Now that the first public beta of Sequoia is available, I thought it might be helpful to detail which of my most popular apps are compatible with versions of macOS from El Capitan to that Sequoia beta.

Update and security utilities

Skint runs daily check on key security systems. Skint 1.07 runs on Monterey and later, and appears fully compatible with Sequoia.

SilentKnight runs automatic checks of firmware and security systems. For El Capitan to Mojave you should use SilentKnight 1.21, but for all versions of macOS from Catalina onwards use SilentKnight 2.9. This appears fully compatible with Sequoia, although at present it will report TCC Not found, which you can safely ignore. Apple doesn’t release new versions of some of its security databases until late in the beta phase, when I expect that will be put right.

LockRattler provides manual checks of firmware and security systems, similar to those in SilentKnight. For El Capitan and Sierra, use LockRattler 4.35, but for all later versions of macOS from Mojave onwards, use LockRattler 4.37 instead. This too appears fully compatible with Sequoia, although it reports TCC Not found for current betas.

SysHist lists full system and security update installation history. In El Capitan and Sierra, use SystHist 1.17, but for High Sierra and later, use SystHist 1.19 instead. This currently doesn’t show any Sequoia updates, but I will release a revised version in the coming weeks to address that. This is because it has to be able to recognise macOS updates by name, and that isn’t stable until later during the beta-testing phase.

XProCheck checks on XProtect Remediator scans completed and reported in the log. Use XProCheck 1.5 in all versions of macOS from Catalina onwards, that support this new variant of XProtect. I intend to release an updated version in the coming weeks, but this version appears fully compatible with Sequoia.

Rich text and PDF

DelightEd is a Rich Text (RTF) editor with special Dark Mode features and support for interlinear text. The latest version to run on Sierra is DelightEd 2.0b4, but for all more recent versions of macOS I recommend using DelightEd 2.2. This appears fully compatible with Sequoia, although I don’t know yet whether it will support Writing Tools, because of conflicting documentation.

Podofyllin is a lightweight PDF viewer and analysis utility. Podofyllin 1.2 is compatible with High Sierra and later, and appears to be fully compatible with Sequoia too.

Log and technical utilities

T2M2 provides quick but thorough checks of Time Machine backing up. When backing up to HFS+ backup stores, or to a NAS, use T2M2 1.19, but when backing up to APFS stores or NAS in Big Sur or later, use T2M2 2.02 instead. Although I haven’t tested this yet with Sequoia, I believe that it should work well.

Mints is a multi-purpose utility that produces custom log extracts, including iCloud, extensive system info and more. Sierra is still supported by Mints 1.9, but for all more recent macOS from High Sierra onwards, use Mints 1.19. This also appears fully compatible with Sequoia.

xattred is a full-featured extended attribute editor, which can also add quarantine xattrs. For El Capitan and Sierra, use xattred 1.2, and for High Sierra and later, use xattred 1.5 instead. This appears fully compatible with Sequoia.

Precize looks deep into files, bundles and folders to show their full size including extended attributes, provides macOS Bookmarks and volfs paths as enduring file references, and detailed information contained in Bookmarks and Aliases. El Capitan and Sierra are still supported by Precize 1.12, but for High Sierra and later use Precize 1.14, which also appears fully compatible with Sequoia.

Ulbow is a log browser designed for ease of use. Ulbow 1.3 runs on Sierra, the first version of macOS to support the new Unified log. Use Ulbow 1.10 on High Sierra and later versions, and it also appears fully compatible with Sequoia, except that it currently can’t create logarchives, a shortcoming in all more recent versions of macOS.

Virtualisation

Viable creates and runs macOS VMs on Apple silicon Macs. Viable beta 12 (1.0.12) works on all versions from Monterey on, and on Sequoia it will now create VMs with Apple ID support. However, it doesn’t yet support the suspension and quitting of VMs (you still have to shut down the guest macOS), and doesn’t give access to external USB devices, a feature new to Sequoia. This article explains how to virtualise Sequoia on a host running either Sonoma or Sequoia.

Vimy runs macOS VMs on Apple silicon Macs from a double-click, and is the runtime companion to Viable. Vimy 0.7 (fourth beta) runs on all versions from Monterey on, including Sequoia, and supports all the features in VMs created using Viable.

Other apps of mine that remain available, many supporting versions of macOS back to El Capitan, are detailed here.

Enjoy, and please report any issues, particularly those with Sequoia betas, so that I can fix them before Apple releases macOS 15 in a couple of months.

