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Apple previews macOS Sierra at WWDC 2016 with loads of new features

By Kenny Yeo - on 14 Jun 2016, 4:56am

Apple previews macOS Sierra at WWDC 2016 with loads of new features

OS X is now macOS. And the latest operating system from Apple is macOS Sierra.

Apple has been introducing major revisions to OS X for the past couple of years now and 2016 is not going to be any different. And as we had expected, the latest version of Apple’s operating system has been renamed to macOS to bring it inline with Apple’s other operating systems.

The newest Apple operating system for Macs will be called macOS Sierra, and it will be getting some nifty new features, so let’s go through some of them now.

Siri

Siri is now on Macs.

The biggest new feature of macOS Sierra is undoubtedly integration with Siri. It has taken them awhile, but Siri is finally on Macs. For anyone who has used Siri before the iPhone, iPad or AppleTV, using Siri on OS X will feel very familiar. It will allow users to use voice commands to get their Macs to do things like open apps, send messages, search for documents, get answers to questions like, “How’s the weather?” or “What’s the score of last night’s football game?”

Synchronized Desktop and Documents folders

Thanks to Apple’s iCloud Service, Mac users can now synchronize their Desktop and Documents folders across all their Mac devices. This means that files in these folders will appear in all your iCloud devices.

Universal Clipboard

Continuity is the feature that lets you work seamlessly across your Apple devices. And thanks to it, macOS Sierra has a nifty feature called Universal Clipboard. As its name suggests, it lets users copy and paste text, images, photos and even videos between your Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Picture in Picture

Picture in Picture lets users do work and watch videos at the same time.

First seen on iOS 9, Picture in Picture shrinks a video into a corner of the display, which makes it easy for users to continue watching their video while they work on other things. It’s kind of like having your TV on in the background. Now, this feature will be coming to macOS Sierra.

Apple Pay for web

Apple Pay will make it more easy for users to shop online.

Apple Pay is coming to the web and if you are shopping on your Mac with macOS Sierra, you can authenticate purchases using Apple Pay. Just look for the Apple Pay option on participating shopping sites and you will be prompt to complete payment by using Touch ID on your Apple Pay enabled iPhone or Apple Watch.

Revamped Apple Music

Apple Music has been redesigned from the ground up. Hopefully, it'll be more intuitive to use.

Apple didn’t completely revamp iTunes, but promised a complete new look for Apple Music, which was designed from the ground up. The new design will make it easier to users to play their music, search for their favorite artists, and discover new music.

Optimize storage with iCloud Drive

macOS Sierra can automatically scan the contents of your drive and highlight old or unused files and move them to your iCloud Drive. It can also remove used app installers, highlight duplicate files and delete old cache and logs, to help you free up more space.

Auto Unlock

Finally, Auto Unlock is a nifty feature that allows Apple Watch owners to unlock their Macs automatically with their authenticated Apple Watch.

If you got your Mac within the past 5 years, chances are it will be compatible with macOS Sierra.

macOS Sierra will be available for free this Fall. But if you can’t wait, you can sign up for the Beta Program, and you’ll be able to start using macOS Sierra in July. It will be available for MacBooks and iMacs that are Late 2009 and later, and also for MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, Mac Minis and Mac Pros that are 2010 and later.

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