Apple Releases macOS Sierra 10.12.4 With New Night Shift Mode

Apple today released macOS Sierra 10.12.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sierra operating system that launched on September 20. macOS Sierra 10.12.4 has been in testing since January 24, with Apple having seeded eight betas ahead of its public release.

macOS Sierra 10.12.4 is a free update for all customers who are running macOS Sierra. The update can be downloaded using the Software Update function in the Mac App Store.

sierra 10
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS's Night Shift mode to the Mac for the first time. Night Shift, first introduced on iOS devices in iOS 9.3, is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from blue to a subtle yellow, cutting down on exposure to blue light. Blue light is believed to interrupt the circadian rhythm, disrupting sleep patterns.

Night Shift is activated through the Displays section of System Preferences, where a setting to have it come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise is available. It can also be set to turn on and off at custom times. Night Shift can also be toggled on manually using the Notification Center or Siri.


The 10.12.4 update focuses primarily on Night Shift, but the update also includes dictation support for Shanghainese, cricket score integration for Siri, improved PDFKit APIs, and new iCloud Analytics options.

Update: Apple has also released a new 2017-001 security update for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

iPhone 17 Release Date, Pre-Orders, and What to Expect

Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
iPhone 17 Pro Iridescent Feature 2

iPhone 17 Pro Clear Case Leak Reveals Three Key Changes

Sunday August 31, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface. The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas. Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

iPhone 17 Pro: 5 Reasons Not to Upgrade This Year

Monday September 1, 2025 4:35 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series this month, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming to...
xiaomi apple ad india

Apple and Samsung Push Back Against Xiaomi's Bold India Ads

Friday August 29, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging." Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One...
iOS 18 on iPhone Arrow Down

Apple Preparing iOS 18.7 for iPhones as iOS 26 Release Date Nears

Sunday August 31, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.7 for compatible iPhone models, according to evidence of the update in the MacRumors visitor logs. We expect iOS 18.7 to be released in September, alongside iOS 26. The update will likely include fixes for security vulnerabilities, but little else. iOS 18.7 will be one of the final updates ever released for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR,...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
110 months ago
No APFS? Beyond that, a welcome update. :)
They're being really, really careful with the APFS on macOS! So much can go wrong compared to iOS, which is completely locked down. You can have lots of different partitions on a Mac, different boot drives, different structures, Time Machine backups... honestly they can't be too careful with testing it. There's an awful lot that can go wrong!

That said, I too am eagerly awaiting APFS on Sierra. :oops: :D
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gudi Avatar
110 months ago
Woo, LaTeX notation in Pages. :cool:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ashdelacroix Avatar
110 months ago
The Combo Update is now available:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1910?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blaichch Avatar
110 months ago
iWork update as well. I couldn't be happier!

Attachment Image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newdeal Avatar
110 months ago
Don't care at all about night shift. Do care about bug fixes especially in safari and custom keyboard shortcuts hopefully those are packed in there
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
110 months ago
No APFS? Beyond that, a welcome update. :)
To be fair, APFS has been. in macOS 10.12 from the beginning, albeit in "developer" quality implementation (e.g., command line commands to reformat disk into APFS, no in-place migration, external volumes only, backward compatibility issues between volumes formatted with 10.12.0 and 10.12.1).

I would love to see Disk Utility get APFS support, but other than that, macOS won't get full APFS until 10.13.
[doublepost=1490635326][/doublepost]
Don't care at all about night shift. Do care about bug fixes especially in safari and custom keyboard shortcuts hopefully those are packed in there
Night Shift works considerably smoother than f.lux so I welcome it.

Having said that, macOS is still prone to random freezes with 2016 MacBook Pros.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)