The next version of macOS is coming this fall, with improvements to Safari, Mail, Photos, and a lot under the hood. Here are the best features you’ll see in macOS 10.13 “High Sierra”.
No, that’s not a typo—they’re calling it High Sierra, after the highest region of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.
And yes: Apple made a few weed jokes after announcing the name, because the most powerful corporation on Earth is nothing if not counter-cultural.The High Sierra developer beta is available today; the public beta will be available later this month. The final release will come later this fall, but here’s what you can expect according to Apple’s presentation.
Safari Will Block Auto-Play Videos and Ads That Track You
Apple took the time to brag about the speed increases in the new version of Safari, which is the browser macOS users should be using anyway. Time will tell how accurate Apple’s bragging here is, but it’s exciting.
There are also a few very interesting features. Safari will now automatically stop auto-playing videos from interrupting you, a move we’re certain Facebook is already angry about. They also announced that Safari will block ads from tracking users out-of-the box, which we’re certain Amazon is already angry about (particularly because Apple announced Amazon Prime video on Apple TV just ten minutes before this). Regardless of which companies might be upset, these moves seem like they’ll make browsing better for everyone, and we’re excited to try them out.
Spotlight-Powered Search Comes to Mail
If you use Safari, you know that Spotlight-powered search results often pop up while you’re trying a URL. Sometimes these will be recommendations from Apple Maps, but mostly they’re just websites you tend to visit often.
The macOS Mail app will have this same feature, with Spotlight-powered suggestions at the top of your search results recommending particular emails. It’s a small tweak, but it could make finding particular emails just a little bit faster.
Apple also announced support for split-screen mode while composing a message. Hey: not every new feature can be amazing.
Photos Now Supports External Editors
Perhaps the biggest visual changes are coming to Photos. First of all, there’s a persistent sidebar. You can also browser your photos on a per-import basis, allowing you to see which photos you imported when. Syncing with other devices is also easier: if you change categorizations…
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