M3 MacBook Pro Ships With macOS Ventura, Can't Yet Be Updated to macOS Sonoma Over the Air

Apple's new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the standard M3 chip began arriving to customers over the past day, and some early adopters have discovered that the laptop cannot currently be updated to macOS Sonoma over the air.

No 13 Inch M3 MacBook Pro Feature 2
As noted by @aaronp613 on X, at least some 14-inch MacBook Pro models with the M3 chip shipped with an unreleased build of macOS Ventura 13.5 installed. When users attempt to update to macOS Sonoma in the System Settings app, macOS Ventura 13.5 is listed as the latest version available instead of macOS Sonoma 14.1.

One user who experienced this issue is Daniel Rotar, host of the YouTube channel ZONEofTECH, according to a post he shared on X today. Additional users across X and the MacRumors Forums have mentioned the issue.


Given that macOS Ventura 13.5 was released in July, it seems that Apple began stockpiling the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip several months ago.

It's unclear when Apple will address this problem, but in the meantime, software researcher Nicolás Álvarez said that affected users can download the Install Assistant for the M3-compatible version of macOS Sonoma 14.1 and manually install the update. It is also possible to enable macOS public betas to get the update to appear.

Update: As noted by 9to5Mac, this issue appears to affect the new iMac with the M3 chip as well.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
25 months ago
Sonoma requires M3 Ultra
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darngooddesign Avatar
25 months ago

The naming convention sucks.
I know right. None of their laptops are actually books.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appleguy123 Avatar
25 months ago
Weird. I wonder how long these have been sitting around.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Billy_Bob Avatar
25 months ago
Apple under Steve Jobs: "It just works."

Apple under Tim Cook: "It just borks."
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
abatabia Avatar
25 months ago
What in the wide world of sports is this about?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OrenLindsey Avatar
25 months ago
There's always some goofy launch day problem.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)