Apple has given a sneak peek into macOS Sonoma, the latest iteration of its cutting-edge desktop operating system, designed to enhance the Mac experience with a host of exciting features.
With new customizable widgets, captivating screen savers, notable Safari updates, and an optimized gaming environment, macOS Sonoma takes productivity and creativity to new heights.
Personalize Your Mac Experience with Interactive Widgets
In macOS Sonoma, widgets take center stage by offering enhanced personalization options. Users can now place widgets directly on their desktops, providing quick access to their favorite tools and information. With just a click, users can interact with these widgets, enabling them to mark off reminders, control media playback, manage home devices, and perform various tasks without leaving their desktop environment. Additionally, the magic of Continuity allows users to enjoy a vast array of iPhone widgets seamlessly integrated into their Mac experience.
Elevate Video Conferencing with Engaging Features
macOS Sonoma brings a range of exciting features to enhance the video conferencing experience. Presenter Overlay places the presenter on top of the shared content, enhancing their presence and making presentations more engaging. Furthermore, Reactions enable users to express themselves through fun gesture-triggered video effects, such as balloons, confetti, and hearts. The updated Screen Sharing picker simplifies the process of sharing apps during video calls, allowing for seamless content sharing.
Next-Level Browsing with Safari Updates
Safari, renowned as the world’s fastest browser, receives significant updates in macOS Sonoma, further enhancing the browsing experience. Private Browsing provides enhanced protection against trackers and unauthorized access to the user’s device. Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections ensure websites can’t track or identify users during Private Browsing sessions. Additionally, profiles allow users to keep their browsing separate for different topics or projects while also maintaining separate cookies, history, extensions, Tab Groups, and Favorites. Users can easily sign in to the same site using multiple accounts and seamlessly switch between them. Safari also introduces web apps that provide quick access to users’ favorite sites, offering a simplified toolbar for an app-like experience.
Immersive Screen Savers Enhance the Mac Experience
macOS Sonoma introduces breathtaking screen savers featuring slow-motion videos of stunning locations worldwide. From the captivating skyline of Hong Kong to the majestic sandstone buttes of Monument Valley and the rolling hills of Sonoma, these screen savers immerse users in beautiful imagery. Seamlessly transitioning from the login screen to the desktop, these screen savers add a touch of elegance to the Mac experience.
Unleash Gaming Potential on Mac
With the power of Apple silicon, Mac users can enjoy incredible graphics performance. macOS Sonoma introduces Game Mode, which optimizes gaming experiences by prioritizing games on the CPU and GPU, delivering smoother and more consistent frame rates. Game Mode also enhances the gaming immersion by reducing audio latency with AirPods and input latency with popular game controllers like those for Xbox and PlayStation. Developers can now take advantage of Metal 3 and the new game porting toolkit, making it easier to bring exciting titles to Mac and harness the full potential of Apple silicon.
Empowering Hybrid and Remote Workflows
Leveraging Apple silicon’s advanced media engine, macOS Sonoma introduces a high-performance mode for the Screen Sharing app. This mode enables responsive remote access to hybrid in-studio and remote pro workflows, delivering low-latency audio, high frame rates, and support for up to two virtual displays. Professionals can securely access their content creation workflows from anywhere, whether they’re editing in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve or animating complex 3D assets in Maya. Support for reference color opens up possibilities for remote color workflows that were previously limited to dedicated hardware and specialized software.
Enhanced Accessibility Features
macOS Sonoma introduces a range of accessibility features to make the Mac experience more inclusive. Made for iPhone hearing devices can now connect to Mac for calls and media consumption, benefiting customers with hearing disabilities. Live Speech empowers nonspeaking users to type and vocalize their thoughts during calls and conversations. Users with physical and motor disabilities benefit from phonetic suggestions when dictating and editing text using Voice Control. Additional enhancements include automatic pause for animated images like GIFs in Messages and Safari, customizable text size across Mac apps for users with visual impairments, and improved VoiceOver support in Xcode for users who are blind or have low vision.
Availability and More Information
The developer beta of macOS Sonoma is available now through the Apple Developer Program, while a public beta will be accessible through the Apple Beta Software Program next month. The final release will be a free software update in the fall. For more details and updates, visit apple.com/macos/sonoma-preview.
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