What Mac users can expect as Apple's latest MacOS Sonoma arrives
If you have been anticipating the release of Apple's latest macOS Sonoma (macOS 14), the wait is finally over.
Apple unveiled this latest iteration of its Mac operating system at the annual WWDC event in June 2023, and now it's making its way to Mac users worldwide starting today, September 26.
As of June 2023, macOS held a substantial share of over 20% in the global market for desktop PC operating systems emphasizing the significant presence of Macintosh in the desktop PC market, according to Statista.
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Now available to be shipped to a portion of the 100 million Mac users globally, per Techjury's estimates, macOS Sonoma is launching with several user-focused enhancements, spanning gaming, productivity, and security, delivering a well-rounded and improved Mac experience.
From captivating animated screensavers showcasing global destinations to a Personal Voice feature, allowing you to train your Mac to speak in your voice and convert text to speech, macOS Sonoma introduces a multitude of exciting features.
One of the major feature highlights is the introduction of a new Game Mode feature, a thrilling addition to Apple's long-starved gaming community. The new mode prioritizes GPU and CPU resources for gaming, promising an enhanced gaming experience on Mac. Apple also promised more PC gaming titles coming to the Mac. Additionally, changes aimed at reducing controller latency and enhancing in-game responsiveness are expected.
Other features introduced in macOS Sonoma include a Presenter Overlay feature that overlays the presenter's face onto the presentation in video calls; customizable widgets that offer users a broader widget gallery; streamlined web apps to change frequently visited websites into web apps; Autofill in the Notes app to easily edit PDFs within the app; and an improved search function in Messages and Lockdown Mode to enhance Mac's protection against cyberattacks.
But, before upgrading to macOS Sonoma to enjoy the new features, you have to ensure your Mac's compatibility with the new version. Supported Mac models include iMac (2019 and later), iMac Pro (2017), Mac Pro (2019 and later), Mac Studio (2022 and later), MacBook Air (2018 and later), MacBook Pro (2018 and later), and Mac mini (2018 and later).
The question remains whether these new features will be enticing enough for Mac users to shift from Apple's macOS Catalina (10.15). Released in October 2019, macOS Catalina continues to be the most widely used version of macOS with 87.44% market share globally, as of January 2023, according to Statista.
However, reporting discrepancies may have inaccurately inflated Catalina's market share, as Big Sur's market statistics from Apple are unavailable.