Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS 14.4

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Sonoma 14.4 update to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the software ahead of its launch. The public beta comes a day after Apple released the developer beta.

macos sonoma 4
Beta testers can opt-in through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. Under Beta updates, simply toggle on the Sonoma Public Beta. Note that you must sign up to participate on Apple's beta testing website.

macOS Sonoma 14.4 introduces some of the features in the iOS 17.4 beta, such as new emoji characters. We don't know what Mac-specific features are included, but nothing new was found in the developer beta.

Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week or two away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
iOS 26 Home Feature

Apple Gives Final Warning to Home App Users

Tuesday February 3, 2026 8:55 am PST by
In 2022, Apple introduced a new Apple Home architecture that is "more reliable and efficient," and the deadline to upgrade and avoid issues is fast approaching. In an email this week, Apple gave customers a final reminder to upgrade their Home app by February 10, 2026. Apple says users who do not upgrade may experience issues with accessories and automations, or lose access to their smart...

Top Rated Comments

masterhiggins Avatar
26 months ago
I wish Apple would stop holding Logic versions hostage to newer OS releases. It's annoying how they arbitrarily decide which version you can install based on which OS release you have. Don't tell me Ventura can't run the latest version of Logic, dude.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magdogg Avatar
26 months ago
Man I’m sick of hearing about new emojis.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChrisA Avatar
26 months ago

I wish Apple would stop holding Logic versions hostage to newer OS releases. It's annoying how they arbitrarily decide which version you can install based on which OS release you have. Don't tell me Ventura can't run the latest version of Logic, dude.
I worked in the software business for a long time. What happens is the Logic developers want to improve their product. Perhaps they are trying to shave a millisecond off of latency in some parts of the system. So they go to the OS developers and beg for some small change and the change is approved then it gets used. This is good but now Logic is tied to the latest OS.

A solution is to look at run-time what OS is being used and then branch the code to take advantage of the new way or not. But this doubles the code size and the check slows it down.

Also what must skew the decision for them is that Logic and Garage Band are almost the same software and GB ships with the OS. They can't let GB and Logic diverge or they would need to maintain two separate code bases.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
26 months ago
Reposting to this thread

Comparison of 14.4 beta to previous 14.3 RC

macOS 14.4 beta (23E5180j)

* Safari Version 17.4 (19618.1.11.11.3)
* System Firmware Version: 10151.100.738.0.1 (M1 based Macs)
* Darwin Kernel Version 23.4.0: Fri Jan 12 22:41:06 PST 2024; root:xnu-10063.100.610.0.2~19/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

macOS 14.3 RC (23D56)

* Safari Version 17.3 (19617.2.4.11.8)
* System Firmware Version: 10151.81.1 (M1 based Macs)
* Darwin Kernel Version 23.3.0: Wed Dec 20 21:30:27 PST 2023; root:xnu-10002.81.5~7/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

* Apple Music/TV now 1.4.4.29 was 1.4.3.27

Note the higher build letter to start "j"

Stability wise so far it's been running fine. I don't think I seen the weird text shifts bug with forum posts yet.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayryco Avatar
26 months ago
Uhhh can they hurry up and add karaoke feature to Apple Music on MacOS. lol I wanna have sing alongs while I'm working DAMMIT!!!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Harry Haller Avatar
26 months ago
And when it's the only feature mentioned.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)