Updated and republished for macOS 11.2.3; skip it unless you really really care about all the macOS releases. Originally published on November 14th, 2005.
Apple, Mac, iPhone News and Rumors. Intel appears to be having a difficult time with Apple's transition. Last week, the company launched an anti-M1 Mac ad campaign starring Justin Long, and now. As you can see from the list above, with the exception of the first OS X beta, all versions of the Mac operating system from 2001 to 2012 were all named after big cats, from Cheetah to Panther to.
Below the break is a table showing all major releases of macOS (previously Mac OS X) from the public beta through the latest public version, which is 11.2.3, as of March 8th, 2021—the 147th release in total.
Note: Click the ⓘ symbol to read Apple's release notes for a given update.
List Of Macos Updates
The following was culled from Apple's support downloads page, and as such, some of the dates may be off just a bit. If you know for certain that something is incorrect, please let me know and I'll get it fixed. (Scroll to see all entries.)
Date | Version | Comments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Mar 8 | 11 | 11.2.3 | 2.44 GB | ⓘ |
| Feb 25 | 16 | 11.2.2 | 2.17 GB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 9 | 8 | 11.2.1 | 2.43 GB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 1 | 49 | 11.2 | 3.25 GB | ⓘ | |
| 2020 | Dec 14 | 25 | 11.1 | 3.27 GB | ⓘ |
| Nov 19 | 7 | 11.0.1 | 2.81 GB | ⓘ First general release of Big Sur | |
| Nov 12 | 7 | 11.0 | 12.18 GB | ⓘBig Sur - 11.0 only shipped on M1 Macs | |
| Nov 5 | 43 | 10.15.7 SU1 | 1.21 GB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 23 | 42 | 10.15.7 | 2.86 GB | ⓘ | |
| Aug 12 | 28 | 10.15.6 SU1 | 3.22GB GB | ⓘ | |
| Jul 15 | 44 | 10.15.6 | 3.35 GB | ⓘ | |
| Jun 1 | 6 | 10.15.5 SU1 | 1.59 GB | ⓘ | |
| May 26 | 48 | 10.15.5 | 3.37 GB | ⓘ | |
| May 21 | -- | 10.14.6 SU4 | 151 MB | Fixes a launch issue for certain 32-bit apps | |
| Apr 8 | 15 | 10.15.4 SU1 | 1.38 GB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 24 | 56 | 10.15.4 | 3.0 GB | ⓘ | |
| Jan 28 | 49 | 10.15.3 | 3.0 GB | ⓘ | |
| 2019 | Dec 10 | 42 | 10.15.2 | 3.0 GB | ⓘ |
| Oct 29 | 14 | 10.15.1 | 4.5 GB | ⓘ | |
| Oct 15 | 8 | 10.15 SU1 | 985 MB | No info page | |
| Oct 7 | 11 | 10.15 | 4.9 GB | ⓘCatalina - You need more permission! | |
| Sep 26 | 31 | 10.14.6 SU3 | 1.32 GB | ⓘ | |
| Aug 26 | 25 | 10.14.6 SU2 | 1.25 GB | ⓘ | |
| Aug 1 | 10 | 10.14.6 SU1 | 949 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jul 22 | 70 | 10.14.6 | 2.7 GB | ⓘ | |
| May 13 | 49 | 10.14.5 | 2.5 GB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 25 | 62 | 10.14.4 | 2.8 GB | ⓘ | |
| Jan 22 | 48 | 10.14.3 | 2.0 GB | ⓘ | |
| 2018 | Dec 5 | 28 | 10.14.2 | 2.5 GB | ⓘ |
| Nov 7 | 8 | 10.14.1 SU1 | 1.3 GB | ⓘ For 2018 MacBook Air | |
| Oct 30 | 36 | 10.14.1 | 3.3 GB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 24 | 27 | 10.14 | 5.2 GB | ⓘ Mojave - You need permission! | |
| Aug 28 | 38 | 10.13.6 SU2 | 1.32 GB | ⓘ For 2018 Touch Bar MBP…again | |
| Jul 24 | 15 | 10.13.6 SU1 | 1.31 GB | ⓘ For 2018 Touch Bar MBP | |
| Jul 9 | 38 | 10.13.6 | 1.32 GB | ⓘ AirPlay 2 | |
| Jun 1 | 64 | 10.13.5 | 2.12 GB | ⓘ Messages in iCloud | |
| Mar 29 | 37 | 10.13.4 | 2.36 GB | ⓘ Sortable Safari bookmarks!! | |
| Feb 20 | 28 | 10.13.3 SU | 40.4 MB | ⓘ Indian character/Messages crash fix | |
