Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS Sonoma 14.2

Apple today seeded the first public beta of an upcoming macOS Sonoma 14.2 update, allowing non-developers to test out the software ahead of its release. The public beta comes a day after the first developer beta.

macos sonoma 4
Beta testers can opt-in through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. Under Beta updates, simply toggle on the Sonoma Public Beta. Note that you must sign up to participate on Apple's beta testing website.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 adds Messages sticker reactions, which make it quicker to add a sticker or an emoji to an iMessage. It also includes support for collaborative Apple Music playlists, allowing multiple people to add songs to a single playlist.

There's a new Favorites ‌Apple Music‌ playlist as well, better support for Messages in iCloud syncing, and iMessage Contact Key Verification for people who face extraordinary digital threats.

Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Popular Stories

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
New Intel Logo

Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

Friday November 28, 2025 7:33 am PST by
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027. Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...
streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Black Friday iPhone Deals Still Available

Friday November 28, 2025 6:24 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
27 months ago
The install of 14.2 beta 1 on top of 14.1 RC was fairly quick. Not seeing anything really amiss with my two AS Macs.

What was released yesterday to devs/PB testers today

* iOS 17.2 beta (21C5029g)
* iPadOS 17.2 beta (21C5029g)
* macOS 14.2 beta (23C5030f)
* tvOS 17.2 beta (21K5330g)
* watchOS 10.2 beta (21S6331f)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
27 months ago

BTW, I still despise the new System Setting introduced in Ventura. Real, genuine hatred. I thought it would grow on me and I'd develop some muscle memory after more than a year, bit I still can't remember where anything is. I used to be able to get to 80% of what I needed with one click. Now it's at least two, sometimes three or four clicks.
Don't forget about the Alphabetical list view in Mac System Settings. While the below image is from Ventura, Sonoma is the same.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
achtung! Avatar
27 months ago
Finally, Apple Music has received more updates. I am looking forward to seeing what's in store for the future. There's plenty of room for improvement.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mudflap Avatar
27 months ago

What's the overall consensus with Sonoma? I'm curious as to how stable it's been.
Sonoma is solid for me.

This is the first macOS in quite some time that worked with all of my software out of the box. Adobe CC has a couple glitches here and there but it works, generally. And of course — although I'm going to sound like a borked record — the screensaver/wallpapers are absolutely stunning, especially in HDR on a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro. I do miss the third party Mail Receipt plugin for Mail.app; Apple got rid of plugins altogether and are moving to extensions. So maybe we'll have an alternative in the future but for now, nope.

Apple Remote Desktop is noticeably more responsive administering a couple Mac minis I have set up as audio and video servers. That was a very pleasant surprise!

I just installed it yesterday, waiting until I was finished with a big project to be safe. The only issues I've seen so far; sometimes an app's window is stuck behind or in front of another window. I might update to 14.2b to see if that fixes it, as long as it doesn't introduced other problems. And I swear everything really does feel a little zippier on my 14" M1 Pro.

BTW, I still despise the new System Setting introduced in Ventura. Real, genuine hatred. I thought it would grow on me and I'd develop some muscle memory after more than a year, bit I still can't remember where anything is. I used to be able to get to 80% of what I needed with one click. Now it's at least two, sometimes three or four clicks.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr.Mozi Avatar
27 months ago
Journal app maybe?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jbmelby Avatar
27 months ago

Sonoma is solid for me.

This is the first macOS in quite some time that worked with all of my software out of the box. Adobe CC has a couple glitches here and there but it works, generally. And of course — although I'm going to sound like a borked record — the screensaver/wallpapers are absolutely stunning, especially in HDR on a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro. I do miss the third party Mail Receipt plugin for Mail.app; Apple got rid of plugins altogether and are moving to extensions. So maybe we'll have an alternative in the future but for now, nope.

Apple Remote Desktop is noticeably more responsive administering a couple Mac minis I have set up as audio and video servers. That was a very pleasant surprise!

I just installed it yesterday, waiting until I was finished with a big project to be safe. The only issues I've seen so far; sometimes an app's window is stuck behind or in front of another window. I might update to 14.2b to see if that fixes it, as long as it doesn't introduced other problems. And I swear everything really does feel a little zippier on my 14" M1 Pro.

BTW, I still despise the new System Setting introduced in Ventura. Real, genuine hatred. I thought it would grow on me and I'd develop some muscle memory after more than a year, bit I still can't remember where anything is. I used to be able to get to 80% of what I needed with one click. Now it's at least two, sometimes three or four clicks.
Solid as a rock for me.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)