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macOS 14 Sonoma: The Ars Technica review

If at first you don't create usable desktop widgets, try, try again.

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macOS 14 Sonoma: The Ars Technica review
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I was preparing to write an intro calling macOS Sonoma—version 14.0 of Apple's desktop operating system, for those of you who can't keep the ever-lengthening list of California codenames straight—a "low-key" or "small" release. Because it definitely feels that way, and it's tempting to think that Apple is taking it easy on new features for older OSes because it's devoting so much internal time to VisionOS and the Vision Pro.

Further Reading

macOS 13 Ventura: The Ars Technica review

But looking back, I've said something along those lines for each of the last few macOS releases (and several others before that). Honestly, these days, what macOS update hasn't been "low-key"? Every one since Big Sur (11.0) overhauled the UI and added Apple Silicon support has been content to add a few pieces on top of the foundation, fiddle a bit with under-the-hood enhancements and new security measures, maintain feature parity with iOS for the built-in apps, and call it a day. That's what Sonoma does, too.

So macOS Sonoma is a perfectly typical macOS release, a sort of "Ventura-plus" that probably has one or two additions that any given person will find useful but which otherwise just keeps your Mac secure and avoids weird iCloud compatibility problems with whatever software is running on your phone. You probably don't need to run out and install it, but there's no real reason to avoid it if you're not aware of some specific bug or compatibility problem that affects the software you use. It's business as usual for Mac owners. Let's dive in.

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Andrew Cunningham Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue.

Promoted Comments

Regarding the screen-saver space-on-disk behavior...

MacOS has had the concept of purgeable files for a while. Files that are designated as purgeable are removed as needed when disk space gets low or some other application needs the space. These files are reported as part of the "Available" space in Finder, Disk Utility will show you Used, Free and Available with a breakdown of how much of the Available space is actually purgeable.

Edited - here's a link to a somewhat better discussion:
eclecticlight.co

Where does macOS get its volume free space figures from?

After studying thousand of log entries in less than 2 seconds, this is how macOS updates its values for purgeable and available space. But who uses them?
eclecticlight.co eclecticlight.co
If you try to place a second widget close to that first one, you'll notice that snap-to-grid outlines appear all around it—again, to prevent overlap but also to keep things from looking too messy.

If you hold down the Command (⌘) key while moving a widget it will give you somewhat more freedom. (It still snaps into place when you get within a few pixels of another widget, but it greatly reduces the range where snapping kicks in.)

Channel Ars Technica

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