Apple Seeds Fourth macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Beta to Developers [Updated]

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of the upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.2 update to developers, two weeks after releasing the third 10.12.2 beta and a month after the public release of macOS 10.12.1.

macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta 4 is available for download through the Apple Developer Center or through the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

macos-10-12-2-beta
macOS Sierra 10.12.2 includes new emoji, introducing Unicode 9 characters like clown face, selfie, face palm, fox face, owl, shark, butterfly, avocado, pancakes, croissant, bacon and more, plus many profession emoji are available in both male and female genders. Apple has also updated the artwork on many existing emoji, adding detail and design elements to make them look less cartoonish and more realistic.

There are few other outward-facing changes aside from the addition of new emoji, but the 10.12.2 update also likely includes many bug fixes and performance enhancements to address issues that have surfaced since the release of macOS Sierra 10.12.1.

Available since September, macOS Sierra is the latest Mac operating system. It includes Siri support, Apple Pay for the web, Universal Clipboard, Apple Watch auto unlocking, improved iCloud Drive integration, Picture-in-Picture multitasking, and dozens of smaller features that can be found in our macOS Sierra roundup.

Update: macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta 4 is also available for public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week or two away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...

Top Rated Comments

Bubba Satori Avatar
120 months ago
The face palm emoji seems especially relevant.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TimCookMustGo Avatar
120 months ago
Now we can have the upside down smiley face emoji on our gimmicky touchbar. Thanks Tim!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CausticSoda Avatar
120 months ago
Nice to see "outward-facing changes aside from the addition of new emoji". Courageous.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
natepaschall Avatar
120 months ago
What turd MacOS Sierra is. After spending all that effort to clean up the bugs in Mavericks & Yosemite with El Capitan, they release a fresh stinking pile of buggy software full of emojis.

Wish I never upgraded. The 3 positive benefits of MacOS Sierra is their space-reducing feature, ApplePay, and App Tabs, and none of these are dramatic user experience improvements. Other than that, 3rd party software suffices for any of their new 'features'.

Siri? - Used once just to see how it worked.

Universal Copy-Paste? - I have 2 apps that can do that

Unlock via TouchID? - I have an app for that and I don't have to buy a new MacBook to do it

Desktop & Documents folder on all devices? - Even more fragmentation? No thanks. As if the iCloud environment isn't already confusing enough.

ApplePay? - Neat, haven't used it yet

Photos? - More bloated mac apps? No thanks

Emojis? - Everything thats wrong with the world today

iTunes? - The worst app on Mac becomes even worse

Tabs? - Neat, haven't used it yet

I still can't plug in my HDMI monitor without the Fan buzzing like a Category 5 hurricane (mid2102 MBP 15" Retina) .

Stick with El Capitan if you haven't upgraded.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
120 months ago
So they have the shark emoji, just need the Fonzie on waterskis emoji now... maybe in 10.12.3? Here's hoping.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
skippermonkey Avatar
120 months ago
Dear God, what a cluster**** Apple is these days. Tim and his buffoon buddies have six months to release something that equates to a decent desktop computer, or then my $many thousands go to a PC manufacturer. Emojis... I mean what the actual ****? So glad I stuck with El Capitan.

And I agree with one of the posters above. Tim Cook really has to go.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)