Apple on Monday unveiled its next major macOS update: Say hello to macOS High Sierra.
Apple started its macOS presentation at WWDC with the obvious weed-related jokes about the operating system. But macOS 10.13 is indeed called High Sierra.
Apple’s Craig Federighi jumped right into performance, revealing that High Sierra’s Safari beats all other browsers in benchmark tests.
New Safari features include Autoplay video blocking, as well as an Intelligent Tracking Prevention meant to prevent sites from tracking you around the web.
The Mail app will use 35% less storage on the disk, although Apple did not explain how that happens.
The Photos app now has a new persistent sidebar as well as better filters for finding the photos you’re searching for. Once you find a picture, you’ll have more editing tools available for your photos. Face names will be synchronized across devices.
But Apple will not just improve apps in High Sierra. Federighi detailed some of the technology improvements included in macOS 10.13.
“It’s time for a more modern file system,” he said, teasing that Apple’s File System (HFS) is coming to macOS 10.13.
Other macOS 10.13 features include a crash protection system, safe document saves, stable snapshots, and native encryption.
A new video codec, H.265/HVEC is also included in macOS High Sierra, as Apple eyes 4K video content as the new default.
Speaking of video, Apple is officially supporting third-party video cards, and Apple will launch a Developer Kit today that accommodates AMD GPUs. A new video codec, H.265/HVEC is also included in macOS High Sierra, as Apple eyes 4K video content as the new default.
Speaking of video, Apple is officially supporting third-party video cards, and Apple will launch a Developer Kit today that accommodates AMD GPUs.
Other exciting graphics-related graphics include Metal 2, which will also be used in machine learning.
Even more exciting is Metal for VR, which practically confirms Apple is interested in delivering a great VR experience on Macs, and not only. Steam VR SDK, Unity and Unreal are also coming to the Mac.
High Sierra is available for developers today, with a public version rolling out in late June. The final version should launch this fall, and it’ll be compatible with every Mac that can already run Sierra.
Be sure to visit our WWDC 2017 hub for all the latest news from Apple’s big event.
