Should I Upgrade to macOS Sonoma?

For many people, yes. For you? Well, let's take a look

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Published on January 31, 2024

Are you trying to decide if you should upgrade to macOS 14 Sonoma? This article will help you figure out if it’s the right move for you.

If you have some very specific software that your job is dependent on, check with the publisher's website to make sure it's compatible. While you can always downgrade from Sonoma, it's a hassle and, more critically, it takes time. Don't upgrade unless you know job critical software is compatible.

Reasons for Upgrading

Updated operating systems bring new features and usually fix many software bugs. Whether or not Sonoma belongs on your Mac depends mainly on what you hope to get out of it.

You want to stay up-to-date: Support for previous iterations of macOS didn’t suddenly stop when Sonoma was released, so holding off on the update won’t leave macOS 11 Big Sur and newer vulnerable. However, these older versions will eventually lose support and, by extension, stop receiving important security updates. Staying current will keep your system protected for longer and ensure that you have access to new Sonoma-exclusive features as they’re made available.
You’re interested in its new key features: Rather than implementing big sweeping changes, Sonoma provides several minor additions that benefit more particular situations. For example, the new OS includes several new video conferencing features to make remote communication and presentations easier to manage. It also comes with multiple other small changes to streamline how you interact with your Mac.

System Compatibility

Sonoma isn’t compatible with all makes and models of Macs, but it should run just fine on any Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3) systems. That said, there have been some user reports of Sonoma slowing performance on Intel-based Macs.

In general, a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air from 2018 or newer, Retina iMacs from 2019 and later, the 2017 iMac Pro, 2018 and newer Mac Minis, the Mac Studio, and Mac Pros from 2019 and later will all run Sonoma.

Apple has a complete list of Sonoma-compatible Macs you can check to ensure the new operating system will run on it.

If your Mac doesn’t fall into any of these categories, you should hold off on upgrading to Sonoma. Similarly, if you use an Intel Mac, you should look into whether or not it may encounter performance issues after upgrading before you attempt to install the new OS. If you decide to upgrade your Intel Mac, backup your system first or save everything to an external hard drive before attempting—in case you choose to return to the previous version later.

What’s the Difference?

There is no one feature distinguishing macOS 14 Sonoma from previous versions. Sonoma mostly brings along various small additions.

Desktop widgets: Widgets in Sonoma no longer rely on the Dashboard or Control Center and can instead be placed directly on the desktop. You can add everything from Calendars to Weather as an always-present part of your regular desktop display, with multiple sizes and orientations. Additionally, many of these widgets (some of which can be brought over from a connected iPhone or iPad) can be clicked on to open up their respective apps immediately.
Safari: Apple’s default web browser has also received some new talking points, starting with individual profiles that can be set up to keep browsing history, cookies, and more in separate groups. For example, you could create a profile for work and another for personal matters, swap between them and their associated bookmarks, etc., as needed. Private browsing windows lock automatically when you move away from them, requiring you to enter your passcode or use TouchID or FaceID to unlock them. You can even create a special icon in the Dock (or drag it to the desktop) for a particular website—like turning a bookmark into an app icon—to quickly access the sites you always use.

Quick app hiding: One subtle but potentially helpful change is the option to immediately hide all open apps by clicking on the Desktop. So if any part of your desktop is visible on your screen and you need to jump to it, all you have to do is click that space, and everything else will be pushed off to the sides of the screen. Then click the desktop again to pull it all back in the order it was originally in.
Video conferencing improvements: The biggest batch of Sonoma’s changes has to do with the new features it brings to videos and video conferencing. A new video menu bar item provides quick access to many new options with a single click and is accessible from just about anywhere. Presenter Overlay allows you to turn your face-cam feed into a small bubble you can manually move around your presentation screen or superimpose a cutout of yourself. Meanwhile, Portrait and Studio Light can subdue your video backgrounds to make your face (or body if more of you is in frame) stand out more clearly. And if you aren’t fond of having Center Stage automatically track and zoom in or out as you move around. In that case, new manual framing adjustments let you control camera positioning and zoom yourself.

Is It Worth It?

Whether or not a Sonoma update is worth your time and energy depends mainly on your interest in the new features it adds and whether your Mac is Intel- or Silicon-based. If you aren’t terribly excited by desktop widgets, you don’t use Safari much, or you aren’t taking part in many video calls or presentations, then there’s not much reason to change. And if you have an Intel Mac, the change could bog down your performance.

If you find yourself in front of a video camera often, using Safari extensively, etc., then it is worth considering.

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