Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS 14.5

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Sonoma 14.5 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.

There were no new features found in the ‌macOS Sonoma‌ 14.5 developer beta, and Apple listed no additions in its release notes. It is likely that the update focuses on bug fixes and other small under-the-hood improvements.

Related Roundup: macOS Sonoma
Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Launch Is Just One Month Out – Here's Everything We Know

Saturday August 10, 2024 5:00 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
macbook pro bb cyber

Apple's M3 MacBook Pro Gets Up to $1,000 Off In Major New Sales, Starting at $1,299 [Updated]

Sunday August 11, 2024 1:54 pm PDT by
Apple's M3 MacBook Pro is seeing multiple high value discounts on Best Buy and Amazon today, with up to $1,000 off select models. This includes a new all-time low price on the entry-level M3 512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro at $1,299.00, down from $1,599.00, and a massive $1,000 discount on the high-end 16-inch model exclusively for Best Buy members. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best...
iPhone 16 Pro Right Side Feature

The iPhone 16 is Getting a New Button: Here's What It Can Do

Tuesday August 13, 2024 4:01 pm PDT by
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
iOS 18 on iPhone Feature

Everything New in iOS 18.1 Beta 2 and iOS 18 Beta 6

Monday August 12, 2024 2:32 pm PDT by
Apple is beta testing iOS 18 and the first update to iOS 18 concurrently, and we got the second betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 today alongside the sixth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15. Many of the changes in iOS 18.1 are focused on bringing the .1 betas in line with the standard betas, which recently received updates to Photos and Safari, while...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Thursday August 8, 2024 4:40 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

Next Year's Slim iPhone 17 Could Be an 'iPhone Air'

Monday August 12, 2024 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's rumored iPhone 17 "Slim" could be positioned as an iPhone "Air" to boost sales, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained how the "fourth" model in the iPhone lineup since 2020 (the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 15 Plus) has largely been a commercial failure. In the case of the Plus model,...

Top Rated Comments

vegetassj4 Avatar
19 weeks ago
And the name of the lead programmer that initiated the seed is Johnny



Thank you, I'll be here all week.[Click to view video attachment]
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac mini power user Avatar
19 weeks ago
I'm running the developer beta, and it seems to be running smoother on my M1 Pro MBP than the stable releases of either 14.4 or 14.4.1. Safari in particular is snappier, and struggles less with YouTube videos (yes, for once the meme is true).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fhall1 Avatar
19 weeks ago

14.6 should start security updates mode.
I wouldn't be surprised if we get 14.7 before the security-updates-only start.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
19 weeks ago
At this point, 14.4 seemed like a real disaster for many people ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/03/18/do-not-update-macos-sonoma-14-4/').
For those who have it, is it better to beta test 14.5 already, or to wait until it's released to public, or to just never install it?

When I joined the Mac community back in 2006, I used to never ever have these questions floating in my head.
I would buy (yes, buy) and install whatever new OS Apple would release and it would basically just work.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fhall1 Avatar
19 weeks ago

14.5 is very solid, so I would install the Developer of Public Beta, and then switch back to the release version once 14.5 is out. This will probably be the last major version of Sonoma anyways, so switching already makes sense.
I would bet money that 14.5 will not be the last major version of Sonoma.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
19 weeks ago
It's been running ok the last two days.
Not much on SDK notes as this is a continuation of optimizing/fixing issues.

Comparison of 14.5 beta to previous releases

macOS 14.5 beta (23F5049f)

* Safari Version 17.5 (19618.2.4.11.2)
* System Firmware Version: 10151.120.115.0.4 (M1 based Macs)
* Darwin Kernel Version 23.5.0: Tue Mar 26 20:56:58 PDT 2024; root:xnu-10063.120.88.501.3~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

macOS 14.4.1 (23E224)

* Safari Version 17.4.1 (19618.1.15.11.14)
* System Firmware Version: 10151.101.3 (M1 based Macs)
* Darwin Kernel Version 23.4.0: Fri Mar 15 00:12:41 PDT 2024; root:xnu-10063.101.17~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

macOS 14.4 (23E214)

* Safari Version 17.4 (19618.1.15.11.12)
* System Firmware Version: 10151.101.3 (M1 based Macs)
* Darwin Kernel Version 23.4.0: Wed Feb 21 21:44:06 PST 2024; root:xnu-10063.101.15~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

Apple Music/TV is now 1.4.5.25 from 1.4.4.48
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)