W
HEN APPLE SHOWCASED
its successor to macOS
10.15 Catalina at June’s
WWDC20 virtual event, its name
couldn’t have been more apt. Big
Sur, the area in California where
the Santa Lucia Mountains rise
abruptly from the Pacific Ocean to
form one of the most beautiful
stretches of undeveloped coastline
in the world, was chosen to moniker
macOS version 11.0. (The first time
the primary version number has
changed in two decades — a pretty
big deal.) And like its geographicalnamesake with its scenic coastal
road, it’s simply stunning.
With the Big Sur announcement
came talk of some major new
updates to some of the most
essential apps on the platform and
an entirely new design, the biggest
cosmetic overhaul since Mac OS X
was introduced way back in 2000.
In this feature we’ll guide you
through exactly what you can
expect to discover in macOS Big
Sur when it’s officially rolled out in
the fall (unless you want to get it
now — look right to find out more).YOUR BIG
QUESTIONS
ANSWERED>>> WILL macOS BIG SUR
RUN ON MY MAC?
Probably, as long as you don’t
own a 2012 Mac. The following
Macs will be able to run Big
Sur: MacBook 2015 or later;
MacBook Air 2013 or later;
MacBook Pro 2013 or later;
Mac mini 2014 or later; iMac
2014 or later; iMac Pro 2017
or later; and Mac Pro 2013
or later.>>> WHEN WILL macOS
BIG SUR BE RELEASED?
The official word is that
macOS will be a free
download this coming fall.
Traditionally, new updates
drop in late September
following their announcement
at WWDC the previous June.
However, when macOS
Catalina landed, it arrived
slightly later in October. So
who knows?>>> HOW CAN I GET macOS
BIG SUR RIGHT NOW?
Go to beta.apple.com and sign
up to the beta program to
download the latest public
beta of macOS Big Sur. Make
sure that you back up your
Mac before installing and
be aware that the betas
may be slightly glitchy and
generally a lot less stable
than the finished builds.Image rights: Apple. maclife.com SEP 2020 11