Apple’s M3 MacBook Pro started arriving on buyer’s doorsteps today, but instead of joy and excitement, some users received a bundle of confusion. As noted by ZONEofTECH, a tech-based YouTube channel, some machines aren’t shipping with the latest software.
Over on X (formerly Twitter), Daniel Rotar posts that he got a 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro (yay!) but oddly, it has macOS 13.5 Ventura, a version macOS that shipped in July before being replaced by Sonoma in September (boo!). To make matters worse, he’s not allowed to upgrade to Sonoma (double boo!) due to compatibility confusion with the two versions.
The good news: they got an M3 Pro MacBook Pro and it came with Sonoma (yay!). Apple’s new MacBook Pro and the iMac should come with Sonoma 14.1, which was released prior to these new Macs, but other new Macs, such as the MacBook Air, may not have 14.1 installed, since it’s possible it was produced prior to the update being released.
It’s very odd that Ventura was installed during the production process. Usually new devices released during a new software release are unable to install older versions. However, the issue appears to be have affected more than one user, with Nacookan on X responding with a similar situation with an M3 Pro MacBook Pro. In their case, they had to allow public beta updates in order to get Sonoma installed. But if that doesn’t work, this looks like a case that requires a visit to an Apple Store Genius—unless you just want to stick with Ventura.
Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3, 2023)
Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 2023)
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.