Just over three weeks after releasing macOS Sonoma 14.4 on March 7th 2024, Apple has released macOS 14.4.1, an update that fixes three of the main issues that plagued the 14.4 release. We have the details…

The Problems With macOS 14.4

In our article macOS Sonoma 14.4 More Problems Found - Why We Advise Not To Upgrade, we identified a number of issues with macOS 14..4. We wrote…

PACE iLok Issues

We reported these issues as soon as they became apparent. In our article Sonoma 14.4 Issue With PACE Protected Products—Don't Upgrade Your OS Yet, we reported that both Sonnox and Liquidsoncis had posted advice that there were problems with macOS 14.4 and PACE iLok products. Since then, Joey Sturgis Tones, Neural DSP, Universal Audio and others have made public statements about the issue.

The problem seems to affect Apple Silicon Macs when using PACE iLok-protected plugins Logic Pro. Now that more time has passed, we understand the situation more fully. PACE has indicated that Apple will provide the fix, but the timescale for that is unknown.

USB Hub and Monitor Ports

Some users have been reporting that USB devices are not connecting to their Macs after installing macOS Sonoma 14.4. Reddit threads show users seem to have the problem on Dell, Samsung, and Gigabyte monitors. While the problem seems to primarily affect the monitors' USB hubs, a few users have reported that the update has caused some monitors to become unresponsive.

Java Processes

There have been reports of a bug in macOS Sonoma 14.4's release version that causes Java processes to terminate unexpectedly. Mac users who need to run Java are advised to delay updating to the latest version.

The new issue affects all versions of Java from version 8 on up, including current early access builds. According to Oracle, no workaround is currently available.

macOS 14.4.1 Is Released

Today, we learned that Apple has released macOS 14.4.1, which we understand contains numerous bug fixes. Apple is usually pretty tight-lipped about bug fixes, especially when related to security updates, but in the release notes, they state that the following bugs have been addressed in the update…

1. USB hubs connected to external displays may not be recognized.

2. Copy-protected Audio Unit plug-ins designed for professional music apps may not open or pass validation.

3. Apps that include Java may quit unexpectedly.

They have also stated that macOS 14.4.1 contains a couple of security updates affecting CoreMedia and WebRTC.

If you are running macOS 14.4, you might want to consider updating to macOS 14.4.1 by opening System Settings, selecting General and then Software Update and clicking Update now on macOS 14.4.1.

UPDATE 25th March 2024": Liquidsonics Announcement

Liquidsonics posted this announcement on their Facebook page…

“An update to macOS 14.4.1 is now available – no developer preview was provided but we are seeing client reports that 14.4.1 has resolved the issue regarding Pace copy protection. If you are still having problems following the update please contact support so this can be investigated.”

UPDATE 3rd April 2024: Universal Audio Announce Support For macOS 14.4.1

Universal Audio has emailed their users with the following announcement…

“Good news, the recently released macOS 14.4.1 Sonoma update from Apple restores compatibility with Audio Units plug‑ins safeguarded by PACE / iLok on all Apple silicon Macs.

The update to Sonoma 14.4.1 is now available in macOS System Settings. Please see the following Support Announcement for more details:
macOS 14.4 Sonoma Compatibility Info

Sincerely,

The UA Customer Care Team”