It’s a giant day for Mac homeowners (or at the least these with appropriate Macs, and we’ll come again to that) as macOS 15 Sequoia is about to reach later as we speak as a free improve.
Apple knowledgeable us that the discharge date for macOS 15 was September 16 again at its iPhone 16 (‘Glowtime’) launch occasion, and right here we’re. So, in case you’re chomping on the bit with anticipation, let’s bask in a fast recap of the highlights that Sequoia has to supply prior to installing the shiny new working system.
Mirror, mirror, on the desktop…
The cornerstone characteristic introduction with macOS Sequoia (at the least away from Apple Intelligence – and we’ll return to that topic, too) is iPhone Mirroring. Now, clearly, it will solely enchantment to these invested sufficient within the Apple ecosystem to have each a Mac and an iPhone, however it’s a significantly cool characteristic for these of us.
iPhone Mirroring lets you use your smartphone in your Mac desktop, in a compact (resizable) window. This implies you should utilize iPhone apps on the macOS 15 desktop, reply to texts, work together with iPhone notifications, and so forth – there’s even the flexibility to seamlessly drag and drop information instantly between units (although that also hasn’t been seen in testing but, it’s coming).
Basically, you’ve received just about full management over your iPhone proper there on the macOS desktop, with out ever having to choose up the smartphone itself.
On Safari, storage, and extra
Apple’s Safari browser is getting some very helpful enhancements, together with a ‘Reader’ mode to ship a distraction-free expertise, and a ‘Viewer’ mode that routinely detects a video taking part in on a web site and locations it entrance and heart for straightforward viewing. Safari can be set to be extra pleasant to MacBook customers by the use of implementing battery-saving measures.
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There are some nifty storage tweaks with macOS 15, too, so that you now not must (briefly) have double the required house for an app in your drive to put in it – a change that’s been a very long time coming. Additionally, there’ll be a brand new choice for big apps, specifically putting in them on an exterior drive (albeit with caveats, however nonetheless – this can be a very welcome addition).
Those that’ve seen snap layouts in Home windows 11 and have been considerably jealous of that means might be happy to listen to that comparable window positioning capabilities are coming to macOS 15.
Apple can be bringing in a brand new Password app to exchange Keychains, and a few fancy new dynamic wallpapers (together with a really smart-looking forest-themed background for Sequoia itself). Moreover, there are some essential enhancements underneath the hood for Recreation Mode to drive quicker body charges, Apple tells us – Mac players, rejoice.
What we received’t get
As we already touched on, there’s a serious characteristic that received’t be current with the preliminary debut of macOS Sequoia – and that’s Apple Intelligence. As we’ve seen in testing, these AI options have been pushed to a separate department, specifically macOS 15.1 – and that model received’t arrive till October. These Apple Intelligence capabilities will launch alongside new M4-powered Macs, little doubt, that are rumored for a later in October reveal.
Whereas macOS 15 is a free improve, there are some individuals who received’t be capable of get the OS in any respect – these with out a appropriate Mac. We’ve got an inventory of appropriate Macs in our full roundup of every little thing we find out about macOS 15, so head over there to seek out out extra on that entrance (and extra particulars on the options we’ve touched on right here, too).
The excellent news is that the necessities will not be too completely different from Sonoma, however nonetheless, there are some Macs that presently have macOS 14 which received’t be capable of improve to the very newest model when it turns up imminently. Additionally, a remaining be aware: solely Macs with an Apple M-series CPU will be capable of use Apple Intelligence options in macOS 15.