| Jan 23 | 33 | 10.13.3 | 1.97 GB | ⓘ | |
| Jan 8 | 33 | 10.13.2 SU | 633.6 MB | ⓘ Spectre and Meltdown fixes | |
| 2017 | Dec 6 | 36 | 10.13.2 | 2.08 GB | ⓘ |
| Oct 31 | 26 | 10.13.1 | 1.47 GB | ⓘ | |
| Oct 5 | 10 | 10.13 SU | 915 MB | ⓘ Addresses two security issues | |
| Sep 25 | 68 | 10.13 | 4.8 GB | ⓘ High Sierra - Higher in the mountains? | |
| Jul 19 | 65 | 10.12.6 | 1.98 GB | ⓘ | |
| May 15 | 49 | 10.12.5 | 1.57 GB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 27 | 63 | 10.12.4 | 1.56 GB | ⓘ Night Shift | |
| Jan 23 | 41 | 10.12.3 | 1.05 GB | ⓘ | |
| 2016 | Dec 13 | 50 | 10.12.2 | 1.94 GB | ⓘ |
| Oct 24 | 34 | 10.12.1 | 1.36 GB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 20 | 64 | 10.12 | 4.77 GB | ⓘ Sierra - Still in the mountains. | |
| Jul 18 | 63 | 10.11.6 | 759 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 16 | 57 | 10.11.5 | 759 MB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 20 | 61 | 10.11.4 | 1.58 GB | ⓘ | |
| Jan 19 | 41 | 10.11.3 | 662 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2015 | Dec 9 | 49 | 10.11.2 | 1.4 GB | ⓘ |
| Oct 21 | 21 | 10.11.1 | 1.19 GB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 30 | 48 | 10.11 | 6.08 GB | ⓘ El Capitan - Go climb something! | |
| Aug 13 | 44 | 10.10.5 | 1.02 GB | ⓘ | |
| Jun 30 | 75 | 10.10.4 | 1.09 GB | ⓘ | |
| Apr 16 | 8 | 10.10.3 SU | 1.8 MB | ⓘ Supplemental Update | |
| Apr 8 | 71 | 10.10.3 | 1.52 GB | ⓘ Includes Photos app | |
| Jan 27 | 71 | 10.10.2 | 544 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2014 | Nov 17 | 32 | 10.10.1 | 311 MB | ⓘ |
| Oct 16 | 29 | 10.10 | 5.2 GB | ⓘ Yosemite - No surfers here. | |
| Sep 17 | 79 | 10.9.5 | 139 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jun 30 | 46 | 10.9.4 | 283 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 15 | 79 | 10.9.3 | 461 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 25 | 71 | 10.9.2 | 460 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2013 | Dec 16 | 55 | 10.9.1 | 243.4 MB | ⓘ |
| Oct 22 | 19 | 10.9 | 5.3 GB | ⓘ Mavericks - All out of big cats! | |
| Oct 3 | 21 | 10.8.5 SU | 19.6 MB | ⓘ Supplemental Update | |
| Sep 12 | 100 | 10.8.5 | 273.7 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jun 4 | 82 | 10.8.4 | 152.0 MB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 14 | 161 | 10.8.3 | 249.0 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2012 | Oct 4 | 15 | 10.8.2 SU | 26.7 MB | ⓘ Supplemental Update |
| Sep 19 | 27 | 10.8.2 | 665.5 MB | ⓘ | |
| Aug 23 | 29 | 10.8.1 | 24.2 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jul 25 | 77 | 10.8 | 4.1 GB | ⓘ Mountain Lion - App Store only | |
| Oct 4 | 15 | 10.7.5 SU | 2.0 MB | ⓘ Supplemental Update | |
| Sep 19 | 133 | 10.7.5 | 1.1 GB | ⓘ Released w/ 10.8.2 | |
| May 9 | 98 | 10.7.4 | 692.7 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 1 | 112 | 10.7.3 | 1.3 GB | ⓘ Only combo updater available | |
| 2011 | Oct 12 | 56 | 10.7.2 | 768.8 MB | ⓘ Now iCloud enabled |
| Aug 17 | 29 | 10.7.1 | 79.3 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jul 19 | 26 | 10.7 | 4.1 GB | ⓘ Lion - App Store only (USB stick later) | |
| Jun 23 | 94 | 10.6.8 | 453.6 MB | ⓘ App Store readied for Lion | |
| Mar 21 | 74 | 10.6.7 | 475 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jan 6 | 57 | 10.6.6 | 143.6 MB | ⓘ Can you say 'App Store?' | |
