Apple has released updates to bring macOS Sonoma to version 14.4.1, build 23E224, and that for Ventura 13.6.6. There are also new versions of Safari (17.4.1) for Ventura and Monterey, but the latter doesn’t get the benefit of the security fixes available for Sonoma and Ventura

For Intel Macs, the Sonoma update is around 450 MB, and about 1.1 GB for Apple silicon Macs. Installation is very quick – just a few minutes on Apple silicon Macs.

This addresses the serious bug that caused some Java apps to quit, and another that caused problems recognising USB hubs connected to ports on external displays.

This Sonoma update also fixes the bug that stripped saved versions from files in iCloud Drive that had been evicted. I have now tested this on three different Macs (Intel T2 and Apple silicon) and confirmed that handling of saved versions in 14.4.1 has now returned to that expected. Provided that a file hasn’t been evicted when running 14.4, its existing saved versions should now remain intact in 14.4.1, and are preserved following eviction in 14.4.1. That may not apply to files that were evicted in 14.4, though.

Security release notes are now available here for Sonoma, and here for Ventura. These list two vulnerabilities fixed, one in CoreMedia, the other in WebRTC.

There don’t appear to be any firmware updates, at least not to T2 or Apple silicon models.

Checking through file versions, there’s only one bundled app, Home, that has a tiny build increment. Safari is updated to version Safari, version 17.4.1 (19618.1.15.11.14).

In the /System/Library folder, there are the following changes:

• Tiny build increments in the FileProvider and FinderSync frameworks,
• Similar increments in Backup, various FileProvider and Finder, and SafariSafeBrowsing private frameworks.

Last updated 2305 GMT 25 March 2024.