The third developer beta of macOS 15 Sequoia finally brings support for Apple ID in macOS virtual machines (VM). As this is likely to form the first public beta-release next week, here’s a short guide to how to install a Sequoia VM, and what you can do with it. I’m delighted to report that my own free virtualisation apps Viable and Vimy already support Sequoia VMs on Sonoma 14.5 and Sequoia hosts, and I expect that will be true of other virtualisers for Apple silicon Macs.

Installing Sequoia as a VM

When running Sequoia developer beta 3, or the first public beta, download an IPSW image from Apple’s beta support site, or via Mr Macintosh’s compilation. Ensure that you download developer beta 3 or public beta 1 or later, depending on which programme you’ve joined. Then install that IPSW using Viable in the normal way, as detailed here.

If you’re virtualising Sequoia on a Sonoma 14.5 host, you may need to install additional software before installing the Sequoia IPSW using Viable. One way to discover that is to proceed normally using the IPSW you’ve just downloaded. You’ll then be prompted to install a software update.

At present, this will fail, but I expect that Apple will provide that additional software for the public beta.

If it doesn’t, and you’re unsuccessful in installing the additional software, trash that VM (but not the IPSW inside it), install and run the latest beta-release of Xcode 16 from Apple’s beta support site. Once that has been run, you should be able to install Sequoia without any problems.

First run

Open the VM using Viable, and work through its configuration as normal.

If the VM is hosted on Sequoia developer beta 3 or later, you should be able to enter your Apple ID and password, and opt for FileVault on its Data volume during that initial configuration. If it’s hosted on any older version of macOS, then you shouldn’t try entering your Apple ID and password, as that will fail. This is because the minimum requirements for Apple ID support in a VM are:

• the host running Sequoia developer beta 3 or later, and
• the VM running Sequoia developer beta 3 or later.

If your Mac and VM meet those, the VM should then trigger normal 2FA confirmation over iCloud, and then activate iCloud, iCloud Drive, and support for related applications such as passwords, calendar and file sharing via iCloud.

App Store support

In Apple’s release notes for Sequoia developer beta 3, it states that the following issue has been resolved: “Users will not be able to sign-in to iCloud and related applications”. Apple has previously stated that Sequoia “supports access to iCloud accounts and resources when running macOS in a virtual machine (VM) on Apple silicon”. However, that currently doesn’t include access to the App Store or use of apps purchased from it.

At present, “access to iCloud accounts and resources” does include:

• iCloud Drive
• Keychain in iCloud, fully supported in Passwords.app, including passkeys
• syncing shared iCloud databases such as calendars and address book
• shared Photos using iCloud
• third-party apps sharing data using CloudKit.

It doesn’t include connecting to the App Store, and as a result apps obtained from the App Store that check the current user is entitled to run them will fail to open. There appears to be no workaround for this, although some apps including several of Apple’s will run because they don’t appear to perform those user checks. In those cases, copying the app from the host enables you to run the app in that VM, but that doesn’t apply to the great majority of paid-for App Store apps.

If you’re disappointed that Apple still hasn’t opened access to its own App Store in VMs, please request this feature using Feedback.

Nesting virtualisation

Apple has also announced that Sequoia will support nesting on models with M3 chips, where you can run a macOS VM inside a macOS VM. Although Viable is no longer blocked from running in a VM, this feature doesn’t appear to work yet, at least not using Viable on an M3 Pro.

Downloads

Viable version 1.0.12 (beta 12) and Vimy 0.7 (beta 4) are available from their Product Page, and appear fully compatible with Sequoia, although they don’t yet support the suspend/resume feature for closing VMs. I believe that ViableS 1.0.12 is also compatible.

Some time in the next week or two, Apple is likely to release its first public beta of macOS 15 Sequoia. This article is intended to help you decide whether to risk or resist that tempting offer.

As with Sonoma a year ago, to install the public beta-release you no longer have to download a special enabler from a closed website. This is now done through an extra option in Software Update. All you need to do is sign up here, and once the public beta is released you should see it offered in Software Update, when your Mac is signed in using the Apple ID you signed up with. There’s also an option there that caters for those who wish to use a different Apple ID for betas.

Can your Mac run Sequoia?

Sequoia is officially supported on most Intel Macs with T2 chips, all Apple silicon Macs, and just one Intel iMac without a T2 chip, the iMac 2019 (iMac19,x). If you have an older Mac, then it might be able to run Sequoia using OCLP, but won’t do so until that has been updated to support that, later this year.

The detailed list of supported models is:

• iMac19,x, 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.

Note that the one Intel model without a T2 chip doesn’t support iPhone mirroring because that relies on hardware device attestation for pairing. Apple Intelligence will only be available on Apple silicon models, and initially only those using US English as their primary language.

