Apple on September 16 released macOS Sequoia, the latest version of the company’s Mac operating system. macOS Sequoia introduces interactive iPhone Mirroring, easier window tiling, a new Passwords app, and updated capabilities across the platform.
In this article, we’ve selected 50 new features and lesser-known changes that are worth checking out if you’re upgrading. What do you think of macOS Sequoia so far? Let us know in the comments.
1. Distraction Control
If you are tired of pop-ups and banners interrupting your web browsing experience, it’s worth getting to know Distraction Control, a new Safari feature that helps you focus on the content that matters by minimizing intrusive elements on webpages. While it’s not designed as an ad blocker, Distraction Control can significantly improve your reading experience by hiding static distractions.
To nix a distracting item on a webpage, click the Page menu icon in the address bar and select Hide Distracting Items. Then simply hover your pointer over the item in question, whereupon it will be auto-selected for removal. With another click, the distraction will disintegrate before your eyes. When you’re finished, click Done in the address bar. If you’re on a webpage where you’ve hidden items, a crossed out eye icon will appear in the address bar, indicating that you can make them visible again by revisiting the Page menu and selecting Show Hidden Items.
2. Window Tiling
With macOS Sequoia, Apple has introduced a new window tiling management feature that aims to make it easy to arrange open windows into a layout that works best for you. When you drag a window to the edge of the screen, macOS Sequoia suggests a tiled position by displaying a frame, and you release the window to drop it right into place. This way, you can quickly arrange two app windows side by side, or place four windows in corners to keep several apps in view at once. When a window has been dragged to tile on one side or the other, dragging it back immediately resizes it to its original width and height.
macOS 15 also adds new tiling options to the green traffic light in the top corner of windows. Hover your pointer over the green button, and a menu appears with options to move and resize or fill and arrange all open windows.
3. Adjust AirPods Adaptive Audio
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro have an Adaptive Audio feature that includes Adaptive Noise Control, Personalized Volume, and Conversation Awareness, which are all features that adjust sound and Active Noise Cancellation in response to the environment around you.
Previously, Adaptive Audio was an all or nothing setting, but that’s changed in macOS Sequoia. Apple has added a “Customize Adaptive Audio” menu that lets you adjust the setting to allow for more or less noise.
4. AirPods Pro Head Gestures
With the new head gesture features, users can control Siri on the AirPods Pro with a shake or a nod of the head. If you get a phone call, for example, you can shake your head no if you don’t want to answer it, or nod to accept the call. Siri interactions can be used for responding to incoming messages, calls, and notifications.
In Sequoia, Apple has added a section to the AirPods Pro menu in System Settings, enabling you to turn the gestures on and off.
Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit 2 allows developers to run unmodified Windows executables on Apple silicon Macs using the evaluation environment for Windows PC games, but end users can use it to run games too. The latest version supports an even larger set of game technologies, improved graphics and compute compatibility, ray tracing, the AVX2 instruction set, and increased performance.
6. New Dynamic Wallpapers
Sequoia features several new wallpapers, including dynamic versions. The wallpapers feature the sequoia trees that macOS Sequoia is named for. The imagery likely comes from Sequoia National Park, located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. There are three separate versions of the wallpaper for different times of day: Sequoia Sunrise, Sequoia Morning, and Sequoia Night.
Each wallpaper is animated and will shift slightly at the Lock Screen when you unlock your Mac, plus there is an option to set it as a screen saver. There’s also a fun new Macintosh dynamic wallpaper and screensaver combination that highlights classic Mac icons.
7. New Chess Graphics
Apple has significantly updated the built-in Chess app in macOS Sequoia, marking its first major overhaul since macOS 10.3 in 2003. While not typically frequently used, the Chess app has received a substantial visual upgrade. It now boasts improved textures, lighting effects, and rendering for both the board and pieces. Users can also enjoy new aesthetic options with wood, metal, and marble skins for the game elements. Despite these enhancements, Apple has ensured backwards compatibility allowing users to access and continue their previously saved games in the new version.
8. Safari Video Viewer
When watching a video in Safari, click the menu icon in the left-hand side of the address bar and select the new Video Viewer option. This makes the playing video expand within the Safari window into a kind of theater mode that blurs everything out behind it, bringing the content front and center.
It also includes a native playback controls interface that replaces YouTube’s – or the UI of whatever video you are playing. Options include AirPlay, volume, Picture in Picture, and playback speed.
9. Move & Resize Windows Controls
Accessed from the menu bar, a new “Move & Resize” option in the Window menu allows you to easily manage and arrange windows on your screen by offering various tiling and resizing options. You can move a window to the top, bottom, left, or right half of the screen, or position it into one of the four corners if you prefer a quarter-screen layout.
macOS also provides more flexible arrangements, such as splitting the screen horizontally or vertically, where you can tile windows side by side or one above the other. For even more control, there’s a feature to quickly return a window to its previous size and position, making it easy to undo any changes.
