I could show them anything. Tried restoring from Time Machine Backups and when it formatted my Hard Drive it formatted it into 4 strange partitions instead of 1 Mac OS journaled. Took me about a week to get everything back up. :(
I don't understand this. Why do people constantly install BETAS on their primary machines? If you NEED the machine to work, BETAS are not for you.

Orrrrrrr, do what I do. Install the BETA in a virtualized environment. I run High Sierra as a VM via VMWare Fusion on my 2017 MBP just fine. I test what I need/want without borking up my production system.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
87 months ago
I'm not seeing it under updates on the App Store for some reason?
Me neither
Try to reload the page in Appstore menu.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
torquer Avatar
87 months ago
You know what would be super helpful? If people would post in this thread (and every other beta version thread) saying they aren't installing the beta.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hustler1337 Avatar
87 months ago
Was just thinking of installing High Sierra on my 2011 MBP and getting a bit excited but after reading the comments it seems like a 4th beta isn't yet reliable enough. :(
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
87 months ago
My Mac was setup clean with macOS Sierra few weeks ago. I installed PB3 immediately after.

Updating to PB4 is a disaster, with fatal black screen of death with about 5% remaining. Rebooted and it seemingly recovered and finished updating.

I rebooted into single user mode to run fsck, which didn't find any issue.

Rebooted again and it tries to resume update, with "Completing Installation: About 2 minutes remaining." The update is seemingly complete 2 minutes later, but every subsequent update triggers this "completing installation" process.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
87 months ago
Can someone post the build number?
17A330h
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....