March 2021 • Macworld 101SOFTWARE
New products: iOS 14, iPadOS 14,
macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7, tvOS 14,
numerous Apple appsMichael Simon: Among the notable
software changes in 2020: macOS
was finally bumped to version 11 and
got a visual refresh to go along with
it; iPad OS continued to feel too
constrained by its iPhone roots; the
overdue Sleep app in watchOS 7 was
a bit too basic; and tvOS 14 finally
brought 4K YouTube and little else.
But iOS 14 saved the whole year with
a significant revamp to the Home
Screen layout in iOS 14 that finally let
people abandon the stale app grid.
Grade: BJason Cross:
I’m impressed
by the
improvements
in iOS 14,
especially the
thoughtful
Widgets
and App
Library. And
I’m doubly-
impressed
by Apple’s
moves toimprove privacy and security, whether
it’s ‘privacy nutrition labels’ in the
App Store or lights that show when
your microphone or camera is being
accessed. On the other hand, iPadOS
14 still doesn’t go far enough to
differentiate itself from iPhone, and
Apple still doesn’t have a clean and
cohesive multitasking story on iPad.
While macOS Big Sur seems like
a mostly cosmetic update, a ton of
impressive work went on under the
hood to enable the new Apple Silicon
macs, and the fact that it’s all going
so smoothly is an amazing testament
to those engineers.
Nothing really wowed me about
updates to Apple’s own apps.We love the improvements in iOS 14, especially the thoughtful
Widgets and App Library.March 2021 • Macworld 101SOFTWARE
New products: iOS 14, iPadOS 14,
macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7, tvOS 14,
numerous Apple apps
Michael Simon: Among the notable
software changes in 2020: macOS
was finally bumped to version 11 and
got a visual refresh to go along with
it; iPad OS continued to feel too
constrained by its iPhone roots; the
overdue Sleep app in watchOS 7 was
a bit too basic; and tvOS 14 finally
brought 4K YouTube and little else.
But iOS 14 saved the whole year with
a significant revamp to the Home
Screen layout in iOS 14 that finally let
people abandon the stale app grid.
Grade: B
Jason Cross:
I’m impressed
by the
improvements
in iOS 14,
especially the
thoughtful
Widgets
and App
Library. And
I’m doubly-
impressed
by Apple’s
moves to
improve privacy and security, whether
it’s ‘privacy nutrition labels’ in the
App Store or lights that show when
your microphone or camera is being
accessed. On the other hand, iPadOS
14 still doesn’t go far enough to
differentiate itself from iPhone, and
Apple still doesn’t have a clean and
cohesive multitasking story on iPad.
While macOS Big Sur seems like
a mostly cosmetic update, a ton of
impressive work went on under the
hood to enable the new Apple Silicon
macs, and the fact that it’s all going
so smoothly is an amazing testament
to those engineers.
Nothing really wowed me about
updates to Apple’s own apps.We love the improvements in iOS 14, especially the thoughtful
Widgets and App Library.