What do you get in the beta?

Apple’s official account of new features is fairly comprehensive. I have drawn attention to some additional features in the following articles:
First details of macOS 15 Sequoia
Does Sequoia’s Password app change keychains?
What’s going on with AI in Sequoia?
How Sequoia changes virtualisation on Apple silicon
How file systems can change in Sequoia with FSKit.

Apple provides extensive release notes for betas. Those for Sequoia are worth reading as they explain some of the current problems you could encounter.

Can you lose that Mac?

The next question you should ask is whether you could afford to completely lose your Mac for a while, as a result of a problem with the beta. Although that’s most unlikely to happen, it’s a risk you’ve got to be prepared for when you install any pre-release version of macOS.

Never, under any circumstances, install a beta of macOS on any Mac you rely on for production. Betas invariably involve firmware updates, so even if you install the beta on an external disk, it will change your Mac’s firmware. Undoing that is hard enough for an Apple silicon model, and it’s simply not possible on Intel Macs. All you can then do is wait for another beta, or maybe the final release in the autumn/fall, which does update the firmware to something more compatible.

Betas also normally come with updated versions of key components such as iCloud, the APFS file system and Time Machine. Consider carefully what havoc they could produce if there’s a bug affecting other storage used by that Mac, and its backups.

If the worst comes to the worst, you could end up having to restore that Mac to an older version of macOS. Apple explains how to do that, and you should read that account carefully before making any decision. If you’re thinking of installing betas on an Apple silicon model, beware that process requires another Mac running Apple Configurator 2 or macOS Sonoma, and restoring it in DFU mode.

Internal or external SSD?

One way to reduce the risk posed by beta versions of macOS is to install them on external storage. While that can enforce some degree of separation and protection, it still means that firmware is updated, and still brings significant risk of disaster. Don’t try this with a production Mac, even from an external disk.

If you’re going to install the beta on an external disk, you’ll need to be comfortable with the procedure for Apple silicon Macs. Although it does become straightforward with practice, some seem unable to get it to work at all. Intel Macs are far simpler, of course, although one important catch with T2 models is that you have to downgrade their security using Startup Security Utility in Recovery mode, if you haven’t already done so, or they can’t boot from an external disk.

Multiple systems on the same disk

You can also install multiple boot volume groups on the same disk, letting you choose which version of macOS to start up from. This provides even less separation or protection than installing them on separate disks, so should never be attempted on any production Mac.

Apple recommends that you do this into separate boot volume groups within the same APFS container, which has the great advantage that they share the same free space within that container. However, there are times when that can work against you, and I’ve explained why and how to opt for separate containers instead. The choice is yours.

Virtual machine

Some consider that the best way of keeping out of trouble when running beta versions of macOS is to install them into a Virtual Machine (VM), for example using Parallels, UTM or my own Viable. This can’t alter the firmware of the Mac hosting the VM, and that alone makes it far safer. On an Intel Mac, provided that your virtualiser can run Sonoma, it should be capable of running Sequoia betas too, and you should be able to find full instructions as to how to do that from its support site.

This is even simpler on Apple silicon Macs, with their extensive built-in support for running virtualised macOS. Use any of the virtualisers, including Parallels, UTM, and my own Viable. Full instructions for Viable are given here. While Sequoia in a VM works best when on a host also running Sequoia, it still runs very nicely indeed in Sonoma.

iCloud

Some betas bring substantial changes to iCloud, and in the past that has caused lasting havoc to accounts and on iCloud storage. I’m not aware of any particular issues that have been reported in this respect with Sequoia betas, but many testers prefer to use a different iCloud account for Macs when running beta-releases of macOS.

Kernel panics

If you do decide to install the Sequoia beta, or have already done so, I have a big favour to ask on behalf of tens of millions of users, and most of Apple’s engineers. By all means take a good look at its new features, and give Apple plenty of feedback on what you think of them. But please pay careful attention to the basics, exercising your Mac with peripherals such as external displays and hubs. Where you discover problems, please work with Apple to ensure that it knows what they are. If you can, test out features such as Time Machine (being careful not to put your existing backups at risk), which seldom get much attention from other beta-testers.

In particular, send Feedback reports on any kernel panic which your Mac encounters when running a beta. The normal system report, sent after your Mac has restarted, is helpful, but further details are much better still. Even betas should never suffer kernel panics; if yours does, please help Apple’s engineers fix that problem before Sequoia is released.

For those who do beta-test Sequoia, I wish us success, and hope you enjoy testing, and helping Apple make Sequoia even better for all of us.