macOS Sequoia 15.4 Beta 1 - Bug fixes, changes, and more

[WilliApple]

Release Date ― February 21, 2025
Build Number ― 24E5206s
Apple Silicon System Firmware Version ― 11881.100.964.0.1
T2 BridgeOS System Firmware Version ― Pending

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New Features & Changes (Found something new? Please press "Edit" on the bottom of this post and add it here)
Resolved Issues
New Issues
(If you are encountering any issues, please press "Edit" on the bottom of this post and add it here)

Remaining Issues
Untested Issues

• Alarms may not play when your display is asleep for a long period of time (FB10086690)
  • Workaround: Make your display not fall asleep in Settings > Lock Screen > Turn display off on ____ when inactive. You can turn your brightness off.
  • Issue present since macOS 13.0
• AirDropping from an iPhone to a Mac may freeze out in some cases
  • Issue present since macOS 15.2/iOS 18.2

Additional Notes

• Please know, Memory Management has always been an issue on any OS (not just Apple's). If you believe there is a Memory Leak, please go to the Apple Menu > Restart > Restart to fix it.
• When a new macOS release comes out, all issues automatically go to "Untested Issues" until they are moved by someone. Issues that stay in Untested for 3 releases (beta or smooth) will be removed from all future threads. When there is a new macOS release, please be sure to let us know about the issue's status by moving it to either "Remaining Issues" or "Resolved Issues"
• macOS 15 Sequoia will be installed via a Delta Update in System Settings. Please be aware about this and the update won’t install with an installer.
• macOS 15 is officially supported on the following devices. If your device is not listed below, it has unfortunately been dropped by Apple. Any efforts of trying to get your Mac running macOS 15, including bugs should be discussed in this thread.
  • MacBook Air: Intel 2020, M1, M2, M3
  • MacBook Pro: 2018, 2019, Intel 2020, M1, M1 Pro/M1 Max, M2, M2 Pro/M2 Max, M3/M3 Pro/M3 Max, M4/M4 Pro/M4 Max
  • Mac mini: 2018, M1, M2/M2 Pro, M4/M4 Pro
  • iMac: Pro 2017, 4K 2019, 5K 2019, 5K 2020, M1, M3, M4
  • Mac Pro: 2019, M2 Ultra
  • Mac Studio: M1 Max/Ultra, M2 Max/Ultra
• macOS Sequoia 15.4 Release Notes
• macOS Sequoia Overview
• macOS 15 Release Notes
• Apple Security Updates
• Become an Apple Beta Tester
• Full Installer (App Store) (Pending)
• Full Installer (direct download link) (Pending)

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Feel free to add in any issues or new features that you have spotted in this release by clicking the "Edit" button below.

 

[jsamuels]

15.44 GB on my M3 MacBook Air. I'm in Europe.

 

[WilliApple]

15.44 GB on my M3 MacBook Air. I'm in Europe.

That means it found something and needs to reinstall.
On my M1 MBA, it's 5.97 GB.

 

[fisherking]

That means it found something and needs to reinstall.
On my M1 MBA, it's 5.97 GB.

what does 'found something' mean? 🤔

anyway, about 15GB here. and so far, all is well....

 

[adrianlondon]

It didn't automatically enable Apple Intelligence.

It did enable Mail Categories though; just working out how to disable it all ...

 

[JUMA55]

I may sit this one out.

 

[fisherking]

It didn't automatically enable Apple Intelligence.

It did enable Mail Categories though; just working out how to disable it all ...

view>hide mail categories....

 

[Adora]

I directly installed after waking up and everything seems fine.

Intelligence also stayed turned off for me.

I had to restart again because two System Extensions needed a new confirmation.

No full installer anywhere until now.

I entered the build number and the System Firmware in the first post. If someone has a Mac with T2 you can just enter it also yourself.

 

[Adora]

It did enable Mail Categories though; just working out how to disable it all ...

Oh no, I don't like to have those too. But it was just a click in the View menu.

