It was late 2020. Everyone was stuck inside, and Apple decided it was the perfect time to give the Mac its biggest facelift in nearly twenty years. They called it Big Sur. Honestly, it felt like a gamble. Apple was moving away from the "10.x" versioning that had defined our lives since the early 2000s, finally ticking over to version 11.0.
When did the macOS Big Sur release date actually happen?
Apple officially pushed the button on the macOS Big Sur release date on November 12, 2020.
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It didn't just drop out of thin air. We first saw it during the virtual WWDC in June of that year. People were skeptical. Why? Because the icons looked like they belonged on an iPhone. They were "squircles"—that weird hybrid of a square and a circle.
Then came the beta cycle. It was long. Developers got their hands on it in June, and the public beta followed in August. Usually, Apple drops the new OS in September or October. This time, they waited. They were holding out for something bigger: the first M1 Macs.
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The M1 Connection
Basically, Big Sur was the bridge. It had to run on the old Intel chips everyone already had, but it also had to be the "day one" software for the brand-new MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro powered by Apple’s own silicon.
If you bought one of those first M1 machines, you actually got a slightly different version (11.0) pre-installed. The rest of us downloading it on our Intel Macs were actually getting 11.0.1. It was a bit of a mess behind the scenes, but for most people, it just worked. Sorta.
Why this release was such a big deal
Before Big Sur, the Mac looked... old. It was functional, sure, but it felt separate from the iPad and iPhone. Alan Dye, who was Apple's VP of Human Interface Design at the time, really pushed for this "translucency" vibe. He wanted the menu bar to blend into your wallpaper and the windows to have these huge, rounded corners.
- The Control Center: This was the first time we got the iOS-style Control Center on a Mac. No more hunting through System Preferences just to change your keyboard brightness.
- Safari 14: It was fast. Really fast. They claimed it was 50% faster than Chrome at the time. Plus, it finally supported 4K YouTube and Netflix.
- Notification Center: They merged notifications and widgets into one column. It looked cleaner, though it took some getting used to.
Did your Mac make the cut?
This release was a bit of a "cull" for older hardware. Apple cut off support for several 2012 and early 2013 models that had been humming along just fine on Catalina.
If you had a MacBook Air from mid-2013 or a MacBook Pro from late 2013, you were safe. But only just. Many users reported that the initial 12.1 GB download was a beast. In fact, if you didn't have about 35.5 GB of free space, the installer could sometimes hang and leave your Mac in a bit of a bricked state. It wasn't Apple's finest moment in terms of update reliability.
The "Liquid Glass" legacy
Interestingly, some of the design choices in Big Sur laid the groundwork for what people are calling the "Liquid Glass" look in current 2026 versions of macOS. It was the start of the Mac becoming more "organic" and less like a rigid desktop computer.
While Big Sur reached its end-of-life (EOL) in September 2023—meaning no more security patches—it remains the pivot point in Mac history. It was the moment the software finally caught up to the hardware transition.
Actionable Next Steps
If you are still running Big Sur today, you're actually at risk. Since security updates stopped in late 2023, your machine is open to vulnerabilities that Apple is no longer patching.
- Check for Updates: Go to System Preferences > Software Update. If your Mac supports Monterey or Ventura, move up immediately.
- Safety First: If you're stuck on Big Sur because your hardware is too old, stop using Safari. Use a third-party browser like Firefox that still provides its own security updates for older OS versions.
- Plan the Hardware Jump: 2026 is a weird year for Intel Macs. With macOS 27 becoming Apple Silicon exclusive, it’s time to start looking at an M2 or M3 trade-in before the resale value on Intel machines hits zero.
The macOS Big Sur release date wasn't just about a new look; it was the funeral for the Intel era and the birth of the modern Mac. Use that knowledge to decide if your current setup is still serving you or just holding you back.