macOS Sequoia Has New FaceTime Backgrounds Showcasing Apple Park

Apple in the second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.1 has added a set of new backgrounds for FaceTime calls that showcase features of Apple Park.

macos sequoia facetime backgrounds
There are nine backgrounds in all, featuring iconic locations around the company's circular headquarters in Cupertino, California, which should be familiar to anyone who has watched a recent Apple event.

For example, one shows ‌Apple Park‌'s rainbow arch, based on the company's rainbow apple logo and erected as a tribute to its late co-founder Steve Jobs, who helped conceptualize the spaceship-like design of the main building on the campus prior to his death.

In ‌macOS Sequoia‌, there are other new built-in backgrounds that can be used for ‌FaceTime‌ and other video calls to blur out and hide what's behind you. These include different color gradients and the ability to use photos from your photo library.

Elsewhere, ‌FaceTime‌ has also gained the ability to preview what you're going to share in a video call when using screen sharing. Video calling apps will now give you a small preview of what will be shared before you okay the sharing process, which is useful to double check that you're not sharing information you don't want everyone to see.

‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15.1 is currently in its second developer beta phase and is expected to arrive for all users with supporting Macs later this year, following the release of ‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15. Apple has split Apple Intelligence into a separate set of betas because these features will not be available in the initial launch version of ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌.

Related Roundup: macOS Sequoia
Related Forum: macOS Sequoia

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

When Is iPhone 17 Coming Out?

Thursday July 24, 2025 9:11 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 series is expected to debut in September 2025. This release follows Apple's recent trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. To unveil the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple is expected to hold its annual iPhone announcement event during the week of September 8, 2025, with September 9 or 10 emerging as the most likely...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 16 New Features

Saturday July 26, 2025 5:50 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max should launch in late September, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models, as of July 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

Tipster: iPhone 17 Pro to Feature 8x Zoom, Pro Camera App, and More

Sunday July 27, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will have several new camera-related features, according to an anonymous tipster who contacted MacRumors today. The tipster claimed to be familiar with an iPhone 17 Pro commercial that is allegedly being produced by a film company that has publicly listed Apple as one of its clients. MacRumors has not independently confirmed any of the information shared ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Thursday July 24, 2025 7:08 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
Apple Partridge Creek

Apple Store in Michigan Permanently Closing Next Month

Saturday July 26, 2025 1:51 pm PDT by
Earlier this month, MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to permanently close its Partridge Creek store, just outside of Detroit, Michigan, and now the company has announced a closure date for the location. Apple Partridge Creek Apple Partridge Creek's final day of business will be Saturday, August 16, with the store set to close for good at 8 p.m. local time that day. All of ...
iOS 18

Apple Shares iOS 18.6 Release Notes

Thursday July 24, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
While the focus is now on iOS 26, there is still an iOS 18.6 update incoming. As noted by Aaron Zollo, Apple on Wednesday re-labeled iOS 18.6 Beta 4 as simply iOS 18.6, meaning that it is the Release Candidate version. This change effectively confirms that the update will be released to the public next week. Alongside the new label, Apple shared release notes for iOS 18.6, which is a...
iPhone 17 Colors

All 15 New iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Colors Leaked

Friday July 25, 2025 6:20 am PDT by
We may finally have a definitive list of all color options for the iPhone 17 series, ahead of the devices launching in September. MacRumors concept In a Macworld report this month, Filipe Espósito said he obtained an "internal document" that allegedly reveals all of the color options for the upcoming iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. The report...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 16 New Features

Tuesday July 22, 2025 5:00 pm PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models, as of July 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14...

Top Rated Comments

Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
12 months ago
Me on every single facetime call from here on in


Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
12 months ago
Apple is great. But this, at first glance, seems weird – why pretend you're at Apple?
Wouldn't high quality backgrounds of different regions of Earth be more useful (maybe take inspiration from visionOS environments)?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gleepskip Avatar
12 months ago

Apple is great. But this, at first glance, seems weird – why pretend you're at Apple?
Wouldn't high quality backgrounds of different regions of Earth be more useful (maybe take inspiration from visionOS environments)?
It's cringey.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iCyprus Avatar
12 months ago
Okay, this is ALL I ever wanted for my video calls.

Good call APPle.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mystery hill Avatar
12 months ago
They did this so they can work from home while appearing to be at the spaceship building.

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/19/apple-employees-fighting-return-to-work/
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
harmonthe3rd Avatar
12 months ago
I definitely will be using the background features. I think many people tend to forget that Apple used to charge for the MacOs. Tim gets so much backlash on the cost of other items. Prices for Apple products have stayed rather consistent for more than a decade.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)