macOS Sonoma Public Beta Now Available

Apple today provided the first beta of the upcoming macOS Sonoma update to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to test the new operating system ahead of its fall launch.

macos sonoma feature purple green
Public beta testers can download the macOS 14 Sonoma update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after signing up on Apple's beta testing website and opting into the public beta under the Beta Updates section.

macOS Sonoma introduces interactive widgets for the desktop, making widgets more useful and more prominent. You can even use your iPhone widgets on your Mac's desktop through a new Continuity feature.

There are updated screensavers that are similar to the high-resolution animated screensavers available on the Apple TV, and for video calls and presenting, there's a Presenter Overlay option that lets you move, walk, and talk in front of content you're sharing from your Mac.

Safari supports web apps so you can add your favorite websites to your Dock, plus there are new Profiles to separate your work browsing and personal browsing. iCloud Keychain supports sharing passwords with others, and private browsing windows are locked when they are not in use.

Enhanced AutoFill is available for PDFs so you can quickly fill in information like names, addresses, and emails, plus users can collaborate on PDFs and see real-time updates through the Notes app.

For more on what's new in macOS Sonoma, including a new Game mode, we have a detailed macOS Sonoma roundup that highlights all of the features in the update.

Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

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Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
30 months ago

How's stability been with the betas? Thinking of diving in but wary of breakage.
We had really four releases, the DB1, DB2, first DB3 build, and yesterday's DB3 build which is what you will use. I would say it's pretty stable comparably.

Occasionally I see Safari 17 show some animation like it's still trying to load a URL even though it did that. Just do a reload the page again if that happens. Currently using it on a M1 24" IMac, and M1 Max 16" MBP without any real issues.

macOS 14 beta 3 (23A5286i)

* Safari Version 17.0 (19616.1.20.11.3)
* System Firmware Version: 10151.0.172.0.3 (M1 based Macs)
* Darwin Kernel Version 23.0.0: Fri Jun 30 17:48:23 PDT 2023; root:xnu-10002.0.168.505.3~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

Should be the same beta 3 build from yesterday

* iOS 17 beta 3 (21A5277j) - July 11, 2023
* iPadOS 17 beta 3 (21A5277j) - July 11, 2023
* macOS 14 beta 3 (23A5286i) - July 11, 2023
* tvOS 17 beta 3 (21J5303h) = July 11, 2023
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
30 months ago
Temptation level is high on this one...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nathansz Avatar
30 months ago

How's stability been with the betas? Thinking of diving in but wary of breakage.
The smoothest macos betas I can ever recall
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
30 months ago
How's stability been with the betas? Thinking of diving in but wary of breakage.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Fan 2008 Avatar
30 months ago

How's stability been with the betas? Thinking of diving in but wary of breakage.
It's worked very well for me. I LOVE the Game Porting Toolkit.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
30 months ago
Make sure to back up to an external ASR volume using a backup utility first. I had no issue installing this dev beta multiple times on different AS Macs but it pays to take that extra step just in case.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)