All the Top New Features in MacOS Sequoia

MacOS Sequoia, also known as macOS 15, is the latest version of Apple's desktop operating system. The new OS adds a few new capabilities to the Mac, including a password management app, videoconferencing tools, and updates to Safari as well as all the features that come with Apple Intelligence—the company’s artificial intelligence–powered system. Below, we break down how to download it and all the latest goodies in this software update.

Be sure to check out our iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 roundup for all the new features in your iPhone and iPad, along with all the latest features on the Apple Watch with watchOS 11.

Updated January 2025: We've added details on macOS 15.3.

Below, you'll find all the major features included in macOS 15. Apple has more details here.

Sometimes, your iPhone is in another room or deep in your bag. For those moments when you need to use it but don't feel like getting up to find it, you can pull it up on your computer. As part of Apple's Continuity features, iPhone Mirroring lets you access and interact with your iPhone wirelessly using your Mac.

When the feature is in action, you'll see your iPhone's custom home screen appear. From there, you can use the keyboard, trackpad, or mouse to drag and drop content (like photos, videos, and files) between both devices, open and use any of your apps, swipe through all the pages on your home screen, as well as view and respond to notifications. While you're doing all this, your iPhone will remain locked. It also works while your iPhone is in Standby mode, a feature from iOS 17 that turns your iPhone into a smart display while charging.

MacOS Sequoia offers a few new features to Safari. With Highlights, Safari will use machine intelligence to show you relevant information from the webpage like directions, links, summaries, and restaurant reviews. Apple also redesigned the Reader to minimize distractions. In addition to a sleeker view of the article, you can also see a summary and a table of contents (for longer articles). If the webpage includes a video, Viewer will bring it to the forefront while still giving you access to playback controls (Picture in Picture included).

Anyone who always keeps a ton of browser windows open simultaneously will appreciate the Window Tiling feature that helps organize them for a better viewing experience. When you drag a window to the edge of the screen, macOS will automatically suggest a tiled position on your screen. (It's similar to Snap on Windows.) You can then drop the window into place, arrange multiple windows side by side, or place them in any of the four corners to make room for more apps. For quicker organization, you can use keyboard and menu shortcuts too.

In 2023, Apple added new videoconference tools with macOS Sonoma including Presenter Overlay, Reactions, and various features for the Mac's built-in webcam. In macOS 15, the company is adding a few more. With apps like FaceTime and Zoom, you can access a new presenter preview capability to see what you're about to share before sharing it. Meanwhile, the built-in backgrounds feature allows you to apply system wallpapers, color gradients, or your own photos as a backdrop for video calls. This feature is available on FaceTime and third-party apps like Webex.

If you never loved Keychain, now you have a better option: macOS Sequoia comes with a new Passwords app that allows you to access all your passwords (Wi-Fi passwords included), passkeys, and verification codes in one place. It keeps all your Apple devices in sync, runs on Windows machines (using the iCloud for Windows app), and supports end-to-end encryption.

A few new Messages features are coming to macOS Sequoia—and by extension, to iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 as well. You can format your texts within Messages using bold, italic, underline, and strike-through type treatments. You can also add animated effects to a specific word within a text. For some phrases and words, suggestions appear as you type. Apple added new Tapbacks too—instead of using the traditional heart, thumbs-up, thumbs-down, question mark, or exclamation point, there are options for emojis and stickers. Another standout new feature is the option to schedule your messages ahead of time so they'll be sent later.

• Apple Maps: With Maps, you'll have access to thousands of hiking trails across all 63 national parks in the US, all of which can be filtered by elevation, length, and route type. You can also save them to access later in the wilderness without a data signal.
• Calculator App: Apple gave the Calculator app an upgrade by adding new features like the ability to enter and continue to view complete expressions (with trigonometry, parentheses, and multiple operations) before pressing equals to see the final answer. If you tap the equals sign twice, you can repeat the most recent mathematical function. You're now able to see a history of your calculations as well.
• Calendar: Within the Calendar app, you can see both events and tasks from the Reminders app. There's also an updated Month View meant to make it easier to see all your appointments at a glance—all of which are color coded.
• Photos: A new Collections feature within the Photo app will automatically organize your library by topics including Trips, Recent Days, and People & Pets. With Pinned Collections, you can quickly access certain collections and albums. You can also see your Favorites album appear under Utilities and in Pinned Collections, and clear your Recently Shared album and Recently Viewed history too.
• Game Mode: This feature was originally announced in 2023, with macOS Sonoma. With macOS Sequoia, Apple improved Game Mode with smoother frame rates and “advanced power management features” to boost performance across its Macs. It also supports Personalized Spatial Audio and reduces audio latency with the AirPods Pro (2nd generation).
• Home App: Apple is adding guest access that allows you to manage how and when people can enter your house. There's a new feature that shows how much electricity you're using and how much it's costing you, based on the current utility rates.
• Battery: The ability to turn on Low Power Mode was introduced with macOS Monterey. Now it's available in the Battery menu in the top-left corner of your screen so you no longer have to dig through System Settings.
• Find My: Within the Find My app, you'll now see a new Lost AirTag section that allows you to share the location of your AirTag with up to five other people, to help track it down. Soon, you can share it with airlines as well (if your luggage is lost). Simply send the specific link via Messages, Notes, Mail, AirDrop, and more. They'll have to authenticate it using their Apple account, and the link will expire after a week.

