{"id":30928,"date":"2020-08-27T18:31:56","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T22:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/?p=7876"},"modified":"2020-08-24T09:06:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T13:06:00","slug":"what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Can Expect from macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year at its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple lays out its roadmap for the next releases of each of its operating systems. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Apple to record its keynote presentation ahead of time rather than having it live, but the company doesn\u2019t seem to have tempered its ambitions for macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7.<\/p>\n

Apple never promises ship dates this early in the process, but it\u2019s a good bet that we\u2019ll see these operating system updates in September or October, given past release dates.<\/p>\n

As we get closer to the anticipated fall releases, here\u2019s what to look forward to!<\/p>\n

macOS 11.0 Big Sur<\/h3>\n

Yes, you read that right\u2014the macOS version number finally goes to 11, and it\u2019s named after the Big Sur region of California. Its changes fall into three main categories: design, updates to essential apps, and support for Apple silicon (see our other article about that).<\/p>\n

Apple says that macOS 11.0 Big Sur<\/a> embodies the biggest change in design since the release of Mac OS X in 2001. It still looks familiar but changes nearly every aspect of the visual interface. Window frames are gone, title bars have shrunk and been joined by icon-focused toolbars, and visual complexity has been reduced. Windows and icons are both more rounded than before, and the Dock now sits slightly above the bottom of the screen, much like in iPadOS.<\/p>\n

Big Sur also gains a Control Center along the lines of the one in iOS and watchOS, with the twist that you can pin your most-used controls to the top of the menu bar. Apple also revamped Notification Center with features from iOS, making notifications more interactive, grouping them by thread or app, and letting you do more with widgets.<\/p>\n

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Apple rewrote all its apps to ensure that they\u2019d run natively on Macs with Apple silicon, but some received more substantial changes as well. Messages allows threading in group conversations, lets you @mention people like in Slack or Twitter, and allows you to pin conversations to the top of your list.<\/p>\n

Safari exposes more of its privacy-protecting features, allowing you to view a privacy report that shows trackers blocked in the last 30 days, warns you if your account passwords may have been compromised in a data breach, and can translate pages from a number of languages.<\/p>\n

Maps provides cycling directions, can include charging stations when routing electric car owners, and provides Apple Guides with travel suggestions. Many other apps, including Photos, Music, Podcasts, Reminders, and Voice Memos receive smaller enhancements.<\/p>\n

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Remember that new Macs with Apple silicon will require Big Sur, both to support the new Apple processors and for its Rosetta 2 translation environment that makes it possible to run existing Intel-based apps on Macs that lack Intel processors.<\/p>\n

macOS 11.0 Big Sur officially supports the following Macs. A few Catalina-capable models from 2012 and 2013 have been dropped.<\/p>\n