hoakley Macs, Technology

First details of macOS 15 Sequoia

As expected, Apple announced the new versions of its operating systems at the opening of WWDC on Monday 10 June. This article summarises some of the most important details it has given so far, both in the Keynote and the subsequent Platforms State of the Union.

Which versions of macOS support which Macs?

macOS 13 Ventura, now receiving security updates only to 2025:

  • iMac18,1, 18,3, 19,1
  • MacBook10,1
  • MacBookPro14,1, 14,2, 14,3
  • additional Intel (non-T2) models using OCLP
  • all Intel Macs with T2 chips
  • most Apple silicon Macs (some require newer).

macOS 14 Sonoma, now receiving security updates only to 2026:

  • iMac19,1
  • additional Intel (non-T2) models using OCLP
  • all Intel Macs with T2 chips
  • all Apple silicon Macs.

macOS 15 Sequoia, current version from September 2024 (support due to end in 2027):

  • iMac19,1, all T2 iMacs including iMac Pro from 2017
  • MacBook Air 2020 and later, but not 2018 or 2019
  • MacBook Pro 2018 and later (all T2 models)
  • Mac mini 2018 and later
  • Mac Pro 2019 and later
  • all Apple silicon Macs.

However, Apple Intelligence will only be available on Apple silicon Macs. Because a T2 chip isn’t required by Intel Macs, it’s possible that OCLP will enable other Intel Macs to run Sequoia.

Major features (non-AI)

For many, iPhone Mirroring promises to be one of the most-used new features, with its secure integration of access to your iPhone from your Mac. This will be available on supported Intel T2 and Apple silicon Macs only, so not on the iMac19,1.

Safari has extensive new features, and includes a redesigned Reader with integrated AI/ML assistance in summaries and more. Existing password management in Safari and System Settings is moving into a new Passwords app, which looks as if it will be a match for the better third-party password managers, complete with full iCloud synchronisation.

On both macOS and iPadOS, Notes is being enhanced to incorporate Math Notes, supporting in-line arithmetic and maths.

Although a redesign of System Settings had been widely rumoured, the only part of it that Apple has announced so far is improved Privacy & Security settings, aimed to make it easier to manage. I’ll believe that when I see it.

These features are intended for full release in the initial version of Sequoia, probably in September. Further details are here.

Apple Intelligence

Apple’s integrated AI and ML has naturally stolen the headlines, but at present these features are slated to appear in beta in the initial version of Sequoia. They fall into four main areas.

Available in almost all apps that use standard macOS APIs to display text, Writing Tools will use on-device AI/ML to help rewrite, proofread and summarise text documents and passages. Apps will be able to customise these features too.

Image Playgrounds are in a new API, claimed to be easy for third-party apps to access, and provide fun images based on their context, again using on-device AI/ML. Related to those are Genmoji, custom emoji-like inline images. These are based on the existing AttributedString API, so should be straightforward to support in many apps that already offer styled text. There is also the hope that they will ensure that we don’t have to suffer the annual addition of yet more emoji.

App integration through Siri is likely to be among the most impressive of these additions. Using App Intents, these automate and integrate features in existing apps like voice-controlled Shortcuts on steroids. Apple has already demonstrated how this approach can derive information from analysing images and use that in other contexts, such as working out the cost of a round of beer from a couple of photos. App Intents are a recent addition to macOS. While they’re not particularly elaborate, they are quite opaque, particularly for more traditional apps.

Further information is available here.

As expected, Apple laid great emphasis on how much of this will be performed on-device to ensure total privacy. Where off-device services are required, Apple is providing what it terms Private Cloud Compute, using servers with Apple silicon chips and overseen by independent experts to verify privacy measures. Apple has just published an article on its Security blog explaining how that will work.

Apple made only brief mention of ChatGPT integration, and made it clear that was optional. Apple confirmed that Xcode 16 with Swift 6 would be released later this year, and they are already available in beta. Xcode 16 also comes with AI assistance.

macOS virtualisation on Apple silicon Macs

Although not mentioned in Apple’s presentations yet, Sequoia finally enables Apple ID and iCloud access from macOS virtual machines using its lightweight virtualisation. However, this only applies when virtualising macOS 15 guests on a macOS 15 host, and is only supported when the VM is created from a macOS 15 IPSW image file. This won’t be available to VMs that are upgraded from earlier versions of macOS, though. Details are published here.