Every year, usually in September or October, Apple provides Mac users with a new version of macOS, the operating system that Macs run. We normally know what to expect thanks to the company revealing many of the upcoming features at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and because Apple runs a beta program for developers and those who sign up for the public beta program.
This year, despite Coronavirus, we expect that Apple will fill us in on everything it has planned for the Mac operating system at the beginning of WWDC, which is being run as an online-only event.
There will be a keynote on Monday 22 June at which Apple will reveal its plans, but you don’t have to wait until then – we are already hearing rumours and seeing leaked details of some of the new features in macOS.
Perhaps the biggest rumour is that Apple could be planning to reveal its plans to transition from Intel processors to its own ARM processors. This is likely to be big news for developers who will probably have to rewrite their code. But it could also point to a future where macOS and iOS are more closely related and the idea of a Mac that is capable of running both macOS and iOS isn’t so farfetched.
What will the next macOS be called
It always strikes us as amusing that amidst the general gossip about what new features will be in macOS – and what new features people are most hoping for – the question of what the new macOS will be called seems to dominate our minds.
Unlike iOS, which is always just known by its number (in 2020 that will be iOS 14), Apple has always given the new version of the Mac operating system a name in addition to a number. In this case the number will be macOS 10.16, unless Apple decides it’s time for macOS 11, but the name is harder to predict.
Originally Mac OS X was named after big cats: Lion, Snow Leopard, Jaguar, and so on. But since 2013 it’s taken the name of a Californian landmark.
We’ve already had Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, and currently Catalina. So what’s left?
Here are a few guesses:
- Marin
- Monterey
- Sacramento
- Sequoia
- Sonoma
- Tahoe
- Ventura
Perhaps while we are all housebound due to the threat of COVID-19 Alcatraz would be fitting.
As we said above macOS 10.16 looks likely, unless Apple decides to move up to macOS 11. That might be a nice way to mark the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the launch of Mac OS X on 24 March 2001.
When will macOS 10.16 launch
Apple is likely to reveal many of the new features of macOS 10.16 at the WWDC keynote, but the final version won’t be available to install until later in the year.
It’s possible that Apple will give us a date during the WWDC keynote, but it’s more likely that we will have to wait for a September event (where Apple’s likely to launch new iPhones) for the revelation of the date that the new macOS will arrive.
However, we can make an educated guess based on previous years.
Here are the dates when new versions of the macOS have launched. This could indicate when the next new version might arrive.
- Catalina launched on Monday 7 October 2019
- Mojave launched on Monday 24 September 2018
- High Sierra: Monday 25 September 2017
- Sierra: Tuesday 20 September 2016
- El Capitan: Wednesday 30 September 2015
- Yosemite: Thursday 16 October 2014
- Mavericks: Tuesday 22 October 2013
On that basis Monday 5 October 2020 looks like a possibility, unless the current circumstances mean that the launch is delayed.
What we know about the next macOS
Right now a lot of the information we have about the next version of macOS is based on leaked details about the new version of iOS and some code already seen in Catalina. We’ll run though these findings below.
However, as we hinted above, there is some big news about the future of macOS that is apparently scheduled to break at WWDC: it is said that the company will be revealing details of its plans to launch Macs that run on Apple’s own ARM-based chips – not Intel’s. What could that mean for the next version of macOS?
Here’s what we have heard so far:
Goodbye Intel, hello ARM
Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities predicted some time ago that in 2020 or 2021 Apple will start to use its own A-series processors in Macs (Apple currently makes it’s own A-series processors for use in the iPhone and iPad).
While that new Mac might not appear until 2021 it seems that Apple is going to share the news with developers at WWDC. Bloomberg has predicted that Apple will announce the transition away from Intel to its own ARM chips at WWDC on 22 June.
By giving developers an early ‘heads up’ Apple will be able to manage the transition in a way that should cause the least amount of disruption to consumers, as developers will be able to make the necessary changes to code so that their apps will run smoothly on the new processors.
This isn’t the first time Apple has made a transition like this. At WWDC in 2005 Apple announced the transition from PowerPC to Intel chips and told developers about Rosetta – Apple’s solution for translating the code so that all apps could run on the new processors – that would work while developers rewrote their apps.
It’s possible that those developers who have iOS and macOS versions of the same apps will be in a good position as they will already have versions of their apps that run on the A-series processors.
