macOS 14.5, macOS 14.6 & macOS 15: What’s Coming Next for Mac

With new software on the way, we thought it wise to provide Mac users with a macOS update timeline covering everything we should see Apple release in the spring, summer, and early fall.

Since macOS Sonoma 14’s release in September, Apple’s released numerous updates for the platform. Most recently the company released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1.

The company isn’t stopping there and Mac owners can expect a steady stream of point updates (macOS x.x.x) and milestone upgrades (macOS x.x) to roll out in the months ahead.

Thanks to leaks, Apple’s beta program, and many years of experience covering software, we can put together a look at macOS Sonoma’s future in 2024.

We’ve also heard a bit about macOS Sonoma’s successor, macOS 15.

So, if you’ve been curious about what’s in Apple’s pipeline, here’s a quick look at what’s coming next from Apple in terms of macOS updates.

This guide will take you through known features, release dates, and betas. It will also lead you through the unknown so you can set proper expectations.

macOS Sonoma 14.5

The next major release for macOS Sonoma will be macOS Sonoma 14.5.

The software is currently in beta testing and we expect the software to roll out to compatible Mac models in May.

macOS Sonoma 14.6 & macOS Sonoma 14.7

If Apple sticks to its usual protocol for milestone upgrades, macOS Sonoma 14.6 will arrive in July. We expect it to enter beta testing in May.

macOS Sonoma’s development will then start to slow down as Apple focuses on the future of macOS.

The next milestone version of macOS Sonoma, macOS Sonoma 14.7, will probably roll out alongside macOS 15 in the fall.

We’ll likely see point upgrades arrive in between these milestone upgrades and we may see some Rapid Security Response updates as well.

Rapid Security Response updates are much smaller than typical macOS software releases and, according to Apple, they “deliver important security improvements between software updates—for example, improvements to the Safari web browser, the WebKit framework stack, or other critical system libraries.”

We’ve only seen a few Rapid Security Response updates for Mac, but we may see a few in the lead up to macOS 15’s release later this year.

macOS 15 Update

Apple’s currently working on the next version of macOS, presumably called macOS 15.

We’ve put together a larger guide that covers macOS 15 in detail, but here are a few items of note:

• macOS 15 will launch, in beta form, at WWDC 2024 in June.
• The macOS 15 release date should land in September.
• It should support most macOS Sonoma-powered Macs.
• Apple is reportedly planning big upgrades to AI and Siri.
• There reportedly won’t be a major redesign.

We’ll continue to see early information about Sonoma’s successor. So, in addition to tracking new versions of macOS Sonoma, you’ll also want to keep an eye on the Mac’s next operating system.