hoakley Macs, Technology, Updates

Apple has released Ventura, and security updates to Monterey and Big Sur

Apple has just released macOS 13 Ventura, together with security updates to Monterey and Big Sur.

If you’re intending to upgrade to Ventura, this is being performed as an update rather than a full install, so for an Apple silicon Mac already running Monterey 12.6 should only be around 6.37 GB in size. This should work for all Macs running macOS 12.3 and later, although download sizes will vary. The build number is the same as that of the last beta-release, RC2, at 22A380.

A list of security fixes for Ventura is here. As there are around 66 in all, I won’t attempt to summarise them.

Monterey 12.6.1 contains security updates, as does Big Sur 11.7.1. Release notes for Monterey are here, and for Big Sur are here. In case you’re wondering how they compare against Ventura’s 66 fixes, 12.6.1 has three, and 11.7.1 has just the three as well.

Apple has also released Safari 16.1 for Monterey and Big Sur; Ventura 13.0 already includes that.

After installing any of these three macOS updates, your Mac’s firmware is likely to be updated. I won’t change those referred to by SilentKnight or LockRattler yet, as it will take a week or so before everyone has updated in their chosen way. However, these are the latest firmware versions:

  • Apple silicon Macs should show iBoot as 8419.41.10
  • Intel Macs with T2 chips should report 1916.40.8.0.0 (iBridge: 20.16.411.0.0,0).

There has been no change in Studio Display firmware, which remains at 15.5 (build 19F80).

The Ventura upgrade also does the following:

  • removes MRT altogether;
  • downgrades XPR to 62;
  • as a result of downgrading XPR, you may see yellow triangle warnings for its scans. That’s normal with XPR 62, and once it has been updated again they will go away.

If you don’t have automatic updates enabled, you’ll need to use SilentKnight to restore MRT and XPR to their former glory.

For sysadmins in particular, important information about how Ventura’s update mechanism has changed, please see this article by Tom Bridge.

For upgraders, I wish you a smooth installation!

Last updated 1950 GMT 24 October 2022.