MacOS Big Sur beta 4: 4K YouTube Videos from Safari

Apple and Google’s VP9 codec haven’t gotten along very well so far. That reference is the one that allows 4K videos to be played on platforms such as YouTube, so at the moment it is not possible to play content in this resolution through the native Safari browser of the Mac. However, this has changed with the fourth beta for developers macOS Big Sur, also known as macOS 11.

Finally YouTube in 4K from Safari

Monitors and televisions with 4K resolutions and even higher have been available on the market for several years. On the Mac we can even find them as standard on models like the 21.5-inch iMac and up to 5K on the 27-inch. However, it is absurd not to be able to enjoy content from services like YouTube in this quality from the Safari browser. We are talking about the main video platform in the world, so it was already something necessary because many have to resort to alternatives to Safari such as Google Chrome, which if allowed, and can be tedious for some users.

MacOS Big Sur beta 4

In the fourth beta for macOS Big Sur developers launched yesterday, it is possible to access this functionality from Safari. “Finally” many will think and it is not for less. The aforementioned VP9 codec already works in other beta operating systems such as those of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. 1080p resolution is not a drama either, since it looks very good and in fact is the standard by which it continues to bet mainly in a multitude of content, but at least it will no longer be the limit for those videos on the Google platform that have been uploaded in better qualities.

Other news from macOS Big Sur beta 4

The next version of Mac software is one of the biggest changes in recent years. Not surprisingly, the number 10 present since OS X has been abandoned to be for all intents and purposes macOS 11. Perhaps the most important change comes thanks to its combination with the hardware that is to come, since the ARM processors provisionally called Apple Silicon are just around the corner. However, we also found interesting visual innovations such as a redesign of the icons, the improvement in the notification center, implementation of a control center and even the arrival of widgets very similar to iOS and iPadOS.

macOS 11 Big Sur

Despite all these changes, the macOS Big Sur betas are being very stable for what you would expect in trial versions. We can not say that its installation is recommended in any case because it continues to contain bugs such as unexpected restarts, applications that do not work or excessive battery consumption on MacBooks. This could be especially risky on equipment that is used for regular work. However, in this fourth beta we have seen some errors related to Safari, with widgets that did not work and even with the battery management of portable computers.

Therefore, if you were already in the third beta and do not know whether to update, in this case we recommend this installation. Remember that for this you must go to System Preferences> Software Update.