Apple macOS Big Sur Release Date Confirmed

Much of the focus of today's Apple event was centered around Apple's new M1 chip and the Macs it will power – a new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini – but we also learned a bit more about Big Sur, the operating system all of these Macs will be running when they release later this month. While it's true that most of Apple's Big Sur information centered around how the M1 chip will help the operating system run better, we did get one key detail about Big Sur separate from the M1 reveal: its release date.

As it happens, Big Sur's release date is right around the corner, with Apple today announcing that the OS will launch on November 12th – two days from today. We've known for a while now that Apple was lining up an autumn release date for Big Sur, but of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing development and release schedules up in the air, we weren't sure if Apple would be able to meet the release windows it's traditionally stuck to with macOS launches.

It turns out that it can and will, at least in the case of Big Sur. Big Sur was first revealed in July and launched into developer preview that same month. In August, we saw Apple roll out a public beta, which has been running ever since and will end with the full release later this week.

Today, Apple made the case for Big Sur running on its new M1 chip, noting that pretty much everything about Big Sur will be faster with an M1 chip running the show. Not only can users look forward to faster wake from sleep times and more responsive apps, but Big Sur apps will run better in general because they'll be able to tap into the increased power of the M1 chip.

We shall see just how well Big Sur runs on Apple's M1 CPU later this month, because not only is Big Sur arriving later this week, but the new Macs using the M1 chip will start shipping out later this month as well. Stay tuned for more, because as they say, the proof is in the pudding.