Release record
Yosemite
Release notes
Editorial synthesis with inline references and a source ledger when citations are available.
OS X Yosemite 10.10 reached the Mac App Store on October 16, 2014. The major release combined a broad visual redesign with Continuity, cloud-file, search, notification, browser, mail, messaging, media, family-account, developer-platform, compatibility, and security changes.[1][2][3]
Apple announced Yosemite on June 2 and made a developer preview available that day. It also announced a customer beta program for later in the summer. The retained launch announcement then confirms October 16 as the public availability date; this article attaches editorial content only to that durable public route.[4][5]
The release revised core interface materials and typography while adding several ways for compatible Macs and iOS devices to cooperate: activity handoff, easier hotspot access, cross-platform AirDrop, carrier-message relay, and iPhone calling.[6][7]
Yosemite added Today widgets, broader Spotlight results, Finder-based iCloud Drive, new Safari and Mail workflows, richer Messages controls, iTunes 12, and Family Sharing. Apple also tied the release to Swift and expanded SpriteKit and SceneKit tooling.[8][9]
The structured public-release changes below require confirmation in Apple's October launch material or its version-specific 10.10 advisory. June-only preview details are not promoted into public deltas, later 10.10.x fixes are not projected backward, comparative Safari statements remain attributed to Apple, and no build number or undocumented behavior is inferred.[10][11][12][3]
Source ledger
Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-10-16T00:00:00.000Z · October 16, 2014; launch overview and feature list
Apple Support · Apple · 2023-08-10T00:00:00.000Z · OS X Yosemite v10.10 — 16 Oct 2014
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · OS X Yosemite v10.10 security content
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-06-02T00:00:00.000Z · June 2, 2014; developer preview and beta-program timing
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-10-16T00:00:00.000Z · October 16, 2014; Pricing & Availability
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-06-02T00:00:00.000Z · Design and Continuity paragraphs
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-10-16T00:00:00.000Z · System redesign and Continuity paragraphs
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-06-02T00:00:00.000Z · Apps and developer platform paragraphs
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-10-16T00:00:00.000Z · Feature list and developer platform paragraph
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-06-02T00:00:00.000Z · June 2 developer-preview scope
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-10-16T00:00:00.000Z · October 16 public-launch scope and test qualifications
Apple Support · Apple · 2023-08-10T00:00:00.000Z · OS X Yosemite v10.10 and v10.10.1 release lines
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-06-02T00:00:00.000Z · June 2, 2014
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2014-10-16T00:00:00.000Z · October 16, 2014
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · OS X Yosemite v10.10
Documented & observed
Source-linked features, fixes, known issues, removals, and community-observed behavior recorded across this version’s appearances and verified builds.
Release changes
Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.
feature · introduced
Yosemite let Mail users send files that would commonly exceed email attachment limits, with the launch material setting a maximum size of 5 GB.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple documented Apache and Bash updates plus corrections for unintended mail recipients, file-sharing state, malicious audio processing, Safari history and push behavior, and ASN.1 parsing. The advisory also states that Safari 8 incorporated Safari 7.1 security content.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The public release reworked core visual surfaces while retaining familiar Mac interaction patterns, giving content more room and using translucent sidebars and controls to convey context.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
A user could begin work such as composing mail or browsing the web on one supported device and continue the same activity on another, subject to Apple's Continuity requirements.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The release removed the earlier same-platform boundary from Apple's nearby file-sharing workflow, allowing compatible Mac and iOS devices to send content to one another.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
Yosemite brought the shared-purchase side of Apple's family account model to the Mac across supported iTunes, iBooks, and Mac App Store content.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The Continuity calling path let the Mac act as a speakerphone for the user's iPhone, with Apple's cellular-charge and device-capability qualifications still in force.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple's advisory covers graphics and input drivers, IOKit data queues, HFS handling, Mach ports, IPv6 processing, system-control sockets, and early-boot hardening randomness.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
Yosemite exposed an eligible iPhone hotspot through the Mac's network workflow without a separate manual setup sequence; carrier availability still applied.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple's advisory records hardening across enterprise Wi-Fi authentication, file sharing, Bluetooth input connections, certificate trust, and Secure Transport, including its response to the SSL 3.0 CBC weakness.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The public release made group threads easier to manage by allowing participant changes, location viewing, quick attachment access, and per-conversation notification suppression.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
Yosemite extended the Mac messaging experience beyond iMessage by using a compatible iPhone to relay carrier text and multimedia messages across a user's devices.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The bundled media app was reorganized to reduce friction between a user's collection and store discovery while surfacing recent activity in one place.
Recorded at Public
developerApi · introduced
Apple presented Swift as a modern language integrated into its application-development stack, with goals that included interactivity, reliability, and safer implementation.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The release gave users a general-purpose file hierarchy for organizing arbitrary document types in iCloud and reaching them across supported platforms.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The Yosemite launch positioned Safari around a content-first layout and efficiency gains. The performance and battery statements are Apple's launch claims rather than independent benchmark findings.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
Yosemite broadened Spotlight from local search into a combined discovery surface that could return contextual information from several online and on-device categories.
Recorded at Public
developerApi · changed
The Yosemite developer stack expanded Apple's first-party frameworks for constructing two-dimensional game behavior and integrating it with three-dimensional scene content.
Recorded at Public
compatibility · changed
The broad installation baseline remained wider than the eligibility for every Continuity capability; Apple separately noted that some cross-device features required newer Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi hardware and iOS 8.1.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The composer gained an integrated attachment-editing workflow for common review, annotation, form-completion, and signature tasks.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
The version-specific advisory documents authorization, state-management, persistence, and signature-validation corrections spanning the sandbox, Dock, storage encryption, Lost Mode, login, profiles, SecurityAgent, and code signing.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The new view collected timely information such as calendars, weather, stocks, reminders, clocks, and social activity, and it could be extended with compatible Mac App Store widgets.
Recorded at Public
Milestones
Every recorded channel appearance in chronological order. Open an appearance for any available build, scope, notes, and sources.
Developer beta
Public release
OS X Yosemite 10.10 reached the public channel on October 16, 2014 with a redesigned Mac experience, new cross-device workflows, expanded apps and services, developer technologies, broad compatibility, and a documented security baseline.
Historical context
Pace, intervals, and duration compared with earlier releases on the same platform.
Cycle vs. platform average
136d (avg: 102d)
34 days longer than the macOS average
Longest gap in this cycle
136 days
Between Beta 1 and Public