Apple Releases Safari 12 for High Sierra and Sierra, Combats Ad-Tracking and Increases Security

Apple released Safari 12 for macOS Sierra and Sierra on Monday. It adds several new features, including more advanced password management, web icons in tabs, improves security, and ups Apple’s battle against cross-site ad tracking.

Apple’s security patch notes for Safari 12 also specify three exploits that are patched in the update.

Release Notes for Safari 12

The Safari 12 update is recommended for all macOS High Sierra users and contains improvements to privacy, compatibility, and security. This update:

  • Adds the ability to view website icons in tabs
  • Automatically suggests and fills a strong, unique password when creating an account or changing a password
  • Flags reused passwords in Safari Preferences
  • Adds support for allowing or blocking pop-ups on specific websites
  • Prevents embedded content and social media buttons from tracking cross-site browsing without permission
  • Suppresses ad retargeting by reducing advertisers’ ability to identify Mac devices uniquely
  • Automatically turns off Safari extensions that negatively impact browsing performance
  • Improves security by only supporting legacy Safari Extensions that have been reviewed by Apple
  • Improves security by discontinuing support for most NPAPI plug-ins

You can download Safari 12 through Updates in the Mac App Store.

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