Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.3: Introducing Genmoji and AI Enhancements

macOS Sequoia 15.3 available now, here's everything that's new - 9to5Mac

Apple has just released macOS Sequoia 15.3, its latest software update for Mac users. The new release brings Genmoji support to the Mac, AI notification summary changes, and more. Here's everything new. Generally seen as one of the best Apple Intelligence additions, Genmoji launched in December as part of iOS and iPadOS 18.2 -- but on the Mac, the feature was missing. Now, full Genmoji support has been added to macOS with today's 15.3 update. From inside the Messages app and anywhere else with the emoji keyboard, you can create your own custom emoji to share with others. Simply type a description of what you're imagining, and AI will create several new emoji options for you to choose from. Genmoji also benefit from a recent enhancement that allows you to use any emoji as a tapback reactions in Apple's Messages app. For the most part, Apple's rollout of AI features has been relatively controversy-free. The one exception is notification summaries. While these summaries are one of my favorite AI additions, they also can be error-prone. Sometimes in comical ways, but also in very serious and problematic ones. Like the rest of Apple Intelligence, notification summaries are still classified as 'beta.' As of macOS 15.3, Apple makes that more clear during setup, and in System Settings, there's a warning that these summaries "may contain errors." To make more clear when a user is looking at an AI summary, Apple has made notification summaries now use italicized text. Standard notifications will not. Finally, you can also more easily disable summaries for a given app via the notification itself, which has a "Turn Off Summaries" option. It's unusual for a new software update to remove features, but that's what macOS 15.3 does -- at least temporarily. Since the primary issues with AI notification summaries have involved news apps, Apple has disabled summaries altogether for both news and entertainment apps. You cannot manually re-enable the feature, as Apple has removed it entirely until a later date after its AI models have been adequately updated. Finally, macOS 15.3 includes a fix for a Calculator app bug that was first introduced last fall. When Apple originally launched macOS Sequoia, it came with several upgrades to Calculator. However, one unintended regression meant you could no longer hit the equals sign repeatedly to repeat operations. Now, that's been fixed. Enter 2 x 2, for example, then hit equals to get 4, and hit equals again to get 8, then 16, and so on. Today's macOS update continues a trend of adding Apple Intelligence enhancements to the Mac. While the number of features and changes comes up short of what recent updates have brought, that's not unusual for Apple's winter software updates. Now with 15.3 shipped, we should start seeing beta releases soon for what's expected to be a more significant update: macOS 15.4. Which macOS 15.3 features are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments.

macOS Sequoia 15.3 Arrives With a Pile of Improvements

How to Smoothly Transition From Google Chrome to Safari (and Why) Apple has released the macOS Sequoia 15.3 update, bringing its AI emoji generator and other improvements and under-the-hood changes to the Mac computers. "This update introduces Genmoji, powered by Apple Intelligence, and also includes other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac," according to release notes accompanying macOS Sequoia 15.3. Genmoji creation is available in Messages, Notes, and other apps that use keyboard input. You can access Genmoji via the emoji picker, which is activated by pressing the Control + Command + Space keyboard shortcut. Genmoji requires Apple Intelligence and is unavailable on Intel-based Macs. Genmoji for Mac works like Genmoji for iPhone and iPad, which arrived alongside iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. With it, you can create custom emoji characters from short textual descriptions, such as "a dino wearing glasses and skateboarding." You can also use a contact picture to create a Genmoji that looks like you. Genmoji behave like regular emoji on iPhones, iPads, and Macs running iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 software or later. On other devices, including Windows PCs and Android phones, Genmoji show up as a regular image. The update disables notifications for news summarized by Apple Intelligence due to inaccuracies. Only notification summaries for apps from the App Store's News and Entertainment categories are disabled; other AI-powered notification summaries continue to work. Owners of Apple silicon Macs who opt-in will see them again "when the feature becomes available" in a future update to macOS. You can also turn off notification summaries for an app from the macOS Lock Screen, and the notification banner uses text in italics and the glyph to distinguish notifications summarized by Apple Intelligence from regular ones. Another change in macOS Sequoia 15.3 lets you repeat the last mathematical operation in the built-in Calculator app by clicking the equals sign again. Repeat operations were supported before but were temporarily removed as Apple significantly redesigned the Calculator app. To update your Mac to macOS Sequoia 15.3, launch the System Settings app, select the General option in the sidebar, and then choose Software Update on the right. Apple's support document will soon be updated with a list of bug fixes and security patches in macOS Sequoia 15.3. You can check which features are available where and in what languages by perusing Apple's macOS Feature Availability page. Apple also released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 today with a pile of iPhone and iPad improvements. Source: Apple