PSA: macOS 14 Sonoma Beta 4 Not Installing Properly for Some Users - MacRumors
Skip to Content

PSA: macOS 14 Sonoma Beta 4 Not Installing Properly for Some Users

by

Apple today released the fourth beta of macOS 14 Sonoma, but it might be wise to hold off on installing the new software right now due to issues that some Mac users have reported.

macos sonoma feature green brown
A handful of people have downloaded and installed the beta only to be greeted with an entirely black screen and a non-functional device. The mouse pointer is visible, but nothing shows up on the display. Affected Macs include an M2 14-inch MacBook Pro, an M1 MacBook Air, and an M1 Max ‌MacBook Pro‌, but not all users are having installation troubles.

There are multiple reports from people who have had no issues installing the beta, so it is not clear where the problem lies. On Reddit, one user was able to fix the issue by going into recovery mode and reinstalling the beta, and another had luck with multiple reboots, but that does not seem to solve the problem for everyone.

On the MacRumors forums, there are also reports of issues with widgets not showing up properly and the Music app not opening, which were fixed by restarting. Given the number of problems with the software, those who are using macOS Sonoma on a main machine might want to wait to upgrade to the fourth beta.

Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Popular Stories

Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
Read Full Article • 39 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...
Read Full Article • 65 comments
General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...
Read Full Article • 125 comments

Top Rated Comments

P
posguy99
37 months ago
Zero sympathy. You don't install beta software on production devices.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
jdclifford
37 months ago
All good here. M1 MBA, M1 iMac, M2 MBA and M1 14"MBP 🤞
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
nutmac
37 months ago

Jason Snell, I don't think this aged well:
WHY YOU SHOULD INSTALL APPLE’S PUBLIC BETAS ('https://www.macworld.com/article/2000748/')
To be fair, Jason was talking about the public betas, which tend to be released a day or two after developer beta. While public betas are far from very stable, they tend to at least not cause the device to brick nor have major issues.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
dantracht
37 months ago
Thus, beta.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
rettro
37 months ago

Zero sympathy. You don't install beta software on production devices.
Didn't see anyone looking for sympathy. Just people discussing issues.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
Mr. Dee
37 months ago

I'm not sure I understand your point here. As the other commenter said, the public betas "tend to be released a day or two after developer beta" so that the public beta users aren't exposed to issues like today's.

I mean, this article is about the dev beta release, right? Not the public beta release which will be "based on" today's dev beta release once this issue is understood and resolved.

There is no public seed of DB4 yet, so that should not be at issue.
The point is, its still a beta and it should not be installed on a production computer, especially one that would be mission critical. Jason gives the impression that Apple betas have become harmless these days that anyone can install them because they are not like the rough and tumble days of Rhapsody and OS X betas. Sure, if you have a spare Mac, have it, but this is a reminder, don't rush to install, dev or public betas on your one and only machine.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments