Apple has released MacOS Big Sur 11.5.1 update for Mac users running Big Sur. The update “provides important security updates” for an apparently actively exploited issue, and is therefore recommended by Apple to install for all eligible Mac users.

Despite being a single security update, the download for Macs is nearly 3GB.

Separately, Apple released iOS 14.7.1 and iPadOS 14.7.1 for iPhone and iPad, respectively, with what appears to be the same security fix.

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Are you getting unwanted messages or texts from a random phone number? Or perhaps, it’s just an annoying contact who’s overloading your inbox on iMessage? Either way, you can easily block text messages on the iPhone, preventing your Messages app from getting any contact or communication through the block.

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Have you ever wanted to hide your phone number from iMessage, or stop using a phone number for iMessage, whether for privacy reasons or another purpose? Ever wished you could use an email address instead? If so, you’ll be pleased to know that you can indeed get this done pretty easily on your iPhone or iPad.

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You’ve exhausted all the online resources and you’ve reached the end of your own troubleshooting capabilities, in which case you’re likely contacting official Apple Support. Whether you’re reaching out to Apple support for warranty queries or troubleshooting account-related issues, you may sometimes be asked to verify yourself. This is done by simply sharing your support PIN with the Apple Support agent.

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Do you use iMessage to stay in touch with your friends, family, and colleagues? If you’re an iPhone or iPad user, you might not necessarily be aware of the fact that you can use an email address with iMessage instead of your phone number.

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A lot of WhatsApp users make use of the desktop client to stay connected and respond to text messages while they’re using their computers. And the latest versions of WhatsApp can also make video calls and voice calls as well, right from a Mac or Windows PC by using the desktop app.

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Do you want to change the caller ID that others see when you FaceTime them from your Mac? This is possible and in fact, pretty easy to do.

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Did you know that you don’t always have to keep your credit card linked to your Apple account for transactions? Instead, you can use your Apple ID balance for purchasing apps and subscribing to Apple services, such as iCloud and Apple Music. This is accomplished by making sure your Apple ID has sufficient funds attached to it.

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Have you ever wanted to set a video as the wallpaper on your iPhone or iPad? You’re certainly not alone in that regard, as it sounds like a neat customization right? Although there’s no official support for video wallpapers, there’s a workaround that you can use to enjoy videos as your wallpaper of an iPhone, at least on your lock screen.

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Do you use a password that’s easy to guess for your online accounts? Or perhaps, you reuse the same password for multiple accounts? Maybe you’re wondering if your password has been compromised in a known data breach? Whatever the case, Safari for Mac can now help you monitor your passwords by providing Security Recommendations.

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macOS Big Sur 11.5 update is now available to all Mac users running Big Sur. The update contains a few bug fixes, some important security fixes, and the ability for the Podcasts app to display either all shows or followed shows. The full release notes, which are quite brief, are further below.

Despite being a rather small update in terms of changes, the 11.5 update weighs in around 3GB.

Mac users running Catalina (10.15.7) and Mojave (10.14.6) will find Security Update 2021-004 Catalina and Security Update 2021-005 Mojave available to download and install instead, along with an update to Safari.

Separately, iPadOS 14.7 and iOS 14.7 are also available for iPad and iPhone, respectively.

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Apple has released the final version of iPadOS 14.7 for iPad users. The update arrives for iPad after iOS 14.7 was released a few days earlier for iPhone, with the updates having a somewhat unusual split release timing.

iPadOS 14.7 includes various bug fixes and small changes, but does not include any major new features. The release notes are further below.

Separately, macOS Big Sur 11.5 is also available for Mac users.

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If you’re running a modern version of macOS like Big Sur or Monterey, you may have already noticed the redesigned Notification Center compared to prior versions of the feature. You can even personalize the widgets that show up in the Notification Center to better suit the tasks you do, so if you’d like to add, edit, or rearrange the widgets, read along.

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Did you open the Music app just to find that some songs are not available as you expected them to be, or even the entire song library is empty all of a sudden? Or maybe, some of the new songs you added using a different device aren’t showing up on your iPhone? Either way, you can resolve this type of issue usually by force syncing your music library.

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Do you use the Voice Memos app on your iPhone or iPad to record audio clips? In that case, you may be interested to trim these recorded voice clips and remove the unwanted portions to make the final recording more appealing.

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Some Mac Terminal users may discover git, pip, HomeBrew, and other command line tools may fail or not work as intended with an error message stating “xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools)”. Sometimes these command line tools stop working after a macOS system software update, but they worked previously.

Fortunately it’s easy to fix the “xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools)” error message, and get git, pip, Homebrew, or whatever other command line tool that failed, to start working again.

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Apple has released the final version of iOS 14.7 for iPhone users. The software update includes bug fixes and some minor improvements, most notably allowing MagSafe Battery Pack support for the iPhone 12 lineup.

iPadOS 14.7 is not yet available for iPad but presumably will be issued soon as well. However, watchOS 7.6 for Apple Watch, tvOS 14.7 for Apple TV, and a HomePod update are available. macOS Big Sur 11.5 remains in beta and a second release candidate build has been released for that.

Update: iPadOS 14.7 and macOS Big Sur 11.5 are now available as of July 21, 2021.
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Apple has released a second Release Candidate build for macOS Big Sur 11.5 to Mac users participating in the Big Sur beta testing programs.

The Big Sur 11.5 Release Candidate 2 arrives as build number 20G71, and came alongside the final iOS 14.7 update which was concurrently released to the general public.

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