No issues here , and I have a M1 24" iMac and a M1 Max MBP. Thats installing into normal Mac partitions, not being clever with separate partition volumes for multiple MacOS's or booting off an external volume.
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PSA: macOS 14 Sonoma Beta 4 Not Installing Properly for Some Users
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There is no public seed of DB4 yet, so that should not be at issue.
It sounds more dramatic putting it that way. Yay for Alpha!
On the serious note, I haven't encountered any problems after the latest beta on my second M1 MBA.
While you are right, they are frequently released later to prevent any installation or showstopper issues such as this one. Every once in awhile, even production release contains a showstopper, of course.
Having said that, I wouldn't recommend the general population to install public betas. But they are not as risky as they once used to be.
The point is, its still a beta and it should not be installed on a production computer, especially one that would be mission critical. Jason gives the impression that Apple betas have become harmless these days that anyone can install them because they are not like the rough and tumble days of Rhapsody and OS X betas. Sure, if you have a spare Mac, have it, but this is a reminder, don't rush to install, dev or public betas on your one and only machine.
Macs generally don't need anti-virus software. Are you finding it catching threats and infections?
Do you submit this feedback to Apple using the Feedback Assistant? That's why these beta releases exist.
Most of the time, sometimes a different build is issued for PB testers. Sometimes there is no PB seed depending on the issues that are discovered when deployed.
Apple intentionally teaching people what “beta” means. 
Had the same problem with location services. Try toggling the main location services button off and on again. If you still don't get the weather widget working, do the same to the specific weather button.
Thank you Captain Obvious. Still embarrassing that a Beta 4 bricks devices. I’ve been running Microsoft beta going back to Windows 98, and while I’ve had some nasty issues, I don’t recall any bricked devices, and Windows runs on a much larger number of configurations.
You can install beta software on any device you want, as long as you know how to fix any issues you may encounter and have redundant backups.
Which the majority of those who think they should install the beta don't know how to do and don't have.
That's a really good point, though. As long as I've used Macs with OS X, they've had times they rolled out these firmware updates as part of various OS installs. And IMO, they *never* make any effort to show the user what's going on during them.
I would think a progress bar with info above it on what's happening would be the LEAST they should do.
Why people here install betas on their main machine and then complain when it cripples them, I’ll never understand.
It’s just not worth it.
It’s just not worth it.
Congratulations ... Why the hell are you installing a developer beta? Do you expect a flawless experience?
Hopefully this is just a quirk of beta software and is not a foreshadowing of the *.0 release this fall.
I'm wondering how many of these cases were in-place updates from an earlier version of the Sonoma beta versus a clean install using createinstallmedia from a copy of the installer made from InstallAssistant.pkg versus a DFU restore using the .ipsw file (for the Apple Silicon folks).
Of course they are. Final releases are based on public betas, too.
Developer betas are the firehose. Public betas get released after the firehose doesn't knock kill or maim developers. Public betas are not 100% safe, but they've had more testing than developer betas.
Edit: Added missing not in "Public betas are not 100% safe." I originally said "That doesn't mean public betas are 100% safe" but I worried that might seem condescending. Oops. 😀
already got this beta running on a HP Z440. Not bad.
Apple today released the fourth beta of macOS 14 Sonoma, but it might be wise to hold off on installing the new software right now due to issues that some Mac users have reported.
A handful of people have downloaded and installed the beta only to be greeted with an entirely black screen and a non-functional device. The mouse pointer is visible, but nothing shows up on the display. Affected Macs include an M2 14-inch MacBook Pro, an M1 MacBook Air, and an M1 Max MacBook Pro, but not all users are having installation troubles.
There are multiple reports from people who have had no issues installing the beta, so it is not clear where the problem lies. On Reddit, one user was able to fix the issue by going into recovery mode and reinstalling the beta, and another had luck with multiple reboots, but that does not seem to solve the problem for everyone.
On the MacRumors forums, there are also reports of issues with widgets not showing up properly and the Music app not opening, which were fixed by restarting. Given the number of problems with the software, those who are using macOS Sonoma on a main machine might want to wait to upgrade to the fourth beta.
Article Link: PSA: macOS 14 Sonoma Beta 4 Not Installing Properly for Some Users
