Apple recently announced the release of the newest version of macOS, Sonoma (14), which was made available to the general public on Tuesday, September 26.

Important Note Regarding Sonoma 

Information Technology Services (ITS) is aware of incompatibilities and issues that may impact security tools and software used across Mason. Known issues include:

• IBM SPSS does not support macOS Sonoma at this time
• Vonage Contact Center will not function properly on Chromium-based browsers (Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome)
• Numerous reports of network connectivity problems after upgrading

Therefore, ITS highly recommends that all Mason-owned Mac systems remain on macOS 12 Monterey or macOS 13 Ventura until more information is available. ITS will continue to test macOS 14 Sonoma and coordinate with our partners to ensure the highest level of support for Mac systems across the university. We anticipate full adoption and support of macOS 14 Sonoma by Monday, January 8, 2024.

Important Note for macOS 11 Users

Along with the macOS 14 release, Apple is discontinuing support for macOS 11 Big Sur. This means any systems currently running macOS 11 will no longer receive security updates. As of Thursday, September 21, ITS will be upgrading systems that are running macOS 11 as this presents a significant security risk to the university.

Restrictions for Unsupported MacOS Versions

To increase endpoint security at Mason, ITS has been actively working to upgrade Mason-owned Mac systems to supported versions of macOS. At this point, any Mac system still running macOS 10.x presents a significant risk to the university. Starting Monday, October 30, systems still running macOS 10.x will be removed and blocked from the Mason network. If you require an exception, contact the ITS Support Center to initiate a request.

If you require assistance or have questions, please contact the ITS Support Center at 703-993-8870 or support@gmu.edu.