Toni Hobrecht
Following the announcement at WWDC 23, macOS Sonoma is now available to download as a free software update for Mac users. To get started you need a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or a Mac mini from 2018 or newer. Owners of a 2019 or newer iMac and Mac Pro are also on board, as are the 2022 and 2023 Mac Studio models. The oldest supported device on the list is the 2017 iMac Pro.
macOS Sonoma offers new home screen widgets and a presenter overlay feature for video conferencing. There are advanced Safari features like browser profiles and the ability to add web pages to the Dock. Game Mode delivers more consistent frame rates and lower input and audio latency on wireless controllers and AirPods.
More macOS Sonoma updates:
- Notes: Users can view PDFs and scans of presentations, assignments, research papers, and more directly in Notes. You can also create links from one note to another to correlate ideas and content.
- Passwords: Groups can now share passwords. Anyone in a group can add and edit passwords to keep them up to date. Because sharing happens via iCloud Keychain, it is end-to-end encrypted. Additionally, one-time verification codes received in Mail are now automatically populated in Safari.
- Messages now has search filters and swipe to reply. There are brand new Live Stickers that can be synced across macOS, iOS and iPadOS.
- Reminders: Smart shopping lists in Reminders now suggest appropriate weekly shopping trips. To do this, macOS Sonoma organizes the lists into sections and arranges them horizontally using a new column view.
- Keyboard: Autocorrect is also getting a major update with a Transformer language model. This is a state-of-the-art on-device machine learning language model that improves accuracy. Plus, an updated design makes it easier to work on corrections and inline predictions finish sentences faster. Dictation offers next-level speech recognition and the ability to seamlessly switch between voice and input.
- Screen Sharing: Finally, a new high-performance mode in the Screen Sharing app ensures responsive remote access over high-bandwidth connections.
