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How to enable the “Beta updates” feature in macOS 13.4+

As of macOS 13.4, there's supposed to be a "Beta updates" button in System Settings > General > Software Update, as seen here:

Sure enough, that button is there on my iMac…but it wasn't on my MacBook Pro. Everything I read on Apple's site and elsewhere said it should simply exist, but it didn't. After much futzing around, I stumbled on the solution:

Click the ⓘ button on the Automatic Updates line to open the settings for automatic updates. My guess is that you'll find that the "Install macOS updates" setting is disabled. Enable it and click Done. The "Beta updates" feature may appear now, but if it doesn't, open that same panel again, and disable the "Install macOS updates" setting. You will now definitely see the "Beta updates" feature.

Nowhere in Apple's documentation does it mention that automatic updates must be enabled (at least once) in order to see the "Beta updates" feature. But that seems to be the case, as this fix has now worked for three Macs.

1 thought on “How to enable the “Beta updates” feature in macOS 13.4+”

  1. Hi,

    I find nothing more annoying than when all websites you can check assume a given button just should exist and it's not the case on your own computer, without even any given explanation from the OS/documentation. Thanks for articles like this one.

    I've had the same problem yesterday: no “Beta update” button. However, the solution given here, while I'm sure is a good one for most identical situations, didn't work for me. My guess is it's because I tried in a virtual machine, but I can't be sure. The disappearance of the button surely must be avoided in good practices (disable it instead of hiding it; then you can show an explanation next to it as to why it's disabled) Even the Apple's HIG used to tell that.

    It's not always the ones who do the work which know best…

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