Overview of Major New Features in Apple macOS 13.3
Since I was interested in what’s new in macOS, I’ve written a list of the most interesting things
As expected, Apple released updates to its operating systems on Monday night, including one for PCs. So supported Macs got macOS 13.3, which brings many improvements and bug fixes. The new update follows macOS Ventura 13.2, which the company released on January 23 2023.
For example, that already included nearly two dozen security updates and added support for FIDO-certified physical security keys. Then in mid-February, we saw macOS Ventura 13.2.1 with three critical security fixes, including one WebKit vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution.
How to install macOS 13.3?
Haven’t you updated your Mac yet? You may not appreciate the features, but you shouldn’t take security lightly. If you haven’t been notified of an update, go to System Preferences, select the General menu, and then Software Update. After some searching, you’ll be presented with the current version, which you can install from there by clicking Update.
Bug fixes
The new version of the system fixes many vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit in various ways. For example, one of the exploits related to facilitation features could lead to third-party applications gaining access to users’ contact information. Another more severe exploit could allow applications to access sensitive user data.
Other exploits affected parts of the system such as Apple’s Neural Engine, Calendar, Camera, CarPlay, Bluetooth, Find, iCloud, Photos, Podcasts and Safari. Apple also fixed exploits found in the kernel that could lead to the execution of arbitrary code without the user’s knowledge.
New Emoticons
It’s not a big deal, but emoticons are very popular. Since Apple added a new set of them to iOS 16.4, it makes sense that they’re also coming to macOS. This makes them display correctly across all platforms. And which ones are they? A quivering face, many heart colour variations, a donkey, a blackbird, a goose, a jellyfish, a wing, a ginger, and more.
Photos
The Duplicates album in Photos now supports detecting duplicate photos and videos in photo-sharing libraries on iCloud. This has the advantage of not showing you one piece of content multiple times if it was uploaded by you and other album participants for some reason.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen content reader that lets you use your device even when you can’t see its display. So it simply describes the screen content aloud. Now Apple has finally introduced it for apps like Maps or Weather. However, the update also solves a problem often occurring in Finder, where VoiceOver didn’t work.
Accessibility
When you watch a movie, especially on streaming platforms, you are often alerted that flashing lights may be in the frame. This effect at certain wavelengths can trigger a serious epileptic seizure, that is, convulsive seizures caused by chaotic electrical discharges in the brain. However, macOS 13.3 offers an accessibility setting to automatically mute video when these flashes of light or strobe effects are detected.
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