macOS Sequoia Release Likely to Be the Earliest in Years

macOS Sequoia will be one of the earliest new macOS launches in over a decade, likely releasing within as little as just a week.

sequoia
Internal Apple documentation obtained by MacRumors suggests that macOS 15.0 Sequoia will be officially released to the public by mid-September. The release dates of major macOS updates in recent years are listed below:

  • OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) – October 22, 2013
  • OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) – October 16, 2014
  • OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) – September 30, 2015
  • macOS 10.12 (Sierra) – September 20, 2016
  • macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) – September 25, 2017
  • macOS 10.14 (Mojave) – September 24, 2018
  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina) – October 7, 2019
  • macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) – November 12, 2020
  • macOS 12.0 (Monterey) – October 25, 2021
  • macOS 13.0 (Ventura) – October 24, 2022
  • macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) – September 26, 2023

The release of ‌macOS Sequoia‌ by mid-September this year would be the earliest since OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), which was released on July 25, 2012.

The new annual version of iOS has historically always been released at least a week before the new version of macOS. Sometimes, Apple leaves a considerable gap between the releases; in 2020, the company left nearly two months between the release of iOS 14 (September 16, 2020) and macOS Big Sur (November 12, 2020).

New major versions of iOS are always released before the launch of a new iPhone lineup in September. This year, the iPhone 16 lineup is expected to launch on Friday, September 20. As a result, ‌macOS Sequoia‌ could not only be the earliest macOS release in over a decade, but also the first simultaneous iOS/macOS release ever, or even the first time a new version of macOS has been released before the new version of iOS.

Apple is almost certain to share more information about the release of iOS 18 and ‌macOS Sequoia‌ at its event on Monday, September 9, where it is also set to unveil the ‌iPhone 16‌ lineup, new Apple Watch models, and the fourth-generation AirPods.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 With Apple's Own 5G Modem 'Confirmed' to Launch in March

Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

Apple Releases iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 With Security Fixes

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
at t turbo indicator iphone 16 pro max v0 8hrh7w5f3w1e1

AT&T Turbo Indicator Showing Up in iPhone Status Bar for Subscribers

Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence. Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476 The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
bug security vulnerability issue fix larry

Make Sure to Update: iOS 18.1.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerabilities

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices. With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...

Top Rated Comments

ps3zocker Avatar
11 weeks ago
It also has the least amount of new features in years, probably since Snow Leopard.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
souko Avatar
11 weeks ago
September 26 is mid september?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cjsuk Avatar
11 weeks ago
Not touching this one with a 6 foot stick for at least 6 months. Just got everything working how I want it!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cgs1xx Avatar
11 weeks ago
Anyone else feels really nostalgic about how MacOS and iOS used to look like 15 years ago? I mean, dwelling in the past can be a fruitless exercise but don’t you wish there was a “skin” or something we can apply??
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nt5672 Avatar
11 weeks ago
Nope, I am expecting a hot mess, but hoping for a stable release. I've been disappointed for years, so I don't expect anything different.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Edgecrusherr Avatar
11 weeks ago
Overall there isn’t really much in 14.0, and 14.1 isn’t that much better. Apple really put their focus on AI in this release, and looks like they’re really far behind. So, it looks like they’ll just be releasing Sequoia unfinished, just to buy time while they work on getting the AI stuff done. That doesn’t look like it’ll happen until 14.2.

The .2 releases generally release from December and January (usually January), with as late as February. Since 14.0 is looking to be released early (14.0 it’s very much finished, and all the focuses on 14.1 and 14.2 right now), I’m going to guess that we will get 14.2 in December, maybe late November for lucky.

So while Sequoia may be released early, the real bulk of the features promised are looking to be released very late.

I’m a huge proponent of Apple needing to stop the yearly OS upgrade cycle, at least for macOS. Forcing the development team to release something new and great once a year is drastically diminished the overall quality and stability of the operating system, and has generally led to overpromising and underdelivering on features. I’m still running macOS 12 and 10.15 on some computers, because they were much more bug free than 13 and 14. My Mac studio on 13 and 14 has been a nightmare. it doesn’t appear that they’re going to fix the issues in 15, so I may roll back to 12 (but that’s going to be a pain).

Apple really needs to move to a year and a half to two years cycle, and the next release should be all about bug fixes and performance. Considering that the marketing people are mostly in charge of the company now, I don’t think there’s a chance of that happening unless they market it to us as a feature, perhaps when they drop all Intel Support. Similar to how it worked with 10.6 Snow Leopard.

I’m really hoping they get this figured out, I’m really hoping they get this figured out, Linux doesn’t quite do it for me, no matter how hard I try to use it, and Windows is a pile of garbage.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)