This week, Apple previewed macOS Sonoma, the latest version of its Mac operating system. A software update coming later this year will include several new features, but not all of them will be available on Intel-powered Macs, according to Apple.
the macOS Sonoma Features PageThe fine print indicates that the following features require a Mac with Apple silicon:
- Presenter Overlay, a feature that displays the user over the shared content in any video conferencing application.
- A game mode that prioritizes CPU and GPU performance during gameplay by limiting the performance of background tasks.
- New powerful mode in Screen Sharer.
- Allows hearing aids designed for iPhone to pair directly with your Mac.
- The ability to summon Siri by saying “Siri” instead of “Hey Siri”.
Apple won’t say why the features aren’t available on Intel Macs, but it’s most likely related to performance considerations, and only Apple Macs have a neural engine for machine learning tasks. The last Intel Macs were released in 2020, and since then Apple has switched to its own custom processors. Apple’s move to silicon is complete after releasing a new Mac Pro with the M2 Ultra chip this week.
macOS Sonoma is likely to be released to the public in October and is compatible with Macs released in December 2017 and later.
