Is your Mac compatible with macOS 14.4? Find Out Here (2024)

Want to know whether your reliable Mac can handle the newest macOS 14.4 update? Rest assured, we will attend to your needs. If you want your equipment to work properly and safely in today’s rapidly developing technological world, compatibility is king. Check whether your Mac is compatible with macOS 14.4 and all of its new features and improvements with our thorough compatibility tester. Whether you have a stylish MacBook Air or a powerful iMac, we will determine whether it is enough.

Before you get into updating, make sure it’s compatible to stay ahead of the curve and prevent any surprises. If you want your gadget to work seamlessly with your Mac, whether you’re a student, creative worker, or expert, you need to know its compatibility status. Before you dive into macOS 14.4, let’s make sure your Mac is ready to go!

macOS Sonoma

The most recent version of the Mac operating system, macOS Sonoma, is available now. Sonoma, a region in Northern California’s “Wine Country” famous for its vineyards, is the inspiration for the update’s name.

Thanks to the update, Apple has brought interactive widgets to the desktop. These widgets are now more visible and helpful, and they have moved from the Today view. The widget gallery is where you can find and arrange various widgets on your desktop. When they’re not being used, widgets are made to disappear into the background.

Without launching the corresponding app, you can utilize widgets to accomplish a lot of things, including playing and stopping music, managing smart home devices, taking notes, and more. You may now see and interact with widgets on your iPhone from your Mac using Continuity.

Video conferencing users now have a new option with the Presenter Overlay effect that superimposes their avatar over the shared information. Improved app sharing during conversations is now possible with the new Screen Sharing picker, and with the new Reactions feature, you can use hand gestures to create a variety of effects for video chats, like balloons, confetti, hearts, and more.

Improved remote access to professional workflows is now possible with the introduction of a new high-performance option for screen sharing. It has reference color, low-latency audio, fast frame rates, and the ability to handle up to two virtual screens. Using this mode, professionals may access their processes for creating content from any location, according to Apple.

By securing Touch ID whenever you walk away from the computer, Safari’s private browsing mode becomes even more private. To prevent websites from tracking your online activities, it also includes fingerprinting and improved tracking measures. Safari search offers better results and is faster overall. You may establish several accounts for various themes or use Safari to keep your personal and work-related online surfing separate.

The bookmarks, histories, extensions, tab groups, and cookies associated with each profile are unique. Both the business and personal accounts can be accessed on the same site, and switching between them is as easy as clicking a button. You can now store your favorite websites as web apps that function just like regular apps. By adding web applications to your desktop or dock, you may easily access your frequently used websites with a single click. A streamlined toolbar is also available in web applications, making it quicker to navigate.

In addition to supporting large emojis and prioritizing emails about travel, the Mail app now auto-fills one-time verification codes in Safari, making logins simpler without switching applications. Thanks to an update to the Messages app, all emojis are now technically stickers and may be used in the same way. Live images may also be used to generate custom stickers, which can then be used in messaging conversations. You may now use filters to refine your message search, and in group conversations, you can resume a discussion from the point where you left off.

Photos’ People album now has pet recognition capabilities, and Visual Lookup is now video compatible, has improved food recognition, and can recommend recipes based on what it finds. You may share AirTags with others via the Find My app, and you can check the timestamps of unlock and lock events in the Home app’s Activity History. When you use AirPods, you can mute them with a tap on the stem, and switching between devices is lightning-fast. The Music app is also getting support for collaborative playlists shortly.

Protect yourself against unwanted sensitive media in iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime, and incoming calls with the new Sensitive Content Warnings. Not only is the messaging app now more secure for kids to use, but so are AirDrop, the Photos picker, incoming calls, and FaceTime messaging.

You may easily share critical passwords with friends and family members by accessing the Passwords area in Settings. Every user can add and update passwords in iCloud Keychain, which is end-to-end secured.

In addition to linked notes, which allow you to connect several relevant notes, the Notes app supports inline PDFs and full-width document scans. Notes also have a Share option that you may use to get to the Pages app from where you started a project. You may now use AutoFill to fill out forms in PDFs, and there are clever recipient suggestions. You can utilize the sections in the Reminders app to sort your grocery list by category, and you can use sections in custom lists to be even more organized. A new column view is now available, which provides a fresh appearance for reminders.

In macOS Sonoma, you can find new screen savers that look like Apple TV. These offer slow-motion films of various locales across the globe, such as the skyline of Hong Kong, Monument Valley in Arizona, and Sonoma in Northern California. You may choose from four different themes: landscape, earth, underwater, and cityscape. When your Mac wakes up, the screen savers transform into desktop wallpapers. To make room for the new screen savers, Apple repositioned the login window from the center of the screen to the bottom.