| 2010 | Nov 10 | 148 | 10.6.5 | 644.5 MB | ⓘ |
| Jun 15 | 78 | 10.6.4 | 607.2 MB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 29 | 140 | 10.6.3 | 719.2 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2009 | Nov 9 | 60 | 10.6.2 | 473 MB | ⓘ |
| Sep 10 | 13 | 10.6.1 | 71.5 MB | ⓘ | |
| Aug 28 | 23 | 10.6 | 2.31 GB | ⓘ Snow Leopard - First Intel-only release | |
| Aug 5 | 85 | 10.5.8 | 274 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 12 | 148 | 10.5.7 | 442 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2008 | Dec 15 | 91 | 10.5.6 | 372 MB | ⓘ |
| Sep 15 | 77 | 10.5.5 | 316 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jun 30 | 33 | 10.5.4 | 88 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 28 | 107 | 10.5.3 | 420 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 11 | 88 | 10.5.2 | 343 MB | ⓘ Combo updater only | |
| 2007 | Nov 15 | 20 | 10.5.1 | 110 MB | ⓘ |
| Oct 26 | 128 | 10.5 | 2.15 GB | ⓘ Leopard - First universal binary release | |
| Nov 14 | 147 | 10.4.11 | 128 MB | ⓘ This '10' goes to '11' | |
| Jun 20 | 99 | 10.4.10 | 72 MB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 13 | 165 | 10.4.9 | 160 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2006 | Sep 29 | 94 | 10.4.8 | 206 MB | ⓘ |
| Jun 27 | 85 | 10.4.7 | 133 MB | ⓘ | |
| Apr 3 | 48 | 10.4.6 | 163 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 14 | 35 | 10.4.5 | 16 MB | ⓘ | |
| Jan 10 | 71 | 10.4.4 | 55 MB | ⓘ First Intel-capable release | |
| 2005 | Oct 31 | 111 | 10.4.3 | 97 MB | ⓘ |
| Jul 12 | 57 | 10.4.2 | 44 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 16 | 17 | 10.4.1 | 37 MB | ⓘ | |
| Apr 29 | 14 | 10.4 | 1.78 GB | ⓘ Tiger | |
| Apr 15 | 65 | 10.3.9 | 51.3 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 9 | 56 | 10.3.8 | 26.6 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2004 | Dec 15 | 40 | 10.3.7 | 97 MB | ⓘ Combo updater only |
| Nov 5 | 88 | 10.3.6 | 34 MB | ⓘ | |
| Aug 9 | 75 | 10.3.5 | ??? | ⓘ | |
| May 26 | 72 | 10.3.4 | 79 MB | ⓘ Combo updater only | |
| Mar 15 | 89 | 10.3.3 | 70 MB | ⓘ Combo updater only | |
| 2003 | Dec 17 | 37 | 10.3.2 | 36.9 MB | ⓘ |
| Nov 10 | 17 | 10.3.1 | 1.5 MB | ⓘ | |
| Oct 24 | 21 | 10.3 | 1.54 GB | ⓘ Panther | |
| Oct 3 | 57 | 10.2.8 | 40 MB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 22 | 139 | 10.2.7 | ??? | Only for certain G5s/G4s | |
| May 6 | 26 | 10.2.6 | 26 MB | ⓘ | |
| Apr 10 | 56 | 10.2.5 | 81.9 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 13 | 56 | 10.2.4 | 76 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2002 | Dec 19 | 38 | 10.2.3 | 51 MB | ⓘ |
| Nov 11 | 54 | 10.2.2 | 24.4 MB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 18 | 26 | 10.2.1 | 16.3 MB | ⓘ Update not available? | |
| Aug 23 | 79 | 10.2 | 1.03 GB | ⓘ Jaguar | |
| Jun 5 | 47 | 10.1.5 | 45.1 MB | ⓘ Combo updater only | |
| Apr 19 | 57 | 10.1.4 | 1.7 MB | ⓘ | |
| Feb 21 | 62 | 10.1.3 | 16 MB | ⓘ | |
| 2001 | Dec 21 | 37 | 10.1.2 | 29.2 MB | ⓘ |
| Nov 14 | 50 | 10.1.1 | 13.8 MB | ⓘ | |
| Sep 25 | 95 | 10.1 | 989 MB | ⓘ Puma | |
| Jun 22 | 44 | 10.0.4 | 12 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 9 | 8 | 10.0.3 | 15 MB | ⓘ | |
| May 1 | 15 | 10.0.2 | 15 MB | Released but replaced (see comments) | |
| Apr 16 | 23 | 10.0.1 | 4 MB | ⓘ | |
| Mar 24 | 192 | 10.0 | 659 MB | ⓘ Cheetah | |
| 2000 | Sep 13 | -- | 10.0β | 676 MB | ⓘ Public Beta |
