hoakley Macs, Technology, Updates

Apple has released Catalina 10.15.5 update, and security updates for Mojave and High Sierra

Apple has just released macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update and Security Updates 2020-003 for Mojave and High Sierra. These are expected to bring firmware updates for many models, which hopefully address problems when waking from sleep.

The 10.15.5 update is around 3.3 GB in size. Among the fixes which it includes are:

  • adds an option to control prominence on Group FaceTime calls;
  • calibration fine-tuning on the Pro Display XDR;
  • improves notifications for recurring reminders;
  • fixes a bug entering passwords on the login screen;
  • fixes problems detecting built-in cameras;
  • fixes a bug where external speakers might not appear as sound output devices;
  • fixes stability when updating with iCloud Photo Library while asleep;
  • fixes the bug in APFS which prevented the transfer of very large amounts of data to RAID volumes, particularly in SoftRAID.

It introduces battery health management for most models of laptop, as detailed here.

Full details are here, with security fixes due to be detailed here shortly.

Standalone updaters are now available as follows:

Note that the two security updates change the behaviour of the Software Update pane, as detailed here by Jeff Johnson.

Update sequence on an iMac Pro (with T2), with boot chime enabled:
00 min main download complete, supplementary download for 2 min
02 min click on Restart, to black screen with Apple and progress bar
03 min black screen with backlight, then dead screen with Thunderbolt off
followed by progress bar, then dead screen again, with Thunderbolt powered up
04 min chime, followed by black with Apple and progress bar, very slow
08 min with 43 min remaining on progress bar started falling more quickly, fans on, became very slow around 13 min to go
12 min estimating time remaining, then 13 min remaining, then falling very slowly to 9 min
16 min chime to dead screen, followed by another chime to black screen with Apple and progress bar, extremely slow
22 min progress bar shows 10 min remaining, then slow progress
32 min displayed Finder, update complete.

Periods of ‘dead’ screen (black, no backlight, no signs of life) were very brief this time.

I have now updated my online firmware database for all models except the current iMac, and the articles here which list firmware versions. Although SilentKnight and LockRattler indicate that MRT has been updated, it remains at version 1.60, and I currently can’t see any other updates available.

Updated 1255 UTC 27 May 2020.