5 Things to Know About the macOS Sonoma 14.2 Update

Apple’s macOS Sonoma 14.2 is out of beta testing and it’s available to download right now if you own a compatible Mac.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 is a milestone upgrade, the second for the company’s macOS Sonoma operating system, and it brings new features, enhancements, and under-the-hood improvements to Macs.

If your Mac is lingering on macOS Ventura or an older version of macOS, this is the version of macOS Sonoma you’ll see if you decide to move your Mac to the operating system.

With that in mind, we want to take you through everything you need to know about Apple’s macOS Sonoma 14.2 update for Mac right now.

In this guide we’ll highlight macOS Sonoma 14.2’s changes, offer some thoughts about the software’s performance, go over the current list of macOS Sonoma problems, and more.

We’ll start with a quick look at macOS Sonoma 14.2’s performance.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Review

Even if your Mac is running the latest version of macOS Sonoma, you’ll see a fairly large download. After the download is complete, the installation should take around 10 or so minutes to finish up.

For more on the macOS Sonoma 14.2 download and installation, take a look at our guide. It’ll walk you through everything you need to know before you click install.

We’ve been using macOS Sonoma 14.2 on a 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) for a short time and here’s what we’ve learned about its performance thus far:

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Battery Life & Connectivity

• Battery life is stable right now, we haven’t noticed any abnormal drain
• Wi-Fi connectivity is fast and reliable
• Bluetooth is also working normally

App Performance

• Third-party apps, including Twitter, Slack, Chrome, and Spotify are working properly
• First party apps like Safari and Podcasts are also stable at the moment

Speed

• macOS Sonoma 14.2 feels fast and we haven’t run into any UI lag

If your Mac is struggling on macOS Sonoma 14.1.2, or an older version of macOS, you might want to install macOS Sonoma 14.2 on your Mac today.

If you’re feeling leery about the move, we’ve put together a list of the best reasons to, and not to, install the latest version of macOS Sonoma 14.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Problems

macOS Sonoma 14.2 went through a very extensive beta process. The beta eliminated bugs and performance issues, but problems have unsurprisingly popped up in the final release.

We haven’t noticed any glaring problems on our Macs yet, but some users are complaining about unstable Wi-Fi, broken Bluetooth, abnormal battery drain, and problems with various first and third-party applications.

If you run into issues with macOS Sonoma 14.2, here are a few resources that could help.

First, have a look at our list of fixes for the most common macOS Sonoma problems. If your Mac’s battery life is struggling, check out our fixes for 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 the users there can’t help you, you might want to get in touch with Apple via its website.

If you still can’t fix your issue(s), you’ll probably want to schedule an appointment at your local Apple Store.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 Features

Apple’s milestone updates (macOS x.x) typically bring a mix of changes to compatible Macs and that’s exactly what macOS Sonoma 14.2 has on board.

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

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.

macOS Sonoma 14.2 also deliver security patches to Mac users. You can learn more about them over on Apple’s security site.

macOS Sonoma Downgrade

If you run into problems on macOS Sonoma 14.2, you can try moving your Mac’s software back to an older version if you think it could help.

If you’re interested in moving back to older software, have a look at our downgrade guide. It will help you get familiar with the process and make the move.

What’s Next

Apple’s confirmed a new macOS Sonoma 14.3 update and the software’s currently in beta testing ahead of a public release next year.

The company hasn’t confirmed a release date for the firmware, but we expect it to land in late January or early February alongside iOS 17.3 for iPhone.

If you don’t want to wait for the official release, you can download the macOS Sonoma 14.3 beta on your Mac right now.

For more about macOS Sonoma 14.3 and the beta, have a look at our walkthrough. And for more about the macOS Sonoma 14.3 release date, check out our guide.

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.

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