Apple

5 Things to Know About macOS Sonoma 14.2 Right Now

Published

5 months ago

12/07/2023

Apple’s confirmed a new macOS Sonoma 14.2 update for Mac.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 is in beta testing ahead of its public release later this year. The software is a milestone release which means it will bring a mix of new features, bug fixes, and security patches to compatible Mac models.

Update: macOS Sonoma 14.2 is live. For more about its performance and download, check out our guide.

We don’t have an official macOS Sonoma 14.2 release date yet, but Mac users who don’t want to wait can download a pre-release version of the software right now.

With macOS Sonoma 14.2 confirmed, we want to take you through everything there is to know about the second major update to macOS Sonoma.

Table of Contents

In this guide we’ll take you through the update’s known changes, what you can expect from the macOS Sonoma 14.2 release date and release time, information about the beta, and more.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Beta

Apple’s pushed the macOS Sonoma 14.2 beta to developers and the general public.

Before you download the macOS Sonoma 14.2 beta onto your Mac, note that pre-release software is typically plagued with bugs and performance issues.

These issues could impact the performance of your core apps, your Mac’s battery life, and its overall speed. Most people shouldn’t use beta software as a daily driver.

While you might be able to fix some issues on your own, other bugs and performance issues will probably require a fix from Apple down the road.

If you can’t stand the macOS Sonoma 14.2 beta’s performance on your Mac, you can always downgrade back to stable macOS software.

Apple is currently on the final macOS Sonoma 14.2 beta, also known as the Release Candidate or RC.

Of note, Apple’s pushed a second version of the RC to beta testers. The second macOS Sonoma 14.2 RC build is dubbed 23C64, up from 23C63.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Beta Problems

If you download the macOS Sonoma 14.2 beta and run into bugs or performance issues, here are a few resources that could help.

Before you get in touch with Apple support, have a look at our list of fixes for the most common macOS Sonoma problems. We’ve also released a guide that shows you how to fix macOS Sonoma battery life problems.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our guides, head over to Apple’s discussion forums. If they can’t help you, you can get in contact with customer support via Apple’s website.

If you still can’t fix your issue(s), you might want to schedule an appointment to see a Genius at your local Apple Store.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Release Date

Apple hasn’t confirmed a macOS Sonoma 14.2 release date, but it should officially arrive next week alongside iOS 17.2 for iPhone and watchOS 10.2 for Apple Watch.

For more about the macOS Sonoma 14.2 release date, check out our guide.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Release Time

We don’t have an official macOS Sonoma 14.2 release date yet, but we know exactly when Apple will roll the software out on whatever date it selects.

The official version of macOS Sonoma 14.2 will most likely arrive in and around 10AM Pacific. Keep this in mind if you plan to install the official version of macOS Sonoma 14.2 right away.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Features

Apple’s milestone updates (macOS x.x) typically bring a mix of changes and that’s exactly what macOS Sonoma 14.2 brings to the table.

Here’s the full macOS Sonoma 14.2 change log, courtesy of Apple:

PDFs

Enhanced AutoFill identifies fields in PDFs and other forms enabling you to populate them with information such as names and addresses from your contacts

Messages

Catch-up arrow lets you easily jump to your first unread message in a conversation by clicking the arrow visible in the top-right corner
Add sticker option in the context menu lets you add a sticker directly to a bubble
Contact Key Verification provides automatic alerts and Contact Verification Codes to help verify people facing extraordinary digital threats are messaging only with the people they intend

Weather

Precipitation amounts help you stay on top of rain and snow conditions for a given day over the next 10 days
New widgets let you choose from next-hour precipitation, daily forecast, sunrise and sunset times, and current conditions such as Air Quality, Feels Like, and wind speed
Wind map snapshot helps you quickly assess wind patterns and access the animated wind map overlay to prepare for forecasted wind conditions for the next 24 hours

Clock

Multiple timers let you run several timers simultaneously and create a name for each timer
Timer presets help you quickly start a timer with a range of preset options
Recents makes it easy to restart your recently used timers

Other Features

Favorite Songs Playlist in Apple Music lets you quickly get back to the songs you mark as favorites
Use Listening History in Apple Music can be disabled in a Focus so music you listen to does not appear in Recently Played or influence your recommendations
Shazam Music Recognition allows you to quickly identify songs playing online or around you, even when wearing AirPods
New keyboard layouts provide support for 7 additional Sámi languages
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices

One feature that isn’t present on board is Apple’s new Journal application. While it’s live on iOS 17.2 for iPhone, it looks like Mac users will have to wait until next year for access.

We also expect macOS Sonoma 14.2 to deliver security patches to Mac users. Apple will reveal those shortly after it pushes the software live.

4 Reasons Not to Install macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 & 10 Reasons You Should

Install macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 for Better Security

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If security is important to you, think about installing Apple's macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 update right away.

macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 includes two security patches and these will help protect your device and it data from harm.

You'll also get patches from updates you missed when you upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14.4.1.

macOS Sonoma 14.4 brought 50+ security updates to compatible Mac devices.

The update also delivered quantum security protection for iMessage. Apple says the upgrade gives iMessage "the strongest security properties of any at-scale messaging protocol in the world."

Apple's macOS Sonoma 14.3 update brought 16 new security patches to Mac. These will help keep your device and its data protected from harm.

macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 featured one security patch and it fixed an issue where a user who shares their screen may unintentionally share the incorrect content.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 included a whopping 20 security patches for your Mac. If you want to learn more about them, head here.

The software also included iMessage Contact Key Verification which improves the security of iMessage.

macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 delivered two security patches, both related to WebKit. These patches were extremely important.

macOS Sonoma 14.1 had numerous security patches on board and they addressed issues with Photos, Safari, Siri and more. You can learn more about them over at Apple.

macOS Sonoma 14.0, the first version of macOS Sonoma, brought a ton of new security patches to Mac. And when we say a ton, we mean a ton.

It delivered over 50 security updates to Mac users. You can learn more about the particulars over on Apple's security site.

In addition to the patches, macOS Sonoma brings additional enhancements to privacy and security including improvements to Communication Safety beyond Messages.

It now includes content sent and received in the systemwide photo picker and third-party apps. You also have an option to blur out sensitive photos and videos before you choose to view them.

There's also an expanded Lockdown Mode which will help protect you against cyber attacks and improved sharing permissions which means you have more control over what you share with the apps on your device.

If you skipped older versions of macOS, you'll get the security patches from those updates with your macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 update.