Apple Releasing macOS Big Sur on November 12

Tuesday November 10, 2020 10:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple today announced that macOS Big Sur will be released on Thursday, November 12. The news came out of Apple's "One More Thing" event, where it revealed new Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models with the M1 chip.

macos big sur roundup header
macOS Big Sur was previously revealed at WWDC in June, and will feature an overhauled look with what Apple is calling the biggest design update to macOS since the introduction of Mac OS X. This includes overhauling the curvature of window corners and dock icon designs.

While subtle, the changes should have a fresh feel in comparison to the current macOS. Other changes include lighter windows with additional translucency, a more translucent dock, app icons with a new uniform squircle shape, redone system sounds, and more.

There's a refreshed menu bar with access to a customizable Control Center that includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirDrop controls, keyboard brightness, Do Not Disturb, Dark Mode, sound level, and more. Likewise, Notification Center is redesigned with more interactive notifications grouped by app and iOS-style widgets with customizations in three different sizes.

Many of the first-party Apple apps have seen improvements and overhauls as well. Safari is faster and more battery efficient; Messages now support effects, @mentions, inline replies, and more; Maps supports Look Around, indoor maps, and Guides; Photos has expanded editing features; and Apple Music includes a new Listen Now section.

There are many more additions coming to macOS Big Sur on November 12, so be sure to read our full roundup if you're interested. For more coverage on today's event, check out our posts on the new Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro.

Tag: November 2020 Event

Related Forum: macOS Big Sur

Popular Stories

More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try

Friday November 6, 2026 3:27 pm PST by Juli Clover

When the iPhone Duo launched, we shared a list of some of the fun apps developers created for the new form factor. Two weeks out, developers are continuing to come up with fresh ideas, so we thought we'd share some of our favorites. Games Marbles Unhinged ($2.99) - Marbles Unhinged is a marble maze designed for the Duo. When you fold it, the floor turns into a ramp. If you stand the top...

• 65 comments

Apple Launching Five New Products Today

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:59 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple is launching five new products on Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models. The following new products will be available from today: iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip iMac with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen 16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...

• 27 comments

Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28

Sunday November 8, 2026 7:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple has made a change to its development process for iOS 28, macOS 28, and corresponding software updates, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, he said Apple separates development of each year's new operating systems into three major stages. Typically, he said each stage consists of four weeks of coding followed by a four-week "convergence" period where...

• 116 comments

Top Rated Comments

Silverstring

78 months ago

When your "evolutionary" OS is the most exciting thing launched today eclipsing some huge performance boosts on hardware ... you know there's something wrong with the marketing department.

Yeah the performance boosts of the new hardware are great - but the hardware looks EXACTLY the same as it has for YEARS. What on EARTH is going on in the industrial design department?

You put the chips in ASAP to existing designs to kickstart the transition.

There’s also the minor side benefit of “easing” a big change into comfortable, familiar hardware to reassure buyers who might not want too much change all at once.

(I also wonder if there’s less supply chain waste/learning curve by using very similar outer shells?)

THEN, you design whole new systems from the ground up around the chip as a step 2.

It’s exactly what they did putting the first intel chips into the existing iMac bodies.

I want new designs as much as anyone as a consumer, but this makes business sense, and I’d do the same thing if I was CEO.

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

thejadedmonkey

78 months ago

When your "evolutionary" OS is the most exciting thing launched today eclipsing some huge performance boosts on hardware ... you know there's something wrong with the marketing department.

Yeah the performance boosts of the new hardware are great - but the hardware looks EXACTLY the same as it has for YEARS. What on EARTH is going on in the industrial design department?

The idea is that you can't tell if a mac is Intel or ARM. They don't want anyone to be able to tell the difference. You have a mac that looks like X and it will run Y, no matter what's inside of it. That's the point. And Apple usually delivers on it.

Give it a year or two and I bet that you'll see a new design. Depending on lead times, you might even see one for the iMac or ~~Macbook Pro~~ PowerBook (since it's a RISC chip again!).

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

DaveMcM76

78 months ago

Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Candidate 2 is out and downloading here in the uk...

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

mypyh4ooo

78 months ago

Finally. It cannot be worse than this Crappalina crap I needed due to Catalyst support. Hopefully it finally fixes the Bluetooth issues (the PB3 did, hadn't tried BS since then).

Crappalina!!! I can’t cope 😂😂😂

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

bluecoast

78 months ago

I know it would be a very bad idea to install on my only Mac, the very first version of a release that brings massive changes to macOS - especially after the mess that was Catalina.

I know that I should wait for 11.2.

But come this Thursday, I won't be able to resist.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

zorinlynx

78 months ago

The idea is that you can't tell if a mac is Intel or ARM. They don't want anyone to be able to tell the difference. You have a mac that looks like X and it will run Y, no matter what's inside of it. That's the point. And Apple usually delivers on it.

Give it a year or two and I bet that you'll see a new design. Depending on lead times, you might even see one for the iMac or ~~Macbook Pro~~ PowerBook (since it's a RISC chip again!).

Not only that, but two more things:

- It's a very good design. I can't really think of any flaws with the current designs, or any real ways to improve them without it being "change for change's sake". Many years of product evolution got us here.
- When Apple switched to Intel, they had to get the word "Power" out of product names since they no longer used PowerPC. And they did, but if you recall, the Macbook Pro design didn't change that much from the PowerMac G4 that preceded it. They added a webcam but that was about it. Same deal with the iMac; visually they looked the same, and the PowerMac G5 -> Mac Pro look also didn't change much (same cheese grater, just an additional optical drive).

So there's plenty of precedent for this.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Read All Comments

Apple Releasing macOS Big Sur on November 12

Popular Stories

More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try

Apple Launching Five New Products Today

Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28

Top Rated Comments

Next Article

Videos

Guides

Upcoming

Other Stories