Either way, we can expect some disruption as the transition takes place. But hopefully it will be a positive thing as Apple will no longer be dependent on Intel, so we may not have extended waits for new Macs to launch.
Will macOS and iOS merge?
Moving to ARM chips could be a lot easier for developers if iOS and macOS were to merge, but Apple’s already said that won’t happen. Back in March 2018. Apple CEO Tim Cook repeated his views that merging the two platforms would be a mistake.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Cook said: “We don’t believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [The Mac and iPad] are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two … you begin to make trade-offs and compromises.
“So maybe the company would be more efficient at the end of the day. But that’s not what it’s about. You know it’s about giving people things that they can then use to help them change the world or express their passion or express their creativity. So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don’t think that’s what users want.”
However, despite Apple saying that they won’t merge macOS and iOS, we have since seen the launch of iPadOS, which bought macOS and iPadOS closer together. So never say never.
Read more about the prospect of an ARM-powered MacBook that could run iOS and macOS here.
New features coming to macOS
When Apple launched Mojave it bought News, Stocks, Voice Memos, and Home to the Mac to the Mac with the help of Catayst – a framework that makes it easier to convert iPad apps to run on the Mac. Thanks to Catayst we gained the TV, Podcasts and Music apps. What iOS apps will be receiving the same treatment this time around?
And, on the basis that many iOS apps and features are mirrored over on macOS, what can we learn about the new macOS features coming based on iOS 14 leaks (code for iOS 14 leaked back in February 2020!)
Translations
For example, based on iOS leaks we know that Apple is working on building in automatic translations for when you are browsing the web, and also building the same ability into Siri.
Siri
Speaking of Siri, Siri could soon be speaking in different voices. Rumour has it that Apple will open up Siri to third parties who will be able to provide different voices you would switch to. How about celebrity voices?
Messages
There is already a Messages app on the Mac, but it lacks many of the features of the iOS versions.
This should change in macOS 10.16. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith noted on Twitter in 2019 that there is evidence in Catalina that Apple is working on a Catayst version of Messages.
There is a whole lot of evidence in Catalina that they’re working on a full, Catalyst version of Messages, much like Shortcuts for Mac. So, just like Shortcuts, I decided to cut to the chase and do it myself by calling the system frameworks. Voilà pic.twitter.com/IsXKrGpemd
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith)
June 19, 2019
We expect to get a first look at this new version of Messages for Mac at WWDC.
New features said to be coming to Messages on iOS (and therefore macOS) include:
- The ability to delete an iMessage you regret sending
- @Tags – so you’ll get an alert if you have muted a group chat
- Typing indicators so you will see who is typing in a group chat
You should also be able to take advantage of tapback and other Messages features that are currently iOS only.
Shortcuts
It appears that Apple is also working on a Catayst version of Shortcuts. There is code in Catalina that suggests that this feature is coming to the Mac.
Shortcuts is an automation feature in iOS. There are various automation tools for Mac, such as AppleScript and Automator, but Shortcuts is a lot simpler to use (although not really that simple in our experience).
One of the useful features of Shortcuts on iOS is the fact that Siri on iOS can self-generate shortcuts based on common tasks you do is really handy and we’d love to see that on the Mac.
Say you do different tasks depending on the day of the week, you Mac could start up with the relevant apps open, and even suggest things you might want to do.
If you want to try out Shortcuts on your iPhone we have a guide here, or if you fancy a bit of automation on your Mac right now, read 10 ways to automate your Mac.
New features we’d like to see in macOS
Not content with those possibilities above, we’ll run through some other iOS features we’d like to see in macOS 10.16.
Plus, because not everything we’d like to see on the new macOS is inspired by iOS, read on to find out what other things we’re hoping for.
Control Centre
In the next version of macOS we would love to see features like the iOS Control Centre arrive on the Mac, giving access to System Preferences, Sleep, Shut Down from an easy to use and access menu.
App Switcher
An iOS style App Switcher could be a useful feature for macOS. Currently if you press Command and Tab together you will see the Mac App Switcher, which is similar to seeing the apps you have open by swiping up on, or double tapping the Home button on an iOS device. But unlike in iOS you don’t see a view of the actual page, just an icon. Alternatively Expose (F3) allows you to see thumbnails of everything you have open.
Clock
Wouldn’t it be great if macOS had a proper Clock app, with all the functionality of the Clock app in iOS including alarms, and a world clock so you know when it’s 10am in San Francisco? A dedicated app with Alarm, Stopwatch and Timer functionality for macOS would come in handy.
