macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

The macOS 15 Sequoia update will inevitably be known as "the AI one" in retrospect, introducing, as it does, the first wave of "Apple Intelligence" features.

That's funny because none of that stuff is actually ready for the 15.0 release that's coming out today. A lot of it is coming "later this fall" in the 15.1 update, which Apple has been testing entirely separately from the 15.0 betas for weeks now. Some of it won't be ready until after that—rumors say image generation won't be ready until the end of the year—but in any case, none of it is ready for public consumption yet.

Further ReadingmacOS 14 Sonoma: The Ars Technica review

But the AI-free 15.0 release does give us a chance to evaluate all of the non-AI additions to macOS this year. Apple Intelligence is sucking up a lot of the media oxygen, but in most other ways, this is a typical 2020s-era macOS release, with one or two headliners, several quality-of-life tweaks, and some sparsely documented under-the-hood stuff that will subtly change how you experience the operating system.

The AI-free version of the operating system is also the one that all users of the remaining Intel Macs will be using, since all of the Apple Intelligence features require Apple Silicon. Most of the Intel Macs that ran last year's Sonoma release will run Sequoia this year—the first time this has happened since 2019—but the difference between the same macOS version running on different CPUs will be wider than it has been. It's a clear indicator that the Intel Mac era is drawing to a close, even if support hasn't totally ended just yet.

Table of Contents System requirements and compatibility Other system requirements, Apple Intelligence edition “Coming later this year,” also Apple Intelligence edition What should I do with my unsupported Mac? Sticking with macOS: OpenCore Legacy Patcher Windows? Linux? ChromeOS? Branding and installation Free space: A little larger than macOS 14 Window tiling (aka snapping) Weird behavior and limitations iPhone mirroring Network connectivity problems and other limitations iPhone notifications Passwords app: Refining the Mac’s password manager Safari 18 Highlights and Reader summaries Hide Distracting Items Video Viewer Safari Web Apps support extensions, opening links Other apps: Messages Photos Notes A new version of Chess.app?? Another System Settings reorganization Calculator Calendar Voice Memos Maps A new Tips app Under the hood: Virtualization improvements Game Porting Toolkit 2 Userspace file systems with FSKit Privacy and security: A stricter Gatekeeper Private (and rotating) MAC addresses for Wi-Fi networks Altered XProtect malware protection Local network access notifications Monthly permissions requests for some screen recording apps Grab bag “Apple ID” becomes “Apple Account” New AirDrop interface New wallpaper screensavers Video background replacement and Presenter Preview Pervasive Math Notes “Keep downloaded” option for iCloud files Context menu keyboard shortcut More extensions notifications Estimated time to install updates A solid update, even without AI The good The bad The ugly

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review