Apple Released macOS 10.13.4 Beta 2 to Developers

On this Tuesday Apple rolled out the second beta of the upcoming macOS 10.13.4 to developers. The new beta includes bug fixes, performance improvements and some new features. Mac developers can download the software update via the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

The betas of macOS 10.13.4 includes some new things like the Messages on iCloud and Business Chat, which are also available in the upcoming iOS 11.3. Messages on iCloud uploads user’s iMessages to the cloud so that the data can be synced between multiple devices logged in to the same iCloud account, and you can free up your device space by keeping photos and other message attachments in iCloud. Business Chat allows users to talk to a business’s service rep in iMessage, make payments via Apple Pay, and schedule appointments, depending on the business’s needs.

Users that are running macOS 10.13.4 on their devices will see a warning when they are trying to install or launch 32-bit apps. As the company previously announced that macOS High Sierra will be the last Mac operating system that supports the 32-bit apps, the older apps will be phased out on macOS in the near future like it did on iOS.

Starting from January 1th this year, all new apps submitted to Mac App Store are required to support 64-bit architecture, and those existing apps must be updated to 64-bit by the end of June. Now developers can utilize the new diagnostic tools in Xcode 9.3 beta to test if their apps are 64-bit compatible on macOS 10.13.4 beta.

Other little changes include the smoke cloud wallpaper that was previously only available on the iMac Pro, and the iBooks app is renamed as just “Books”.

Devices compatible with macOS 10.13.4:

• MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer)
• Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2010 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer)

What’s your most anticipated feature in the next generation of macOS?