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macOS Big Sur

2020 · Mac

Released on 12 November 2020 as a free update, with a fresh design. It was engineered for M1, Apple's first chip designed for the Mac.2, 3

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Released
12 November 20202
Version
11, after 10.15 Catalina5
Price
Free update2
New chip
Apple M1, introduced 10 November 20203

A fresh new look

Apple called Big Sur the biggest design upgrade since Mac OS X. Everything was refined, from the curve of window corners to the colors and materials. Icons in the Dock were redesigned to match Apple's other devices more closely, while still looking like the Mac.1

Close-up of a macOS Big Sur Finder window titled Documents, with rounded corners. A full-height light sidebar holds the red, yellow and green buttons and lists Favorites such as AirDrop, Recents, Applications, Desktop, Documents and Downloads, then iCloud Drive, Macintosh HD and colored tags. The main area shows blue folders and document icons, with a row of small gray toolbar symbols at the top.
Illustration · not a screenshot Close-up of our drawing: a Big Sur Finder window, with its full-height sidebar and rounded corners. See the real screen

Apple's own chips

In June 2020, Apple said it would move the Mac to its own chips, Apple silicon, over about two years.4 The first chip, M1, came in November in the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac mini.3 Big Sur was engineered to take full advantage of M1. A new technology, Rosetta 2, let apps made for Intel Macs run on the new Macs.2

A macOS Big Sur desktop with a coastal wallpaper of green hills and blue sea. A translucent menu bar at the top reads Finder, File, Edit, View, Go, Window and Help, with status icons and the date on the right. In front is a Finder window titled Documents with a full-height sidebar and blue folders. Behind it is an inactive Downloads window with gray buttons. A floating, rounded Dock with colorful app tiles sits at the bottom.
Illustration · not a screenshot Our drawing of macOS Big Sur from 2020. The Documents window is in front and active, and the Downloads window behind it is inactive. See the real screen

Controls in the menu bar

A new Control Center in the menu bar gave quick access to Do Not Disturb, displays, keyboard brightness and more. Safari got its biggest update since it first came out in 2003.2

Close-up of the top right of the Big Sur screen: the menu bar with battery, Wi-Fi, search and Control Center icons, then the date and time, Mon Jun 22 9:41 AM. Below it are the sky of the wallpaper and the top right corner of the Documents window with its toolbar buttons.
Illustration · not a screenshot Close-up of our drawing: the right end of the Big Sur menu bar, with the Control Center icon next to the date and time. See the real screen

Key moments