macOS 15.7.1 and macOS 14.8.1

Apple.... shame on you.

After upgrading from 15.6.1 to 15.7.1, the following happened:

-- you reset all my "automatic upgrades" to be turned on.
-- and when I turn them off, you now have a badge that I NOW HAVE TO IGNORE FOREVER that says I should upgrade to macOS 26.

Seriously, it's not even October and you are releasing this crap?

I keep waiting for a talented nerd (and I use that word lovingly) to write a shell script that scans all “defaults” across the entire operating system before an update, then again after the update and publishes a diff to help pinpoint what settings have been changed behind the user’s back.

It sounds like it should be conceptually simple, provided root-level access, and yet the required knowledge of the defaults system with all its arcane booby-traps probably means there are no more than two or three qualified people in the world to look into it.

Still, it’s a fun thing to fantasise about while clicking mindlessly around System Settings after each update.

Updated from 15.7 to 15.7.1 this morning, no changes to my Software Update settings (which are Security Updates only now).

Dave — your experience makes me wonder what Apple are doing with their update process — if there's *any* need to reset something, you should be warned up-front before the update proceeds and allowed to back out if need be.

As for the badge on the System Setting, that has been a thing with each macOS release for more years than I care to remember. Alas, it seems that — as with many other things — Apple has decided that it knows best, and users should just do as they're told.

@Alan Ralph, I should have pointed this out: I updated *two* MBP. One M2, one M3. Only difference? The M3 contains code 26.1 beta. Usually refreshed by Migration Wizard a few times a year. (Anymore with this two week cycle they now seem to be on? I don't know.)

The M3 started and ended upgrading from 15.7 to 15.71 first. As expected. But not long after the M2 did. Guess which one is showing the badge? M2. Guess which one isn't? You got it, the M3.

Sloppy. (The M2 didn't know about 8any* updates until I, the owner, asked System Settings to look.) I even tried going into terminal. No luck. But at least my OS updates are turned off - but weren't when I finished.

Sloppy.