Apple has just released macOS 26.0.1 Tahoe, which fixes the problem upgrading to 26.0 on Mac Studio M3 Ultra models, and apparently fixes other urgent bugs.
For Apple silicon, the update is a 1.76 GB download.
Tahoe 26.0.1 fixes a single vulnerability, although Apple doesn’t report that it’s already being exploited. The same is also fixed in Sequoia 15.7.1, and in Sonoma 14.8.1.
macOS 26.0.1 has build number of 25A362, Safari version 26.0.1 (21622.1.22.11.15), and a Darwin Kernel version of 25.0.0. There has been no change in iBoot firmware, which remains at 13822.1.2.
As Apple hasn’t been forthcoming about what else has changed, here’s my list:
Passwords app has gone from version 2.0 to 2.0.1, suggesting it has at least one significant bug fixed.
AppKit framework has had an increment in build number, also suggesting bug fixes.
CoreText framework likewise, with bug fixes for a higher build number, possibly related to the fixed vulnerability in font handling.
Security framework has a substantial increase in build number, implying bug fixes there as well.
No sooner have we recovered from upgrading and updating macOS to 26.0/15.7/14.8 than Apple has released the next round of betas. This article looks at what’s in store for us over the coming year, as far as macOS is concerned.
With pandemics hopefully behind us, Apple’s planned OS updates have settled into a more regular pattern. Release dates when Sonoma was the current version of macOS (2023-24) were:
14.0 – 26 September
14.1 – 25 October
14.2 – 11 December
14.3 – 22 January
14.4 – 07 March
14.5 – 13 May
14.6 – 29 July
14.7 – 16 September.
Over the last year (2024-25), Sequoia has been almost identical, allowing for the small vagaries resulting from our calendar:
15.0 – 16 September
15.1 – 28 October
15.2 – 11 December
15.3 – 27 January
15.4 – 31 March
15.5 – 12 May
15.6 – 29 July
15.7 – 15 September.
If Tahoe follows the same pattern, you can expect releases to occur on the following dates:
26.0 – 15 September 2025
26.1 – 27 October 2025
26.2 – 15 December 2025
26.3 – 26 January 2026
26.4 – 30 March 2026
26.5 – 11 May 2026
26.6 – 27 July 2026
26.7 – 14 September 2026.
If you’d like a week’s notice of scheduled updates, watch Apple’s Developer Releases newsfeed at feed://developer.apple.com/news/releases/rss/releases.rss for Release Candidates. For minor versions, those are normally released about a week before the intended final release, so RCs seen on 20 or 21 October are likely to be followed by the public release on about 27 October.
Those can of course slip a few days or even a week if there are serious problems remaining with a release candidate, and some may be rescheduled to coincide with hardware announcements. These are also the ‘minor’ version updates, and Apple is likely to intercalate ‘patch’ releases to fix any serious bugs or urgent security vulnerabilities. Those almost never go through beta-testing or release candidacy.
For those staying with Sequoia or Sonoma for the time being, those security updates are most likely on the same dates as those for Tahoe.
Finally, a reminder for those whose Macs are still running macOS 13 Ventura: the final security update to 13.7.8 was released on 20 August this year, and Ventura is no longer officially supported by Apple. If your Mac can run Sonoma or later, and you want continuing security updates, then you’ll need to upgrade it to Sonoma 14.8 or later.
Apple has just released macOS 26.0 Tahoe (build 25A354), together with security updates to Sequoia taking it to 15.7, and for Sonoma to 14.8. As expected, there are no further security updates provided for Ventura, which is now unsupported.
The upgrade to Tahoe is once again provided as an ‘update’ rather than a full Installer app. If you want to run the Installer app to upgrade, download it from the App Store rather than using Software Update. If you’re updating Sequoia or Sonoma and your Mac is capable of running Tahoe, be very careful to select the right update in Software Update.
