2023 is the year Apple will debut macOS Sonoma, the 20th version of the Macintosh operating system.

Currently only a beta version is available as Apple continues to make improvements. However, after using the beta version of macOS Sonoma for a few weeks, I have a pretty good sense of what you should expect.

While my macOS Sonoma is a work in progress, it's already giving me an exciting glimpse of what I can expect from the upgrade: interactive widgets, a more powerful Safari, and a dedicated game mode. If the version of macOS Sonoma that ships this fall is the same as the one I've been using for the past few weeks, I'm cautiously optimistic.

In this macOS Sonoma beta review, I'll share my hands-on impressions and show you what I mean when I say that this modest update has some exciting new features.

Apple has yet to confirm an official release date for macOS Sonoma, but it will certainly be available as a free update to all supported Macs in October 2023.

The reason for this is that this is when Apple typically ships its operating systems; Apple shipped macOS Ventura in October 2022 and macOS Monterey in October 2021.

After using the beta version of Sonoma, I'm quite liking what they are adding to Sonoma and think I should upgrade when the final version comes out.

Not sure if that option is available. According to Apple, the Macs that support macOS Sonoma are as follows.

I've been using the beta version of macOS Sonoma for a while now, and while I'm not fully aware of all the changes yet, I'm cautiously optimistic about what awaits those who upgrade.

Of course, the pre-release beta is not the final version, so I can't yet say for sure how pleasant the experience will be when upgrading to Sonoma. However, having used some of the new features firsthand, I think there is a lot to like, regardless of how you use your Mac.

At first glance, Sonoma looks very similar to the previous macOS. Even the new desktop widgets are not immediately recognizable, and it takes a little time to dig in to learn about all the new features. Many are fairly minor, such as a new animated screensaver, animated reactions that can be triggered during video calls (if you have a camera that supports the feature), and an option to save your favorite websites to the Dock as a web app.

But there are also some pretty useful things, such as new widgets and the option to set up multiple profiles in Safari; platforms like Windows and Edge have been able to do this for years, but still, it's a feature Apple is a fan of It's nice to see Apple offer a Frankly, I like Sonoma's widgets better than those offered in Windows 11.

Also, if you are a privacy enthusiast, if your Mac is part of your family, or if you play a lot of games on your Mac, Sonoma has a lot to offer.

For example, you can set sensitive content warnings and image blurring for potentially sensitive images received via the Messages app, share your Safari password with the whole family group, and set your private browser window to be password protected. You can also share your Safari password with a family group, or password-protect a private browser window. It's not hard to imagine how these small upgrades will make your life easier, especially if you share your Mac and passwords with others.

And if you like to play games on your Mac, a new game mode that launches when you launch a game promises to improve your experience by deprioritizing background tasks and doubling the Bluetooth sampling rate of your controller.

While these new features are not potential game changers like Stage Manager, which debuted in macOS Ventura, they definitely offer greater utility and make the Mac usage experience more pleasant.

To find out why, let's take a deeper dive into some of the most exciting new features coming to macOS Sonoma.

Widgets are one of the most notable new features coming to macOS Sonoma, and after a quick hands-on, I was tentatively impressed.

Widgets have existed in macOS for some time now, but this new iteration is more like the widgets used on the iPhone. In fact, many of the same widgets (including those for the clock, notes, stock price, podcast, and weather apps) are also available on the Mac desktop.

While using the macOS Sonoma beta, I found the available widgets useful and easy to use. Simply click on the "Edit Widgets" option in the Notification Center or Desktop context menu to bring up the widget menu, where you can scroll through a list of widgets that can be placed in various sizes on the desktop.

I like to keep things simple, just displaying the weather forecast and world clock on my desktop. To my delight, thanks to the new widgets in macOS Sonoma, I can keep track of all this information at a glance while I work.

While I can't say for sure until the final version is released, I feel that I would rather use Sonoma's widgets, which can be heavily customized in the settings and widget menus, than Windows, where the widgets are largely un-customizable and of little value to use.

As always, we can expect Safari upgrades in the new macOS. Nothing groundbreaking this time around, but it does add some much-needed features that Safari's competitors have had for some time.

Most notably, the new Profile system allows users to create a profile for each way they use Safari. If you have a household with multiple users, you can literally use this feature to set up a profile for each person in the house, but if you are the only one using a Mac, it is useful to set up separate profiles for work and private use.

Since I work specifically remotely, I find it convenient to open my browser in "work mode" so I can easily access all my bookmarks and files for work. I've been waiting for Safari to add this feature, and now that it has and works well, I have a new reason to consider switching from Chrome.

In addition, Sonoma has the option to share groups and passwords in your contact list directly from the browser. This could be useful if one needs to share website login information with friends and family.

The new Game Mode debuting in macOS Sonoma will launch games in full-screen mode almost any time they are launched, whether they are downloaded from Steam or the Apple App Store. They claim it works by prioritizing game performance over tasks and processes, but it's hard to argue against that given that they have little control over how this mode works and what they prioritize in terms of game performance.

This aspect of the game mode is somewhat daunting to me, having grown up playing PC games and therefore understanding the virtues of a good settings menu. At the very least, I appreciated the general choice between prioritizing visual quality or frames per second, as you get with the performance modes of modern console games, but in my experience, saving whether game mode is enabled or not gives you little control.

Still, I saw games like "Resident Evil VIIAGE" and "Total War: Warhammer 3" run quite smoothly on Mac Studio with game mode enabled, so I can't complain about the results. We are still testing to see how much of a difference Game Mode makes in performance and will update this review accordingly.

Game Mode also reduces audio latency on connected AirPods and reduces input lag by doubling the sampling rate of Bluetooth controllers.

In addition, Apple's promise to make it easier for game developers to port their games to the Mac with the Game Porting Toolkit is a silver lining for gaming on the Mac. while rolling out dedicated Game Mode functionality with Sonoma, Apple is also making the Mac a better The fact that Apple is touting its commitment to making the Mac a better gaming platform while rolling out dedicated game mode functionality in Sonoma is an encouraging signal for macOS gaming enthusiasts.

Having been one of the first to touch the pre-release version of macOS Sonoma, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about what's in store for Mac fans this year.

In addition to numerous upgrades that improve core Apple services like Messages and Safari, macOS Sonoma seems poised to offer some minor but useful improvements for Mac owners. I really appreciate the new desktop widgets, which are virtually identical to the widgets I've used on my iPhone, but that doesn't diminish the appeal of using widgets on the Mac.

The new screensavers and animated reactions that can be activated during video calls make the OS feel a little more fun, and the addition of a game mode makes me more excited about the future of gaming on the Mac than I have been in a long time.

Of course, we won't know what impact macOS Sonoma will have until the final version is released this fall.