The “Hey Siri” command is obsolete; just saying “Siri” will activate Siri. Improved autocorrect with more precise suggestions is available, and users now have the option to have whole sentences completed inline. Better voice recognition is just one more way Apple has improved dictation.

Gamers may enjoy a special mode that is compatible with Macs powered by Apple silicon processors. Game Mode optimizes the gaming experience by giving games priority on the CPU and GPU. As a result, players may anticipate more consistent and fluid frame rates. Additionally, by doubling the Bluetooth sample rate, gaming mode decreases input lag with Xbox and PlayStation gaming controllers and audio latency with AirPods. Any game may be used in Game Mode.

New accessibility features include the ability to connect hearing aids designed for the iPhone with Macs so that users may make and receive calls and watch videos, and Live Speech so that those who are unable to speak can express themselves during discussions and calls. You may stop moving pictures in Messages and Safari, and on Mac, phonetic recommendations appear while using Voice Control to dictate and edit text.

macOS Sonoma compatibility: Which Macs will be able to run macOS 14.4?

Some Macs from 2017 are no longer supported by Apple and are no longer listed as compatible with Sonoma.

The following Macs are compatible with macOS Sonoma:

• The iMac starting in 2019 and subsequent models
• Beginning in 2019, the Mac Pro
• 2017 and later iMac Pro
• Starting in 2022 and beyond, Mac Studio
• The 2018 model year and subsequent MacBook Air
• Laptop computers with a Mac Mini display from 2018 and after
• 2018 and subsequent MacBook Pro models

Upon its release, macOS Ventura was compatible with the following Macs:

• 2017 and subsequent MacBook models
• 2018 and subsequent MacBook Air models
• Late-model MacBook Pros (2017 and beyond)
• Apple Mac Minis were released in 2018 and after
• Apple’s iMacs were released in 2017 and after.
• Every iMac Pro model
• All Mac Pro models released in 2019 and later
• Studio for Mac (all versions)

Although a Mac can technically run macOS 14.4, it may not be able to take advantage of all of the new features. Not all new features will be compatible with Macs powered by Intel, since some may need Apple chips.

Check out our macOS compatibility list to see which versions of macOS older Macs can run.

macOS 14.4 features

Apple included the following enhancements in macOS 14.4:

• The Apple Music, Books, and Podcasts applications now have a Home tab instead of a Listen Now one. I find it intriguing that Cupertino chose to make this modification, even though there aren’t any other changes.
• Most of the new emojis modify skin tone and come in different genders. Nonetheless, a phoenix, a lime, and four new silhouette-based gender-neutral family emojis are all part of the latest batch of emojis.
• Listen to podcasts in their entirety, search for keywords or phrases, start playing from a specific point, and take advantage of accessibility features like larger font size, higher contrast, and voiceover with the podcast app.

macOS Sonoma release date

On September 26, 2023, macOS Sonoma was released to the public. New features will be available to developers and public beta testers after their unveiling at the 2024 WWDC keynote. Following the unveiling of the iPhone 15, Apple confirmed this system’s release date.

Login screen changes

You will be able to tell the difference the second your Mac boots up in Sonoma. Apple has modified the login screen to move the password entry to the bottom of the screen rather than the center.

In this article, we’ll show you the new lock screen and how to customize it: Instructions for personalizing and navigating the updated login page.

Desktop widgets

From the widget gallery, you can add additional widgets and arrange them anywhere you want. Apple has spared no effort to make them unobtrusive; they’ll blend in with their surroundings.

Additionally, with Continuity, you can install widgets from an iPhone—all you need is for the iPhone to be near and on the same Wi-Fi network. It would be best if you read: The impending widget revolution at Apple will alter the way we use displays forever.

Conclusion

MacOS 14.4 is the latest version of macOS, named after Sonoma, an area in Northern California known for its wineries. The update introduces interactive widgets to the desktop, making them more prominent and useful. It also introduces new features such as a presenter overlay video effect, screen sharing picker, reaction feature, and high-performance mode for remote access to pro workflows. Safari’s Private Browsing mode is more private, with enhanced tracking and fingerprinting protections. Safari search is more responsive, and profiles can be created for different topics. The Mail app now auto-fills, and the Messages app supports a new sticker experience. The People album can recognize pets, Visual Lookup now works with videos, and AirTags can be shared with other people. 

Sensitive content warnings prevent exposure to unsolicited images and videos, and communication safety for children has improved. Shared passwords and passkeys are available through the Passwords section in Settings. The Notes app supports inline PDFs and document scans, and the Reminders app organizes groceries into categories. Siri has been overhauled, and Game Mode is optimized for gamers. Accessibility features include connecting Made for iPhone hearing devices to Macs for calls and media consumption, live speech, and phonetic suggestions.

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