During the iPhone 15 Wonderlust event, Apple revealed that MacOS 14 (MacOS Sonoma) will be made available to the public from September 26.
It was at WWDC 2023 that Apple announced the successor to MacOS Ventura, with Sonoma being the latest moniker for the company’s operating system. It’ll be released this Autumn.
Desktop Widgets
Widgets are a huge part of iOS and iPadOS. Now, they’ve finally arrived on Mac with MacOS Sonoma. The widgets will fade into the background when you’re working in other windows. Along with iOS 17, widgets will be interactive on Sonoma. Macs will also be able to access widgets via an iPhone provided they are on the same network.
Game Mode
MacOS Sonoma will also come with a “Game Mode”. The new mode has the goal of allowing you to fully focus on your games, and tells your Mac to focus CPU and GPU workloads on gaming. It’ll enable improved audio latency for AirPods as well as doubling Bluetooth sampling rate for speedy connectivity with PlayStation and Xbox controllers.
Videoconferencing
Who doesn’t love a Zoom meeting? Well, even if you don’t, Apple is adding some new videoconferencing features anyways. The main addition is Presenter Overlay. This feature will share your screen behind you (picture a news broadcast) while you stay in the foreground. There will also be AR effects that can recognise and activate in line with your gestures.
Screen Sharing picker has been boosted to you can more easily share apps on a call. You can simply click the green button on the top-left of an app to share it.
These features aren’t made for FaceTime, rather your typical videoconferencing apps, with Apple saying these will work with “any videoconferencing app”.
Apple Music
Apple Music gives you access to over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists, ad-free. Listen online or off, across all your devices, and hear sound all around in Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. You can now try 1 month for free!
- Apple
- Get 1 month free
- £10.99 p/m
Safari
Apple isn’t forgetting about Safari with MacOS Sonoma. Safari is becoming more friendly with web apps, with web apps now functioning more like a typical MacOS application. Web apps will now be able to be pinned to your dock and display notifications.
Safari is also adding profiles, allowing you to separate your work and personal Safari cookies, history, extensions, Favourites and more.
Screen Savers
Last but not least, MacOS Sonoma is bringing new screen savers to the operating system. Apple says landscapes like the Hong Kong skyline, sandstone buttes of Monument Valley, Arizona and, of course, the rolling hills of Sonoma in Northern California. The screen saver can be set to shuffle through Landscape, Earth, Underwatch and Cityscapes. Apple has moved the login experience to the bottom of the screen so you can appreciate the screen savers in all their glory.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
