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

Popular Stories

Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Apple Is Expected to Launch These Four MacBooks in 2026

Friday January 9, 2026 8:17 am PST by
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. ...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

10 Reasons to Wait for This Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday January 8, 2026 2:56 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Apple Confirms Google Gemini Will Power Next-Generation Siri This Year

Monday January 12, 2026 7:38 am PST by
In a statement shared with CNBC today, Apple confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of Siri that is slated to launch later this year. "After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users," the statement...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Elon Musk Reacts to Apple and Google Teaming on Gemini-Powered Siri

Monday January 12, 2026 11:38 am PST by
Elon Musk today expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering on a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google's generative AI platform Gemini. "This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that [they] also have Android and Chrome," wrote Musk, in a post on X. Musk serves as CEO of xAI, the company behind Gemini competitor Grok. It is unlikely...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
proposed unicode emoji 18%402x

Squinting Face, Pickle, and Lighthouse Among New Emoji Coming to iOS

Friday January 9, 2026 4:24 am PST by
The Unicode Consortium has published a draft list of emoji that could come to smartphones and other devices in the future. The list shared by Emojipedia outlines 19 emoji candidates under consideration for Emoji 18.0, which is expected to be finalized in September 2026. Among the proposed additions are a squinting face emoji, left- and right-pointing thumb gestures, a pickle, a lighthouse, a ...
Apple Intelligence iPhone 16

Google Gemini Partnership With Apple Will Go Beyond Siri Revamp

Monday January 12, 2026 8:48 am PST by
Apple and Google today announced that Google Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features. "Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology," the companies said, in a statement. "These...
apple homekit ios 18 5

Apple Reminding Users of Pending Home App Upgrade Requirement

Friday January 9, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Back in late 2022 and early 2023, Apple rolled out a new architecture for its Apple Home platform to deliver improved performance and compatibility, although the rollout came with some hiccups that forced Apple to pull and later re-release the upgrade. Three years later, Apple is now on the verge of ending support for the old version of the Home architecture, which may result in access to...

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
33 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
33 months ago
Temptation level is high on this one...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nathansz Avatar
33 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
33 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
33 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
33 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)