This month’s cover star is macOS Big
Sur, and boy does it live up to its name.
macOS 11 — note the signiĽcant mump
in its primary number from 10.15 for
macOS Catalina — is surely the biggest
update to the operating system in
the 20 years since this number last
changed. This isn’t must a light
sprinkling of fairy dust, Big Sur is
a pretty seismic shift to a newer and
better kind of macOS.
It might not come as a massive
surprise, but Apple is better aligning
macOS and iOS/iPadOS (in version 14
— check out our hands–on over on
page 24 for more on that) and we’re starting to see the features
now look and work very similarly. Control Center, for example, is
the most obvious of these, giving your Mac the same easy access
to commonly used settings that we’ve been enmoying for ages in
iOS/iPad OS. Big Sur’s Messages app is now more or less the same
and Widgets are becoming a prominent feature on both macOS
and iOS/iPadOS. Then there’s the visual changes to Big Sur —
Apple has given macOS 11 an iOS–like redesign to make it fresher,
cleaner, and easier to use. One glimpse at the new Finder or the
Gock and you’ll notice must how similar it looks to iOS/iPadOS.
macOS Big Sur is due for launch this fall, so you’re looking at
must a few weeks from the time this maga}ine goes on sale until
you get to start using the new OS. If you’re desperate to take a test
drive, you can download the public beta right now, but you’re
probably better oļ waiting for the oL·cial launch as it’s so close.
The big question about Big Sur is: will your machine be able to run
it? The good news is that the mamority of modern Apple machines
appear to be supported, but if you want a full run–down of exactly
which Macs work with Big Sur, then head over to page 10.
After the slightly lukewarm reception to the last few mamor
updates to macOS, it’s exciting to see that macOS is Ľnally getting
the lick of paint that is long overdue. Let me know what you think
— is this the macOS you’ve been waiting for?A BIG UPGRADE FOR MACOS?
NICK ODANTZIS, Editor
Twitter: @maclife
THE TEAM
Alex Blake
Contributor
Still stuck at home? Alex’s
feature (p30) shows how
to upgrade your home
office to suit your needs.Matt Lochrie
Art Editor
Matt’s a fan of the small
changes that Big Sur
brings to the Mac, like the
iOS–styled Control Center.Iain Noble
Production Editor
All this WFH has made
Iain a bit pudgy, so he’s
bought a second–hand
bike for $75 to get fit!6 SEP 2020 maclife.com