Apple Releases First Beta of macOS 14 Sonoma to Developers

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the first beta of the newly announced macOS 14 Sonoma update to developers for testing purposes. While the beta is limited to developers at this time, Apple plans to provide a public beta later this summer.

Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, with the betas available through the Software Update mechanism in System Settings.

macOS Sonoma introduces new Apple TV-like screen savers that also serve as wallpapers after you log in, plus it moves widgets to the desktop. You can use the new widget gallery to choose from a range of widgets, and then drag them to your Mac's desktop.

Widgets can be arranged in any way that's useful, and when you're using an app, they are designed to fade into the background so they're less distracting. Widgets are more interactive than before, so you can use them to do things like play music, turn off the lights in your home, and more. Through Continuity, your iPhone's widgets can also show up on your Mac's desktop.

Video conferencing has improved with a new Presenter Overlay view that shows your desktop or project in new ways, plus Safari now supports web apps for the Dock and the option to create Profiles so you can separate personal browsing from work browsing.

Other new features include improved search that's faster and more responsive, password and passkey sharing, a revamped stickers interface for the Messages app, PDF integration in notes that makes it easier than ever to manage PDFs, and more.

macOS Sonoma will be in beta testing for several months, with a public release set to come in September or October.

Article Link: Apple Releases First Beta of macOS 14 Sonoma to Developers

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

does macOS sonoma also brings the new dictation and grammar correction of ios 17?

 

[coolbreeze2]

I am very tempted to install Sonoma on my MBP but my iMac is not supported and that situation in the past caused problems between the two. In my experience, if I wait until further down the road during the beta phase, I will have no problems. It's like the beta has to get "greasy" first. Right now it needs too much "WD40".

 

[anshuvorty]

Here we go!!

 

[Attirex]

go, go, go, Clover! Tear up that CMS!

 

[coolfactor]

I am very tempted to install Sonoma on my MBP but my iMac is not supported and that situation in the past caused problems between the two. In my experience, if I wait until further down the road during the beta phase, I will have no problems. It's like the beta has to get "greasy" first. Right now it needs too much "WD40".

It's a Developer beta, so definitely don't install it on your machines unless you are a developer intending to test on that specific software. It's not for production use.

Wait for the Public Beta at a minimum. That will have many wrinkles ironed out.

 

[hoodafoo]

When are they gonna concentrate on optimizing performance and realize users dont care about all this fluff they are adding?

 

[mazz0]

Shout out to the people who made the third party Aerial app that brought Apple TV wallpapers to Mac already. Guess their app’s useless for most people now (though it did do third party videos too so some people will prefer to stick with it).

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

so I take it this the last os my 2019 iMac and MacBook Pro will get ?

 

[coolbreeze2]

It's a Developer beta, so definitely don't install it on your machines unless you are a developer intending to test on that specific software. It's not for production use.

Wait for the Public Beta at a minimum. That will have many wrinkles ironed out.

Yes I have learned what you are saying is correct.

 

[TrenttonY]

Shout out to the people who made the third party Aerial app that brought Apple TV wallpapers to Mac already. Guess their app’s useless for most people now (though it did do third party videos too so some people will prefer to stick with it).

Yep. It was a well-written app though. RIP

 

[Captain_Mac]

does macOS sonoma also brings the new dictation and grammar correction of ios 17?

yes

 

[antmit]

So...at the risk of validating the cliche...my Mac isn't showing the ability to update to the beta yet, despite having iCloud logged into the same account as my phone and iPad were able to to download their betas. Is this a drip feed thing, or is there something else I have to do.

I have previously downloaded Beta updates to it.

 

[lucasrant]

is the developer portal live yet? I'm still seeing the maintenance page

 

[obamtl]

the developer site is still down for me. Waiting game begins.

 

[tywebb13]

Build number is 23A5257q

 

[JPJones]

I knew we were in for disappointment when the lead-off new feature was the screensavers.

 

[N1jl]

the developer site is still down for me. Waiting game begins.

Same here......still!

 

[tywebb13]

There is also a new version of Ventura 13.4 build 22F2073 but this is only available for these macs:

2023 Mac Pro
2023 Mac Studio
2023 MacBook Air

 

[Spotlighter9]

Can anyone report if the System Settings App is still a mess?

 

[rm5]

Trying to get it on a virtual machine right now!

 

[ghostface147]

I'm actually more excited for the screensavers.

 

[arian71]

I will wait for fully baked Sonoma 14.4 release next year around June

 

[TechRemarker]

is the developer portal live yet? I'm still seeing the maintenance page

No. Status page still shows it’s down. https://developer.apple.com/system-status/

 

[RJRZ1SL]

Check on your device not the webpage. I went on my iPhone - toggled beta selction off, then on and after a few seconds iOS 17 Developer Beta appeared and downloaded. Same on my iPad for iPadOS 17. Same on my MBP for macOS 14.