Orka Desktop 101: Preparing for the release of macOS 15 Sequoia
Since Apple announced macOS Sequoia at WWDC 2024, dev teams have been preparing for the upcoming official release this fall. If you haven’t tapped into the Sequoia developer beta yet, it’s crucial to start now and get ahead of the curve to ensure your applications run efficiently. Don’t worry, Orka Desktop can help.
How can Orka Desktop help you prepare for the new macOS?
Orka Desktop is a free way to virtualize different macOS versions on your local macOS device, including the new macOS Sequoia. With Orka Desktop, you can easily create virtual Macs locally, making it easier to build and test your applications on macOS Sequoia. Users can effortlessly share VMs with other team members through an OCI-compliant registry for troubleshooting and verification. This is the easiest way to test your CI/CD scripts and flows to ensure all your tooling will work as expected when Sequoia is GA.
Why get a head start on developing for Sequoia?
By adopting macOS Sequoia early, you’ll be able to identify and address any build, integration, feature, or performance issues that may arise when running your application on the new operating system. This proactive approach will save you time and resources in the long run, ensuring a seamless transition.
Top benefits of Orka Desktop for macOS Sequoia testing
Apple platform developers can tap into Orka Desktop for easily accessible and shareable macOS VMs on Sequoia, plus other benefits such as:
- Launch a VM with any macOS in seconds for safe local testing and troubleshooting of MDM profiles
- Early discovery of build, integration, feature, and performance issues
- Improved collaboration among DevOps team members with easily shareable images
- Reduced time and resources spent on troubleshooting and debugging
- Increased flexibility and scalability with virtual Macs in the cloud or locally
How to build and test on macOS Sequoia with Orka Desktop
Step 1: Open Orka Desktop application
After downloading Orka Desktop (you can do that here), open the application.
Please note that the minimum supported host OS is Mac Sonoma 14.5 (the image may not load on any earlier OS).
Step 2: Download the Sequoia image from the MacStadium GitHub Repository
Yes, you can get the beta OS directly from the Apple developer portal, but we created an example Orka image based on Sequoia beta 3 that is compressed and exponentially faster to download. Download it here.
Step 3: Add necessary tooling to the base image and start testing
Install whatever tooling you’d like to test and get going. The nice part is that you can save state at any point (locally or into your own repo) to pick up later right where you left off
NOTE: Note: Sequoia image credentials are login/pwd admin/macstadium
How current Orka Customers can use Orka Desktop
Existing Orka customers can use Orka Desktop as an extension of their current MacStadium Orka cluster and can start using the new macOS Sequoia image right away. Simply pull the image from our repository and begin building and testing.
TL;DR: Get ahead of macOS Sequoia with Orka Desktop
Don’t wait until the official release date to start building and testing your applications on macOS Sequoia. With MacStadium’s Orka Desktop, you can get a head start today and ensure a smooth transition.
Get Orka Desktop on GitHub or Brew and start building and testing on macOS Sequoia today!