Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4

Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4 comes over a month after macOS Sonoma 14.3, an update that brought collaborative Apple Music playlists.

sonoma desktop wwdc
The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌ update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.5 release for those who are still running macOS Ventura and a macOS 12.7.4 release for those who have macOS Monterey installed.

With macOS Sonoma 14.4, Apple is introducing new emoji characters and adding support for reading Podcast Episode text in full with search support. There are new features for Business Updates in Messages, along with a toggle for showing only icons for websites in the Safari Favorites Bar. Apple's release notes for the update are below.

macOS Sonoma 14.4 introduces new emoji as well as other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.

Emoji
- New mushroom, phoenix, lime, broken chain, and shaking heads emoji are now available in emoji keyboard
- 18 people and body emoji support facing the opposite direction

This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:
- Podcasts Episode text can be read in full, searched for a word or phrase, clicked to play from a specific point and used with accessibility features such as Text Size, Increase Contrast, and VoiceOver
- Business Updates in Messages for Business let you get updates that you've opted into, like order status, flight notifications, fraud alerts or other transactions from trusted businesses
- Safari Favorites Bar adds an option to show only icons for websites

Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.

For detailed information about the security content of this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

More information on the features that have been introduced in macOS Sonoma to date can be found in our macOS Sonoma roundup.

Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 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. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...

Top Rated Comments

AAPLGeek Avatar
22 months ago
Once again, emojis take the lead on release notes.

Apple should just rebrand macOS to toyOS now, the transformation is nearly done.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bhagemann Avatar
22 months ago
Sheesh folks, get a grip. ENOUGH with the emoji bitching. Its been explained way too many times that this 1) isn't how standards work -apple isn't creating these, just adding them as approved, and 2) certainly do NOT have folks pulled off systems development teams to do this.

Out of 13 comments so far.. EIGHT (?!) have been about whatever deal you have with emojis pushing your buttons or something. take a break please. please. seriously. not funny anymore.

I'm guessing most of us would much rather read actual feedback and comments about the system changes... I'm especially interested in photos, music & the changes in the printing system.

Music (doesn't seem to have much in terms of changes here, still have an issue with importing mp3s to a new playlist and having them disappear until i do it a 2nd time, then its fine)

Photos - would love a way to search for unnamed faces, but found a nice script that helps with that finally. Recognition seems better all the time though of faces and objects. I did notice for the first time that when browsing the photos you get a little 'i' for 'info', normally the photo meta details, place and so on. and if the app finds something of interest in the photo it adds a pulsing star to the icon. for me, a cat picture when i clicked that, not only did it pull up info about cats, but correctly identfied the breed of my cat!
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
22 months ago

Once again, emojis take the lead on release notes.

Apple should just rebrand macOS to toyOS now, the transformation is nearly done.
fpacOS... Fisher Price Activity Center Operating System

Critical Update: New Emojis added, Emoji security flaw patched, Emoji designs updated, Emoji desktop enabled
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
22 months ago
Apples marketing research revealed the following customer priorities

1. Emoji
2. Emoji
3. Emoji
4. Emoji
5. Emoji

78290. Desktop wallpapers

193523. Critical Security Patches

2389162674626. Core OS functionality and stability
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Asbow Avatar
22 months ago
Are updates to Messages and Podcasts really worthy mentions. These are apps that should be separate downloadable updates.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
22 months ago
Released today

* macOS 14.4 (23E214) - March 7, 2024
* tvOS 17.4 (21L227) - March 7, 2024
* visionOS 1.1 (21O211) - March 7, 2024
* watchOS 10.4 (21T216) - March 7, 2024
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)