OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Beta 6 Available Now for Testing

Mar 30, 2015 - 23 Comments

OS X Yosemite

Apple has released the sixth beta version of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3. The new build arrives as 14D127a and is available for those participating in the Public Beta test program and users who are registered as a Mac Developer.


Users who are eligible to receive the OS X Update Seed will find the download available now through the Mac App Store, accessible from the  Apple menu. Installing the update requires a reboot. All users should back up their Macs before attempting to install any operating system updates, let alone beta software.

OS X 10.10.3 Beta 6

OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite mostly emphasizes the Photos app, which will replace iPhoto on the Mac. The new Photos app is similar to that which appears in iOS, offering a fluid thumbnail based approach for browsing and managing photo libraries. Photos app offers tie-ins to iCloud Photo Library, with automatic syncing between a Mac and an iPhone or other iOS devices.

os-x-10-10-3-with-photos-app

Other feature enhancements and bug fixes are also to be included in OS X 10.10.3, though most of the other feature related changes are fairly minor, pertaining to things like Emoji icons and support for Google two-step authentication. The final list of bugs to be addressed in the update remains to be seen, but many beta users report anecdotally the new release performs well.

A public release date is not known for OS X 10.10.3, but a sixth beta build may suggest a final version is approaching soon. For now, the latest publicly available version of Mac system software remains OS X 10.10.2.

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in Mac OS, News

23 Comments

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  1. Rebecca says:

    I’m not loving 10.10.3!! I can’t open a photograph in photoshop with the new Photos app! If I wanted to only edit photos on my phone, I would. I wouldn’t even bother having an IMac. Does anyone know how to open a picture in photoshop WITHOUT having to drag each one onto the desktop first!? Or better yet, Does anyone know how I go back to using iPhoto?

  2. Josephine says:

    OS X 10.10.3 is the most usable version of OS X Yosemite out so far, it’s not great but it’s so much better than any prior release that it should have been the FIRST release.

    I advise all Mac users to update to the final version when Apple releases it, I think it will arrive next week for the public…

  3. John Rowan says:

    Haven’t tested this as of it but when I do I will get back and provide some sort of a review. Thanks

  4. Alan says:

    Please Apple, sort out the damn wi-fi drop out problem before anything else. All I have on my desk is an expensive paperweight.

    • stian says:

      Ditto, my iMac has become useless since 10.10.2

    • Leandro says:

      Completely agree!!! Major bug to be fixed is the wifi issue on my late 2014 27″ 5k iMac (an expensive paperweight as you say). There is also a graphics lag bug on the 5k iMac that is annoying as hell.

      • Paul says:

        You can often help the graphics lag by disabling Transparency effects in OS X Yosemite, I have it too on a Retina MacBook Pro and it makes things stutter when resizing windows or entering Mission Control. Feels very beta, and this is on brand new hardware.

    • HelpingHand says:

      I think you’re overreacting. Just go into the app store and download the OS X Yosemite installer. A fresh install will put you right back on 10.10.2

      It’s not like the iPhone. You can install any version of OS X you want at any time, they don’t force you to only install the newest version.

      • Joe says:

        You just told this person to go and download something when they’re having wifi issues. If it was a small file to download, that would be one thing but all of Apple’s downloads are ridiculously large.

        Instead of only updating what as been changed, Apple forces you to download everything on updates, even if most of the files were not updated. Insane really.

      • Alan says:

        Unfortunately Yosemite OS 10.10.2 was already installed onto my new MacBook, which I purchased a few weeks ago. I had wifi problems with it since. I was hoping the latest version would have a fix for this.
        I have had BT check out my telephone line and HomeHub4, and on both cases they are working perfectly.
        I have at least eight devices connected to the router, (not all of them on at the same time), iMac, iPad, iPhone, windows laptop, windows desktop PC and two smart TVs. All working perfectly in their connection.
        The odd thing is my iMac has Yosemite installed and has no wireless problems. Could it be that Snow Leopard was originally installed and I upgraded the OS to Marvericks then Yosemite.
        Finally, I know this is not a Apple Help Forum, but I would appreciate any ideas.

