Yes, Sierra’s the name for the latest OS X that Apple has announced at WWDC 2016 today. But wait, it won’t be known as OS X anymore. Apple wants OS X to sound in line with its other operating systems like iOS, tvOS and watchOS. Plus, the name OS X has been in existence for 15 years now. If you catch the drift, you’d know Apple would rename OS X. OS X has officially been renamed to macOS, hence macOS Sierra.
We’re not seeing a whole new revamp to how the OS works though, but in typical Apple fashion, a number of new features, a couple of key ones, and further improvements. First off, Siri. That’s right, Siri is finally making its way to macOS after being rumored for so long, and that’s a total of five years since the assistant was first introduced. You’d probably know how Siri works on macOS, pretty much similar to how it runs on iOS.
Siri can be accessed from either the menu bar or from the dock. Clicking on Siri, obviously will bring it up and everything works like how Siri does its job on iOS. Opening apps, sending texts, scheduling appointments on the Calendar app, or searching up your favorite sports scores, all from Siri, on macOS Sierra.
Apple has also introduced a new auto unlock feature for Continuity between its own devices. You can now use the Apple Watch to unlock your Mac with this new feature. With the Apple Watch strapped onto your wrist, walking towards your Mac will automatically unlock the Mac. Apart from that, Apple has improved iCloud for users to manage their files better, both on their desktop and in the cloud. Users can now view desktop files from their iPhone, plus desktops can now be synced across multiple devices. Additionally, iCloud moves your Mac’s old files to the cloud storage, allowing more space for newer files on your Mac. However, no specific iCloud storage space was mentioned for this new nifty feature so do wait for that.
Another simple but cool feature is the addition of a clipboard, allowing users to copy and paste from a Mac to an iPhone and vice versa, called Universal Clipboard. Apple Pay has also been added to Safari, which can be used to make purchases and transactions online. Do note however, that users will need their iPhone with them for authentication.
The public beta of macOS Sierra will be released next month, with the final release slated to be out this fall, probably some time in September. What do you think about these newly added features to the newly named macOS? Let us know your thoughts at the comments section below!