Health
Health is a great app on iOS and Apple Watch, and we think it’d be nice to see it come across to macOS. Being able to keep an eye on your health stats from the desktop would help Health become a much more versatile tool – and it might help remind us to get up and take a break once in a while.
Multitouch
Multitouch is key to how users interact with their iOS devices. It is unlikely to be implemented on Mac screens as Apple doesn’t, and has always indicated that it won’t ever, offer touch-sensitive screens.
However, Apple does now allow those who link their iPad to their Mac to use the touchscreen of the iPad to control their Mac, so perhaps this is a precursor to a touchscreen Mac. We’d love to see some new multi-touch style features on the Mac.
Multiple docks
Everybody loves the macOS dock, allowing for quick access to your most used apps and folders – but there’s still room for improvement, especially for those of us that use multiple displays.
The dock is available across all connected displays, but it’s always the same dock with no way to edit it on a per-screen basis. For those that use multiple displays to perform different tasks – from editing videos to coding and more – being able to have a separate dock on each display could speed up the workflow and generally make life a little easier.
Save As
We’re still not sure why Apple replaced Save-As (Command-Shift-S) with Duplicate in its iWork apps (Pages, Numbers and Keynote), but we think Apple should rethink the approach. Whatever new approach to file saving they had planned hasn’t gained wider industry traction, and it’s just confusing to everybody who knows the Command-Shift-S is Save As.
In the meantime, swot up on your knowledge of Mac keyboard shortcuts here.
Pages
This is a personal peeve but please Apple stop Pages default opening in the space wasting Page Thumbnail view. It drives us mad and we can only imagine those with small laptop screens are finding it incredibly frustrating!
Time Machine, cloud backups and more
We’d like to see some changes to the way Time Machine works in macOS 10.16. Users have been calling for a way for Time Machine backups to be stored in the cloud. After all, our iPhones are backed up to iCloud so why can’t our Macs be?
You may already have your Mac set up to store the contents of your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud, the Time Machine backup could be the next step in moving our data to a location where we can download it all from should our Macs be stolen or stop working.
In terms of Time Machine, APFS – Apple’s new file system introduced in High Sierra – could bring some changes. Time Machine still uses the older HFS+ file system. This is because Time Machine currently relies on directories, and creates hard links to them. APFS doesn’t support hard links to directories, it creates symbolic links (or aliases) instead.
So Time Machine has to use HFS+ to work right now, but in the next version of macOS, Apple could update Time Machine to use APFS snapshots for file linking, rather than hard links.
As for backing up to the cloud, with cloud storage prices falling, we think it’s high time Apple brought cloud backup directly into macOS. You might have to pay extra for the solution, but it’d be a much better system than backing up Macs to external drives.
If you’re not completely up to date on Time Machine, here’s a Complete guide to Time Machine.
Merge Siri and Spotlight
This feature is more for convenience, rather than anything else and will provide greater integration of both local and internet-based searches. This principle is similar to the way Microsoft integrated its own voice-based tool, Cortana into the search function of Windows 10. Of course, if you prefer not to use Siri you can always disable it from the settings.
Snap more windows in Full screen view
Speaking of Windows 10, we like the way users can snap four different application windows to a grid, so that each takes a quarter of the screen – it’s a nice neat way of working with multiple applications and looks great on a big screen. Apple can only ‘snap’ two applications per screen in ‘full screen view’.
Store multiple clippings on Clipboard
This is also a Windows only feature right now – the ability to store multiple clippings on your Clipboard. Right now on macOS you can copy something and then paste it onto any device that’s connected to your Apple ID and iCloud, but you are limited to one item at a time. How useful would it be to be able to go back to the thing you copied half an hour ago?
Screengrabs
In Windows 10 you can screengrab something in a freehand shape, rather than being limited to a square or rectangle.
Timeline
Ever needed to go back to something you were working on a week ago before you got sidetracked into doing something else? Do you have specific projects that come up from time-to-time? Microsoft has a Timeline that allows you to jump back a few weeks to all the things you were working on then, recreating that working environment. This could be a handy feature for macOS too.
iPhone auto unlock
macOS Sierra brought us auto unlock using an Apple Watch, but we’re sure many would appreciate the option to unlock their Macs with their iPhones – a class of device owned by far more people.
Via MACWORLD