    • Benjamin D. says:

      get out an ethernet cable and connect your mac to your router via ethernet cable (most routers have these on the back).

      download and install the 10.10.2 combo updater http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1786

      If issues persist, you’ll have to try again with a clean install, meaning, back up your mac, wipe your drive, install os x, reinstall apps, then copy your files over, do not merge.

      Betas are for testing purposes, will likely not have bugs worked out yet, which is why they are betas, and should be installed on secondary machines, not your primary Mac.

      I usually only get the combo updates, and rarely have issues. More likely to have issues with the incremental updates. I really don’t know why apple even bothers with the incremental updates, most people that have issues have installed these, not the combo updates.

    • Jeff says:

      Contact Apple support, they will take calls for Yosemite for free. Apple measures satisfaction by the number of calls not the number of posts on various forums.

      After all, they might solve it. I deleted network prefs, cleared cache and now my renaming issue, hostname (2) is gone.

      BTW, a clean install is usually overkill, the support folks will know which prefs to delete and start fresh with.

  5. Benjamin D. says:

    glad they gave us another update, the last (public) beta actually crashed my Mac…for the first time in literally years, …in fact, maybe the first time at all for my mid 2010 MBP 13″, it totally locked up once, and, later, restarted itself when I wasn’t looking.

    I have to admit, I have not tried Photos yet. I must this week.

  6. Sam says:

    Beta 6?!
    When on earth are they going to release this magnificent software that will fix everything.
    I am so tired of all the bugs, though not major but they are annoying when they occur daily.
    Few days ago, apple decided that all my sms / messages should go to my Mac. So none went to my phone… At all. Just like that..?!!!
    Gone are the days when apple used to throughly test things before release….. Bring Steve back. :(

  7. John says:

    Downloaded 10.10.3 and now when boot up get window asking me to sign in to iMessage
    And after 4 attempts then asked me to go through process of establishing new password. Have found the only way around this is to keep hitting the enter button several times and then the message goes away.

  8. Coder says:

    Any fix with the battery issue?

    • Matt says:

      What battery issue? There is no known battery issue, so no there is probably no fix for something that is not known.

      The major problem Yosemite updates need to address are networking failures, wi-fi and LAN.

      • Dennis says:

        I experience also a significant decrease in better life!
        Before 10.10.3, i was able to reach easily 11-12 hours with my macbook pro retina mid 2014.
        Now I´m not able to reach more than 6-7 hours, which is definitely not normal. Unfortunately, i can´t find any app that is consuming more energy than usual?

        • Daniel says:

          There is no battery drainage for the lucky ones, you and I are out of luck. I ended up reinstalling Mavericks and battery life is great again.
          That being said I believe there is such battery drainage.

    • Paul says:

      There is no mention of battery issues in OS X 10.10.3. If you’re experiencing battery drain on Yosemite, you should try these tips they should help: https://osxdaily.com/2015/02/27/improve-battery-life-mac-os-x-yosemite/

  9. Peter Neill says:

    I haven’t yet tried this latest Beta, but I have to say that I much prefer iPhoto. Specifically there is no easy way to open a picture in Photoshop or to post one in FB other than on the timeline (eg as a profile picture). It is possible to simply drag a picture from the Photos window onto the Desktop and edit that, but it’s not a very clean way of doing it.

    • steve says:

      iPhoto (and aperture) will still work, both in yosemite and most likely many future os x versions. No need to switch to Photos if you don’t want to. I find Photos to be a pretty pointless “upgrade” – nothing in it that appeals to me. Most likely, if you’re needing to use photoshop or other external editors on any kind of regular basis, or do other kinds of photo manipulations that aren’t done easily in Photos, you need to upgrade to Lightroom/Photoshop or something similar, and just ditch apple’s photographic offerings.

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