In addition to the features above, Apple Intelligence—the company's “personal intelligence system”—is built into macOS Sequoia as well as iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. These features are only available in Sequoia 15.1 and newer. It's also worth noting that Apple Intelligence is now on by default with Sequoia 15.3. For step-by-step instructions on how to manually turn it off, read our tutorial here.

Apple Intelligence isn't available on all Macs that support macOS 15. You'll need a Mac running the M1 chipset or newer to take advantage of the AI newness. More specifically, this includes:

• MacBook Air (M1 and newer)
• MacBook Pro (M1 and newer)
• iMac (M1 and newer)
• Mac Mini (M1 and newer)
• Mac Studio (M1 Max and newer)
• Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)

Here's what Apple Intelligence is capable of.

Apple's Writing Tools work within Notes, Pages, Mail, and third-party apps. There's Rewrite, which allows you to pick from different versions of what you've written based on several tones (you can also now type instructions for the specific type of rewrite you want); Proofread, which checks word choice, grammar, and sentence structure, while also suggesting edits (along with explanations of the edits) with the option to review or quickly accept; and Summarize, which allows you to select text and have it recapped in a paragraph, list, a table, or bulleted key points. Using the ChatGPT extension, you can also use it to compose text with Writing Tools.

These text-based features are also what enable Priority notifications—a feature that summarizes your notifications and places them at the top of the list. That way, you can quickly digest them at a glance. You'll also see a similar feature in the Mail app called Priority messages, which places important emails at the top of your inbox along with summaries of long emails.

Currently, Apple has halted summaries for news apps after it inaccurately summarized a BBC headline. As for other notification summaries, you'll now see them appear italicized.

Image Playground generates playful images based on three styles: Illustration, Sketch, and Animation. It's available as a dedicated app, but you can also access it through Messages. To generate an image, you can pick from the available concepts, type a description of what you're looking for, or choose a photo of someone from your photo library.

If you're a fan of the Memories feature in the Photos app, you might be happy to see that Apple has made it more customizable. Rather than settling for the automated version, you can create specific stories you want to see by typing in a description. From there, Apple will pick out the best photos and videos that match the description, create a storyline based on themes associated with the photos, and generate a movie with its own narrative.

Apple also introduced a new Clean Up tool. Similar to Google's Magic Eraser, Clean Up can identify and remove unwanted or distracting objects in the background of the photo without changing the subject.

The Notes app now comes equipped with the ability to transcribe audio sessions and summarize notes. There's also a new Math Notes feature that lets you type in an equation and have it solved automatically within the body of the note.

Apple finally gave Siri an overhaul. It's been redesigned to speak more naturally, and it's been given the ability to understand context within conversations. So instead of always having to help Siri along by reminding it of what you were asking about in your last question, Siri will simply remember what the topic of the conversation is. This makes conversations feel more personable and natural.

You can also interact with Siri by typing in your requests instead of speaking them, can move the Siri window around anywhere on your screen, and with OpenAI's ChatGPT integration (using the GPT-4o model), you're more likely to get answers to complex questions.

There's a new Focus mode called Reduce Interruptions. It uses your personal context to figure out when to hide incoming notifications that could distract you. But if you're worried you might miss something important, you can turn on Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing, which will send through any critical alerts (like important texts).

This is one of the most fun features included with MacOS 15. Also available on iOS 18/iPadOS 18, it allows you to create custom emojis from your keyboard via text prompts or a person's photo from your Photos app. For instructions on how to create your own, you can read our tutorial here.