Skip to content
Image: Foundry
The newest version of macOS–Sonoma–named after the Californian wine region, is now available. Among the new features arriving on Macs with Sonoma (aka macOS 14) are changes to widgets, a new Game Mode, the ability to easily turn web pages into web apps, and fun additions to video conferencing apps. Read on for the lowdown on all the new features and further improvements coming later in 2023.
Update January 18: Apple has seeded the final beta version of macOS Sonoma 14.3 to developers for testing, the full version should be available for compatible Macs next week.
The final version of macOS 14 was released to the general public on Tuesday, September 26 (the earliest macOS release date since 2018).
The initial release of Sonoma was on September 26, 2023. That was version macOS 14.0.
The latest version is macOS Sonoma 14.2 which arrived on December 11 and brought Enhanced AutoFill, Contact Key Verification, and various app updates. More details about what’s new are below.
macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 arrived on November 30 and fixed two exploited zero-day WebKit flaws that were also patched in iOS and iPadOS with 17.1.2. Apple also released Safari 17.1.2 for Ventura and older to address the same exploits.
Previously, macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 arrived on November 7. It includes bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.
Before that macOS Sonoma 14.1, was released on October 25.
There will be a lot of updates over the coming months, both minor point releases for bug fixes and security updates and major releases that add some of the Sonoma features that weren’t available at launch.
Even though macOS Sonoma has arrived, Apple is continuing to test a developer version and a public version of the beta. This is how Apple will test new features that will come later in 2023 and throughout 2024.
Apple issued the first beta of macOS 14.3 to developers on December 12, the day after it released macOS 14.2. The release candidate version of the beta came on January 17, 2024 so the version for non-beta testers is likely to arrive around January 23.
The macOS 14.2 beta was released to developers on October 26 and was available to download on compatible Macs on December 11. That’s a six-week turnaround. A similar development time could see macOS 14.3 arrive around January 22, which seems likely now that the release candidate is out.
macOS 14.3 is expected to include:
- Collaborative Playlists for Apple Music.
- Emoji reactions for tracks in collaborative playlists.
- AppleCare & Warranty in Settings showing details of all your eligible devices.
New features in macOS 14.2 include:
- iMessage Contact Key Verification: Improved security for contact key verification users.