14 DAY TRIAL // macOS Sonoma comes with both visual and functional enhancements, such as interactive desktop widgets, Apple TV screensavers, screen sharing and presentation tools, Safari profiles, and the ability to save web apps to your Dock.
This new version of macOS will have a significant visual impact on your Mac’s desktop, making it even more of a centerpiece on your desk. Interactive widgets add functionality in style, slow-motion screensavers work seamlessly with the redesigned Lock Screen, and tons of other improvements are waiting to be discovered.
Interactive desktop widgets that blend form and function
Probably the most noteworthy feature, at least for most users, is the ability to add widgets to your desktop. You’ll be familiar with these from your smartphone, and perhaps the many third-party apps that have sought to add this functionality over the years.
Apple’s implementation is impressive, with plenty of options, easy management, and a simple layout system that keeps everything nice and orderly. When a window is in the foreground, widgets are faded to avoid distractions. However, customization is fairly limited, and there’s no way to temporarily toggle all widgets on or off.
You can place a calendar or clock on your desktop, add a weather forecast, keep your reminders on screen, or cycle through photos in an album, just to name a few options. Shortcuts can also be made into widgets, allowing for almost endless creativity, and iPhone widgets are supported directly.
Third-party developers are free to add interactive widgets of their own, and I’m very curious to see what they can come up with, as lots of popular apps could be enhanced in this manner.
Aerial screensavers make their way to macOS
All the way back in 2015, Apple TVs showcased some breathtaking slow-motion screensavers captured in various locations around the world. With apps like Aerial, you could use these on macOS as well, but Apple has now decided to officially bring them to your Mac.
You’ll find them in the same old section in your Settings, and there are dozens to choose from, organized into categories based on theme and location. You can select a specific one or shuffle between all the screensavers in a certain category or the entire collection.
They will keep playing on your Lock Screen and can serve as wallpapers. But here’s the really cool thing: when you start using your Mac again after a break, the screensaver is paused at the specified moment in the video; that static image becomes your wallpaper, and the next time the screen is locked or the screensaver activated, the video resumes from the same spot.
These screensavers, combined with the new Lock Screen and desktop widgets, make for a gorgeous visual overhaul that will turn your Mac into an even more aesthetically pleasing addition to any workspace. If you want style, Sonoma certainly provides.
Presenter Overlay and screen sharing improvements
Another important new feature is Presenter Overlay. It allows you to place yourself on top of content visible via screen sharing, making it easier to give presentations without splitting your viewers’ attention. Since the feature attempts to remove your background automatically, it’s not going to be perfect, and a lot of factors will come into play.
A smaller overlay is also available, which appears as a small bubble that can be moved around. This may be ideal if you just want to be visible without taking up too much space. Presenter Overlay works in FaceTime, Zoom, and most popular video conferencing apps.
There are a few other enhancements as well. A new screen sharing picker is available across all conferencing apps, you can add or remove windows or apps while sharing, and video quality has also been improved.
With these new features and changes, macOS becomes an even better option for professionals working remotely. It’s difficult not to appreciate the kinds of features and seamless integration you get from built-in software, all available in a brand-new Mac.
Safari gets profiles, dockable web apps, and more
While not as feature-rich as most other browsers, Safari has been getting a lot of attention from Apple in the past few years. With Sonoma, you are now able to create profiles for different topics, allowing you to split your tab groups, history, cookies, extensions, and favorites into profiles intended for work, personal use, entertainment, and so on.
Something a lot of users will love is that you can now turn any website into a web app and place it in your Dock. It’s a feature found in various third-party apps, and Apple’s implementation is exactly what you’d expect: simple, elegant, and efficient. You can create these apps from Safari’s File menu, and it’s a great way to minimize tab clutter and keep useful websites within reach.
For those who value their privacy, Safari can now lock private browsing windows while they’re not being used. What’s more, in trying to stay true to its name, Private Browsing has more effective tracker blocking, fingerprinting and link tracking protection, and you have the option to designate a separate search engine for this mode.
Do more with Notes and PDFs
The Notes app becomes a bit more versatile. Full-width PDFs are displayed in your notes, making them easier to navigate, and you can even have multiple documents in the same note. Additionally, you can insert links to other notes, which can be quite helpful when dealing with topics that are already covered somewhere else.
A very interesting PDF-related feature, which sadly isn’t available at launch, will allow you to autofill information saved to Contacts into a PDF file. Fillable fields should be detected automatically, and even if it won’t be perfect, it could speed things up quite a bit.
Lots of other enhancements across the board
Messages continues to get better and better. This year, the app introduces search filters, a catch-up arrow for jumping to the first unseen message, an easier way to use stickers, and quick location sharing, among others.
Just like on iOS and iPadOS, autocorrect makes it a bit more obvious that a word has been changed, and it should be more accurate than before thanks to a new transformer language model.
As far as privacy and security are concerned, Sonoma gives us more control over what apps can access from Photos and Calendar, warnings for sensitive content are available for Messages and third-party apps, and Lockdown Mode provides even more protection, at the cost of some functionality, for those who need it.
If you’re a gamer and running an Apple Silicon device, you’ll be happy to learn that Game Mode will automatically increase game CPU and GPU priority while running, which should provide a small boost to performance. Controllers, AirPods, and other wireless devices also benefit from reduced latency.
The Good
The new slow-motion screensavers, coupled with the redesigned Lock Screen, turn your Mac into a certified picture frame, one that's looking more and more similar to your iPhone and iPad.
Enhancements to screen sharing and presentation features make macOS an even better platform for professionals, especially those who want things to work right out of the box.
Safari should have an easier time competing with the likes of Chrome thanks to several new features and a continued focus on privacy.
Gaming on Apple Silicon Macs should be a little better thanks to Game Mode, which prioritizes resource usage appropriately when needed.