 

[Adora]

view>hide mail categories....

Sorry I am not really awake yet.

 

[WilliApple]

what does 'found something' mean? 🤔

anyway, about 15GB here. and so far, all is well....

Like a glitch or corrupted file.
Instead of leaving it, it reinstalls everything just to be safe.

 

[Adora]

Like a glitch or corrupted file.
Instead of leaving it, it reinstalls everything just to be safe.

Do you have automatic downloads for macOS updates activated. Sometimes an update somehow needs a full installer and maybe it had already downloaded 10GB, when you looked first. Mine was already completely downloaded and I only had to reboot, so I can't say the size.

 

[HunterH]

Soooo - beware if you use anything that does virtualization like Parallels, Docker Desktop, OrbStack, UTM, etc... They seem to panic 15.4b1 as soon as they start.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Soooo - beware if you use anything that does virtualization like Parallels, Docker Desktop, OrbStack, UTM, etc... They seem to panic 15.4b1 as soon as they start.

Not unexpected with beta and OCLP. I wouldn’t recommend running beta with the patcher.

 

[fisherking]

Like a glitch or corrupted file.
Instead of leaving it, it reinstalls everything just to be safe.

i dunno, others reported 15gb. perhaps depends on the mac model?....

 

[Adora]

Some small design changes here.

 

[Adora]

Have the first three and the last one used black and white icons before? Looks somehow unfamiliar to me.

 

[ylluminate]

A few rough headaches on this beta:

1. locationd is consuming 150% CPU
2. replayd when connected to an external display like SiliconMotion or DisplayLink is running at around 100-150%
3. coreaudiod is running at 170% consistently
4. Custom color backgrounds gone - turns white. Have to use predefined color or a wallpaper image instead.
5. System can be very slow/sluggish with some app hangs and takes a long time to reboot.

 

[flowrider]

View attachment 2484798

Some small design changes here.

I turned Automatic Updates off.

Lou

 

[Wrightpd]

Installed this update on my M4 Pro 16” MBP - got a problem in that it boots to the desktop and about 20 seconds later it freezes and proceeds to restart

Any idea how to resolve?

 

[MLVC]

Installed this update on my M4 Pro 16” MBP - got a problem in that it boots to the desktop and about 20 seconds later it freezes and proceeds to restart

Any idea how to resolve?

Seems there's a bug related to M4 Macs and anything to do with virtualization (Docker, UTM, Parallels Desktop, OrbStack). Parallels crashes my M4 Pro Mac mini, but work fine on my M3 MBP.

 

[LutzRFrank]

on the M1 Mac mini, setting System Language, Region and Siri Language to DE allows Apple Intelligence to be used without issues. Initially there were som warnings but at the end it finished perfect (not as the iPhone where it still refuses to use DE/DE.

 

[Wrightpd]

Seems there's a bug related to M4 Macs and anything to do with virtualization (Docker, UTM, Parallels Desktop, OrbStack). Parallels crashes my M4 Pro Mac mini, but work fine on my M3 MBP.

Yeah seems to be, hoped safe boot would work but get same problem

 

[LutzRFrank]

this is definitely new ... asked in German " Wo befindet sich das? " (Where is that)

On Screen awareness im Sequoia 15.4

 

[Adora]

A few rough headaches on this beta:

1. locationd is consuming 150% CPU
2. replayd when connected to an external display like SiliconMotion or DisplayLink is running at around 100-150%
3. coreaudiod is running at 170% consistently
4. Custom color backgrounds gone - turns white. Have to use predefined color or a wallpaper image instead.
5. System can be very slow/sluggish with some app hangs and takes a long time to reboot.

What is using coreaudiod normally? I don't have it in Activity Aonitor. Locationd is also not listed because location services are turned off. Replayd (whatever that is) is using 0.0% CPU.

Nothing is slow or sluggish.

I don't know what the predefined colors are but I know I changed them. Those are there now: