macOS Ventura vs Sonoma: new features

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Note the version number. Ventura is version 13.x, Sonoma is version 14.x.

2. Make a full backup before you upgrade. Use Time Machine or a disk image with `asr`:

sudo asr -source / -target /Volumes/Backup --erase --format HFS+

Replace `/Volumes/Backup` with the path to your backup volume.

3. Download macOS Sonoma from the Mac App Store. Search for "macOS Sonoma" and click "Download". The installation starts automatically after the download.

4. Go through the installation wizard. Choose the disk where you want to install Sonoma. The installation takes about 30 minutes, depending on your hardware.

5. Configure desktop widgets. Right-click on the desktop and select "Edit Widgets". Drag widgets to the desktop. Widgets are now interactive — you can perform actions directly without opening the associated app.

6. Set up Safari profiles. Open Safari, go to "Settings" and click the "Profiles" tab. Click "New Profile" and give it a name (for example, "Work" or "Personal"). Each profile has its own bookmarks, history, tab groups, and cookies. Profiles sync via iCloud.

7. Install a web app in the Dock. Open a website in Safari, click "Share" and select "Add to Dock". The web app opens in an isolated web view without an address bar. You can launch it like a native application.

8. Activate Game Mode. Start a game and open Control Center. Click the game controller icon to enable Game Mode. This gives the game priority in the allocation of CPU and GPU resources.

Verification

Check whether the upgrade succeeded and whether the new features are active:

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This should show `14.x`. Then test whether widgets on the desktop are clickable and whether Safari profiles appear in the profile menu.

Common Issues

1. Continuity Camera effects do not work. Check that you are using an iPhone 12 or newer and that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are turned on on both devices. Sign in with the same Apple ID on both devices.

2. Web apps do not start after installation. Remove the web app from the Dock and reinstall it via Safari. Check whether the website has a valid HTTPS certificate — web apps require a secure connection.

3. Game Mode is not available. Game Mode only appears while a game is running. Start a game and then open Control Center. If the icon is missing, restart the Mac and try again.

Desktop Widgets

Ventura kept widgets limited to the notification center on the side of the screen. Sonoma places them directly on the desktop. This seems like a cosmetic change, but it is a functional shift: widgets are now interactive. You can add an appointment or control a music playlist without opening the associated app. In Ventura, every widget required a click to take action.

The widgets run in a separate process, isolated from the Finder. This means a frozen widget does not freeze the entire desktop. Apple uses the same sandbox technology for this as for app extensions.

Slow-Motion Screen Savers

Sonoma displays slow-motion footage of landscapes, cityscapes, and seascapes as screen savers. These use advanced video compression and rendering techniques to run efficiently on Macs with more limited GPU capacity. Ventura had screen savers, but without the slow-motion effects and with a more limited range of dynamic content.

The footage is recorded in 4K and stored locally compressed. The system dynamically adjusts the frame rate based on the available GPU capacity. On Macs with Apple Silicon, the screen saver runs at 60 fps; on older Intel models, this drops to 30 fps without visual quality loss.

Video Calls: Presenter Overlay and 3D Effects

Sonoma introduces a presenter overlay that visually keeps the user on top of the shared screen during video calls. The 3D effects — spatial audio and depth control — work via Continuity Camera and require an iPhone 12 or newer. This strengthens the synergy between Mac and iPhone.

The presenter overlay uses the Mac's Neural Engine to segment the person from the background in real time. This happens locally on the device; no video footage is sent to Apple servers. The 3D effects use the iPhone's TrueDepth camera and gyroscope to calculate depth information.

Ventura already supported Continuity Camera, but without these advanced effects. The features depend on the more powerful sensors and processors in newer iPhones.

Safari profiles

Safari profiles separate work and personal life within the same browser. Each profile has its own bookmarks, history, tab groups, and cookies. This is a technical advance in privacy management and user isolation within a single application.

In Ventura, users had to use multiple user accounts or private windows to achieve similar functionality. That was less user-friendly and less robust — cookies and history became mixed together.

