macOS Sequoia 15.4 RC - Bug fixes, changes, and more

[WilliApple]

Release Date ― March 24, 2025
Build Number ― 24E246
Apple Silicon System Firmware Version ― 11881.101.1
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
Users of the 2019 MacBook Pro 16 experienced persistent AMD graphics artifacts since the release of macOS Sonoma, installation of macOS 15.4 Release Candidate has resolved these graphics artifacts.
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

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, M4
  • 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, M3 Ultra, M4 Max
• 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) (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.

 

[arovik]

Virtualization still working?

 

[s2mike]

Currently running 15.3.2 on my brand new M4 MacBook Air and I can’t download the 15.4 Developer RC…

…I keep getting a message saying that the update can’t be downloaded and to check my internet connect (internet connection is absolutely fine).

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

[Mac_fan75]

Yeah seems an issue on new M4 model, can’t either on a M4 Max Studio.

 

[s2mike]

Glad it’s not just me, but this is ridiculous…

 

[s2mike]

From the MacOSBeta community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the MacOSBeta community

www.reddit.com

 

[nortonandreev]

So far so good. I think the Safari tab bug is fixed, as well as the Music app hang I was seeing.

 

[crescentmoon52]

Has anyone gotten a freeze on youtube video....? It does not occur when booting up... rather the freeze happens about hour after booting up.... I don't know why this should be happening on an m2 ultra.... any solutions would be welcome. Thanks

 

[Adora]

No full Installer available yet and App Store still shows Beta 3.

I just started the update on both Macs at the same time. Always a good idea. 🙈

 

[Adora]

M3 iMac went smooth. M4 Pro mini got stuck with a black screen also no boot chime like on the iMac. I powered the mini off and on again and it booted almost instantly into the login screen, like normally. I was sure the update failed and I had to try it again, but it seems the update was already finished.

It's always the mini that is doing strange things while the update.

 

[gank41]

No full Installer available yet and App Store still shows Beta 3.

I just started the update on both Macs at the same time. Always a good idea. 🙈

Generally, Apple doesn’t post links to the RC releases until they’re actually released.

 

[Adora]

Generally, Apple doesn’t post links to the RC releases until they’re actually released.

Yes, I think you even wrote this to me the last time when there was an RC.

I automatically post this for every beta because in earlier betas last year the installers where in all locations at the same time when an update had been released. And then it got more and more confusing, at first they just showed up later in the catalog/Terminal/App Store but all at the same time. And then everything got really chaotic. The Package was already there for example, but the installer was not listed in the Terminal at the same time. And the App Store is sometime even completely forgotten. For a while Terminal and App Store were completely in sync with the release time.

 

[Adora]

Currently running 15.3.2 on my brand new M4 MacBook Air and I can’t download the 15.4 Developer RC…

…I keep getting a message saying that the update can’t be downloaded and to check my internet connect (internet connection is absolutely fine).

Anyone else experiencing this?

I experienced this with Beta 4 and since there was no full installer yet I used the one from Beta 3 after that the update worked.

Two other people here had the same problem. One used the same method as I.

You can try updating using the full installer of Beta 4 first, it's available here:

https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/50/31/082-08330-A_V9ZZZJLUNQ/x2gkjudeg7ngz88houq1dmelb0m0y5rc1x/InstallAssistant.pkg

After running it you have a "Install macOS Sequoia Beta" app in the Applications folder, that can be used to update to Beta 4.

 

[Adora]

I just installed System Monitor on my M3 iMac and saw very much CPU activity while doing nothing.

The same processes on my mini:

I thought this problem was finally gone since a while. But maybe only because I did not use the iMac.

At least it's only two processes now. I think it was last year starting with the 15.2 Betas that always the same five or six processes went crazy and were all near or even above 100% CPU usage and normally those were all processes that are most of the time at other near zero.

A few times in a row force quitting them always helped until the next day. I did it four times now and they are gone for now.

I lately read about that problem somewhere here again. Does anyone else here also have this?

 

[Lk52461]

Since updating to macOS 15.4 Release Candidate (RC), I've observed that the persistent AMD graphics issues on my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro 16" have been resolved. Previously, since the release of macOS Sonoma, I encountered graphics artifacts when switching to the discrete graphics mode. However, on 15.4 RC, these artefacts are no longer reproducible.

Interestingly, the release notes for 15.4 RC do not mention a specific fix for this issue. Nonetheless, multiple feedback reports were submitted regarding this problem, including FB15589809, which indicated that a potential fix had been identified for a future OS update. It appears that this fix has now been implemented in 15.4 RC.

 

[Adora]

Since updating to macOS 15.4 Release Candidate (RC), I've observed that the persistent AMD graphics issues on my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro 16" have been resolved. Previously, since the release of macOS Sonoma, I encountered graphics artifacts when switching to the discrete graphics mode. However, on 15.4 RC, these artefacts are no longer reproducible.

Interestingly, the release notes for 15.4 RC do not mention a specific fix for this issue. Nonetheless, multiple feedback reports were submitted regarding this problem, including FB15589809, which indicated that a potential fix had been identified for a future OS update. It appears that this fix has now been implemented in 15.4 RC.

I sometimes have artifacts on my display that is now connected to the M4 Pro mini. The M3 iMac never had this also when the same display that is now connected to the mini was the iMac's second display until late December.

I can't even tell if this was from the beginning or started later with a special beta version. I haven't seen any artifacts since the RC is installed, but it's too early to say if they are really gone. Maybe I can tell in a few days.


Thanks for hinting to the release notes. I often forget to read them. They are always incomplete. Was your's an issue mentioned in earlier release notes?



