macOS Sequoia: 5 must-try features in public beta

Apple has launched the public beta of macOS Sequoia, the first beta version offered to anyone besides registered Apple developers. 

If you need to know what’s coming with the next version of macOS, the public beta of macOS Sequoia provides you with a good opportunity. However, back up your Mac before you do because this is unfinished beta software, and there are still bugs to resolve. 

However, if you can’t wait to look at what Sequoia has to provide, Gadinsider has put together a quick rundown of the top features to check out based on time with the beta. If you don't have it yet, study our guide for downloading the macOS Sequoia beta to get started. 

Notes in MacOS Sequoia

Your Notes app is ready to receive a pretty big update with macOS Sequoia, but you won't see the full extent of it until Apple Intelligence comes online. Notes will be capable of recording and transcribing audio, syncing the audio to the transcription and saving these recordings right in your Notes with everything else. 

iPhone Mirroring in MacOS Sequoia

Another big macOS Sequoia feature you should know is iPhone Mirroring because it doesn't need Apple Intelligence to function.

However, it does require you to be running iOS 18 on a supported iPhone, Apple iPhone 15 or newer, so if you need to try it early, you must put the iOS 18 public beta on your iPhone.

Read more: Apple unveils MUSCLE — A new AI technique to rival ChatGPT

Once you have an iOS 18 iPhone nearby that's logged into the same Apple ID as your Mac, just fire up the new iPhone Mirroring app on macOS Sequoia to link your iPhone. 

From there you'll be capable enough to navigate through your iPhone right on your Mac desktop, running apps and reviewing photos, etc.

Window Tiling in MacOS Sequoia

With macOS Sequoia Apple's MacBooks are finally getting a bit closer to Windows 11 in one key way: window tiling.

Once you install macOS Sequoia, you should try the new window tiling feature which makes it easy to immediately move a window into a side or corner of your screen.

To see it in action, simply grab a window and drag it to the side of your screen. Once you start to bump up against the left or right edge, you'll see a white rectangle display on the side of the screen: release the window you're dragging and it will instantly snap to fill the white rectangle, making it easy to quickly organise windows.

Messages

One of the new features coming to macOS Sequoia might seem small, but it's a lot of fun on a day-to-day basis.

Messages and the new ways of interacting with them that are coming in Sequoia. Along with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Messages in Sequoia is getting updated with a new tapback feature that allows you to respond to a message with any emoji your heart desires.

Passwords

One of the most useful new features of macOS Sequoia is the Passwords app that currently comes included by default.

This app takes advantage of Apple's iCloud Keychain tech to automatically store all the passwords on your Mac in one easy-to-access place.

Just launch the Passwords app (easily done by navigating to Spotlight Search and typing "passwords") and once you log in you'll be greeted with a list of all passwords your Mac has stored, sorted into categories.

From here you can edit what passwords are stored, add new ones and check to see any one-time codes that have been sent to you for two-factor authentication purposes. 

Moreover, you can review your stored Wi-Fi passwords, and your passkeys, share stored passwords with folks in your family group and more.