Second macOS Sonoma Public Beta and Revised Developer Beta Now Available

Apple today provided the second 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. The new beta comes a little over two weeks after Apple released the first beta.

macos sonoma feature purple green
In addition to the new public beta, Apple has also released a revised version of the fourth developer beta, presumably to address issues that were resulting in installation problems for some users following last week's developer release.

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 Roundup: macOS Sonoma
Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Top Rated Comments

Johnnyangel Avatar
8 weeks ago

Rogue Amoeba is the slowest developer. To be fair to them though, they do have to use kernels that could cause problems.
I have no connection to Rogue Amoeba except as a customer, but I think the comment stating that they suck is immature and out of line. (And by the way, it's spelled "populace," not "populous.") I look forward to SoundSource working again too, but no one is forcing any of us to install a beta operating system, and Rogue's position about not releasing SoundSource updates until MacOS releases are final has been clear, consistent, and the same for years now, so it's not like you didn't know.

And yes, they probably have good technical reasons, since some of their other software (i.e. Fission) works on beta OS releases without problems, after issuing a warning.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
8 weeks ago

The only public beta I did not yet install is Sonoma. If I install Sonoma on my M1 mini the app SoundSource will stop working...until Rogue Ameoba gets off their butts and updates it for Sonoma which will likely be when the general populous version is released. Rogue Ameoba sucks, hip hip hooray \o/
Dude calm down. Sonoma's not even released for the public. They're probably working on it though. Wait til October before criticizing the dev.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
the1bee Avatar
8 weeks ago
Is anyone else having the wrong time displayed on the login screen and I’m unable to use continuity camera. Help?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
itschris Avatar
8 weeks ago

?? Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum.

? I just bricked my Intel MBP 2020 two days ago after successfully installing macOS 14 developer beta 4.

⛔️ Now the computer won't boot since it's unable to operate when connected to power. How can I install the revised beta (23A5301h) that supposedly fixes the issue?
Hi, for my case, I unplugged it completely from the power source, then press power key and other random keys and plug my Apple Watch to charge (of course it didn't charge) and wait for a really long while. When your Apple Watch starts to charge, you know your MacBook is back. :D

Hope this will help!

P/S: You may need this: when your MacBook comes back to life, you log in successfully to your desktop. Then don't do anything, just shutdown again. Once it's completely shut down, you plug your power again. This will wake your MacBook up, and charge it as well. Then you can continue to update to latest version but do not unplug it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dog Bone Malone Avatar
8 weeks ago
All smooth so far on my iMac. I've not seen any lag or juddering that I suffered with the previous version of Sonoma. Early days yet though!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1800AirTAG Avatar
8 weeks ago

Sonoma Beta 4 bricked my MacBook Pro 2020 (intel) due to SMC problem. Could anyone let me know whether this second public beta has addressed that issue yet? Thanks a lot.
I held back on beta 4 after reading all the reports, so I didn’t install beta 4 “version 1”

I installed this one (version 2) on a 14” M1 Pro, so far so good.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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