The OS family
Why Apple doubling-down on Continuity and inter-OS features shows the Mac has a bright future
How Apple’s macOS will integrate with the family. Plus, the new file system.
Apple’s Mac operating system is getting a name change for the first time in 15 years, from OS X to macOS, with the release of the latest version (10.12) this fall. This brings it in-line with the company’s other platforms – iOS, watchOS and tvOS – completing a set of product names that appear rounder, friendlier and more welcoming. The change to macOS isn’t purely cosmetic – it also highlights Apple’s ultimate goal of four individual platforms each with their own personality that, through clever interoperability, feel like a single operating system sliced and diced onto different hardware. Whether used on its notebook, tablets, watches or on a big screen, its devices’ buttons and icons are similar, the apps feel familiar and you can retrieve your data no matter which one you’re working on.
The new Continuity features introduced in Sierra offer a compelling blend of time-saving and productivitydriving capabilities. They’ re bite-sized pieces of
functionality that together make owning an Apple Watch, iPad, or another Mac more appealing.
Auto Unlock, for example, lets your Apple Watch unlock your Mac if you’ve already authenticated with it and are sat within range. Like the most useful innovations, it has the potential to make you wonder why we ever had to be without it.
Similarly, the ability to access what’s on your desktop from any device introduces convenience while nudging Mac owners into splashing the cash (on more cloud storage in this case, rather than buying a fancy smartwatch).
Before Sierra, the Mac was the only one of Apple’s platforms not to have Siri. Apple has now baked its personal assistant into its computers, and while it hasn’t quite brought all the commands that we would like to see on there, it brings added weight to Continuity. Information retrieved by Siri on the desktop, for example, such as search results or movie times, can be copied to a new Universal Clipboard that lets you instantly paste it into apps running on an iPad, iPhone or other Apple device – or vice versa.
With MacOS 10.12 Sierra, Apple has only reiterated its commitment to interoperability and has further positioned the Mac as a vital part of its device line-up. In a post-PC era of declining computer sales and trends toward mobile devices, that’s only good news for Mac fans everywhere, and suggest that Apple expects macOS to be around for a long time yet.