10. Set Scenes in Freeform
In the Freeform app, Apple has introduced “scenes” to make it easier to navigate and present Freeform boards. Scenes are saved views of specific sections of your board, offering a versatile way to organize and present your work. By creating scenes, you can divide your board into distinct, labeled sections, making it easier to navigate through complex content.
To create a scene, open a board with content, then zoom and scroll until you frame the part of your board you want on the screen for your first scene. Then click the three bullets icon and click Add Scene. Simply repeat these steps until you capture all the scenes you want.
11. Collapse Sections in Notes
In the Notes app, if you have long notes with multiple headings, you can now collapse those headings down to create a more compact note.
Any section header can be collapsed, including headings, subheadings, and titles. Just click on a heading and then click on the down arrow to collapse it. Click the arrow again to open it up.
12. New Passwords App
Apple added a dedicated Passwords app in macOS Sequoia, where logins and passwords stored in iCloud Keychain can be accessed. It’s essentially the Passwords section that used to be located in Safari’s settings, but in a dedicated app that makes it easier to find your stored login information.
The app has a simple layout with a search bar in the top-right of the window, so you can look up the information that you’re looking for. If you’ve already used the iCloud Keychain feature, all of your saved logins and passwords are ready to go as soon as you authenticate with Touch ID or your Mac password. There are separate sections for passwords and logins (under All), Passkeys, two-factor authentication codes, Wi-Fi passwords, security warnings, and logins that have been deleted.
You can click in to any of the sections to see what’s listed there, and selecting an individual entry shows the login and password. Each entry has fields for site or app name, username, login, verification code, websites where the login is used, and notes. There’s also an option for changing your password for any given entry.
13. iPhone Mirroring
Apple has added support for iPhone Mirroring, one of the main updates coming to the Mac. iPhone Mirroring is a Continuity feature that lets you control your iPhone from your Mac. When you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on a Mac and an iPhone, you can use iPhone Mirroring to interact with your iPhone even when the iPhone is locked. You can open up and use apps, deal with notifications, send messages, and more.
You can use your Mac keyboard, trackpad, or mouse with your iPhone, which is useful for typing up long emails and other documents on the iPhone, and it provides an easy way to keep up with your iPhone notifications without having to pull out your device and check it. When you click on a notification on your Mac when using iPhone Mirroring, it is supposed to open up right into the app on your iPhone.
In a future update, iPhone Mirroring will allow files, photos, and videos to be dragged and dropped between your iPhone and Mac and vice versa.
14. Screen Recording Permissions
If you use an app that can record or share your screen, a new permissions popup will appear that allows you to permit access for one month. You’ll encounter the same popup for the same app on a monthly basis, as part of Apple’s efforts to improve macOS security measures.
15. iPhone Notifications
In System Settings ➝ Notifications, there’s an “Allow notifications from iPhone” menu that gives you several options. These include options to enable or disable sounds for notifications from iPhone, select which specific app notifications to mirror, and turn the entire feature on and off.
If you want to make access to the new Passwords app a lot more convenient, go to Passwords ➝ Settings… and check the box next to “Show Passwords in Menu Bar.” When you’re next on a website in Safari that you have login credentials for, click the key icon in the menu bar, and you’ll see the dropdown menu automatically detect which login details you’re looking for, ready for you to select. This also works with other browsers that have the iCloud Passwords browser extension installed.
17. Highlight Text in Notes
The Notes app now supports colors for typed text, allowing for highlighting. Apple added five colors, including pink, purple, orange, mint, and blue, with the colors able to be added through the formatting interface. Simply click on the Aa button to get to the color options when a word or phrase is selected.
18. Change Which iPhone to Mirror
In the event that you own more than one iPhone, in System Settings ➝ Desktop & Dock, under “Widgets,” there’s a new iPhone option that lets you choose which iPhone to mirror on your desktop.
19. Safari Highlights
When you’re browsing in Safari, look for a purple sparkle over the tool icon in the browser bar. This indicates Highlights are available. Think of Highlights as a kind of smart assistant within Safari, saving you time and effort by eliminating the need to manually search through lengthy web content.
Click the sparkle to open the Highlights window. This can display address details and operating hours for businesses, and give you quick access to directions. When browsing pages about people, it might show brief biographical information, and for entertainment content it can offer direct links to play songs or summarize reviews for movies and TV shows.
20. Remove Margins From Tiled Windows
If you’re not a fan of the spaces between tiled windows and don’t like how the desktop seeps through the margins, there’s a new option in System Settings ➝ Desktop & Dock that lets you remove them. Under the “Windows” section, look for the toggle called “Tiled windows have margins.”
21. Math Notes
Apple has added a powerful new feature to your Mac’s Calculator app: Math Notes. This integration between Calculator and Notes offers a versatile tool for all your calculation needs. It’s particularly handy for splitting bills, calculating group expenses, or working through more complex mathematical problems.
Math Notes allows you to type equations directly into a note, with automatic solving when you add an equals sign. You can perform a wide range of calculations, including defining variables for more complex math. For example, if you’re planning a night out, you could write “dinner = $57” and “movies = $24” in a note, then simply type “dinner + movies =” to get the total cost. To access the feature, click the calculator symbol at the bottom left of the…
