macOS 14.4.1 Sonoma and macOS 13.6.6 Ventura Fix Bugs and Vulnerabilities
And now the other shoe has dropped. After last week’s updates (see “Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 17.4.1 and 16.7.7, and visionOS 1.1.1,” 22 March 2024), we assumed more updates would be coming.
Today, Apple released macOS 14.4.1 Sonoma and macOS 13.6.6 Ventura. Given the bugs and security vulnerabilities they fix, it seems less likely that any other operating systems will receive parallel updates.
Apple doesn’t detail the bug fixes in macOS 13.6.6, but the release notes for macOS 14.4.1 say it resolves some high-profile problems. The update:
- Ensures that USB hubs connected to external displays are recognized
- Prevents Java apps from quitting unexpectedly
- Allows copy-protected Audio Unit plug-ins designed for professional music apps to open or pass validation
In addition, Howard Oakley suggests that macOS 14.4.1 may fix the bug that caused saved versions to be stripped from evicted files in iCloud Drive.
On the security side, both macOS updates address the same vulnerability in processing maliciously crafted images as the earlier iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS releases.
If you are running macOS 14.4, I recommend installing macOS 14.4.1 right away. Those still using Ventura and anyone who hasn’t yet updated to macOS 14.4 can wait a few more days because the security vulnerabilities aren’t currently being exploited in the wild.
Well 14.4.1 did not fix my issue. Since going to 14.4 none of my songs in my Music app playlists on my Mac will play (these are songs whose files reside on my MacBook). No matter what I try–click on song title or click on PLAY – nothing. The only way to revive a song is to re-drag it into the playlist from a Finder window. That is a lot of work with dozens of playlists and hundreds of songs. !4.4.1 did not address this.
Here’s a discussion thread on this: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255520420?login=true&sortBy=best&answerId=260308108022
PS. I am using Music app 1.4.4.48
MacinTouch is reporting some issues as well:
https://www.macintouch.com/post/38918/macos-sonoma-14-4-1-still-buggy/
finally: the file paths for the non-playing songs are correct.
What’s the consensus is it finally safe to go to 14.4.x? I am still on 14.3.1
No new issues with 14.4.1 on an 14" M1 MBP here.