14 DAY TRIAL // Apple announced today during its keynote speech at the WWDC 2019 developer conference event the macOS 10.15 "Catalina" operating system for Mac computers, coming this fall with numerous new features and improvements.
macOS 10.15 Catalina doesn't look like a massive update to the already powerful operating system for Macs, but it does bring some important changes, such as the deprecation of the iTunes app after more than 18 years, which will be replaced with new Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts apps. Additionally, macOS 10.15 Catalina introduces an all-new SideCar feature that lets you extend your Mac's display to an iPad as a secondary display.
macOS 10.15 Catalina also promises new security features to better protect your Mac, including a unified Find My app that lets you find your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, even if they're offline. The Voice Control feature has been enhanced as well for users with disabilities to let them take control of their Mac entirely with their voice. iOS's Screen Time feature is also coming to the Mac with macOS 10.15 Catalina.
"With macOS Catalina, we’re bringing fresh new apps to the Mac, starting with new standalone versions of Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and the Apple TV app," said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. "Users will appreciate how they can expand their workspace with Sidecar, enabling new ways of interacting with Mac apps using iPad and Apple Pencil. And with new developer technologies, users will see more great third-party apps arrive on the Mac this fall."
Supported Macs and availability
Also new in macOS 10.15 Catalina are a bunch of new APIs and tools for developers to help them port their iPad apps to the Mac. Among the big name apps that have already been announced to come to the Mac this fall with macOS 10.15 Catalina, we can mention the popular Asphalt 9: Legends racing arcade video game, Twitter, and Jira Cloud. The revamped Reminders app from iOS 13 will also be available in macOS Catalina.
macOS 10.15 Catalina will be supported on all Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, including MacBook 2015 and later, MacBook Air 2012 and later, MacBook Pro 2012 and later, Mac mini 2012 and later, iMac 2012 and later, iMac Pro 2017 and later, as well as Mac Pro 2013 and later. The first beta release is out now for registered developers, with the public beta coming in July. macOS Catalina will be available this fall as a free update.
