Tech Telecom

Welcome to our preview of MacOS Sierra, as firstly we let you know that the OS name has been changed to MacOS the newly introduced version of Apple’s desktop operating system for MacBooks and iMac’s. With design changes largely taking a back seat this year, the focus was instead on the great new features. As usual, there are a couple of headline features (including one that we’re particularly pleased about, and will look at first), and a long list of small functions and tweaks. Often when updating the OS on your Mac it’s the accumulated small changes that make the real difference.

Siri on Mac

This is the big one and works great. Macs can now be controlled verbally using the Siri voice-recognition engine from the iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV. It was only a matter of time, really – and it’s only fair to point out that Windows already has Cortana (and has done since Windows 8.1) – but it’s still nice to see. Example: If you are not able to find a missing document or file, simply ask Siri and get the result within seconds without wasting any time so you can use time for productive use.

Apple Pay on Mac

This one isn’t quite as simple. Yes, Apple Pay has also jumped from the iOS ecosystem to Mac, but since the Mac doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner, it can’t handle the verification process by itself as the same wait works in iPhones. (It’s still possible, of course, that Touch ID will eventually come to the Mac too.) You’ll still be tapping your iPhone or iPad to prove you are who you claim to be. It’s just that the browsing and shopping experience will previously have taken place on the more pleasantly roomy screen of your iMac.

Apple Pay icons will now appear on the buy pages of certain merchants – all you need do is verify your purchases with Touch ID on your iPhone, or using your Apple Watch. Apple Pay on Mac will be available in the UK from launch, alongside the US, Canada, Australia, China and Singapore.

Auto Unlock with Apple Watch

Some Apple fans were looking for the ability to unlock their Mac via the Touch ID fingerprint scanner on an iPhone. Instead, Apple announced something that is arguably a lot more convenient, though available to a smaller market: the ability to automatically unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch.

Get within a certain distance of your Mac while wearing an unlocked Apple Watch, and the Mac will detect your approach and unlock automatically by itself: no more typing in lengthy passwords.

Cross-device syncing

With this users who has more than single apple device, they can sync the content on their desktop to iCloud Drive and that can be accessible by all devices.

While covering the WWDC keynote speech for Mac, I was coincidentally struck by the need for a simple way of getting small chunks of text between the Mac and iPad I was using simultaneously, rather than the mild hassle of emailing myself or similar. Now we’ve got it.

Universal Clipboard is one of those smaller, less glamorous features mentioned further up, but it’s a great way to copy and paste data between devices by reducing email, bluetooth, and also Airdrop facility. Whatever you copy on one of your devices will be sent to the clipboard on your other devices, wirelessly and seemingly instantly.

On a larger scale, macOS Sierra gives you the ability to share your entire desktop (and Documents folder) with other devices – including PCs. Files saved on the Mac’s desktop or in Documents will be accessible via your iPad or iPhone’s iCloud Drive, on the desktop or in Documents of another Mac, or in the iCloud for Windows app on a PC.

Optimised storage

Talking of non-glamorous features… Optimised Storage is a new way of helping your storage space go a bit further. It removes certain duplicate files for you, without needing to be told (caches, logs and so on – nothing you’ll miss) and automatically stores items you rarely use in iCloud. Some users end up filling their storage with catches and duplicate content without even knowing them, this could be great help to those.

Features from iOS 10

Messages in iOS 10 has been given a full-on youth makeover, with more emphasis than ever before on emoji and sometimes bizarre visual effects. And much of this will appear on Mac too: the larger emoji, for instance, and the ‘tapback’ feature, where you can respond instantly to a message by tapping one of six icons – thumbs up or down, a heart, ‘Ha ha’, or question or exclamation marks. Links in messages will be previewed in the message thread.

Photos has a new Memories feature, which automatically creates themed, easily customisable albums for you based on its ability to recognise and understand people, places and events.

And Apple Music, while seeing few functional changes, has been fundamentally redesigned visually, and this applies also to its embodiment on Mac. See our Complete guide to Apple Music article for more on this.

OUR VERDICT

It’s too early for a verdict on macOS Sierra – as Apple itself warns, features are subject to change. Our thoughts on whether Sierra is a hit or a miss will get firmer as successive beta versions are released, each one bringing us closer to the OS’s final shape.

But early signs are quietly promising that this would be insane. Siri’s debut on the Mac is a pleasing headline feature, auto unlock looks brilliantly convenient and Universal Clipboard is the sort of feature you never knew you wanted but then can’t do without. How well all these parts will gel together is something we’ll discover with time, but early impressions of macOS Sierra are good, and we’re looking forward to its final release in autumn.