hoakley July 21, 2021 Macs, Technology, Updates

Apple has now released Big Sur 11.5 update, and SUs for 10.14 and 10.15

Apple has just released the 11.5 update to macOS Big Sur. It’s of modest size, weighing in at around 3.8 GB for M1 Macs, and probably up to 3.4 GB for Intel models. After last night’s fiasco, I have confirmed with others that this is available to be public, although it appears identical and has the same build number as that available to some users last night.

Apple has improved Podcasts Library with a tab to show all shows or only those followed, and has fixed a bug in which Music didn’t update play count and last played date properly, and enabled Smart cards to work fully when logging in to M1 Macs. Full security release notes are available here.

Last night, Apple released Safari 14.1.2 for Mojave and Catalina, which addresses the security issues listed here. Tonight, Apple has released Catalina Security Update 2021-004, with fixes detailed here, and Mojave Security Update 2021-005, with fixes detailed here.

A detailed account of most of the significant changes in 11.5 is in this article.

Many models have firmware updates: those known so far are:

T2 Macs go to 1554.140.20.0.0 (iBridge: 18.16.14759.0.1,0)
M1 Macs go to 6723.140.2.

These have now been updated in the database for SilentKnight, and in the firmware listings article here. I won’t be able to update those for non-T2 Intel Macs until we’ve obtained a standalone installer for the Catalina Security Update, but once I have that I’ll complete updating the remainder.

I will update this with further details as they emerge.

Last updated 2030 UTC 21 July 2021.

24Comments

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1

Adam on July 21, 2021 at 5:43 pm

Any idea why the Intel updates are smaller than the ARM updates?

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- 2
  
  hoakley on July 21, 2021 at 8:46 pm
  
  They always have been: M1 Macs have to download about 900 MB direct from Apple with every update. I think it’s ‘personalised’ for that Mac.
  Howard.
  
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3

zygoat on July 21, 2021 at 6:43 pm

3.8 GB for a Podcasts update is a “modest size”?! Sarcasm of the decade.

In any case, I look forward to your forthcoming analysis as always, hoping that there is indeed more of substantial value in this gargantuan patch.

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- 4
  
  hoakley on July 21, 2021 at 8:47 pm
  
  Thank you. I didn’t intend any sarcasm – compared to previous Big Sur updates and noting the extent of the changes, this is quite modest in size!
  Howard.
  
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5

Pete on July 21, 2021 at 7:20 pm

looks like BootROM and BridgeOS updates as well

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- 6
  
  hoakley on July 21, 2021 at 8:48 pm
  
  Thank you – yes, I’ve already posted the T2 and M1 version numbers. It takes longer to extract the older Intel versions, but they’ll follow in due course.
  Howard.
  
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7

markbot2zero on July 22, 2021 at 2:21 pm

Dear Sir Howard,

I just applied the Security Update to Catalina and, as expected, it knocked the MRT version back from one-point-eight something to one-point-six something.

But, no problem. As always I simply ran SilentKnight to set things straignt — and as always said a silent “thank you.”

-Mark

P.S. Because you’re the Knight, right? 😉

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- 8
  
  hoakley on July 22, 2021 at 7:59 pm
  
  Thank you! It’s actually a pun on ‘silent night’, as that was when all those security updates were supposed to arrive.
  That’s disappointing with the SU: after my moaning, Apple got those up to date in the Big Sur update, which is the first time in quite a long while.
  Howard.
  
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9

Apple Releases iPadOS 14.7 and macOS 11.5 with Security Notes for Recent OS Updates - TidBITS on July 22, 2021 at 7:32 pm

[…] can install the 2.93 GB (reportedly 3.8 GB on M1-based Macs) update in System Preferences > Software […]

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10

markbot2zero on July 22, 2021 at 9:31 pm

Ah, time for another eclectic (aka “Liberal Arts”) moment:

After having sung “Silent Night” for decades upon decades, I just last Christmas found out that the German (Austrian) version, “Stille Nacht,” was the original, dating from 1818, and the English version derived from that, some 40 years later. I’d always assumed it was the other way around.

A timeless collaboration, in waltz (3/4) time, with words by Father Joseph Mohr, melody by Franz Xaver Gruber:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night

English words written in 1859 by an American, the Episcopal (Anglican) priest John Freeman Young of the famous Trinity Parish in New York City. Trinity Church is itself an island “midst Mammon,” located on prime real estate in the financial district, at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway.

