Enlarge / The classic Mac OS wallpaper in macOS 15 Sequoia mimics the monochrome user interfaces used in System 1 through 6. (credit: Apple)

I'm still in the very early stages of poking at macOS 15 Sequoia ahead of our customary review later this fall, and there are quite a few things that aren't working in this first developer beta. Some of those, like the AI features, aren't working on purpose; I am sure some of the iCloud sync issues I'm having are broken by accident.

I've already encountered a few functional upgrades I like, like iCloud support inside of virtual machines, automated window snapping (at long last), and a redesigned AirDrop interface in the Finder. But so far the change that I like the most is actually a new combo wallpaper and screen saver that's done in the style of Apple's Mac operating system circa the original monochrome Mac from 1984. It's probably the best retro Mac Easter egg since Clarus the Dogcow showed up in a print preview menu a couple of years ago.

The Macintosh wallpaper and screen saver—it uses the animated/dynamic wallpaper feature that Apple introduced in Sonoma last year—cycles through enlarged, pixelated versions of classic Mac apps, icons, and menus, a faithful replica of the first version of the Mac interface. Though they're always monochrome, the default settings will cycle through multiple background colors that match the ones that Apple uses for accent colors.

Enlarge / Macs running a preview build of macOS 15 Sequoia. (credit: Apple)

We’ve written before about Apple’s handy virtualization framework in recent versions of macOS, which allows users of Apple Silicon Macs with sufficient RAM to easily set up macOS and Linux virtual machines using a number of lightweight third-party apps. This is useful for anyone who needs to test software in multiple macOS versions but doesn’t own a fleet of Mac hardware or multiple boot partitions. (Intel Macs support the virtualization framework, too, but only for Linux VMs, making it less useful.)

But up until now, you haven’t been able to sign into iCloud using macOS on a VM. This made the feature less useful for developers or users hoping to test iCloud features in macOS, or whose apps rely on some kind of syncing with iCloud, or people who just wanted easy access to their iCloud data from within a VM.

This limitation is going away in macOS 15 Sequoia, according to developer documentation that Apple released yesterday. As long as your host operating system is macOS 15 or newer and your guest operating system is macOS 15 or newer, VMs will now be able to sign into and use iCloud and other Apple ID-related services just as they would when running directly on the hardware.

Enlarge / Using macOS S15 Sequoia to stream an iPhone's screen to a Mac while the iPhone stays locked. (credit: Apple)

Apple has formally announced macOS 15 at its Worldwide Developers Conference. Codenamed Sequoia, the new release brings a combination of iOS 18 features and a few Mac-specific things to the devices it supports.

Users who split their time between Windows and macOS will be the most excited to see that Apple has finally implemented a form of automated window tiling in macOS. This makes it easier to arrange windows automatically on your screen without manually dragging and resizing each one individually or switching into full-screen mode.

Another feature called iPhone Mirroring sends your iPhone's screen to your Mac, so you can use apps directly on your phone while manipulating them using your Mac's keyboard and trackpad. The iPhone audio is also streamed to your Mac. For privacy's sake, your phone's screen stays locked while apps are streaming to your Mac, and your Mac can also receive your iPhone notifications alongside your Mac notifications (no word on how the operating systems will handle duplicate notifications from Messages, Calendar, or other apps that are getting the same updates on both platforms).

Enlarge / The logo for WWDC24. (credit: Apple)

Apple's annual developer conference, WWDC, kicks off in Cupertino, California, next week. As always, it will start with a livestream keynote on Monday morning at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. We'll be in attendance reporting on the event, so let's take a moment to take stock of what we expect to see next week.

But first, let's note something we don't think we'll see: Due to some peculiarities about Apple's upgrade cycles, as well as a push toward the M4, we're not actually expecting any major hardware announcements at WWDC this year.

That's OK, though, because it looks like it's going to be a big one for software news. iOS has seen relatively modest updates in the past couple of years, but that's about to change.