macOS Big Sur 11.5.2 is here, but it doesn’t seem to do much

Today, Apple released a new version of its Mac operating system, macOS Big Sur. The new update is labeled macOS Big Sur 11.5.2, but there aren't any new features or major security updates. Rather, macOS 11.5.2 focuses on "bug fixes." In fact, these are Apple's release notes for the latest version of Big Sur, in their entirety:

macOS 11.5.2 includes bug fixes for your Mac.

As you can see, the release notes do not specify which bugs have been fixed and mention no new features. Apple maintains a support page where it details the security updates within a given release, too. But that's bare for this release. "This update has no published CVE entries," it says.

 

While Apple often (but not always) releases software updates for many or all of its platforms at the same time, macOS was alone today—at least in terms of public releases. Today also saw major new beta releases of iOS 15, watchOS 8, macOS Monterey, and more.

 

macOS 11.5.2 follows macOS 11.5.1 (which contained security updates) and macOS 11.5 (which also consisted largely of—you guessed it—bug fixes and security updates). We probably won't see significant new macOS features until macOS Monterey arrives later this year.

 

Among other things, that major upcoming release is expected to include various new ways to integrate a Mac with an iOS or iPadOS device, like Universal Control. This will facilitate new ways of controlling macOS and iPad devices together with the same mouse and keyboard.