I found this unnamed icon-less driver on one of my Macs and I thought it might be a leftover of an old driver. I just deactivated it, because "show in Finder" did not work, it has no description and also uninstalling wasn't possible.

Now after that I found this in the Release Notes, what I read several times before in older versions but never cared:

• After updating to macOS 15.4 beta, you might experience issues with loading installed drivers. (145330084) (FB16547388)
  Workaround: Go to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and disable your affected driver extensions. Restart your Mac. After restarting, go back to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and re-enable the affected driver extensions.

Anyway, after rebooting the whole category "Driver Extensions" is just gone. So either it was really just a leftover or the driver (whatever it was), is now gone because of that fix. Maybe they mean other problems but it fixed mine too.

 

[Adora]

So far so good. I think the Safari tab bug is fixed, as well as the Music app hang I was seeing.

I just saw the Safari Tab bug for the first time. Never had it before RC.

 

[nortonandreev]

I just saw the Safari Tab bug for the first time. Never had it before RC.

View attachment 2495483

Oof

 

[brsilb]

Yeah seems an issue on new M4 model, can’t either on a M4 Max Studio.

Mine installed fine on my new Studio

 

[metsi]

Great, Apple Intelligence now takes nearly 10GB instead of 4GB. I want my storage back, I never asked for this!

 

[roncron]

Great, Apple Intelligence now takes nearly 10GB instead of 4GB. I want my storage back, I never asked for this!

11.04gb on my M3 MBA. That's a lot of storage for (to me) relatively few useful features at this point.

Still, though, I'm using under 200GB of my 512GB SSD, so no need to remove it at this time. But unless I find more use-cases for Apple Intelligence, it'll be the first thing to go as my SSD starts getting crowded.

 

[Adora]

Great, Apple Intelligence now takes nearly 10GB instead of 4GB. I want my storage back, I never asked for this!

11.04gb on my M3 MBA. That's a lot of storage for (to me) relatively few useful features at this point.

Still, though, I'm using under 200GB of my 512GB SSD, so no need to remove it at this time. But unless I find more use-cases for Apple Intelligence, it'll be the first thing to go as my SSD starts getting crowded.

Where do I find the files of disabled Apple Intelligence? It always starts directly at 100% download and is ready within a few seconds. I do not plan to use it, just tested it a few times very short.

Is it the AssetsV2 folder in the System Library? Or at least a part of it? That folder is 13.99GB on my mini and 63.12GB on my iMac.

On the iMac it keeps 26GB Speech Translation Assets and on the mini the biggest folder with about 9GB is the iOS Simulator I installed. But the Simulator is on the iMac too.

Then there are many smaller folders on the mini and a few bigger ones that looks like Apple Intelligence and Siri, that are not on the mini that also came much later to the beta game, because it did not exist from the beginning.

I just turned it on on the mini and only some folders that seems to be created before I even bought the Mac got a newer modification date. It was even there instantly without showing me 100% downloaded for a few seconds.

 

[Lk52461]

I sometimes have artifacts on my display that is now connected to the M4 Pro mini. The M3 iMac never had this also when the same display that is now connected to the mini was the iMac's second display until late December.

I can't even tell if this was from the beginning or started later with a special beta version. I haven't seen any artifacts since the RC is installed, but it's too early to say if they are really gone. Maybe I can tell in a few days.


Thanks for hinting to the release notes. I often forget to read them. They are always incomplete. Was your's an issue mentioned in earlier release notes?



I found this unnamed icon-less driver on one of my Macs and I thought it might be a leftover of an old driver. I just deactivated it, because "show in Finder" did not work, it has no description and also uninstalling wasn't possible.

View attachment 2495476
View attachment 2495477


Now after that I found this in the Release Notes, what I read several times before in older versions but never cared:

• After updating to macOS 15.4 beta, you might experience issues with loading installed drivers. (145330084) (FB16547388)
  Workaround: Go to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and disable your affected driver extensions. Restart your Mac. After restarting, go back to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and re-enable the affected driver extensions.

Anyway, after rebooting the whole category "Driver Extensions" is just gone. So either it was really just a leftover or the driver (whatever it was), is now gone because of that fix. Maybe they mean other problems but it fixed mine too.

Apple has not officially acknowledged the graphics issues affecting Intel-based Macs with AMD GPUs since the release of macOS Sonoma. I reported this problem to Apple in June 2024, and they indicated that a fix would be included in a future software update, though no specific timeline was provided. Multiple cases were logged through Feedback Assistant, with the most recent update stating: "Potential fix identified for future OS update". I have reached out to Apple for an official confirmation, as my case remains open.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Tried it on my M4 Mac Mini (via installing 15.4ß3, then upgrading).
It borked my firmware, which I then had to use my iMac to restore.

 

[Adora]

Tried it on my M4 Mac Mini (via installing 15.4ß3, then upgrading).
It borked my firmware, which I then had to use my iMac to restore.

I experienced something similar.

I reinstalled Beta 4 on my M4 Pro mini again with the full installer because the last updates all seemed very strange somehow. But I did no update after that. It was before the RC release.

I also had to use my iMac to revive it. Recovery was still usable but it was an older version and it told me it can't downgrade.

So I used Apple Configurator and the IPSW for Beta 4 from the Developer download site.

At least choosing revive kept all data. And everything was like before after it had finished. The update to RC a few days later then stopped with a black screen somewhere and I just turned it off after waiting a while. After turning it on again, the update was finished.

My M3 iMac this time updated smooth but last time had the problem with the error message. That's where I used the full installer of Beta 3 and updated to Beta 4 directly after that, without any problem.

It's all very strange... And sounds like just luck sometimes.