-Mark

P.S. Kudos to Apple for getting the Big Sur update “clean” with respect to MRT. From such tiny acorns do mighty oaks grow…

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- 11
  
  zygoat on July 22, 2021 at 9:35 pm
  
  “mighty oaks”… are you bringing the pun back around with an allusion to Howard’s name? 😉
  
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- 12
  
  hoakley on July 22, 2021 at 10:07 pm
  
  Thank you. I fear the oaks aren’t mighty, just mighty persistent.
  Howard.
  
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- 13
  
  Neil M on July 23, 2021 at 4:13 pm
  
  When I was a child in England it was quite common to sing the original German language “Stille Nacht,” even by carolers who didn’t speak that language. I think it may only be in the Americas that the connection has been lost?
  
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  - 14
    
    hoakley on July 23, 2021 at 7:35 pm
    
    Thank you – I agree, and I still think it’s quite common as a choral piece. There’s something about the original words, even if you don’t understand them.
    Howard.
    
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    - 15
      
      markbot2zero on July 23, 2021 at 9:06 pm
      
      We in the States only sing “Silent Night,” never “Stille Nacht,” and there are countless recordings over the years. I would guess that most of us think the English version is the original.
      
      On a poignant note, legend has it that “Stille Nacht,” sung by German soldiers on the front line at Christmastime in 1914, led to “fraternization,” with Tommies emerging from their freezing trenches to mingle with their enemy counterparts in No Man’s Land:
      
      https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/25/370381693/a-century-ago-when-the-guns-fell-silent-on-christmas
      
      Fraternization was made verboten by both sides thereafter, probably on pain of death.
      
      Commemorating that moment, “Christmas In The Trenches,” a ballad by John McCutcheon:
      
      -Mark
      
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    - 16
      
      hoakley on July 24, 2021 at 6:14 am
      
      Thank you, Mark.
      Howard.
      
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17

markbot2zero on July 22, 2021 at 10:21 pm

Haha, zygoat, good catch. Inadvertent pun, Freudian blip — but how wood I know? -Mark

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18

Justin McMurtry on July 23, 2021 at 4:40 pm

Howard, I just installed “Catalina Security Update 2021-004” on my 2012 Mac mini (Macmini6,2), and afterward, SilentKnight reports: “EFI version found 422.0.0.0.0; expected 421.0.0.0.0”. The new build number of Catalina is “19H1323”. Thanks.

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- 19
  
  hoakley on July 23, 2021 at 4:43 pm
  
  Thank you. I’m waiting for the standalone update to be released so I can update the firmware database used by the app.
  Howard
  
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20

markbot2zero on July 23, 2021 at 6:50 pm

Hi Howard,

A quick note after updating a second Catalina Mac with the Security Update:

The MRT version number dropped back to 1.62, and SilentKnight initially reported (in the text box) “MRT not found”

Clicked the “Check” button again and all was well, back to 1.81.

And my results were just as Justin McMurtry reported above: “EFI version found 422.0.0.0.0; expected 421.0.0.0.0” and the Build is also 19H1323.

Justin’s post made me realize that SilentKnight displays the Build number right up in the the title bar. Here I was mucking around in “System Information” looking for it.

Reminds me of an aphorism by Lawrence Peter (“Yogi”) Berra (1925-2015), American baseball player and inadvertent Zen master:

“You can observe a lot just by looking.”

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra

Some other famous Berra quotes:

“It gets late early out there.”

“Nobody goes there anymore — it’s too crowded.”

“If you come to a fork in the road — take it.”

* * *

Thank you again for SilentKnight — and everything else too.

-Mark

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- 21
  
  hoakley on July 23, 2021 at 7:36 pm
  
  Thank you. Marvellous quotes.
  Howard.
  
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22

Dave Axler on July 24, 2021 at 3:37 am

Since I’m still running Mojave on a Late 2013 Mac Pro, I thought you’d like to note results after installing the 2021-05 Security Update.

The key change is that the EFI Firmware has been updated to MP61.88Z.F000.B00.2106101804 (Boot ROM Version: 428.140.7.0.0). Previously, the Boot ROM version was 428.0.0.0.0

The OS Version remains at 10.14.6, but the new build number is 18G9323
XProtect, Gatekeeper, MRT, TCC, and KEXT values all match those you’ve reported.

Regards,
Dave

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- 23
  
  hoakley on July 24, 2021 at 6:13 am
  
  Thank you. I will catch up with the pre-T2 firmware once Apple makes that possible.
  Howard.
  
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24

Michael Tsai - Blog - macOS 11.5 on September 8, 2021 at 3:53 pm

[…] Howard Oakley […]

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