What’s New in macOS Sequoia
Dive into the Exciting Innovations of macOS 15 Sequoia Revealed at WWDC 2024!
One of the standout announcements at WWDC 2024 was macOS Sequoia, promising to deliver a seamless and powerful experience for Mac users. With a focus on productivity, creativity, and connectivity, macOS Sequoia introduces new features that enhance the Apple ecosystem.
From refined user interfaces to groundbreaking performance improvements, Let’s explore the exciting announcements made at WWDC 2024.
Devices Supporting macOS 15:
- MacBook Pro (2018 and later)
- MacBook Air (2018 and later)
- Mac Pro (2019 and later)
- Mac Studio (2022 and later)
- Mac Mini (2018 and later)
- iMac Pro (2017 and later)
- iMac (2019 and later)
What You’ll Find Inside:
- iPhone Mirroring
- Window Tiling
- Video Conferencing
- Safari
- Passwords App
- Gaming on Mac
- Apple Intelligence on Mac
- Additional features in macOS Sequoia
iPhone Mirroring
macOS Sequoia introduced a huge feature in continuity with iPhone mirroring. It allows full access to the iPhone from a Mac while it remains locked.
With mirroring, users can launch and use any of the apps on their iPhones. The Mac's keyboard, mouse, and trackpad can also be utilized to interact with an iPhone. Audio from the iPhone comes through the Mac.
Users can drag and drop files between iPhone and Mac while mirroring. Notifications from the iPhone appear alongside the Mac’s notifications so the user can review and interact with them when the iPhone is not handy. Tapping on a notification opens the respective app in mirroring.
Window Tiling
Users can drag a window to the edge of the screen to get window tiling suggestions for positioning it on their desktops. Keyboard and menu shortcuts can speed up arranging the window so the user can stay organized.
Video Conferencing
Presenter preview lets users see what they’re about to share before sharing it, and it works with FaceTime and Zoom apps. Users can also set a background photo to look their best while video conferencing.
Safari
- Safari now offers a Highlight of a webpage by delivering helpful information like directions, summaries, or quick links to learn more about people, music, movies, and TV shows.
- When a video is discovered on a web page, it is placed front and center while also giving the user full playback controls, including Picture in Picture.
- The redesigned Reader offers a clutter-free reading experience. Safari features private browsing, protecting history and preventing websites from tracking you while browsing.
Other safari features include
- Profiles
- Translations
- Extensions
- Tab Groups
- Passkeys
- Private relay
Passwords App
Passwords App on macOS Sequoia makes it easier to access all passwords. With iCloud syncing, passwords are synced between all Apple devices.
Password app is also available on the Windows platform for free. This can be a compelling alternative for many users as it’s developed by Apple.
Gaming on Mac
1. New game titles
The highly anticipated Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows is coming to Mac on November 15.
Other titles coming to Mac
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard
- RESIDENT EVIL 2
- World of Warcraft: The War Within
- Frostpunk 2
- Palworld
- Sniper Elite 4
- RoboCop: Rogue City
2. Immersive gaming experience
Personalized spatial audio on AirPods Pro (2nd generation) reduces latency for more responsiveness. Improvements to game mode now deliver smoother framerates.
3. Game Porting Toolkit 2
Developers can now easily bring their games to Apple devices by utilizing improvements to the game porting toolkit 2.
Apple Intelligence on Mac
A personal intelligence system utilizing a powerful generative model that understands a personal context and delivers unmatched useful and relevant features and content to users with privacy at its core.
With the power of Apple silicon, Apple intelligence can create language and images, draw from personal context, and take action across all apps to accelerate the everyday tasks of the user.
1. Creating languages
Apple Intelligence helps the user improve their writing with features like proofreading, summarising text, or rewriting everywhere including system apps like Notes, Pages, Mail, and third-party apps.
- Rewriting capabilities extend to adjusting text with different tones like friendly, professional, or concise.
- Proofread can check text for grammar, word choice, and sentence structure and also suggests edits that users can review or accept.
- Users can summarise a text with bullet points, a list, or a short paragraph to save time of the reader.
- Priority messages in the Mail app add a new section at the top of the inbox that shows the most urgent emails like an event or a boarding pass. Mail app also shows summaries of mail instead of the first line so the user does not need to open and read the complete email.
- Smart reply analyzes and identifies questions in an email to provide suggestions for a quick response while ensuring everything is answered.
2. Creating Images
Image Playground allows users to express themselves by creating an image from 3 different styles: Animation, Illustration, or Sketch.
3. Siri
Siri is now more natural, contextually relevant, and personal with Apple intelligence. Users can switch between text and voice to communicate with Siri. ChatGPT is also integrated with Siri to access its expertise and image, document, and understanding capabilities systemwide.
Additional features in macOS Sequoia
- Messages include all-new text effects, emoji, and sticker Tapbacks. Users can also schedule a message to send later.
- Apple Maps now shows hikes across all 63 national parks. Users can filter them by length, elevation, and route type, and save them for offline access.
- Calendar shows events and tasks from Reminders so the user can take action on reminders throughout the day.
- Notes now support auto-solving equations making it easier for users to quickly crunch a number by just typing an equation. New audio transcription in notes helps users transcribe and summarise with Apple Intelligence.
Closing Thoughts
macOS Sequoia propels the Mac experience to new heights with innovative features and seamless integration across the Apple ecosystem. This update redefines productivity, creativity, and connectivity for all users.
For more updates on the latest tools and technologies, follow the Simform Engineering Blog.
