macOS Sierra - Everything you wish you knew about it

The new macOS Sierra and everything you wanted to know about it... and didn't dare ask!

If you have questions, we have the answers. And about the new macOS Sierra and other topics as you've probably discovered for yourself by now. And even other topics you wouldn't think to ask about because you don't know they exist. So let's see what's new with the expected major new OS X upgrade.

Why macOS Sierra was named macOS Sierra

So the newest version of the legendary OS X, is now changing its name - to macOS - as, according to software design director Craig Federighi, Apple decided after 15 years of OS X, that it was time to unify the names of all Apple software platforms (e.g. iOS, watchOS tvOS and now macOS).

macOS Sierra no longer has a serial version number, at least for consumers. Internally, however, it carries the 10.12 badge, which is the next logical step after the previous version 10.11 of what was previously known as OS X.

In 2001, Apple started naming the Mac operating system as "Mac OS X" and then changed it at some point (2012) to just "OS X", but because the company decided to give a uniform format to the names of its operating system series, it decided to "return to Mac" and so the new operating system was named something more similar to the rest of the series, hence macOS.

How and when will we be able to upgrade?

The new major update will be available on the Mac App Store as usual when it's completely ready (after mid-September) and we'll be able to download and install it on our Macs as usual.

Those who have an account as "Developers" (developers etc.) can download the beta version from Apple's special website for developers and in July the rest of the ordinary users will be able to download the preview version from the public beta portal (https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/).

See also: macOS Sierra, watchOS 3 and tvOS - All the announcements from the WWDC 2016 event 

Which Macs will be compatible with macOS Sierra?

The new macOS will be compatible with the following Mac models:

• iMac (Late 2009 & after)
• MacBook Air (2010 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
• Mac mini (2010 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2010 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2010 or later)

As was the case with El Capitan, and with every version of Mac OS X before that, as long as your machine is generally compatible, it will work fine with the new version of macOS with the exception of the Metal Graphics framework and several of the Continuity features that are only supported on machines from 2012 onwards. And it goes without saying that this upgrade will also be free.

Applications and experience

Siri!

Starting with the most important one, Siri now coming to the Mac, not only is it great for users of desktop and laptop machines, but it completes the circle of personal assistants as it is now available on all Apple machines and platforms.

Its functions will be similar to what we're used to on iOS, with the added feature that Mac users will be able to talk to Siri without stopping their work to talk to her.

And, unlike iOS, tvOS and watchOS, it will also be able to deal with our files and folders on the Mac in cooperation with Spotlight. This way search will become smarter as we can tell it to find a photo and "drop" it into a document we're working on, for example.

And of course, Apple won't be upset if, instead of Google, you start using Siri for your searches. But, truth be told, it's unlikely that it will manage to replace Google's vast search capabilities.

See also: WWDC 2016 - The features we expected and didn't see 

Apple Pay is coming to the Web

It took a while, but eventually Apple Pay came to support e-commerce.

As with MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, etc., those merchants that support Apple Pay will integrate it into their websites and allow us to avoid the time-consuming process of filling in details, credit cards, passwords, etc.

And, even better, the connection will be made via iPhone or Apple watch so no passwords will be needed. If you have a newer device with Touch ID, the payment process will even be instant (or by double-pressing the side button on the Apple watch respectively).

And similar to using the Apple watch for Apple Pay, those lucky enough to have the Apple watch will be able to unlock their Mac as soon as they get close to it thanks to the watch's approach to the computer.

What else is there?

There is more news. Optimized Storage will make sure you don't run out of disk space by transferring old and long-unused files to the cloud, and at the same time it will clean your machine of cache files that are no longer needed.

There is also the new "Universal Clipboard" a function that will connect macOS and iOS 10 and we will be able to copy data to an iPhone for example and paste them on our Mac where we need them.

Of course, Universal Clipboard will have a limited amount of time that its data will stay in memory, so that password you copied from one device to go to another will not stay there forever, creating potential risks.

Another interesting feature is Picture-in-Picture for videos. Thanks to this, a video viewed on Youtube for example, will be able to "float" on top of any other window at the touch of a button.

Other great and big updates will be made to Apple Music and Photos that will be similar to the ones in iOS 10. This means that Memories in Photos will do face recognition and automatically group our photos by face and by the area they were taken, and it will also create slideshows and short videos. This is of course to compete with Google Photos, but the great thing is that all this work will be done on our device and without having to share photos with third parties or Apple itself.

See also: iOS 10: The biggest upgrade ever! 

Finally...

We will continue to update you whenever we have more details about the new macOS Sierra. So you will get accurate and timely information from us.

from Elichord