macOS Big Sur

Mac Apple macOS bigsur

Description

macOS Big Sur (macOS 11) is an Apple operating system available for Mac computers.

Platform:

Cost: Free

Available To: Everyone with a compatible Mac

Overview

macOS Big Sur, Apple's seventeenth major release of macOS, was released November 12, 2020 and is the successor to macOS Catalina. macOS Big Sur is a major transition for Apple's operating system, being the first version of macOS to support Apple's Silicon processors. It features a major UI redesign as well as the inclusion of Control Center and improvements to Messages and Safari. To note this change, Apple incremented the major version of the operating system from 10 to 11.

Installation Instructions

macOS is installed on all Classroom and Lab Mac computers on campus as part of the Standard Classroom and Computer Lab Software. macOS is also installed as part of the University's Standard Software on all Faculty and Staff Mac computers.

As of 2023 all new Macs come with macOS Ventura installed.

Although Ventura is currently the recommended version of macOS, Big Sur is still supported and available to install. If your Mac is running macOS Catalina or below and you would like to upgrade to macOS Big Sur, follow the How to upgrade macOS instructions.