Note: The Days column reflects the number of days between releases.
Some entries may appear out of chronological order (i.e. 10.5 is shown on Oct 26, but above Nov 14 for 10.4.11). This is to keep the version numbers in the proper order, even when an older OS received an update after a major new release came out. This has happened a few times over the years.
Some random notes, updated from the original post:
- Starting with the Public Beta and up through 11.2.3, there have been 147 macOS releases, both major and minor. This figure includes the one odd macOS X release: 10.2.7. This version was only for the then-new PowerMac G5 and the flat panel iMac G4, and was never generally released.
- As of March 8th, 2021 (11.2.3's release date), it's been 7,481 days since the Public Beta was released. So on average, we've seen some sort of update every 50.9 days.
- The shortest time period between any two releases is six days, which is how quickly the 10.15.5 Supplemental Update 1 came out after the 10.15.5 release.
- The longest time period between any two minor releases is 165 days, which was how long we waited for the 10.4.9 update. (Tecnically, it's actually the 192 day interval between the Mac OS X Public Beta and version 10.0, but I'm counting from the official 10.0 release.)
- The smallest update was 10.3.1, at only 1.5MB. The largest (non-combo, non-main OS release) update was 10.15.1 at 5.3GB.
- The '???' entry for Size on a given release indicates I was unable to find the size. Feel free to contact me if you can help replace any of the '???' entries.
Mac Os Updates List
And now, gratuitous graphics…
Releases by version number
Releases by year
How To Check A Mac For Updates
A special 'thank you!' goes to Mr. Ziebell (for providing some size values on very-old minor updates), and to Benton Quest (for providing size info on all the major releases up through Snow Leopard). See Benton's comment below if you want a nicely detailed history of those early releases.
Related Posts:
Use Software Update
- Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu , then click Software Update to check for updates.
- If any updates are available, click the Update Now button to install them. Or click “More info” to see details about each update and select specific updates to install. You might be asked to enter your administrator password.
- When Software Update says that your Mac is up to date, the installed version of macOS and all of its apps are also up to date. That includes Safari, Music, Photos, Books, Messages, Mail, Calendar, and FaceTime.
- To automatically install future updates, including for apps that you got from the App Store, select “Automatically keep my Mac up to date.” Your Mac will notify you when updates require it to restart, so you can always choose to install those later.
Update the software on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Learn how to update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.
Learn more
- Learn how to get updates for earlier versions of macOS that don't include Software Update preferences.
- You can also use the App Store to update apps or redownload apps that came from the App Store.
- Learn which macOS your Mac is using and how to upgrade to the latest macOS.
- When your Mac is connected to a Personal Hotspot, large updates don't download automatically.