If you take a look at the innovations of macOS Monterey, you will see that the new features of FaceTime, Messages and the Shortcuts application come from iPad and iPhone. But beyond that, there aren’t many ways to align macOS apps with iPadOS and iOS apps.
Apple may replace the Launchpad on the Mac with the Application Library so that programs are organized by categories like on the iPad and iPhone. At the same time, there will surely be more development of the applications found on the three platforms.
How Apple can use machine learning
Introduced on Mac, iPad and iPhone with 2021 system updates, machine learning-based text-in-picture recognition takes advantage of neural engines in Apple chips.
The Neural Engine first found its way into the A chips of iPhones and iPads and is now also part of the M1 chips of many Macs. Live Text also works on some Macs with an Intel processor, but the feature only works fully with its own Neural Engine.
Hopefully Apple will develop more useful features based on machine learning for its next macOS. One candidate could be the Photos app, which could be improved with better people recognition and better image content.
Machine learning could also help automatically improve photos and videos. However, you should also have the option to disable these automatic processes.
Other candidates could be text and voice recognition, as well as gesture recognition using the camera. Machine learning can also be placed directly on each device thanks to the Neural Engine, an advantage in terms of data protection.
Passwords and security for all applications
With Keychain, it’s long been possible to store usernames and passwords for web pages you visit in Safari, as well as passwords for networks and email accounts.
You can sync them across multiple devices by turning on iCloud Keychain. In macOS Monterey, password preferences have been added so you can manage and view all of your passwords.
However, the password manager currently only works with Safari passwords, as other browsers don’t use it. In addition, passwords for e-mails and for access to WLANs and network drives are not found here either.
Not exactly a brilliant use of this feature. Apple could combine all password management in one place in the next version of macOS and possibly open it up to other programs, but that would conflict with password managers from other manufacturers.
Apple may continue to offer the ability to sign in without a password using the open web standard Web Authentication (WebAuthn), which is currently only an experimental feature for macOS Monterey developers.
With this technology, based on a private and public system, it would be possible to log in to websites and applications using Face ID or Touch ID through the keys stored in iCloud Keychain, without a password.
Communication via Messages and FaceTime is secure with end-to-end encryption. However, when communicating by mail, such encryption does not exist. There is an application programming interface (API) with MailKit from macOS Monterey, which allows, among other things, to add Mail extensions to sign and encrypt mails.
Apple may be able to offer encryption in Mail in 2023. After all, since macOS Monterey you already have the option to hide email addresses for privacy reasons, but iCloud+ is required.
iCloud+ could also offer more intermediate data tiers. For some users, 50 GB or 200 GB is too little, but 2 TB is too much and too expensive. How about a 1TB plan, Apple?
their appearance
Since the appearance of macOS Big Sur has changed a lot from the previous version, we don’t think there will be any other fundamental changes in UI design this year. This is especially true since Apple’s human interface guidelines haven’t changed since macOS 11.
Apple tried to make a fundamental change to how Safari worked in macOS Monterey, but then it changed the old version back to default and the new one became just an option.
So, we don’t think there will be more fundamental changes in other apps that will alter the way they work. But there may be new options for other Apple programs to tailor the interface to your own needs.
Additionally, developers can make hidden features that only appear when you hover over certain places visible, like Mail’s options for saving attachments or the close button for notifications. Functions like these are not very intuitive.
Maps content enhancements are expected in several European countries. For example, Apple currently only offers bike routes in a few cities, as well as in California and China. Being a company that is committed to protecting the environment is something incomprehensible. It can’t be a question of money.
Or maybe Cupertino doesn’t want to compete with other bike navigation systems? This is unlikely, since the bicycle symbol is an integral part of the cards, although it has no function.
macOS 13 Engine
Apple had already done almost everything to adapt macOS to M1 chips before the first Macs with Apple Silicon arrived in 2020. However, since the development of Apple chips does not stop, Apple developers will have to adapt and optimize the system operating systems and interfaces for the next generation of chips.
These chips will almost certainly have more processors than the M1 generation in the most powerful Macs, and may also have more than one installed in a Mac.
The new operating system will have to run all of these drives without creating problems. However, as a user, you shouldn’t have to notice any of these developments, except that tasks will be completed faster.
Apple will also have to make Macs with Intel processors work with the next macOS. Monterey works with the 2015 iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air, as well as the 2014 Mac mini and 2013 Mac Pro. The 2016 12-inch MacBook is also compatible.
There’s no doubt that these Macs will work with the next macOS, especially since the Mac mini from 2014 was on sale until 2018 and the Mac Pro from 2013 to 2019. With that in mind, Apple won’t be removing them from the list. if people were able to buy them until recently.
However, even if these Macs are compatible, it is to be expected that they will not support some of the new features, as was the case with macOS Monterey.
The name of macOS 13
Apple is likely to keep the tradition of giving each version of macOS a name as well as a number. This time it will be number 13. As for the name, it is believed to be a California neighborhood, as it has been since the Mavericks arrived in 2013. Before that, it was cats.
9to5Mac discovered that Yosemite Research LLC owned the rights to “Mammoth” for operating systems. You might think that Apple can’t use it, but the company has already sold them to Apple. Yosemite Research LLC also purchased the rights to the “Monterey” and “Redwood” names for the operating systems, but did not sell them to the latter.
The term “Mammoth” refers to the town of Mammoth Lakes, a ski resort located in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California. It could be that the next macOS has this name, which could also indicate that it will be a major update.
However, such a name could lead to jokes about macOS being an outdated operating system, so we suspect Apple won’t use such a name.
Do not get lost All the products Apple will announce in 2022 and all articles in this series:
Original article published in Macwelt.
.
Table of Contents