macOS Sequoia: Supported Macs, features, and expected release date
Monday's WWDC 2024 keynote from Apple unveiled the latest updates coming to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS.
The next macOS update is named Sequoia, and it's no secret that a major part of the company's focus during the showcase was artificial intelligence. With its OpenAI partnership and Apple Intelligence announcement bringing in a new wave of features, these will play a major role in the software going forward.
However, it's not the only focus. macOS Sequoia is making changes to Safari, improvements to gaming, and new ways to tile windows alongside all-new additions like iPhone Mirroring and more.
Without further ado, here's when to expect the macOS Sequoia launch and which systems will support it, alongside a rundown of its major features.
Read more: Apple WWDC 2024 recap
macOS Sequoia: Expected release date
macOS Sequoia's release date has not been confirmed by Apple, but we can estimate a launch window based on previous macOS release dates. However, unlike iOS, which adheres to a far more predictable timeline of releases over the last five releases, macOS casts a wider net.
macOS Catalina release date: Monday, October 7, 2019
macOS Big Sur release date: Thursday, November 12, 2020
macOS Monterey release date: Monday, October 25, 2021
macOS Venutra release date: Monday, October 24, 2022
macOS Sonoma release date: Tuesday, September 26, 2023
The last five release dates for macOS land anywhere between September and November. If we go further back, that has remained consistent since the launch of macOS Mavericks in 2013.
Beyond that, it's hard to predict exactly where macOS Sequoia will land, but we're certainly going to see it sometime this fall — which is already confirmed on the Apple blog for macOS Sequoia.
If you're keen on trying macOS Sequoia as soon as possible, the developer beta is already available. Head to the Apple Developer Program website and you'll be able to try it now if you're a developer.
The public beta should launch at some point next month through the Apple Beta Software Program. Be sure to sign up if you'd like to try macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, HomePod software 18, or watchOS 11 as soon as you can.
macOS Sequoia: Features
Here's a rundown of the new features coming to macOS Sequoia:
iPhone Mirroring: Users can now access iPhone Mirroring through Continuity, allowing an iPhone to be accessed and controlled from a Mac.
Safari Highlights: Safari will show relevant information about a website and make it easily accessible from the address bar. For a hotel, it showcases its location, whether it's open, its price range, rating on Trip Advisor, and offers links for directions and phone number.
Safari's redesigned Reader: Reader now offers a "streamlined view" of an article, alongside a summary and table of contents.
Safari's new Viewer: Safari will now detect videos and allow the user to focus them, even offering a picture-in-picture mode.
New games coming to Mac: Assassin's Creed Shadows, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2, World of Warcraft: The War Within, Frostpunk 2, Palworld, Sniper Elite 4, RoboCop: Rogue City, Control Ultimate Edition, and Wuthering Waves are all coming to Mac.
Game Porting Toolkit 2: Game Porting Toolkit is getting an upgrade with "some of the most requested capabilities," including enhancements to Xcode, Swift and new APIs.
Automatic Window Tiling: Users can now place windows side-by-side seamlessly by dragging them to the edges of the screen, and Mac will automatically recommend a position for them.
Updates to conferencing: Users can now see a preview before they present their video through FaceTime and Zoom, alongside offering customizable backgrounds.
Passwords: Passwords is a new application that stores all of the user's credentials in one place. It syncs between Apple devices and is backed by end-to-end encryption.
Beyond just the base new features coming to macOS Sequoia, Apple's partnership with OpenAI has yielded Apple Intelligence. With it comes a slew of new features based on artificial intelligence.
Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools: Users will now have Writing Tools, a feature that allows for quick rewriting, proofreading, and summarization of text through AI.
Apple Intelligence's Image Playground: Users can now create "playful images" from styles of Animation, Illustration, or Sketch, and it can be used straight in Messages alongside its own application.
Apple Intelligence in Photos: Users can now type descriptions to pick the best photos and videos for Memories, alongside the new Clean Up feature that can alter backgrounds to focus on the foreground.
Apple Intelligence upgrades Siri: Siri is now "more natural," and users can now seamlessly swap between text and voice to communicate.
ChatGPT is here: ChatGPT is now integrated into Siri, running on the latest GPT-4o model.
macOS Sequoia: Supported Macs
macOS Sequoia's supported systems are already confirmed, as shown on Apple's preview for the software update.
The devices that will be phased out between the launch of macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia are the 2018 and 2019 MacBook Air. This isn't an extensive cut down in compatibility by any means, but if you were sporting a pre-2020 MacBook Air, you won't get macOS Sequoia.
Apple Intelligence also has its own dedicated hardware specifications as seen on the Apple Intelligence page. MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini each require an M1 or stronger to use its features. Mac Studio M1 Max or stronger is required, while the Mac Pro with an M2 Ultra is the only one that will be able to access it.
