Apple’s new macOS will be called Ventura and will offer new ways to work more efficiently and let you use your iPhone as a webcam with your Mac.
macOS Ventura was revealed at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference and will be available as a public beta in July and available later this year as a free software update for iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Studio.
“macOS Ventura includes powerful features and new innovations that help make the Mac experience even better,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.
“New tools like Stage Manager make focusing on tasks and moving between apps and windows easier and faster than ever, and Continuity Camera brings new video-conferencing features to any Mac, including Desk View, Studio Light and more,”
“With helpful new features in Messages, state-of-the-art search technologies in Mail, and an updated design for Spotlight, Ventura has so much to offer and enriches many of the ways customers use their Macs.”
STAGE MANAGER
The main new feature of macOS Ventura is Stage Manager which can organise open apps and windows and make it easier to focus on your task at a glance.
The active window is displayed prominently in the centre of the screen while other open windows are positioned on the left side of the screen and are quickly accessible when switching between tasks.
CONTINUITY
Apple’s ability to make its devices work together through Continuity has been enhanced in macOS Ventura.
Continuity Camera will give Mac users the option of using their iPhone as a webcam to access features like Centre Stage, Portrait mode and the new Studio Light that can illuminate a user’s face while dimming the background.
With Continuity Camera, Mac users can access the iPhone’s ultra-wide camera which would enable Desk View – usually only achieved with the top-down camera – ideal for creating DIY videos and showing off your physical desktop.
Handoff will now work with FaceTime so you can start a FaceTime call on one Apple device and easily transfer to another nearby Apple product.
For example, you might receive a FaceTime call while walking back to your home or office on your iPhone and then easily switch it to your Mac or iPad.
It also works the other way if you’ve started the conversation on your Mac and need to head out and finish the conversation on your iPad or iPhone.
SAFARI
The Safari browser has been improved with new features including shared tab groups to allow users to browse the same sites together.
It’s also possible to build a list of bookmarks on a shared start page and start a Messages conversation or FaceTime call from Safari for those times when you’re working on a project together.
Safari will also be more secure with Passkeys, a new credential that’s more secure and easier to use and actually designed to eventually replace your passwords.
Passkeys are unique digital keys that reside on your device and are never stored on a web server so hackers can never access them even in the event of a data leak.
MAIL
Mail has been given its biggest overhaul in years in macOS Ventura with improvements to search including recent emails, contacts, documents, photos and more.
Users can now schedule their emails and even cancel delivery after hitting send before it hits the recipient’s inbox.
Mail can even detect if an item like an attachment or CC’d recipient is missing from the message.
Mail will also offer a reminder to send a follow up email if you haven’t received a response.
SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight has been redesigned to make navigation easier and offers new features to make an even deeper search for files and photos.
Spotlight even includes Live Text which lets users search by text inside images.
It will even help you stay productive and take actions like starting a timer and creating a new document.
