back to article MacOS 'Catalina' 10.15 comes packed with exclusive security fixes – gee, thanks, Apple

Apple has taken the opportunity of its official macOS Catalina release on Monday to close more than a dozen security holes in the desktop operating system. The macOS 10.15 update, out today, includes fixes for a total of 16 CVE-listed security vulnerabilities in various components. These particular patches, it should be noted …

  1. Mayday
    Gimp

    Cheers

    I'll wait for 10.15.1.

    1. macjules
      Gimp

      Re: Cheers

      Wouldn't even bother with that. There actually isn't anything.in this OS update that improves or changes the performance of the OS apart from the CVE fixes. There just seems to be 3 separate apps for what was once called iTunes but is now known as Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts. Oh, and it allows you to extend your 27" iMac screen onto your iPad, just in case you can't buy another screen for less than a £1000 iPad.

      The question has to be: Will the fanbois still love it even after they realise is isn't actually an improvement and there isn't really anything else new on it? Silly question, of course they will.

  2. sbt
    Devil

    That's not very typical, I'd like to make that point.

    Apple are usually better at delivering fixes for their supported OS versions at the same time where there's a reasonable risk of exploit from disclosure.

    Going to be a bit awkward for this 2011 unit limited to High Sierra.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: That's not very typical, I'd like to make that point.

      Seems like par for the course to me. Apple has routinely only offered fixes in new versions, though this has usually been bug fixes and not security exploits. Catalina breaks a lot (if you're not 64-bit you're not coming in) and doesn't offer much for anyone who doesn't use IOS. I normally wait until January but am planning to skip this one entirely.

  3. Grifter

    An app or two? Is that what we're calling steam now? Goodbye games.

    1. Dana W

      I noticed all my Steam games are 32 bit.......

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Well there's this:

      How to update your Steam install to 64-bit before macOS Catalina

      So at least the client will work.

  4. Dana W

    I've always happily updated in the past. But I feel like I'm being pushed into this. Apple breaking my iCloud till I update is just fuel on the fire.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    glad I don't iAnything

    this update will be the one that pushes me to install Linux on my iMac Pro and run the MacOS as a guest VM.

    everything I develop runs on Linux servers but I like code text editing on the mac, and debugging web apps too.

    I have my legit CS6 that won't run on 10.15 and a lot of other nice stuff, so this might be where i get off the apple upgrade train...

    I don't use iCloud or iPhones, and the version of iTunes I use is already in a 10.6 VM so I can record MP3 streams off the internet more easily.

    generalissimo steven p jobs is still dead.

  6. razorfishsl

    Problem is..... that 10.14~whatever ... TOTALLY DESTROYS support for your Nvidia GPU that you paid for,,,,,,,,,,,

  7. TRT Silver badge

    Catalina beta was a stinking pile. It has got better.

  8. sorry, what?
    Headmaster

    Did MacOS just become a web server...?

    Could have sworn Catalina was a name for Jakata Tomcat...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Still waiting on some updates for my G5 too...

  10. This post has been deleted by its author

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple's advert for Catalina/Sidecar on their website is potentially misleading.

    Catalina adverts on Apple's website are potentially misleading, possibly breaking Advertising Standards, the small print 5) (click the number to get small print), states all that is required for Sidecar (using your iPad 6th/7th + Pro models) is an iPad with pencil support, but what it doesn't say (found elsewhere) is that it's only certain models of mac that will run Catalina, also support Sidecar. (i.e. a subset of Catalina capable macs)

    The thing that raises an eyebrow here is that the somewhat averagely spec'd Intel MacBook Air 2018 and the Macbook 2016* (with integrated graphics) supports Sidecar, so it seems, Apple are making strategic marketing choices rather than it being a performance-related reason for being excluded.

    Also, the cheapest 9.7'' 6th Gen iPad can be paired, the latest 2019 5th iPad mini can't.

    The days when Apple computers 'just worked' (without hidden quirks) are long gone, using/supporting this crud is a real headache.

    See the support page for more into:

    https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210380

    * Macbook 2016 - 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core m3 processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.2GHz) with 4MB L3 cache

    1. David Shaw

      Re: Apple's advert for Catalina/Sidecar on their website is potentially misleading.

      good finds!

      I personally have stuck at High Sierra as Mojave was so buggy (buggy as in a full 30 days of repeated repair effort required to get a retina MacBook pro to boot reliably with Moja)

      I did get my 2012 Mac Pro running Mojave for a test (theoretically impossible to due 1GB GPU)

      I booted from a fast 256GB SSD on USB2, Mojave worked fairly well for this short test, with some missing graphics elements. It ran fast, so must have cached something on my system SSD or a ramdisk.

      i wonder if I can boot my 2012 beast (10TB HDD, 12G RAM) with Catalina over USB2, a hidden quirk that Apple seem not to have blocked yet

  12. ColonelClaw

    Go64

    I found a very handy free app (donationware) that scans for 32-bit apps on your mac, grab it here:

    https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/index.html

    It's by a long-time developer, so is likely to be trustworthy.

    1. Tessier-Ashpool

      Re: Go64

      You don't need that,

      Before you upgrade:

      1. Apple Icon | About this Mac

      2. System Report

      3. Software / Applications

      Your apps will be listed and a column is shown indicating whether each app is 32 or 64 bit. Order on the column heading to see 32-bit apps more clearly.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Go64

        As the website says...

        However, once they've been identified, looking them up and locating the developers' contact information can be a painstaking process if you've got more than a few. In addition, the System Report doesn't account for apps that are themselves 64-bt, but that contain 32-bit plugins, frameworks or services. These apps may or may not run correctly on macOS 10.15. That's why we made Go64!

  13. Kerisun

    How is it?

  14. Triumphantape

    An app or 2?

    The majority of the apps I installed on a new iMac (Mojave) produced a pop up warning me they wouldn't be compatible with Catalina.

    1. Dana W

      Re: An app or 2?

      Seriously? I think I had three.

  15. Triumphantape

    Catalina is what happens when millennials are in charge.

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