Your Mac will soon get macOS 14 Sonoma for free, here's when

(Image credit: Apple)

published 13 September 2023

Although Apple will release new software for a number of its devices on 18 September, the full public build of macOS Sonoma will take a little longer to reach your Mac. Thankfully though, you won't have too long to wait.

That's because Apple has announced that macOS Sonoma (macOS 14) will be released on Tuesday 26 September 2023.

It will be available for Macs released in 2017 and later (a full compatibility list can be found below) and brings a number of key new features to MacBooks and desktop machines alike.

macOS Sonoma: key features

Apple's macOS Sonoma will add a whole stack of new features that are designed to make life a bit easier, whether you are using a desktop machine, such as an iMac or Mac mini, or a MacBook.

For example, Widgets will now be available directly on your desktop screen. You can place Widgets from a gallery around the desktop so you can see or interactive with them without having to access the bar each time.

That includes smart home Widgets that can turn lights on or off, image Widgets that scroll through pictures of your family and friends, or Notes Widgets that work like on-screen Post-Its.

You can also sync your iPhone Widgets to your Mac, without having to install them separately.

Video Conferencing gets a major overhaul, with plenty of new presentation options and overlays to choose from. There is also gesture recognition, so you can enable effects just by moving your hands in the right way.

And finally, for now, you can turn any website on Safari into an app you can pin in your Dock at the bottom of the screen. That way you won't have to bookmark it in a traditional way, just hit the icon and it'll pop up immediately.

There's a whole load of other features coming too, but these are our favourites for now.

macOS Sonoma compatibility list

Here's the list of Macs that will be able to run macOS Sonoma:

iMac (2019 and later)
iMac Pro (2017 and later)
MacBook Air (2018 and later)
MacBook Pro (2018 and later)
Mac Pro (2019 and later)
Mac Studio (2022 and later)
Mac mini (2018 and later)

TOPICS

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.