The Tahoe upgrade weighs in at 7.7 GB for Apple silicon Macs upgrading from a recent version of Sequoia. For Intel Macs it should be 6.1 GB.
On Apple silicon Macs, iBoot is updated to version 13822.1.2. Intel Macs have their firmware updated to version 2092.0.0.0.0 (iBridge 23.16.10350.0.0,0). Safari is version 26.0 (21622.1.22.11.14). The Darwin kernel version is 25.0.0.
Security release notes are also available:
Tahoe 26.0 lists 75 vulnerabilities fixed, none of which is reported as already being exploited.
Apple has just released urgent security updates to bring macOS Sequoia to 15.6.1, Sonoma to 14.7.8, and Ventura to 13.7.8.
Security release notes for these are already available, for 15.6.1, 14.7.8 and 13.7.8 Each refers to the same single vulnerability in ImageIO, which is apparently being exploited “in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals” using a crafted image file.
The download for 15.6.1 is about 1.56 GB for an Apple silicon Mac, and should be well under 1 GB for Intel. Time to update!
We’re now into August, Apple has released the last substantial updates to macOS before the arrival of Tahoe, so where does macOS stand now?
macOS Sequoia has just had its last scheduled update to 15.6 before it’s expected to enter the first of its two years of security-only updates. The main benefits of this update are an important fix to restoring Macs in DFU mode using either the Finder or Apple Configurator, and its long list of security updates, 81 vulnerabilities in total. If you’re already running Sequoia, it’s an important update.
Sequoia is fully supported on the following Macs:
iMac 2019, all T2 iMacs including iMac Pro from 2017
MacBook Air 2020 and later, but not 2018 or 2019
MacBook Pro 2018 and later (all T2 models)
Mac mini 2018 and later
Mac Pro 2019 and later
all Apple silicon Macs.
macOS Sonoma is now entering its second and final year of security-only updates, and in the latest to 14.7.7 has around 50 vulnerabilities fixed. Although that’s a lot less than in 15.6, those are still important if you’re staying with Sonoma for the time being.
Sonoma is fully supported on the following Macs:
iMac 2019
all Intel Macs with T2 chips
all Apple silicon Macs.
macOS Ventura has probably had the last of its security updates, although in the past Apple has sometimes released one more update in the autumn/fall. Its latest update to 13.7.7 has around 41 vulnerabilities fixed, making it essential if your Mac can’t be upgraded to Sonoma or later. If your Mac is supported by Sonoma, now is the time to plan upgrading it so that it can continue receiving security updates from September.
Tahoe
macOS Tahoe has now entered the public phase of its beta-testing, with the fourth version provided to developers. While much of the debate surrounds its Liquid Glass and new look, it does bring new features such as a Phone app to Macs. So far it appears internally stable and doesn’t look likely to be delayed for major bugs to be wrangled.
Tahoe is fully supported on the following Macs:
MacBook Pro 16-inch 2019, and 13-inch 2020 with four Thunderbolt ports,
iMac 2020,
Mac Pro 2019,
all Apple silicon Macs.
Although the first couple of versions of Tahoe presented themselves to older apps and scripts as macOS 16, since beta 3 it has been thoroughly macOS 26 regardless of how it’s asked. As this hasn’t been mentioned in Apple’s release notes, it’s unclear what it will do in the final release. If you have apps or scripts that could break when they discover the version of macOS running is 26, now is the time to send Apple feedback to make your case for it to report as version 16.
Older Macs
Open Core Legacy Patcher, OCLP, is being updated in the hope that it will be able to run macOS Tahoe on at least some unsupported models, although that probably won’t be available until the end of this year. You can follow progress here, where you’ll see some of the challenges its developers are facing. Another site worth watching is Mr. Macintosh on YouTube.
Next stop, probably in September, should be:
macOS 26.0 Tahoe
macOS 15.7 Sequoia
macOS 14.8 Sonoma
if Apple remains consistent with previous numbering. Farewell to Ventura, old friend!
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