Apple has today released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1, bringing a fix for an issue that prevented some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models from charging, and reportedly addressing several security vulnerabilities in the operating system.
As macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 appears to have been released to address a small number of specific issues, our expectation is that it does not contain any accessibility changes for blind and low vision users; however, if you notice any changes, improvements or regressions in your own use of this release, please post a comment with your findings.
macOS 11.2.1 release notes
macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 addresses an issue that may prevent the battery from charging in some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models.
How to update
To install macOS Big Sur 11.2.1, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click the Software Update preference pane to check for updates. If any updates are available, click the Update Now button to install them. Or click ”More info” to see details about each update and select specific updates to install.
More information on how to update the software on your Mac is available on this Apple Support page.
Comments
A bumpy update
When the OS prompted me to update, I had several programs running, including Mail and Messages. After the update and reboot, everything was running normally except Mail and Messages, both of which seemed to be in a hung state. VoiceOver would simply report "busy" for both. I restarted my Mac, but the restart hung while shutting down both apps, and I had to approve a force quit to proceed with the restart. I've never experienced this with any of my previous updates or upgrades.
Here is an odd VoiceOver behavior I've seen for some time now. After an update or upgrade, when prompted to enter my Apple ID password for iCloud, there is no audio feedback when I enter my password. I would expect to hear a keyclick sound each time I press a key. I'm still able to log in, simply by entering my password and pressing return, but I don't get any feedback until the system setup moves on to the next step, which can take a few seconds.
Executing script from keyboard commander broke - again
And this appears to be yet another release that breaks execution of some scripts from the keyboard commander. My Option+T script to read the time and date no longer works. This has broken often enough that I should know the fix by now ... But I'm getting older and my memory is flaky. Argh!
Re: Executing script from keyboard commander broke - again
And the fix appears to be: System Preferences, Security, Accessibility. Remove Automator from the table of apps allowed to control your computer. Then re-add it.
Update Build Not Spoken at First
I just updated and all is well on my end thus far, but something strange happened right when I was checking email. I came back over here from a neighbor's apartment just prior to supper to check email. I was in the middle of reading an update from another website when I got the notification that this update was available and would be installed later tonight. But the notification just said "Big Sur" and didn't contain the version number. I initially thought it was spam or something, but I went into System Preferences to check. Glad I did, because I got the version number and here I am. Has this happened to anyone else? It was probably just a fluke but I'm curious.