The profiles sync via iCloud across devices. This means a profile on the Mac is also available on iPhone and iPad, with the same tab groups and passwords.

Web apps in the Dock

Sonoma can install websites as web apps in the Dock. These open in their own window without an address bar or browser interface. This is based on Progressive Web App (PWA) technology.

Technically, such a web app runs in an isolated webview. This improves security and performance. The web app has access to macOS features such as notifications and keyboard shortcuts, but cannot access files outside its own sandbox.

In Ventura, this functionality was limited or dependent on third-party tools such as Fluid or Epichrome. Native support in Sonoma means greater stability and better integration with the operating system.

Game Mode

Sonoma includes a Game Mode that gives priority to games in the allocation of CPU and GPU resources. This ensures a more consistent frame rate and lower latency. The mode also optimizes the network stack and reduces internal delays in system processes that are not directly related to gaming.

In Ventura, no such mode was present. Games had to compete with other background processes in the same way as any other application.

Game Mode is a system layer that runs as soon as a game is in the foreground. It raises the priority of game threads and lowers the priority of background processes. This happens dynamically and automatically; there is no configuration file.

The presence of a specific Game Mode points to a strategic choice by Apple to make macOS more serious as a gaming platform, despite the limited game library compared to Windows.

Release date and release cycle

Apple released macOS Sonoma on September 26, 2023 at 7:00 PM Dutch time. This follows the annual release cycle that Apple has used since macOS High Sierra in 2017. Ventura appeared on October 24, 2022.

The predictable release calendar allows developers and businesses to prepare for updates, migrations, and compatibility tests. The release date of Sonoma was confirmed by several Dutch-language tech publications, including the exact time of the global launch.

Underlying system technology

Both Ventura and Sonoma use APFS (Apple File System) as the standard file system. APFS supports snapshots, clones, encryption, and efficient space usage through space sharing between volumes. This is not new functionality in Sonoma — APFS was introduced in macOS High Sierra — but it remains the technological foundation for the performance and reliability of both versions.

Sonoma introduces no fundamental changes to the shell, terminal, or system tools that are common on Linux systems. Tools such as `find`, `zip`, and `bash` are present in macOS — which is based on Unix — but are not mentioned as part of the new functionality in Sonoma. This suggests that the focus of Sonoma is on user experience and application integration rather than on low-level system updates.

SSH (Secure Shell) remains a crucial part of macOS for system administrators and developers. In both Ventura and Sonoma, OpenSSH is available by default via the terminal, enabling remote access, port forwarding, and file transfer. None of the sources point to changes in the SSH implementation between the two versions.

Sonoma uses the same package management strategy as Ventura: no system-wide package management as in Fedora (with DNF) or NixOS (with Nix), but reliance on the App Store, Homebrew, or direct downloads. Homebrew, although not installed by default, is often used on macOS to install tools such as `wget`, `ffmpeg`, or `node`. The presence of Homebrew is not specific to Sonoma, but the ability to install web apps as apps may reduce the need for some CLI tools for average users.

What this means for administrators

The upgrade from Ventura to Sonoma is not an intervention in the system architecture. The kernel, file system, and network stack remain unchanged. The new features — widgets, screen savers, Safari profiles, web apps, video effects, and Game Mode — all run at the application level.

For administrators running macOS in a server environment, the upgrade is therefore low risk. SSH functionality remains intact, APFS remains the file system, and terminal tools do not change. The biggest impact is in the user layer: Safari profiles may require an update to configuration profiles if you roll out managed Macs via MDM.

The web app functionality can be relevant for organizations that use web-based internal tools. A web app in the Dock behaves like a native application, including notifications. This can reduce the need for separate desktop applications.

Game Mode is irrelevant for most server environments, but for developers testing games on macOS, it can affect performance. The mode gives games priority over other processes, which means background tasks may show more latency during testing.

The release date of September 26, 2023, marks not only a technological step, but also a strategic choice by Apple to position macOS as a full-fledged platform for both work and entertainment. Whether that positioning holds up depends on the extent to which developers actually make use of the new capabilities — particularly web apps and Game Mode.